How sick must Harold Verster, Naka Droske and the loyal supporters of the Cheetah franchise be of players leaving the union for greener pastures?! The Sharks effectively field a Free State “B-side” every time they don the black and white in any competition!

It’s not a recent occurrence either; think back to Andre Joubert, Henry Honiball, Pieter Muller, and Ollie Le Roux in the early nineties. AJ Venter and Werner Swanepoel followed suit in the latter part of that decade and Bismarck du Plessis, Jannie du Plessis, Ruan Pienaar, Andries Strauss and Meyer Bosman brought it full circle in the new millennium. Granted the younger du Plessis and Pienaar never represented the Cheetahs at senior provincial level, but they were taught the finer “inns and outs” of the game at Grey College in Bloemfontein! You cannot really blame these guys for their decision to depart. The professional nature of the sport determines where their loyalties lie and this matter is compounded by the ever-shortening shelf life of rugby players. You are forced to go where the money is, and let’s face it, you ain’t gonna find it at the foot of Naval Hill!

It is sad though that the players are developed and matured at smaller unions, just to be snapped up by the larger ones when they are at their peak. The result is that these smaller fish regularly count on some bizarre notion of devotion, when their employees request a transfer to further their career on a bigger stage. The union effectively has nothing along the lines of a monetary counter offer to extend and they subsequently resort to emotional black mail. Some players (read Bakkies Botha) fall for this ridiculous approach, but the majority of the lads see it for what it is – an unreasonable request to remain a local draw card for the fans.

Camaraderie among players has always had a great effect on emotional well being and it would seem that the Cheetahs have been holding on to recruits a tad longer because of this belief. That is definitely why guys like Juan Smith and Heinrich Brüssouw stay at the union, but they have the luxury and added benefit of a Springbok contract to snuggle up to at night. This certainly relieves some of the pressure The Cheetah Rugby Union might experience come contract negotiation time. But what about the young ones, who are up-and-coming stars of tomorrow and who find themselves firmly in the sights of the bigger sharks (excuse the pun)? It is seemingly impossible to ignore the allure of big money, fast cars and the platform required to be spotted by PDivvy come selection time. The baby-faced Ebersohn twins are firmly at the top of many unions’ Christmas lists, and they are already making demands (like only being available as a package-deal). This might sound a tad vain and conceited, but the respect they’re commanding forces their future employers to seriously consider this demand. The only thing keeping them loyal to the City of Roses is the promise of regular game time and the guarantee of being a big fish in a small pond. Robert Ebersohn, however, has already admitted that other young players like Juan de Jongh have a distinct edge on him due to the exposure he gets from partnering up with the likes of Jean de Villiers and Jacque Fourie at the Stormers. No such role models exist for the boy wonder in the Free State and if he is to evolve and grow, he needs to be “set free”.

It seems that without the financial capital needed to obtain the intellectual capital desperately required, the Cheetah situation will remain a dire one. Fortunately the fan base at the union is made up of dependable stuff and they will continue to support their minnow heroes in their quest to slay many a giant who crosses their path.

A. Waldeck