The odds swing
Bookmakers across the world were hard at it yesterday, reassessing their odds on a Bristol Bears’ win in the 2024-25 PWR league.
In their estimation Bears will win all their remaining games by a margin. Their competitiors might as well give up the chase. News of Ilona Maher’s signing has sent shudders down the spines of eight head coaches.
Dave Ward, in charge at Shaftesbury Park, was happy to inform the club’s fans that they had acquired the services of three players in one: Maher has the pace of Abby Dow, the height and size of Mrs Ward and a step – though he didn’t specify whose step hers most closely resembles.
She would dramatically alter the dynamic of the team’s play. Bears, currently fourth in the table, may lie seven points behind the leaders, Exeter Chiefs, but are well placed to reach the play-offs, and with Maher present to affect the issue, should stroll to a first ever trophy.
A dip into the comparisons offered
1 Dow – Maher may be as fast as the Trailfinders winger, but are her defence and positioning as sure? Do her kicking skills match up? Will she show as acute a sense of back-three combinations as England’s?
2 Mrs Ward – Maher may be of a similar size, but does she possess the range of XV’s skills and experience England’s prime lock forward has displayed over the past nine years?
3 The anonymous step – that may be a telling addition to her skill-set, but the underlying doubt concerns her position. Mr Ward admits that she is unlikely to appear in a match for a while. When she does, will he play safe and place her on the wing? ‘Safe’ is a loaded word, since 7s players transfering across to 15s are liable to be found out whichever number they sport on their back.
In the centre, familiarity with the 15s game is even more vital. The great partnerships – you can decide your own favourites (Burford-Scarratt? Heard-Rowland?) – have had a sixth sense of what their partner was going to do with the ball. Without possession, the centre needs the most acute reaction to positioning, who to mark, who to support.
All’s well with the PWR
Ward’s rosy view of the future was reinforced by Genevieve Shore, who seems to be adding the PWR Chief Executive role to her established one of Chair. She sees only positives coming from Maher’s arrival.
If we assume PWR’s new statement of intent – when it appears – will reinforce its intention to become more professional, then Maher’s presence fits in neatly. It brings the league a step closer to becoming franchise-based. This is the format now coming to dominate the world of sport. Its key to success is money.
After she has shone at the World Cup, will Maher return to Bears, or be snapped up by one of the franchises forming the new WER enterprise in the States, or return to the SVNS series?
Every Bears’ fan must hope that she returns hotfoot to the west country, but that isn’t how franchise sport works. Just try recalling which cricketers play for which franchise in the Hundred every season. A player will be taken on for a limited time-span, then disappear without trace.
Media coverage
PWR still hasn’t cracked this essential ingrediant. One game in four is available on live TV per week, thanks to TNT’s involvement. Neither the RFU nor the PWR have offered live stream this year, so we have to be very grateful to the clubs that provide the service on their own account.
It can be little surprise that Quins and Sarries have led the way. Are they, or are they not the two wealthiest clubs in the league? Less obvious, but very welcome, is the radio coverage offered by stations like Radio Gloucestershire.
Above all, PWR needs coverage of all four matches per round, on a free-to-air basis. I have yet to spot viewing figures for TNT’s weekly transmission.
With Maher’s arrival in Bristol, it will be fascinating to see whether TNT executives are planning any alterations to their coverage. No doubt they would dearly love to show every match Maher appears in. They’ll be taking another look at the small print in their contract.
Calm your nerves
The PWR hasn’t been used to hype on this scale. So, in an attempt to calm the nerves of all Bristol’s opponents, let me offer the following balm:
1 Maher’s Olympic 7s team did not win gold. They were ecstatic at claiming a first ever bronze.
2 She didn’t win the top prize in the USA’s equivalent of Strictly; she came second.
3 She is still a relative newcomer to 15s. It can take half a lifetime to acquire all the skills needed to succeed.
4 Bears players are delighted to know one of their kith and kin will surrender her place in the side to the newcomer.
5 Next Saturday Bears welcome Chiefs to their lair. Their new acquisition will get the chance to see what a top-of-the-table clash really looks like. Chiefs are defending the only surviving unbeaten record.
