'It's not dog-eat-dog': Wasps' verdict on the crisis at Worcester

Wasps boss Lee Blackett has claimed he won’t look to sign players from troubled Gallager Premiership rivals Worcester even though he confirmed that the recent freeze on recruitment at the Coventry Building Society Arena is over. Blackett’s bolstering of his squad for the upcoming 2022/23 top-flight season in England had stalled in recent months.

Having announced the singings of international props Vincent Koch and John Ryan and some other players during the course of last season, the trail went cold for a large part of the off-season amid the financial concerns Wasps have regarding its failure to repay a £35million bond debt.

Only in recent weeks did the recruitment freeze end, allowing Blackett to strike a fresh deal with Francois Hougaard, who had been left contractless, and to sign trialist Cam Dodson on a full-term contract from the MLR. However, the coach won’t be looking to bring in additions from Worcester even though players at the Sixways club will become available for breach of contract if their latest salary payment due on August 31 fails to happen.

There were reports on Tuesday of a leaked email from one of the Worcester co-owners outlining that their accounts had been frozen due to the HMRC winding-up petition and that the planned payroll was in grave danger of not happening.

Any players with wages still due after Wednesday can serve notice to Worcester to rectify the outstanding payment. If this has not happened within 14 days then the player can terminate the contract, which also takes 14 days, and leave as a free agent. Blackett, though, won’t exploit this situation for the benefit of Wasps ahead of a season that begins for his team with the September 11 trip to Gloucester.

“It’s not dog-eat-dog, there is respect in the game,” he said at his virtually-held Tuesday afternoon Wasps media briefing ahead of this Friday’s pre-season match at the Dragons in Newport. “We would never look to do that. If those guys don’t have a job and there is no club then that is a different story, but we have too much respect for Worcester as a club to be doing that.”

That said, Blackett was delighted that the Wasps recruitment freeze had ended and was adamant that the outlook at the club was positive despite a summer of negative stories, especially regarding their financial position.

“With social media the way it is nowadays with things coming out it’s hard not to (be distracted by the negativity), but the players and the staff have full trust in the people at this club, people who care passionately about the club and will make sure they do everything right for this club.

“There is a lot of trust from the staff and the players to get this right and I know the club will. In all honesty, no one would ever say they were never worried but everyone has got a lot of trust and faith in the people in place doing their jobs.

“Now we are in a position, if we feel there are additions to be had, that we can go and make them. We can add to the squad if the right person is in place but we have got to make sure they are going to add to us. It is always difficult at this time of year to go and get people and we won’t be going out and signing squad guys that won’t make a difference - we will back fully what we have got because we are confident in what we have got so far.”

In the meantime, the message from on high is that it is business as usual at Wasps. “If there is any news they [the board] will let us know. That is what we have been told, to carry on as normal. We are just like most clubs but we could be a fraction worse with covid because in terms of the stadium - the sport, leisure, hospitality, everything - we rely massively on it.

“That is where our revenue as a club comes from and everyone has taken a pinch but maybe it’s a fraction more (at Wasps). But in terms of what we have been told by the board, they are positive and making sure this club functions as it is and we are still competitive as well trying to make sure we are going to get a couple of more additions and that we are spending the salary cap.

“It was a little harder a few weeks, around that time a lot of people were starting to ask questions. But once we had communication from the board, everyone has got a lot of trust in people here that they are going to do the right thing for this club, so from our side there is a lot of trust and the players have just got on with their jobs. I’ve not had anyone in two weeks come to me and ask me questions on it [the club’s financial situation].”

Regarding the media and its constant supply of speculation about Wasps, especially the rumours that circulate on social media, how does Blackett deal with its negativity? “How I deal with things like the press personally is I don’t do social media, I don’t look for press articles. If something needs to be drawn to my attention then our media team will do that,” he said.

“Outside of that I try and stay away because I find it frustrating. It’s people that don’t know the club, don’t know people involved so personally for me, for my own headspace, I stay well away from that. Honestly, there is not much that has bothered me whatsoever.

“I know things that are going on because people have been telling me but I have not taken an interest. I have just focused on doing my job and making sure we are in the best possible place come the start of the season.”

But have you, for instance, heard the yarn about a reported merger of Wasps and Worcester? “Yeah, I have heard about it. They are the type of things. Tom [the Wasps PR person] told me about that. A funny one but it’s not something that I have heard,” he explained before voicing a new season message for concerned Wasps fans.

“We have got people in place, especially those I see every day, the players, the staff that care so much around this club. We are just looking forward to starting the season and hopefully with positive news putting smiles on people’s faces.”