‘The skinny lads are taking home the weights’ – how are Northampton handling the shutdown?

Northampton Saints chief executive Mark Darbon has stressed the significance of completing the current Premiership season before we think about the next.

The five-week shutdown of the Premiership has cast financial forecasts and the league calendar into uncertainty.

Concern over the fixture schedule arises from the Premiership’s player welfare agreement which mandates a 12-week break from when the Premiership final ends to the start of the next season.

“Our priority both at league and club level is to get this [Premiership] season done in one shape or form, not least because we [Northampton] are in the mix ­towards the top of the table,” Darbon told i news.

“Also, from a commercial perspective, hosting our games and finishing the season is a much better outcome all round. If you offered me a place in the Prem final at the end of June right now, I’d take it in a heartbeat.”

With player contracts generally running until the end of June, the extension of the season also presents another dilemma.

Asked about the short-term outlook for the playing squad, Darbon admitted Saints are operating with the next five weeks in mind.

“We are working on the basis of this five weeks and we’ll go from there,” Darbon added, saying Northampton had given no guarantees to the squad over their salaries beyond that period.

Around the Premiership, players and staff are staying away from the training ground. Instead, undertaking their own personal training programmes.

“We can’t stand players down for a period of time and then expect them to come back in full bore and expect them to play a game of Premiership or European rugby the next weekend,” said Darbon, who confirmed one Northampton player is currently self-isolating, though nobody had tested positive for coronavirus.

“They have all got individual training plans. They have been unloading kit from the gym to take with them as the performance end of our facility here will be closed.

“[Head coach] Chris Boyd summed it up nicely to me – he said the skinny lads are taking home the weights and the fat lads are taking home the cardio equipment. I am sure it is slightly more precise than that.”

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