Ellis Genge: England front-row hopes the financial situation steadies at Worcester Warriors

Dylan Coetzee 26 Aug 2022 5:57 AM

Bristol Bears front-row Ellis Genge hopes Worcester Warriors will sort out their financial woes as he would like them to stay in the Premiership.

Worcester are reportedly on the brink of administration after some tax complications with HM Revenue & Customs and the implications of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Possible purchase

However, former Worcester Warriors chief executive Jim O’Toole is looking to spearhead a consortium to save the club from going into administration. Nevertheless, Genge was hopeful that everything works out for his friends – including England Test duo Ollie Lawrence (centre) and Ted Hill (back-row) – at the club.

“I’ve got a few mates there and I messaged Ollie and said: ‘Are you OK?’ He said there’s been some discrepancies with their pay and stuff like that. It’s bleak,” Genge said.

“I’d like to see Worcester stay in the Prem. It’s a good club, and hopefully they can sort it out.

“I just feel everything is always on everyone else’s terms (and not the players). I feel we’re extremely vulnerable in that situation.

“I’ve been told Bristol handled that Covid period really well, but as you’ve seen in recent years contracts have been literally paper-thin.

“They didn’t mean much, and hopefully those boys don’t get shafted because that would be absolutely gruesome.”

Genge highlighted the issues with the Premiership salary cap, and he believes that players should be paid more due to the pressure their bodies are put under.

“You’ve seen the constraints of the cap already and how many squad players have been left with no contracts,” he added.

“Quite a few of my friends are in that situation, which is horrible. You’ve got mid-level squad players and first-team players now having to take more than a 50 per cent pay cut and going down levels.

Body risk

“You always hear people say ‘you get paid enough’, but you put your body through a lot and yourself at a lot of risk.

“Your neck hurts all the time, you go through a lot in 10 years. Sacrifice everything to be your best in that 10 years. Then imagine having to go and start a whole different career after that.

“It’s a lot of sacrifice for quite a high-risk job. So at least you’d like to think everyone would get looked after in that 10 years, but it’s not the case.

“I hope Worcester are going to help everyone out. I just don’t want to see anyone kicked out on their arse.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen if they actually go under. But maybe some dispensation for the other clubs, increase the cap by 10 per cent, and scoop up some players.”

Bristol Ellis Genge