{"id":34291,"date":"2019-03-05T15:11:15","date_gmt":"2019-03-05T15:11:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jomec.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/?p=34291"},"modified":"2019-03-05T15:11:15","modified_gmt":"2019-03-05T15:11:15","slug":"ken-owens-players-need-a-say-in-the-future-of-welsh-rugby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2019\/03\/05\/ken-owens-players-need-a-say-in-the-future-of-welsh-rugby\/","title":{"rendered":"Ken Owens: players need a say in the future of Welsh rugby"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-34292 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/03\/Ken_Owens_Wales_Italy_rdax_1197x700_80.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"933\" height=\"700\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/03\/Ken_Owens_Wales_Italy_rdax_1197x700_80.jpg 933w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/03\/Ken_Owens_Wales_Italy_rdax_1197x700_80-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/03\/Ken_Owens_Wales_Italy_rdax_1197x700_80-770x578.jpg 770w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/03\/Ken_Owens_Wales_Italy_rdax_1197x700_80-500x375.jpg 500w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/03\/Ken_Owens_Wales_Italy_rdax_1197x700_80-293x220.jpg 293w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 933px) 100vw, 933px\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-34292 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/03\/Ken_Owens_Wales_Italy_rdax_1197x700_80.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"933\" height=\"700\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/03\/Ken_Owens_Wales_Italy_rdax_1197x700_80.jpg 933w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/03\/Ken_Owens_Wales_Italy_rdax_1197x700_80-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/03\/Ken_Owens_Wales_Italy_rdax_1197x700_80-770x578.jpg 770w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/03\/Ken_Owens_Wales_Italy_rdax_1197x700_80-500x375.jpg 500w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/03\/Ken_Owens_Wales_Italy_rdax_1197x700_80-293x220.jpg 293w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 933px) 100vw, 933px\" \/><\/noscript><br \/>\nWALES international Ken Owens says players should be involved in the discussion about the future of domestic rugby.<br \/>\nThe Professional Rugby Board are meeting today to discuss the proposals, under Project Reset, to merge Scarlets and Ospreys, bringing the number of sides in South Wales down to three.<br \/>\nAs part of the programme, a team would be set up in North Wales.<br \/>\nMartyn Phillips, chief executive of the WRU, told players yesterday that a merged side is likely to start the next Pro14 season.<br \/>\nOwens, chairman of the Welsh Rugby Players Association and hooker for Scarlets and Wales, held a press conference this afternoon, where he called for players to be involved in the discussions.<br \/>\nOwens admitted the developments had been a shock and a significant distraction for the Welsh players as they continue their preparations ahead of their Six Nations clash with Scotland at the weekend.<br \/>\nHe said: \u201cWe want what\u2019s best for Welsh rugby at all levels.<br \/>\n\u201cRegional rugby has been struggling to compete, so if this is the best way forward, so be it.\u201d<br \/>\nHe also admitted that the players shared the fans\u2019 confusion.<br \/>\n\u201cIf this comes off two strong teams come together and make one very strong team, but we want to be part of the discussions,&#8221; he added.<br \/>\n\u201cIs the alternative a region going into oblivion? We don\u2019t know the full facts.\u201d<br \/>\nOspreys chairman Mike James resigned this afternoon, citing the mismanagement of Project Reset as the main reason for his decision.<br \/>\nOwens said: \u201cIt\u2019s a bit unfair for him (James) to be pointing the finger at one entity when we are all in it together with the PRB being all of us.\u201d<br \/>\nThere has been concern as to whether a merger would mean an exodus of Welsh players playing in the country. For Owens, that is not an immediate concern.<br \/>\nHe said: \u201cIf there are mergers or a team opening in North Wales there\u2019s still going to be work for 230 players.<br \/>\n\u201cI\u2019m a lot happier with that than seeing us going down to three teams and 40 to 50 players being out of work at this stage.\u201d<br \/>\nAsked whether the uncertainty had been a distraction for the players ahead of their weekend Six Nations fixture against Scotland, Owens responded; \u201cIt won\u2019t affect my performance.<br \/>\n\u201cHas it been a distraction? It\u2019s Welsh rugby, it always is. With Phillips coming in yesterday we got a little bit of clarity. We are excited about going to Scotland.<br \/>\n\u201cWe are a tight squad and work hard for each other. This isn\u2019t going to split us at all. It will bring us closer together and hopefully we will take our frustrations out on Saturday.\u201d<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WALES international Ken Owens says players should be involved in the discussion about the future of domestic rugby. The Professional Rugby Board are meeting today to discuss the proposals, under Project Reset, to merge Scarlets and Ospreys, bringing the number of sides in South Wales down to three. As part of the programme, a team would be set up in North Wales. Martyn Phillips, chief executive of the WRU, told players yesterday that a merged side is likely to start [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":119,"featured_media":34292,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[176,3,151,4],"tags":[4793,328,763,339,764,1030],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-34291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","category-news","category-rugby","category-sport","tag-ken-owens","tag-six-nations","tag-six-nations-rugby","tag-wales","tag-welsh-rugby","tag-wru"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Ken Owens: players need a say in the future of Welsh rugby - The Cardiffian<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2019\/03\/05\/ken-owens-players-need-a-say-in-the-future-of-welsh-rugby\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ken Owens: players need a say in the future of Welsh rugby - The Cardiffian\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"WALES international Ken Owens says players should be involved in the discussion about the future of domestic rugby. The Professional Rugby Board are meeting today to discuss the proposals, under Project Reset, to merge Scarlets and Ospreys, bringing the number of sides in South Wales down to three. As part of the programme, a team would be set up in North Wales. Martyn Phillips, chief executive of the WRU, told players yesterday that a merged side is likely to start [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2019\/03\/05\/ken-owens-players-need-a-say-in-the-future-of-welsh-rugby\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Cardiffian\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-03-05T15:11:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/03\/Ken_Owens_Wales_Italy_rdax_1197x700_80.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"933\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"700\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jonathon Hill\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jonathon Hill\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2019\/03\/05\/ken-owens-players-need-a-say-in-the-future-of-welsh-rugby\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2019\/03\/05\/ken-owens-players-need-a-say-in-the-future-of-welsh-rugby\/\",\"name\":\"Ken Owens: players need a say in the future of Welsh rugby - The Cardiffian\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2019\/03\/05\/ken-owens-players-need-a-say-in-the-future-of-welsh-rugby\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2019\/03\/05\/ken-owens-players-need-a-say-in-the-future-of-welsh-rugby\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/03\/Ken_Owens_Wales_Italy_rdax_1197x700_80.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-03-05T15:11:15+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/#\/schema\/person\/49cec13e030a43831d70de2467489b4f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2019\/03\/05\/ken-owens-players-need-a-say-in-the-future-of-welsh-rugby\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2019\/03\/05\/ken-owens-players-need-a-say-in-the-future-of-welsh-rugby\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2019\/03\/05\/ken-owens-players-need-a-say-in-the-future-of-welsh-rugby\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/03\/Ken_Owens_Wales_Italy_rdax_1197x700_80.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/03\/Ken_Owens_Wales_Italy_rdax_1197x700_80.jpg\",\"width\":933,\"height\":700},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2019\/03\/05\/ken-owens-players-need-a-say-in-the-future-of-welsh-rugby\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Ken Owens: players need a say in the future of Welsh rugby\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/\",\"name\":\"The Cardiffian\",\"description\":\"Just another JOMEC Sites Network site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/#\/schema\/person\/49cec13e030a43831d70de2467489b4f\",\"name\":\"Jonathon Hill\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/ab948e4dc2c8785ed6f73f772970b1b5\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6d3ceda931c6dc166dafa6ed08b59ee72c19c0522ad1846d3860364dd0fa3bec?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6d3ceda931c6dc166dafa6ed08b59ee72c19c0522ad1846d3860364dd0fa3bec?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jonathon Hill\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/author\/hill-j\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ken Owens: players need a say in the future of Welsh rugby - The Cardiffian","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2019\/03\/05\/ken-owens-players-need-a-say-in-the-future-of-welsh-rugby\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ken Owens: players need a say in the future of Welsh rugby - The Cardiffian","og_description":"WALES international Ken Owens says players should be involved in the discussion about the future of domestic rugby. The Professional Rugby Board are meeting today to discuss the proposals, under Project Reset, to merge Scarlets and Ospreys, bringing the number of sides in South Wales down to three. As part of the programme, a team would be set up in North Wales. Martyn Phillips, chief executive of the WRU, told players yesterday that a merged side is likely to start [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2019\/03\/05\/ken-owens-players-need-a-say-in-the-future-of-welsh-rugby\/","og_site_name":"The Cardiffian","article_published_time":"2019-03-05T15:11:15+00:00","og_image":[{"width":933,"height":700,"url":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/03\/Ken_Owens_Wales_Italy_rdax_1197x700_80.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jonathon Hill","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jonathon Hill","Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2019\/03\/05\/ken-owens-players-need-a-say-in-the-future-of-welsh-rugby\/","url":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2019\/03\/05\/ken-owens-players-need-a-say-in-the-future-of-welsh-rugby\/","name":"Ken Owens: players need a say in the future of Welsh rugby - The Cardiffian","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2019\/03\/05\/ken-owens-players-need-a-say-in-the-future-of-welsh-rugby\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2019\/03\/05\/ken-owens-players-need-a-say-in-the-future-of-welsh-rugby\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/03\/Ken_Owens_Wales_Italy_rdax_1197x700_80.jpg","datePublished":"2019-03-05T15:11:15+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/#\/schema\/person\/49cec13e030a43831d70de2467489b4f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2019\/03\/05\/ken-owens-players-need-a-say-in-the-future-of-welsh-rugby\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2019\/03\/05\/ken-owens-players-need-a-say-in-the-future-of-welsh-rugby\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2019\/03\/05\/ken-owens-players-need-a-say-in-the-future-of-welsh-rugby\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/03\/Ken_Owens_Wales_Italy_rdax_1197x700_80.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/03\/Ken_Owens_Wales_Italy_rdax_1197x700_80.jpg","width":933,"height":700},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2019\/03\/05\/ken-owens-players-need-a-say-in-the-future-of-welsh-rugby\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Ken Owens: players need a say in the future of Welsh rugby"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/","name":"The Cardiffian","description":"Just another JOMEC Sites Network site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/#\/schema\/person\/49cec13e030a43831d70de2467489b4f","name":"Jonathon Hill","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/ab948e4dc2c8785ed6f73f772970b1b5","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6d3ceda931c6dc166dafa6ed08b59ee72c19c0522ad1846d3860364dd0fa3bec?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6d3ceda931c6dc166dafa6ed08b59ee72c19c0522ad1846d3860364dd0fa3bec?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jonathon Hill"},"url":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/author\/hill-j\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/119"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34291"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34291\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34291"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=34291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}