If GROGS has ever had a more insightful speaker on Scottish rugby than Kenny Hamilton it's hard to think who that might have been. The record number of 115 interested parties weren't to be disappointed! A quintessential rugby man, who is the current Glasgow Hawks President and Chairman of the Hearts and Balls charity, Kenny grabbed attention by touching on the 3 big issues of modern day Scottish Rugby ..... the state of the game, the "Super Six" and rugby injuries. He was bullish about the state of the game, pointing out the success of Glasgow Warriors, the progress of Edinburgh Rugby and Scotland being in their highest ever position in world rankings! With the 'Murrayfield debt’ reducing, rugby academies, improved coaching and the benefits of professionalism all bearing fruit, one could see why Kenny is enthusiastic about the future. He also praised the contributions made by the ever loyal and hard working voluntary sector in schools and clubs for keeping the sport alive for years. You could hear the jaws dropping when he said that currently the pro players' salaries are rising at about 30% per year! Kenny was more hopeful than bullish about the concept of the Super 6 but is willing to wait and see if the results of priming the next level of young players will prove more successful than before although he feared that the proposed blueprint has all the hallmarks of a committee designed camel! Nevertheless, if the current interdependency among players, supporters and management continues, it might just nurture the desired success. A reflection of such cooperation can be seen in the Hearts and Balls Charitable Trust which Kenny chairs. Life changing injuries are relatively few for such a physical sport but, since it was founded, the Charity has donated more than £1/2 million to help support individuals and their families. The financial and volunteer support comes mainly from the grass roots rugby community he admires so much. There was so much more to Kenny's talk which can't be recorded here. Safe to say that it earned him warm applause, appreciation and a bottle of that very rare GROGS whisky!
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