It could be the pitch perfect weekend for busy Cleverly
RHYS Cleverly will surely be the busiest man in Welsh rugby this weekend. Today he will do a 12 hour-plus shift at the Judgement Day double header in his role as a groundsman at the Principality Stadium.
Then, tomorrow, he will step out on the turf he knows so well in the colours of Caerphilly to play in the WRU National Bowl final against Shane Williams’ Amman United.
So there’s a hectic time ahead for the 33-year-old hooker.
“I will be here all day for Judgement Day,” he said.
“I will get here at about 8am and won’t be out of here until about 9-10pm.
“Then I will go home and get my head down and have my first ever time walking down that tunnel as a player.
“I have been eight, nine years working here. I know every blade of grass, I’ve been on every blade of grass, but this will be something different. It will be good. “It’s going to be a weird one. “It’s the best stadium in the world to play rugby and great to work here.
“Coming down the tunnel will be different. It will hard to get my head round.
“Am I coming to work, am I coming to play rugby?
“Maybe it will give me the edge during the game, maybe I won’t get sucked into the atmosphere as much as some other players.”
Explaining how he moved into his current line of work, Cleverly said: “I was up Caerphilly Golf Club for a couple of years doing ground maintenance.
“Then I applied for a job in the Vale Resort and that’s who I am employed by.
“My day to day job is at the WRU Centre of Excellence up there.
“Then obviously I am down here at the stadium on match days and team run throughs. WRU FINALS DAY PRINCIPALITY STADIUM WRU Bowl: WRU Plate: WRU Cup:
“On match days I am down here prepping and getting the pitch ready for whatever games are here.”
The stadium pitch has had its problems in the past, but Cleverly says it is much improved these days.
“It is better than it’s ever been to be honest with you,” he said.
“The DESO fibres are a big factor in helping with the stability of the pitch and the playing surface.”
One other person who will be very familiar with the stadium is Wales wing legend Shane Williams, who will line up with his brother Dean in the Amman United team.
“To be honest, we haven’t really mentioned him at all in the club,” said Cleverly.
“It obviously adds a bit of higher profile to the game.
“But Shane Williams is just another player to us. It will be nice to play against him, but we haven’t really bothered with him at all.
“We have mainly focused on ourself. We have got points to prove and want to be back in the league we want to be.”
Cleverly’s home-town club are currently in Division Three East A, where they lie third in the table, with a decent chance of promotion, given they have games in hand. As for the Bowl, they made the final via victories over Llandaff North, Whitchurch, Markham, Oakdale, Wattstown, Taffs Well and Cilfynydd.
“I have been on and off with the club for a few years and we have got a good set up here now, the boys have stuck together brilliantly,” he said.
“Our coach Brett Davey will take no messing. One minute you can be Man of the Match, the next you can be playing for the Seconds.
“That’s how good our strength in depth is this year.”
So how does Cleverly feel about his busy workload this weekend?
“I will have double time on Saturday and then annual leave on Sunday, so it’s not too bad!” he replied.