THE MAX FACTOR MAKING HIS OWN WAY
IT was understandable that Max Llewellyn should have been stuck in the second row when he first took up rugby. For one thing, he had the height. He was sprouting up and on the way to reaching his current 6ft 4ins frame.
Then there was the small matter of his dad. Gareth Llewellyn played 92 times for Wales, all but one of them at lock.
So when young Max rocked up at Clwb Rygbi Cymry Caerdydd, there was only one place he was likely to be positioned.
“The first training session or the first game that we played, I was a lock,” he recalls.
“I think because I turned up, and obviously the height I had, they initially thought ‘second row, get in there’.
“Then, after a game or two, they kind of realised I had a little bit more, so they sent me out into the backs.
“I think my dad is pretty happy about that actually. He says to me ‘stay away from there because that’s not where you want to be’.”
While a pupil at Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Glantaf, Llewellyn blossomed in the centre and earned a place with the Cardiff Blues Academy.
He made his Blues debut aged just 18 and went on to make 14 appearances for Wales U20s, as his obvious talent was recognised.
So, what’s it been like having a former Wales skipper as your old man?
“He was never really pushing me to play rugby,” he reveals.
“I took it up at a young age, but then didn’t like it because it was touch rugby and there wasn’t games as if I was watching him play.
“So I ended up joining back again when it was contact rugby.
“For me, he’s never been pushy, but he’s just like the perfect person to have there.
“Every game he can give me feedback and it’s not all criticism, it’s really good. He just shows me a path that I can take to try and get to the next level.
“I would probably say I ring him more than he rings me after games.
“He might drop me a text, just commenting on my performance, saying well done or unlucky.
“Then, most of the time, I will end up ringing him and asking for some advice, what I could work on to really improve my game, especially with the age I am.”
Llewellyn has had limited opportunities at the Blues over the last couple of years, amid injury issues and a highly competitive centre department, with the likes of Willis Halaholo, Rey Lee Lo, Garyn Smith, Ben Thomas and Harri Millard all in the mix.
The bulk of his rugby has come with the Cardiff RFC Premiership team, for whom he has made 28 appearances, scoring six tries.
“Everyone around the club has been fantastic, just helping me out on the pitch, giving me pointers, little tips and I’ve really enjoyed my time so far,” he said.
The former Cardiff Met student clearly has size on his side at 6ft 4ins and 15st 6lbs, which comes in pretty handy in the No.12 berth.
But he’s also got an excellent offloading game and is a good communicator on the pitch, as well as off it, proving to be an eloquent talker while on media duties.
So, he has got a lot going for him and it’s already been an eventful season.
Back in October, he was called up by the Barbarians for the game against England, along with fellow Blues Will Boyde and Ioan Davies.
That followed 12 players leaving the Baa-Baas bubble against Covid guidelines and being dropped from the fixture.
Ultimately, the match didn’t go ahead, but Llewellyn feels privileged to have been asked on board by the world famous invitation team.
“It was crazy really, to get the phone call to say would you like to play for the Barbarians,” he said.
“It’s an honour that’s up there just behind playing for Wales.
“It was a really good experience even if I didn’t get to play, just going down there, meeting all the people and being in that environment.
“There were a few internationals there from Fiji and I really enjoyed it there. It was nice to experience it with Boydey and Ioan.
“If I could, I’d love to go back, actually finish it off and play a game. That would be great.”
That would see him follow in the footsteps of his father, who pulled on the iconic black and white shirt in the 1989 clash against Leicester, featuring alongside the likes of David Campese and Will Carling.
“He had a game for them, but it wasn’t an international, so I probably would’ve achieved something that he didn’t!” quips Max.
“But there’s still a long way for me to go if I want to achieve what he’s achieved in rugby.”
So what about the old man? What is he up to these days?
Well, former Neath, Harlequins, Narbonne and Bristol second row Gareth had a spell at the Gnoll as head coach, up until 2018, and is now territory manager for Lima Orthapaedics, an Italian medical device company.
While he has stepped away from coaching, he still occasionally dabbles in the game as a pundit and follows the fortunes of both Max and his other rugby-playing son Alfie, who is with Cardiff Harlequins Youth.