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Alfie calls for fight to save Bridgend
Jul 25 2008 by Delme Parfitt, Western Mail
GARETH THOMAS last night came out fighting the corner of the club that launched his career, insisting that the idea of rugby league killing off union in Bridgend is unthinkable.
I would lie down in front of a truck if it meant saving Bridgend Rugby Club from extinction, Wales record cap-holder told the Western Mail. Losing rugby union from that town simply cannot be allowed to happen.
Thomas, the only Welshman to win 100 caps and the man who captained the British Lions in New Zealand in 2005, spoke out after Bridgend-based Celtic Crusaders were handed a three-year Super League franchise.
The news that top-flight rugby league will be played in the town from next spring sparked an immediate prediction of doom for the 15-man code from Bridgend RFC director David Rees.
Rees said the decision would mean the death knell for one of the most famous clubs in the history of the Welsh game, a club that was a springboard not just for Thomas himself, but other greats such as JPR Williams, Steve Fenwick and John Devereux.
The club has already arranged urgent talks with the WRU and its umbrella region, the Ospreys, to work on a plan of action.
But now the man nicknamed Alfie alongside JPR the most decorated player ever to roll off the Bridgend production line has stepped into the furore, demanding that the whole Welsh game rallies around the Ravens if it means saving them from oblivion.
If we have to fight for Bridgends future then that is what must happen Ill put on a pair of boxing gloves if I have to, added the Cardiff Blues star.
I know things have changed since the regions came in, but just imagine if the future of Pontypridd or Llanelli or Cardiff rugby clubs was under threat. There would be uproar, and rightly so.
And Thomas urged the Welsh Rugby Union to consider drastic action if it is necessary to save Bridgend.
What I struggle with is the fact that only a few years ago we were told that a top-flight rugby union side playing out of the Brewery Field was not economically viable, added Alfie, who was part of the old Celtic Warriors outfit culled in 2004 by then WRU chief David Moffett.
Now rugby league has jumped into the area and we are told the potential is there for it to be a roaring success.
Good luck to the Crusaders, I hope they are indeed a success because what they have done is absolutely amazing and will be good for the Bridgend area.
But, if they can do it, rugby union should be able to do it too. I cant understand why, in order to breathe new life into sport in Bridgend, we have had to bring in a game that has no history here in Wales.
I just think it is up to the powers that be at the WRU to take notice of this situation.
Where are they in all this? Do they care about Bridgend RFC and the fact that they are clearly going to need help? Well, well find out.
I stress again, that I hope the Crusaders do well and I hope they get backing from supporters in the area.
But lets not forget the small matter of a rugby club thats been around for donkeys years.
Nobody can tell me there isnt still a place for it.
One of the most alarming aspects of the changing outlook in Bridgend, according to Thomas, is the impact league, as opposed to union, seems to be having on youngsters.
The development of grassroots talent is something the former Toulouse star is passionate about and his own Gareth Thomas Academy has been flourishing for three years now.
Already, he believes, league is stealing a march on its rival code.
I pick up my local paper and read more about the young teams linked to the Crusaders than to Bridgend, he added.
That is perhaps the single thing that makes me fear for my old club the most.
We cant lose the youngsters to union in this area or any other, that really is the slippery slope.
People talk about me, JPR, Steve Fenwick and others, but there are dozens and dozens of others, like for instance, Glenn Webbe, who would never have worn the red jersey of their country had it not been for Bridgend RFC.
I would even put lads like Scott Gibbs and Gavin Henson in the same sort of bracket.
They never wore the blue and white jersey, but they are from the area and aspired to do so as youngsters.
There have been more successful clubs in Welsh rugby than Bridgend, but its about what the club have given the Welsh game as a whole.
They have moulded players and then allowed them to go out and take on the world. We cant lose all that now.
Bridgend with no rugby club? I just cant imagine it.
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/rugbyn...ls-for-fight-to-save-bridgend-91466-21403011/
Jul 25 2008 by Delme Parfitt, Western Mail
GARETH THOMAS last night came out fighting the corner of the club that launched his career, insisting that the idea of rugby league killing off union in Bridgend is unthinkable.
I would lie down in front of a truck if it meant saving Bridgend Rugby Club from extinction, Wales record cap-holder told the Western Mail. Losing rugby union from that town simply cannot be allowed to happen.
Thomas, the only Welshman to win 100 caps and the man who captained the British Lions in New Zealand in 2005, spoke out after Bridgend-based Celtic Crusaders were handed a three-year Super League franchise.
The news that top-flight rugby league will be played in the town from next spring sparked an immediate prediction of doom for the 15-man code from Bridgend RFC director David Rees.
Rees said the decision would mean the death knell for one of the most famous clubs in the history of the Welsh game, a club that was a springboard not just for Thomas himself, but other greats such as JPR Williams, Steve Fenwick and John Devereux.
The club has already arranged urgent talks with the WRU and its umbrella region, the Ospreys, to work on a plan of action.
But now the man nicknamed Alfie alongside JPR the most decorated player ever to roll off the Bridgend production line has stepped into the furore, demanding that the whole Welsh game rallies around the Ravens if it means saving them from oblivion.
If we have to fight for Bridgends future then that is what must happen Ill put on a pair of boxing gloves if I have to, added the Cardiff Blues star.
I know things have changed since the regions came in, but just imagine if the future of Pontypridd or Llanelli or Cardiff rugby clubs was under threat. There would be uproar, and rightly so.
And Thomas urged the Welsh Rugby Union to consider drastic action if it is necessary to save Bridgend.
What I struggle with is the fact that only a few years ago we were told that a top-flight rugby union side playing out of the Brewery Field was not economically viable, added Alfie, who was part of the old Celtic Warriors outfit culled in 2004 by then WRU chief David Moffett.
Now rugby league has jumped into the area and we are told the potential is there for it to be a roaring success.
Good luck to the Crusaders, I hope they are indeed a success because what they have done is absolutely amazing and will be good for the Bridgend area.
But, if they can do it, rugby union should be able to do it too. I cant understand why, in order to breathe new life into sport in Bridgend, we have had to bring in a game that has no history here in Wales.
I just think it is up to the powers that be at the WRU to take notice of this situation.
Where are they in all this? Do they care about Bridgend RFC and the fact that they are clearly going to need help? Well, well find out.
I stress again, that I hope the Crusaders do well and I hope they get backing from supporters in the area.
But lets not forget the small matter of a rugby club thats been around for donkeys years.
Nobody can tell me there isnt still a place for it.
One of the most alarming aspects of the changing outlook in Bridgend, according to Thomas, is the impact league, as opposed to union, seems to be having on youngsters.
The development of grassroots talent is something the former Toulouse star is passionate about and his own Gareth Thomas Academy has been flourishing for three years now.
Already, he believes, league is stealing a march on its rival code.
I pick up my local paper and read more about the young teams linked to the Crusaders than to Bridgend, he added.
That is perhaps the single thing that makes me fear for my old club the most.
We cant lose the youngsters to union in this area or any other, that really is the slippery slope.
People talk about me, JPR, Steve Fenwick and others, but there are dozens and dozens of others, like for instance, Glenn Webbe, who would never have worn the red jersey of their country had it not been for Bridgend RFC.
I would even put lads like Scott Gibbs and Gavin Henson in the same sort of bracket.
They never wore the blue and white jersey, but they are from the area and aspired to do so as youngsters.
There have been more successful clubs in Welsh rugby than Bridgend, but its about what the club have given the Welsh game as a whole.
They have moulded players and then allowed them to go out and take on the world. We cant lose all that now.
Bridgend with no rugby club? I just cant imagine it.
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/rugbyn...ls-for-fight-to-save-bridgend-91466-21403011/
