Nothing to say, yet
Transcription
Gwion Davies, a committee member of Newcastle MNRC, discusses his involvement with the club and their recent win against Dunbent. He mentions the upcoming match against Cymru and the challenges of playing in bad weather. Gwion also talks about the facilities and community involvement at the club, including plans for a training ground. He reflects on the club's season so far and their aspirations for a top-five finish. Welcome to Scarlet's Fever, the home of Suspense Central and Westerer is Besterer. Hello and welcome to this special edition of the Scarlet's Fever podcast. I'm joined by Gwion Davies, former chairman and current committee member for Newcastle MNRC. Good evening Gwion, how are we doing? Yeah not too bad Martin, how's it going over there? Yeah I'm alright, probably stuck in the worst room in the house, I've got a lot of flow coming behind me as you might see now. So tell me a little bit about yourself, what do you do with the club? So yeah, my name's Gwion Davies, I've been on the committee basically since I moved back to the area. I was in Cardiff until about 2012, moved back to the area, I was on the committee then since about 2014-15. I'm just happy to do anything for the club really. My dad's been on the loudspeaker for years, for 20 years, so I'm learning the ropes there. So if he's not around, I'm the one up in the box these days. And yeah, got on the committee then and became chairman then. I think, I think what it was, not a poison chalice, but I think the prophet of doom, I got made chairman in September 19. And as you can imagine, by March 20, Covid hit, so I was chairman for three years and never got a full season really. So no, back on the committee now, and yeah, as I say, happy to be in the club then. In charge of the programme and the sponsorship side of things then for the club. That's brilliant, anything you can do for the club. So I'm guessing we'll be hearing the Davies family voices for generations if you have an MN. Well, you never know, you never know. Dad's still around, still lives in the area. But yeah, I do tend to get up. It's nice and warm up there as well. You can imagine the recent weather. I think I could have about 20 people in the box these days. How cold it is outside. So no, it's nice and warm up there and it's going well. That's good to see. That's good to see. So let's talk about this past weekend. Dunbent at home, a good win. What was the game like, give you a quick rundown. Well, I think that's the best first half I've seen all season to be honest. We were 33-35 nil up half-time. Bonus points in the bag, five tries, five different scorers by half-time. And to be honest, I know Dunbent were struggling a bit with injuries as well. But the ruthlessness of the play was unbelievable to us. It kept the crowd going. Smallish crowd as you can imagine in the start of January. It's a tough time for clubs to have games and stuff. But it really cheered up the crowd. It felt a bit disappointing at the end. We let Dunbent in for four tries in the second half and they got a bonus point. I think we always knew they wouldn't get within seven. But I think the fact that they got four tries, although we scored seven ourselves. We're pretty close together up in the upper mid-table as it were. But Stephan Evans at ten was back to his best. Ball into hands, Barry John style in the centre there. And Alex Williams. He's been playing hooker for a couple of years now, but he was back at eight. A few games now back at eight and he's just had a new lease of life. He's pumped some energy into that back row as well. It was great to see, to be fair. One of the young players we've got in the Scallops Academy, Max. The best surname I think we've got in the club. Max Rodaloda. He's at number seven. He just came up in youth last year, shot through. He had two tries the weekend before. Two tries for his university in midweek. Then another great performance as well. Once you've got a back row going, you can really drill into teams on the rack. That really put us a platform to play well. 45-26 I think it was at the end. Great match and hopefully we can carry on this week as well. A 19-point win and you're annoyed you let in a few tries at the end. I'm sure I did. That first half, we were buzzing half-time. The point is, because we've got tough matches coming up, we took a few players off at half-time to keep them fresh. It's one of those things. I'm sure a lot of teams have seen it. You're pretty comfortable. Then you start busting a few players for the future weeks. Something doesn't quite click in that second half. I should have gone for a pint half-time. Sounds like a good plan. I don't know if that's going to be happening this weekend. You've got just a minor game this weekend. Not that critical at all. You're up a mid-table clash. I call it a battle to force away the stands in my mind. I was checking the table earlier. If we beat them, if we get a bonus point win, we'd be equal points. If we beat them, we'd be within one point with two games in hand. That's a very nice pitch. Cymru have been sneaking those wins all season. I know a lot of Cymru boys. My wife's from that area as well. I never go that far down. Although, I'm moving house in the future down to that area. I'll have to put the blinkers on and speed down to Emlyn. I'd be lynched down in Emlyn if I stopped him from it. They'll admit that they came up in third last season. Llangennau Ffes and them. They might be the underdogs this year. They've been winning those matches and sneaking the wins. While we've been losing by one or two points, they've been winning. The gap's grown quite a bit. They're going great. We're pretty similar with regard to community and everything. Two massive Welsh-speaking derby teams. It's a great atmosphere every time. We were supposed to play them before Christmas. They're jinxing us. The only weekend that we had frost, we had to cancel that match. This weekend, there's snow and ice. I haven't seen a committee pray so much for rain in years. We're praying for rain over the next 24 hours. I think we'll be all right. We've got 14 tables booked in for a big sponsor match. Big game, big crowd expected. It'll be a good thing if we have to cancel again. It looks promising. It's time. We're up for this one. With that incentive of getting that close to them for the season running, it's going to be a good one this Saturday. Come down for a spin. Can I get a prediction? From me? No. No. No. Terrible. We've moved past last week and this week. Tell me more about the club. What facilities are there? Since I moved back, everything's moved down now to pitch side. We used to have the clubhouse on the bridge. You had to walk quite a length on the pavement to see the pitch. The clubhouse is down by the pitch. Now everything's moved down there since 2011. Four changing rooms block. We've got a new pitch. Four changing rooms block and a long room above. That's been there for a few years. Since 2011, we've got a massive function room. I don't know if you've been to the Royal Welsh recently. In the Charolays, they've got a brick wall. You can sponsor a brick. We've got this very similar thing up there. It's a pyramid of bricks. Local people buying sponsored bricks. That feeds the club again. Great bar. The emblem is all over the place. Kevin Thomas, a local businessman with the windows. He was essential in getting that clubhouse going. It's an impressive building. Massive car park. For weddings, we've got a licence for the wedding. There's a massive car park. Plenty of parking. The third pitch is just in front of the clubhouse. Then you're down to another two pitches, floodlights and everything. The stadium. Sorry. The main stand. The seating came from the Old Downs Park. I remember when it was taken down in 1998-99. We've got a chunk of the seating. That's the main stand. There's about 200 seating there. The Tannoy system a lot of people were talking to earlier. Three pitches with a hub as well. A community hub. Giving blood, vaccines. It's calmed down a bit, hasn't it? There's a club choir, a male voice choir there. Even Alzheimer's and prostate support. Local charities meet there as well. I'm not sure if many clubs can stage their own annual dinner in the clubhouse itself. We're lucky enough to have plenty of room for that every May. Plenty of YfC dances. Everything you can think of in west Wales. We've got it down there. It'll be a pleasure to get you down now. I'm not sure if you're busy for the rest of the season. I'll have to make a special effort to come down one game. I've been roped in now, haven't I? It sounds like you've got quite a lot going on. You really are central to the community with all the charity and blood drives. It's great hearing that our rugby clubs are still a major part of our community. What about in the future? Are there any plans or developments coming down the line that we can look forward to? One thing we are looking into is early stages. To get some planning and a training band. You can imagine how wet it is. We're right by the river. When the river floods, it floods. We've had tractor bikes turning up in Cardigan. That's not a joke, ironically. Getting a training band. We've got a bit of space at the top. We've got a little gym in the back. A gym in the facility? That's a massive park up there. Getting an all-weather band. That's been on the radar for a while. We're in touch with Cardigan council. Just to get the ball rolling to see what's possible. Ideally. For the minis and juniors as well. Every Thursday or Wednesday with the girls. If it's like last night, frozen solid. When it's usually so wet, it's not nice to play in that weather. To get something like that would really boost participation. We'll see how it goes. It's looking slightly frozen. We've touched a bit on last week and this week in terms of games. Your season so far, you came up in second. Alongside Crivet and Tangernet. How has it gone so far for you? Did you hit your expectations? Were you hoping for more? How has it turned out so far? Overall, we thought... When you hear about top five going up... That's the aim. You've got Naberth, Brecon and Llangenech. It has turned out like that. They look a class above. They look a solid outfit, all three of them. Afterwards, you've got four or five of us vying for fourth and fifth. That's where we hope to be. Overall, it's worked out as we thought. We've lost a couple of games we should have won. That would have made the table look a bit healthier. Overall, we can't complain. It looks OK. We're in the mix, so that's top five. That's where we want to be and hopefully we'll do it as well. I've had a look at the table and gone through your results so far this season. You've only played four games at home and you've won three of them. You're building yourself quite a portrait. Ten or so games to go and you've got seven of them at home. That's major coming into the second half of the season. This might be jinxing you as well. Brecon and Narberth have been postponed with us. Brecon just before Christmas and Narberth were supposed to play a cup game this weekend. That's why that's been postponed. They're both going to be played right at the end of the season, 6th and 13th April. I'm not counting chickens, but they would probably be up by then. It might play out OK for us, but we have to make our move before then. On a normal season, you'd expect to lose those two. I'm not sure if Brecon have done what we thought they'd do. They haven't absolutely hammered teams. Narberth have put a few big scores up. Brecon are up their backs, but Llangynnau have started motoring now as well. We've got them away next week as well. Apart from that, it's such a good league. Last year, we felt so many games were cancelled and weren't played because teams were struggling and pulling out. There wasn't any penalty for cancelling games, so we felt we were in limbo. A few of our home games were cancelled as well because we were the furthest away from a few of the teams and they didn't come in the end. This year, it's a really competitive league. I know there's been a few hammerings now and again. They seem to be a bit of a rarity. Apart from that, we've had some crackers. Close games, sneaking wins, not clicking and shooting ourselves in the foot. It looks like a really good league. Hopefully, if we can make top five, it'll be a massively tough league next year. Hopefully, we'll be in the mix anyway. Happy days. If I rock up on Saturday and get to the club gates, how much is it going to cost me to get in to watch a game? I'm not in, just to have a word with me. £6. £4 for pensioners. I was on the gate last week. To people, I had to pretend that I thought they should be paying £6. You don't want to offend anyone. £6, please. No, I didn't want to say. Anyone under 16 is in for free, no problem. We just like to get them through the gates. There's a programme you've got. I thought I'd pre-answer your next question. The matchday programme, with the team sheet and stuff. It's like an insert, a paper insert. We have a proper sponsors booklet. 64 pages. You can probably make about £6,000 or £7,000 just by selling adverts for the season. We print about 1,500 of those off at the start of the season. Just slip the insert and give it out. There are so many supportive businesses around Emlyn. Even a bit further. There are very good businesses within Emlyn and in the surrounding areas. They're more than happy to pay £50 or £100 for a full page. I fill it quite easily. We get gourmer in Llandysul. They print them off for us. They chuck in 50 posters for the fixtures every year for free. I put those round the businesses in town and stuff. It gets the local area involved. I don't know if they look forward to getting me around June asking for money. A poster usually softens the blow a bit for them. I always ask for a programme. I love the clubs that still have their paper programmes. They still give them with entries. It's a major part of it for me. It's part of the experience. While I was a kid growing up, my grandfather always put me to games. He'd pay you a couple of quid. I'm surprised you were still £6 in the Championship. That's unreal value. I think I was up in Cymru. I forgot this was going out public. I was up in Cymru the other week. I got an invite from their sponsors. But we were away. Port Talbot was too far for me, so I went up to Cymru instead. I think it was the same there. £6, £4, something like that. I'm not sure about further east or down in Aberystwyth. £6 was what we had when we were in the Championship last. We came down the league. We didn't put it down to £5. £6 isn't... When you're on the gate, it's a bit awkward. It's a bit of a pain. It is a bit of a pain, but it's still cheap. For 90 minutes of great quality. To be honest, I'd rather watch Newcastle Emlyn play than any of the regions at the moment. Because you know the players and you get a feel for the club. The noise might be bigger in a little stand in Newcastle Emlyn than it is in a half-empty stadium elsewhere. It's a great day out. I'm trying to sell it now. I'll see you down soon, Maddy. Happy days. You don't have to sell it. Me and one of the boys on your hill, Cat Boy, we started calling him now. I won't go into that. It's something different. We've been following the Quinns as much as we can. We know Flanders are awesome. We've thrown our last in with the Quinns. When we got to see him last Thursday, he was bloody outstanding. The quality was unreal. The standards coming below. That gap isn't what people always think it is. I know they're moving on with their CBC stuff. If you play the right way, it's amazing what you can do. Less of that. We've gone through all your seniors. We know where you're going off. Let's talk about your mini and juniors. What do your mini and juniors look like? Do you have a full section or bits and pieces? No, a full set. Under-7s and under-8s are together usually. You can't really start with an under-6 or under-7. You have to be 6. It's a bit awkward that year. From there all the way up to under-16s and to the youth. At least two coaches for every team. And a manager as well. Because of DBSs and this kind of stuff. A manager is pretty essential these days. There's so much nifty-grifty and contacting parents. Getting the consent forms for videos and photos. It's a bit more of a hassle than it used to be. Volunteer-wise, we can't complain at all. The chairman, treasurer and secretary for the mini and juniors. We've got the Wibirod. Technically, it's not our section. It's a local hub. It's been held with us in Newcastle Emlyn for a few years. The Wibirod name is pretty linked to Newcastle Emlyn. If you knew Newcastle Emlyn history... ..the Wibir was the monster that encircled the castle... ..and poisoned the river when it died... ..and the blood flew down the TV. There's a bit of mythological magic to Newcastle Emlyn. You can see the castle from the club. It's right next door. If you can swim. The Wibirod have been there for years. They train on a Wednesday. All the minis and juniors train on a Thursday. The seniors and the youth train on a Tuesday and a Thursday. The ladies team started last year. After one year, they were in the national league. They've been in the league since September. They play on Sundays. It's tough. We're in the national league. We're in with people like Pop Cowell and Morris. They're pretty far away. If there's late cancellations, it's a bit of a pain. Those are the bumps the ladies teams will have to deal with... ..for a few years, until a few more teams pop up. It's great that they're still involved and going well. Hopefully, it'll carry on for years. We had a ladies team back in the 1990s. They stopped for a while. Now the interest is back. We've got 25-30 on the books again, straight away. Hopefully, we can stick with it again now. Not far off a second to be on a team with all those numbers. But you always have, don't you? Oh, I know. You've touched on it yourself. You've got a youth team running. Where are your youth concerned? How do you transition? What's your internal player pathway? Is your plan of guiding your youth through to the seniors? Or do you have a second? Since they've changed to under-18s, it's tough. Especially for the youth forwards. To jump from youth straight to second. It is tough. We've got a strong second team. Again, it's hit or miss with fixtures. Our boys are keen to play every match. But it doesn't always work out like that. It's keeping that interest. If you get a bad year, they just lose interest. They'll look for a neighbouring club that are in the league. That's the issue. I know the De Broglie were looking at getting second teams into the national league. I know there's a bit of hoo-ha about going to politics. Because our seconds are quite isolated. We're not in the middle of the east, like Cardiff, the Valleys. We're not going to take anyone's players. That's the main sticking point that the De Broglie were worried about. The second teams will nip players from the firsts of neighbouring teams. The firsts will die in those teams. Newcastle are pretty unique. We're far from everywhere. That's not going to happen. Even our firsts, 80-90%, have come through the youth. They're local boys. I know the youth this year have a sticky start. They're getting their confidence back now. There's a new coaching team there. They're getting their feet under them now. I think I'm right in saying that they've got the bottom heavy. They won't lose a lot of youth next year. Hopefully that'll be a bit of continuity. Our firsts, you're looking at our firsts backline. Five of those were in the same youth team 10 years ago. That youth team was incredibly strong. They all came up together. Just before we got into the championship, they all started playing together. That's what pushed it up into the championship in the first place. The problem is they're all now about 13. In a few years' time, they're all going to leave at the same time as well. There's always a risk. We're getting bloody new youngsters. Although, on the other hand, I think a backline is easier to fix than the forwards. We've got a lighter pack this year. If we are struggling in a few games, that's where we'd struggle, in the pack maybe. It's a young pack. With a few old heads like Dave Astley and Alex and those boys. We're aiming for promotion this year. There's no point saying we're safe staying as we are. What's the point of that? The boys want to play at a higher level. Why not give it a go? Whatever happens, happens. That's where we want to be. In the championship last year... I know it's Championship West now. In the championship last time, we stayed there for four years. Held our own. I think we were favourites to go down every year. Held our own. Mid-table jobs against Pontypool. To be fair, Trebanos and Tata were up there back then. I know they're struggling a bit now in the league with us. It's peaks and drops in rugby. Especially in the lower league. You get the luck of the draw with a strong youth. As we did a few years ago. It's peaks and drops. Hopefully we can keep it going. That's the exact attitude. Why not? Let's go for it. When you've got someone like Dai Pat speeding your squad, you've got to be going for the elite level. You can't keep him under cover for the rest of his life. Dai now is on the coaching staff. That's continuity within the club. Mark Lloyd was with us for years. He was the head coach. He left two years ago. Charles Gale is there now. He was assistant to Mark at the time. You've got Stefan Evans, who plays 10. He's just had his 30th. 29-year-old backs coach. You've got Dai past his then. I don't want to insult him. Is he 33 or 34? That might be being nice to Dai. He's forwards coach. You've got Sean Edwards. He's in his 20s. He's a skills coach. It's a young coaching squad. Local boys. Since they want to stick around, why not? It's great having them on board. There's continuity there. Robustness. It's a steady way of doing things. You're answering questions, not asking. Your coaching set-up is brilliant. Let's talk about some of the... We all know the likes of Gareth Davies and Scott Williams. I think Gareth Thomas as well. He's come through. Spot and Gareth. The main two. Gareth's still there. He went for a bit, but he's now back. Before the World Cup, he was back to his best. To be honest. Josh Turnbull. Cardiff captain for a few years. He was coaching with us a few years ago. I know he's in Queens now, isn't he? He was coaching with us. The amount of experience he brought to the coach. The boys loved having him around. The gravitas of having a blues player from Cardiff. I don't know what I'm supposed to say now. Everyone who's played Cardiff calls him a bluers. Exactly. As you say, Gareth Thomas. He's come later than usual. As he does in front row. He's around town. His wife, not his wife. His mother. The women's shop in Newcastle Emlyn. Better give me a shout. Adida Jay in Newcastle Emlyn. His cousin, Steff, who plays prop for the Scarletts. Steff has come through the ranks as well. Yr Osian Davies as well, who's in Llandyfri. He was playing with us a couple of years. I think one of the last he played is his father played. Back in the day, in the 2000s. I'm sure he shared a field with his father when he was 17 or something. His father was just coming to the end of his career. Both of them played for Emlyn at one point. He's been hit in the gym. He looks ridiculous. What is he? Is he in his mid-20s by now? He seems to have grown so much. I know you can grow wider going to the gym. But he seems to have gotten taller as well. He looks a beast at the moment as well. To be fair, Sionedd Harris is in Newcastle Emlyn. I know down in Whitland from Aberaeron herself. Ellie Trowmans now is, again, under-18s women's. Playing in the centre. I think he scored a few tries out in Canada over the summer. The girls as well are coming through slowly as well. Which is great to see, to be fair. These are all the current. We're nearing the end of his career for some of them. Are you sure you can take that, Matthew? Possibly. Within five years, I'll be dead. What a group of talents coming out. You've already mentioned Matt Roddell-Oda. I can't believe I missed him. You've had Harry Fuller with you this season. A rather young one. You've got Thomas Evans, who's in the under-16s. But he's been selected for the Scottish 18s. The centre that he is. That's a great going at that age. That is huge, to be honest. To be honest, because I'm not a father of someone of that age. That's when you get into the middies and juniors. I know Harry Fuller. He's come to us this season. He's not a project with us, to be fair. Unless I take some praise that I shouldn't. But to get into an under-18s team when you're basically under-16 is pretty special. Hopefully he can go from strength to strength. Stefan Evans as well is in the academy. We've got two Stefan Evans. He's not the 30-year-old one. His mother, Nerys, is the club manager for us. She does an amazing job as well, to be fair. I hope I give Nerys a mention. Stefan Evans has had a couple of injuries this season, to be fair. He's just come up to the academy. He's 18 or 19, I think. He's just started playing for the seniors, when he's fit, obviously. I think another one that... Cian Jones was in there. Who was? Cian Jones was in there. He was in the under-18s last season. Cian Jones was in there. I think he's on a permit in Aberaeron now, for now. Hopefully he'll come back. His father used to play for us, number 9. I think he played for Gwyn as well. He played for Llanelli as well, I think. Nerys is still in the club, on the committee as well, involved with the minis and juniors. I think one name that might be good to keep an eye on is Kyle Jones. He was in the mix in the academy. He's gone to Hertfordy. He's played for Hertfordy's under-18s. He's captained Gloucester under-18s and scored a try against Gwyns the other day. He's in the under-18s Welsh squad as well, the training squad. As some may know, David Jenkins was a former Hertfordy boy, wasn't he? He's the youngest captain since Gareth Edwards, the second youngest. Kyle Jones might be one to look out for in future. We're keeping an eye on him, certainly. I was in the same year as his father in school, which really makes me feel old now. Kyle Jones is certainly one to look out for as well in future. So, every single player has more or less got a relative or father who's played once before. That seems like this is the make-up of the club. Yeah, you're right there. One of the really nice things about Emlyn is that I'm a Welsh speaker myself, first language. I would hazard a guess that 90% or 95% of those in the clubhouse on a Saturday would speak Welsh. Maybe not first language, but they'd certainly be fluent in it. I think that's something that's grown since Covid or since people started socialising again. I know the Welsh language has been rexum and stuff like that. It's all feeding into the Welsh language experience at the moment. You just hear these small things by the bar. I think everybody's making just a slightly more of an effort these days. It just brings a smile to your face. I think the Welshness of Newcastle Emlyn Rugby Club is something that's really drawn me in. It's great just to go out on a Saturday. I sometimes go to the match, leave the match, and I won't speak in English at all. It's that ingrained in the local area, to be honest. It brings a smile to the face, to be honest. It's great. That's brilliant, especially with everything going on with the Welsh language. Pushing it for that million speakers. I'm not in that category yet. I am slowly learning. I've got my little language app on my phone. I am trying. Da iawn. If you go in, they'll help you. We've spoken so much about the club. I think I already know why you love it so much. Why Newcastle Emlyn? What makes it so special to you? I was born in Wrexham, ironically, speaking about them earlier. My mother came from Pembrokeshire, North Pembrokeshire. We moved down in 1984 when I was about four. I was in the Newcastle Emlyn Ebbw Vale game in 1997. I was actually just googling that just before I came to speak to you. There's an eight-minute section on the Welsh language magazine programmes. There's an eight-minute section on that with people like Simon Thomas. He's down in Pembrokeshire, but he's big in the Royal Welsh. He's probably a fresh-faced 20-year-old or something. It just took me back to that match. Going to Popio's nightclub, as it was. It's gone now. A lot of people would be glad to hear. Going there after the match. Kingsley Jones and Byron Hayward and those boys were there drinking and enjoying themselves. It was a near-old clubhouse. Since moving to Cardiff then, and maybe losing touch, the only rugby I saw then was, I might go and see Cardiff or the Blues play, but mostly Scarlett on telly and stuff, when they were pretty good to watch. Since coming back, as I mentioned earlier, I've already moved down to Newcastle Emlyn, so I live probably about 20 minutes away in a car now, up in Talgarreg in even deepest west Wales. It's a trek there. I used to walk down to the club, but now I have to make the effort to drive. But going down there, I wasn't in the youth or anything. I played in the knees and juniors with the famous Wyn Leeds, who was running everything back then, Wyn Thomas. But going through that and not going to the youth, I don't think it's... It might put my comments in a bit of context, that I might not know what I'm talking about. As my wife would say. But going back there then, 10 years ago, and maybe back on the Tannoy and taking over from my dad and stuff, I'll tell you the one thing that really influenced me and really made me feel like I was part of a local, close-knit community. When I moved back, my mother had cancer and she was ill, so she died quite soon after I moved back home. When you get your cards and flowers and stuff, the one card that I really shed a tear was one from the rugby club, and all the boys from the squad had signed it. Because mum was a massive fan down there. I'm not sure the refs would agree, but she was really into rugby. I think that really touched me. And I think since that point, there's been a connection that's deeper than I thought it would go. I never thanked the boys for that, but that was a pretty nice touch. I'm sorry to hear about your mother, but that's absolutely amazing to come from the club. You've got me choking up a little bit, but that's just amazing. That's quite a lot we've gone through now. So let's get on to some of the serious stuff. I want to paint in the club house. How much is it going to take me back? Now then, I was talking to a few lumpy boys, and they said they had a membership card that would give them money off. Well, we haven't got any of that down in Newcastle Emlyn. We're true charities down there. We take anything you've got, basically. But at the moment, as you can expect, prices are going up. Guinness is £4.50, which is £0.50 basically for a Guinness round that area. We've got the posh lager. What's the posh lager in our Windrushby club's mapping? What is it? Posh lager. Is that carling? No. It's madri. Madri is the posh lager. Madri? Oh. Yes. Boron lager. Lovely. So a madri is £4.30. And then your carling, if you fancy a pint, if you don't want to taste anything, is £4. So any lager and cider is £4. Worthy is £4. And one thing, you know, as a bit of a... You know, I like my bit that's worthy. You know, it's a safe bet, Worthy, if you're out all day. But if you want to fancy a change, I think go into the local breweries and... Well, it's a bit further afield than local, maybe. But we've got two kegs of moose poos, purple moose, coming down on Saturday. So they're the brewery in North Madog. And they've got elderflower beer. So it's really lovely stuff. So that's about £4 a pint, if you want to taste something. So you've got... And a couple of other breweries, more local, then. We've got Mantle, then. Mantle is in Cardigan. So we've got Moho and Koodoo TV there. We've got Bluestone Brewery, then, down in North Thames. So you've got Rock Cotter and stuff like that. So we try and get a... Especially when we've got big games. It's a risk, isn't it? You know, if you buy a keg of 70 pints, you want to... If you tap it, you have to sell it. Because we're not open maybe all week, every day. We have to try and sell it all in one day. So, yeah. Since we know Cromith are coming, we shall be all right. So we've got two kegs coming on Saturday from moose poos. But, yeah. For the big games, we've got Narbeth coming up now. And Brecon in the season. We'll have a couple of guest ales from different local breweries. But, yeah. A reasonable £4.50 is the going rate, I think. These days, to be fair. I remember the days of £2 pints and stuff. But, yeah. That's long gone, unfortunately. So, yeah. So, but... And Nerys keeps the bar so well. Everything tastes good. You can say that. A nice clean pint there. I'll be honest. That's a brilliant thing to do. Every big game, get a new keg in. That's a brilliant experience to have. I love that. Well, there we are. And so, you know. Someone like Purple Moose. I was in fair play with them. I said, I fancy two kegs just to see how it goes. They sent two kegs down. They sent 12 glasses down. They sent a box of 12 samples. So, I'm not sure anyone else on the committee saw those. But they were all nice. And they did help you. And a little Purple Moose teddy and a bottle opener. They really threw the boat out. And fair play. We'll keep coming back to them. If you just send a few samples, fair play to them. So, no. I'm very impressed with them. So, yeah. Those are the go-to guys at the moment. So, if any other breweries want to send me some freebies, you've got an easy way into the club, I'd say. So, if you need an extra clubhouse on your register, message me on. Send them a teddy and a sample. You'll be banging it. That's what they'll need to know. Let's put some players to shame by you then. So, who's the worst dressed in the club? Oh, this was a tough one. You've got your, usually, socials and stuff like that. You've got some very dubious outfits. I remember Osian Davies, now, I was talking about earlier. They went, and where did they go? They went on a pre-season tour to somewhere. I think it was up in Liverpool. And he was wearing one of those wrestling outfits. That was, well, more revealing than it should be, really. But I'll tell you who. Chris Jones, now, is our secretary. He's on the WRO board. I'm sure he wears the same red jumper every week, see, when he's around. There's a big red jumper, like, on his neck, like that. Best dressed, I call him, Chris, definitely. And maybe Dan Bach, our winger. Every wedding he seems to be in, he's in a slightly different suit. And he's the most dapper, I'd say, at the moment, to be honest. And, yeah, worst dressed, I'm not sure, to be honest. But, yeah, there's a few candidates. But I don't think I'd be able to pinpoint any one particular. So I do disappoint you with that question. Oh, no. So we just know Neil Catlin has a bad dress sense. There's so many contenders. That's when we're bullying FCA, I think you're right. Okay, let's think. What about for us? Who's the first one to leave a club on a Saturday? Which player comes in, says hello, and then he's gone before you notice? The thing is, there's a few. I'm a slightly new father myself. So, yeah, I'm one of those culprits at the moment. Basically, my wife's scamming sheep this weekend. So the Cymru match, it's a bit... Because this has been rearranged, I didn't expect this. So it's bad timing. But basically, I'd be going to the match on the tannoy, greeting the response to the table, and then straight up, well, I might sneak one pint in. But I'll have to go and relieve my mother-in-law of a little match that, to be honest. So I'm one of the first to leave. And there's a few new fathers in the mix now. Alex is in there, Llyr Jones, the winger. Steffan now is going to be a father in June. So I think it's... And again, Llyr, Steff, these boys are those youth players I was talking about earlier. They've just come up to 13. So I think they should be more sensible these days. I'm not sure either. I'll tell you one of the first in there, and maybe the last to leave, is Knowles. Now, Knowles is mid-70s. He used to play for the club. He tells me every time he sees me. He was playing for the club back in 77 when we started. He was a hardened coal miner down the pits. Hard as nails. And he's still going on away trips on the bus with the players. I think they're picking up a bunch of grapes in the middle of town, about half-level or something. And then he's off with them for the day. And he enjoys himself. I'm not sure if he drinks beer. He's always on the whiskies and stuff like that. And he's a hero around town. A hero. Yes, yes. He's usually one of the first in there. And he's a big supporter of the club. They're there nearly every game. Fair play. He's hitting. He's past his peak, as they say. But he's still any excuse to get on the bus with the boys and support them away. I think he's probably one of the most away matches. He's there nearly every tight match, I'm sure he is. That's absolutely brilliant. Guillaume, thank you so much. You've given us so much info into Newcastle. Massive insight into the club. What an amazing place this sounds like. I'm hoping many, many people get to listen to your amazing words about your club. And maybe we can get a few people for the turnstiles for you on Saturday. Thank you so much, Guillaume. Thanks for the invite. Thanks for talking to me. Diolch yn fawr. Diolch. Thank you for listening to the Scarlet's Fever podcast. We hope you enjoyed the show. Please subscribe, rate and review wherever you listen to us as it really helps us spread the word. You can find us on all the usual social media channels or email us on welshregionalrugbypod at gmail.com. And remember, whatever the question, rugby is always the answer. RUGBY
