News

Rhys Jones became the latest Athletic player to make 100 recorded senior Athletic periods when he appeared for Bridgend Athletic 2nds in a 28-0 win at Porthcawl on Easter Saturday. Unfortunately, there are no records between 2001-2003 when Rhys was predominantly a 1^ST XV player.

In his prime he was a strong hard running centre or wing who earned the nick name Bam Bam. Rhys has 97 2^nd XV appearances recorded and 3 1^ST XV appearances with a good try record of 14 tries and 70 points.

Rhys started with the Ath playing U12 age group rugby where he particularly remembers the local derby battles with Aberavon Juniors as will other players in the 90’s (1990’s not 1890’s!!)

He then progressed to the Ath Youth side. In those days it was common to play school rugby on a Saturday morning and Youth rugby in the afternoon. He played 3 years in the Ath youth side. The junior and youth sides won many trophies during his time with them.

Moving on to senior Ath rugby Rhys played alongside such club stalwarts as Ian Hembrow, John Doherty, Lee Grabham and current 1^ST XV coaches as Stuart Morris and David Williams.

His memory of his 1^ST XV debut was a derby game against Heol Y Cyw. He caught a kick ahead and started to run but faced with 3 Heol Y Cyw players closing in on him chipped ahead straight into the full backs hand resulting in a Heol Y Cyw try. Fortunately, he redeemed himself with a later try in the corner. His motto henceforth was to run through players (Bam Bam) not kick.

Playing 2^nd XV rugby the teams he played with won many local leagues and cups. He captained the team when Liam “Gonzo” Griffiths took a sabbatical in Australia.

Rhys now classes himself as the older generation on the pitch, but still enjoys keeping the youngsters in line. While they are creative, they can still learn from the old dog. He is grateful to Tony Griffiths who coached him through junior rugby and again in the 2^nd XV until he stepped down a few seasons ago and his son Liam took over the reins. Like Rhys, Tony has been a great servant to Bridgend Athletic.