Tales from the Members' Bar

No.6 Stephen Myler

It was not so long ago that pundits up and down the land were bemoaning a dearth of young talent in the English game. Too many foreigners and the need to produce instant results to stave off the fear of relegation were cited as reasons for England's and the Zurich/Guinness Premiership's inability to produce half-backs worth the name.

It was this in mind that I sat down with Northampton Saints' Captain Sensible to discuss such weighty issues. It turns out that there are about six or seven high profile, highly-gifted, English fly-halves already plying their trade in the Guinness Premiership. While they have the profile and, in the cases of Johnny Wilkinson and Charlie Hodgson, record of achievement, Stephen is happy to continue his tutelage under the watchful gaze of Messrs Grayson, Everitt and Spencer. While not a firm of Chartered Accountants, that trio is more than capable of summarising every aspect of modern fly-half play.

Without counting his chickens, Stephen is looking forward to measuring himself against the likes of Cipriani, Flood, Geraghty and Lamb.

In his preview for the pre-season friendly match, friend Hoddros used an analogy from Plum to describe the preponderance of Tuilagis in Samoa. He should have tried Google with the words ‘Myler' and ‘rugby'. Stephen is often described as coming from a rugby dynasty. In truth, that only tells a fraction of it.

Three generations and still going strong. His great uncle Frank was revered as an Ashes winning captain; Uncle Tony had a distinguished career and his father, John, was a successful coach at St Helens. Assistant to Ellery Hanley for two Super League titles, his real forte was in developing young talent in the Saints' youth and Alliance sides. Stephen's generation refuses to be outdone. Second cousin Richard was in the Lancashire team that won Royal & Sun Alliance Rug B 10s tournament. That Lancashire side beat an East Midlands team containing Rob Milligan in the semi final. Richard now occupies the slot at Salford City Reds vacated by Stephen when he moved to Northampton. He also dotted down a couple of tries when the GB Under 17s handed out a lesson to the Australian Institute of Sport a couple of weeks ago.

Another cousin, Scott, won the BARLA National Cup in May this year. It was almost a relief to find a cup-winning or representative squad without one of his relatives in it.

However, most of the internet references are to Stephen himself. From lying prone in Parma on his second start to harvesting a full-house in scoring all Saints' points at Meadow Lane, this young man is news.

There is something that mothers (and fathers, for that matter) of daughters of a certain age should be aware. There is a house in Northampton that is home to Stephen, Joe Ansboro and Chris Ashton. Enter at your own risk. When I asked if there was anything to tell, any dirt to dish, I discovered that Stephen has to do a shoe check before they leave for training in the morning. Whether it is the Cambridge graduate or the try machine that cannot tie laces properly he would not say. An unnamed source says I should look out for Velcro on Asbo's trainers.

For those with sensitive ears and an even more sensitive disposition, Stephen tenders his apologies to Ref Talk subscribers. On a trying day against the Bees - Stephen had become decidedly dischuffed at his team-mates' habit of diving in for tries in the right-hand corner. He was unaware that the curses he uttered under his breath as he lined up another conversion from an unpromising angle were being picked up by the referee's microphone and broadcast to unsuspecting ears.

No biscuits this week - the chosen high energy snack is Cadbury's Dairy Milk.

arw

05.12.2007

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