Tales from the Members’ Bar

Vol.2 No.8 Mark Easter

Wednesday training was overrunning. No players were in evidence making their way through Crooked Hooker Tunnel back to the changing room. Paul Grayson was on the pitch but with Will Greenwood rather than Stephen Myler. With nothing much else to do, I sat in with the local press and radio to have a giggle while Jim Mallinder chose his own route to the answer of a question or two.

He had no difficulty in agreeing with the gaggle that surrounded him that we had probably deserved the win on Saturday – on our second half performance alone. After a sluggish start, we had already begun to turn things around before half-time. There was no magic potion (main ingredients: fire and brimstone), the message was to believe. Believe in ourselves as players, believe in us as a team and believe in the patterns of play that we have rehearsed. Showing that belief, we took the game to Bath in the second half, put them under pressure and created opportunities for ourselves.

In response to probing about Stephen Myler’s drop-goal, Jim was keen to point out that there is more to his play than kicking. Not only did he kick well, he played well.

Yes, of course it was disappointing and frustrating not to win but there are a huge number of positives with which to come away from the game. Yes, we have analysed the match and have met with the referee’s assessor to feed back our views on his performance. We were particularly concerned about the consistency of his decisions at the breakdown.

We discovered that Chris Mayor had picked up a thigh strain during the team run on Friday and is unlikely to be fit for this weekend. Scott Gray and Euan Murray had Sunday off and were back to work with the rest of the squad on Monday. Juandre Kruger will be fit for the weekend.

About this week’s match? Gloucester is a tremendous place to play (tremendous is one of Jim’s favourite words). There was no trouble in picking up the players after last week’s match. Plenty of analysis has gone into the preparation – it will be about mental attitude as well as tactical ability. We know we can play; we need to be positive.

Paul Grayson was still busy with Chicken Legs as Stephen Myler arrived in front of the South Stand with Joe Ansbro (dressed in civvies and with a thumb still in a splint was my view from a distance). Mark Easter was making his way round the ground as Jim beamed his best smile and said goodbye to us.

Mark was relieved not to have to come up with yet another biscuit. Being able to trot out a fourth-favourite biscuit is bound to get back to the thought police in the conditioning department.

The exclusive news from the team room is that Chris Ashton’s now famous Fiat is up for sale in a charity auction. The rest of the squad have autographed it so it really is a collector’s item.

And so to business… I commented that Mark had not featured much this season. It turns out that following a short break at the end of last season, Mark spent time in the operating theatre getting various bits and pieces repaired. He missed most of the pre-season because of it. Not being ready for the start of the Premiership because he was undergoing rehabilitation, meant that Mark’s pre-season has been going on while the team is being put through its match-practice paces. Players coming back from injury are generally working a lot harder on their fitness than those expecting to play at the weekend.

On his return for the Wanderers earlier in the month he was asked to reacquaint himself with the Number 7 shirt. He had played open-side flanker during his time with Nottingham. He felt good and the coaches obviously thought he had done sufficient to give him a start in that position against Bristol.

Against Bath he displayed his time travelling skills by being in two places at once on a number of occasions – a useful attribute to have as an open-side. As a seven you are expected to be involved in more than your fair share of first-up tackles, win ball on the floor at the next ruck and provide the link in play a few seconds later. I have to say, I like his attitude to defence. He is one of the quickest around at regaining his feet after a tackle and glides (seemingly) effortlessly from phase to phase. He does not profess to have the hands of an international centre [insert your own Jamie Noon joke here] but believes that he can execute a pass off either hand.

When asked about friends in rugby, Mark reminds us that Chris Wyles of Saracens was at Nottingham (University and RFC) at the same time as him and remains a good friend. Hoppers was in the Academy at the same time as him and, in keeping with this trend of liking your most direct competitor, they are good mates. Neil Starling was a living companion during their Academy years and remains a good friend. It is the sort of answer that could go on for hours. It is not just a cliché or something said for the news media that this squad is a band of brothers. They really are good mates.

I have made it a rule in my conversations with Mark not to talk about his brother. I made an exception. We are playing at Gloucester this weekend, have you received a message from your brother? He looked puzzled. Something like, “Give Narraway a bit of dig.” It did not make him laugh as much as I had hoped. It appears that I am not as entertaining as Nacho.

In this regard, Mark bucked the trend – normally, as we know, it is the Clown Prince of Wigan that has everyone in stitches. For those of you that have been worrying about their dietary habits, Mark also bucked another trend. He is the first in the series so far to confess to liking Marmite.

The coaching tip: Stay on your feet!

arw

28.11.2008

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