Where are they now?

‘Sheenie’s’ still going strong as a rugby coach

This month we are delighted at PembrokeshireSport.co.uk to say a warm welcome back to our county to Gary Price, who was a very good prop with a variety of rugby clubs in the county and then took on the mantle of coach as he put his experience to good effect.
Known to all in rugby circles as ‘Sheenie’, he is now coaching at Newcastle Emlyn, who are top of the table in Division Three (West), and he lives near Carmarthen with his wife Cindy, who is his No 1 supporter, so that it is easy for him to attend work as a manager at leisure centres in his adopted county, where he keeps fit by a work-out of up to an hour before the start of each working day.
He also enjoys hacking around a golf course with his sons Jason (30) and Wayne (28), and goes with them to watch their beloved Everton play football whenever time allows. His daughter Kate (25) has provided him with two grandsons in Toby (4) and Archie (2) – and the older one already loves going to matches with granddad!
He is assisted at Emlyn by experienced centre Emyr Jones as backs coach and is enjoying his second season at Ddol Wiber, where the level three coach takes twice-weekly sessions and travels with the team to matches. Gary is, in the main, quietly spoken and he says his team talks reflect that, although a little Emlyn bird has told us that he can use the ‘hair-drier’ treatment if things are not as he would want them!

33 years involvement

He’s been involved with rugby for 33 years since he started out as a tight-head prop with Pembroke Youth and laughingly says that in the winter his body is programmed to being involved every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The young Scarlets’ team included Clive ‘Tosh’ Rowlands as captain, Gareth Davies and Anthony ‘Villas’ Morgan – and from there he moved into the second and then first teams. He once played for Pembroke First XV against Cardigan at Crickmarren and grabbed a hat-trick of tries, very unusual for a tight-head prop – and was promptly dropped for being too loose!
He moved to the Quins and received a great welcome from stalwart players like Ossie Boswell, Lenny and Roy Scourfield, Paul Rogers, Andy Morrissey, Roland Boyett, Terry Main, John Stephens and Roger Wint. It was a talented team that won the Pembrokeshire Championship and ‘Sheenie’ was delighted to receive the ‘Player of the Year’ award in his first two seasons. He also received a special award, presented by former England forward Maurice Colclough, for playing no fewer than 129 consecutive matches. The Quins also played in two KO Cup Finals but Sheenie and Co lost to Aberystwyth at Haverfordwest and Tenby at Pembroke.

Representative honours

During his playing days, Gary represented Pembrokeshire on at least 15 occasions (and hasn’t given up hope of receiving his badge!) One of the real highlights was selection for Pembrokeshire against the American Eagles at Whitland in 1986, with Trevor James as coach and players of the calibre of Geraint John, Mike Griffiths, Mike Evans, Andrew Morgan, Paul Rogers, Dominic and Frank Setaro, with the late Derek Coles and John Griffiths (both Haverfordwest) as his front row pals in a match that was televised. ‘Sheenie’ was only 15 and a half stone then but played against the likes of Swansea, Llanelli, South Wales Police and inter-county matches, holding his own against some huge opponents.
“My hardest matches were often against local players like Ralph Wonnacott and Derek Coles, who were very under-rated because they were so good at their job.”
When Gary worked in Newport he played for Caerphilly in the Heineken League and there was real excitement in the town as they also won the Mid-District Cup. He won the ‘Players Player of the Year’ and ‘Supporters Player of the Year’ whilst he was there, as well as representing Mid District area, with Pontypridd’s Nigel Bezani as captain, against other areas. Not content with that little lot, Gary also worked for a couple of months in Swindon and trained with Wantage – and was roped in to represent Oxfordshire against Southern Counties!

Back in Pembrokeshire

Back home again, Gary was delighted to join a very good Tenby United team which was hitting the headlines with players of the calibre of Mike Griffiths, Phil Sutton, Chris, Mike and Carl Evans, Johnny Richards, Colwyn Harts, Frank Setaro, Ben Childs and the superb Eddie Lewis. Gethin Evans and Glyn Davies were excellent coaches and Gary played second row for the first season – and played in two KO Cup winning sides there as they beat the Quins and Aberystwyth and also earned successive promotions in the national league set-up.
He had a short spell back in Pembroke when Gethin Evans moved there but then he took his Level Two coaching award with Kim Norkett and enjoyed coaching a very talented Tenby United youth side which won the Youth and Griffiths Cups in the first season and then the Griffiths Cup the following year.

Coaching experience

From there he coached the Seasiders’ first XV when they were in a transitional period and then he had two smashing seasons at Haverfordwest where he enjoyed working with John Perrott alongside players of the calibre of Andrew Thicker, Richard Brazell, Matthew Kelly and Steve Williams. From there it was to have spells with John Dodd at Narberth, Carmarthen Quins and then with Kim Norkett in coaching the West Wales under 20s when Mike Phillips and Nathan Williams passed through – and after being recommended to the Scarlets to help look after their under 18 squad, followed by a presentation and interview, he worked with the likes of Ken Owens, Huw Gustafson, Josh Turnbull, Dai Jones, Rhys Priestland, Dan Evans and Jonathan Davies as they beat the Ospreys in the final at the Millennium Stadium.

Club focus now

Gary was there for five years but last season decided that four nights a week was a huge commitment, especially with his work in the Sport and Leisure Department of Carmarthenshire County Council, so he decided to focus on his coaching duties at Newcastle Emlyn.
“I have been made very welcome at Newcastle Emlyn,” says Gary, “and their hard work in training is paying dividends on the pitch since they have been doing so well.
“I have been very lucky to have made so many rugby friends in Pembrokeshire and this gives me a chance to say hello and let some of them know that I am not too far away.
“It’s great to come with Newcastle Emlyn to play local clubs because it gives me the chance of a chat with some old colleagues and opponents, which is a great thing about Pembrokeshire.”
We at PembrokeshireSport.co.uk can only say it is great to hear that Gary ‘Sheenie’ Price is still heavily involved in using his rugby coaching skills and we also look forward to meeting up with such a likeable feller in the near future.