Jetman and Crawford say goodbye to The Blues

When the Haverfordwest RFC players met for an end-of-season pint or two at The Rising Sun in Pelcomb it was a perfect way to say goodbye to two of their players who have been a fundamental part of The Blues’ set-up for the campaign after making a very, very long journey to get here.

On their final day in Haverfordwest the popular pair were treated to a trip by club chairman, Dr David Richards and vice chairman Steve John, to the south of the county to see Pembroke Castle and other aspects of life in our county and had a great time to round off a few eventful months here.

Long-distance travel to play for The Blues

Crawford Hedmon and Jetman Temaki hail from the tiny island of Nauru, smack in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and literally over 1.300 miles from Fiji and slightly less from The Solomon Islands, which has a population of fewer than 12,000 and relies on its huge mineral resources as the main source of employment.

But Jetman is a postman there and Crawford a student who love playing rugby after previously trying their hand at Aussie Rules Football before they joined the Pacific Manua Academy in Brisbane, Australian, which is over 2,000miles away and requires a four-hour flight on the once -a- day plane between the two places.

It was organised by their manager Darren, who is a Samoan and looks after their interests - and they were part of a five-man group who travelled to the UK on a scheme intended to widen their rugby horizons in a different climate and different clubs.







 

Well spotted by Matty – and a long final leg of the journey

Their availability had been spotted by former skipper Matty Phillips on social media and after discussions it was agreed that Crawford and Jetman should come to Wales and the other trio to play in Scotland.

The Nauruan Government sponsored their air fares, accommodation and living expenses for the stay since they weren’t granted working visas, and the pair eventually landed at Manchester Airport before Matty met them and drove back on the 210-mile journey which took in excess of four hours - and they were given time to settle in before starting to attend pre-season training on the local school astroturf.

Both readily admitted that it seemed a very long journey, coming on the end of the other legs, which took them from Nauru to Brisbane (a mere four hours), Brisbane to Dubai (12 hours) and then on to Manchester (almost eight hours).




 

Facing new challenges – and forcing their way into the first team

“Then we went to our first training session and were made very welcome and soon really enjoyed being part of our new club,” Crawford told us, “and we tried hard from the start to show what we had to offer.”

They soon forced their way into first-team selection, with Jetman on the wing and Crawford in the back row - and the major difference was that they were used to playing on rock-hard surfaces in Nauru and Brisbane and they soon encountered a strange pitch condition for them: heavy rain and mud aplenty when they played at Amman United.

Jetman told us,

“It was really strange, almost like playing in treacle and since I was stuck out on the wing I didn’t get my kit as dirty as Crawford did but I was freezing cold!”

The season went really well for both players, however,, with Jetman gaining in confidence  as the season went on and impressed with his pace, whilst Crawford proved he could graft with the best of them  as he was twice chosen as man of the match and ended up with five tries, one of them in the final fixture to nicely round off things - whilst Jetman sped through for two tries in quick succession in the second period to help The Blues to victory.

 

Already played for Nauru – and Sunnybank Brisbane

Although there are only 12,000 inhabitants of Nauru there were other sports like basketball, volleyball and Aussie Rules football but both enjoyed the limited rugby that went on - and they must have impressed because they were invited to attend trials in Brisbane and must have impressed because they were then placed with Sunnybank RFC, a huge club which had three pitches, including five youth teams and three colts XVs, where Crawford soon forced his way into the second team back row.

Jetman showed his versatility by playing in every back position, except full back - and both were also called up to play in the Pacific Sevens, where Nauru took on the likes of Tuvalu and New Caledonia - and all went well until they met the Fijian team.

Crawford was captain and told us,
 

“They were like giants who could handle the ball with amazing skills at incredible speeds and we took a thumping - but it was a great experience nonetheless!”

So, what of the future for the duo in rugby terms?  Both say they hope to play in Brisbane as part of the academy scheme again next season and wouldn’t mind a return to West Wales if the opportunity arose.

And there’s absolutely no doubt that Crawford and Jetman would be welcomed back with open arms.

As club chairman, Dave Richards, told us,

“They were taken to our supporters’ hearts and showed total commitment to the club, on and off the field. It was a new venture for Haverfordwest RFC and one that we would unhesitatingly undertake again, especially if it was these same two young sporting gentlemen who were a credit to the scheme and the island of Nauru!”