Matthew’s back making his mark with The Blues
A nasty injury forced Matthew John to postpone his new season in the Welsh Premiership with Bedwas but the talented full back or three-quarter who is known to all as 'Snowy' has never been one to sit around feeling sorry for himself and so he decided to help new coach Simon Lepetit in coaching his home town team of Haverfordwest for the first three months of the new campaign.
"It's been very enjoyable," Matthew told us, "because I have been involved with the kids at Bedwas for a while after learning so much from talented coaches like Paul Moriarty and Richard Hodges in Cardiff, plus Steve Law at Bedwas alongside ex-Newport scrum half Llyr Lane.
Great support from the players
"The players at Haverfordwest have responded well so far because they know they are going to have to perform at a higher level after gaining promotion last season and we've been training every Tuesday and Thursday, with the emphasis on fitness to start but now having more focus on handling skills and tactical awareness!"
“We had a disappointing start but were without some key players and I am hoping that the superb win over Pontyberem has seen us turn a vital corner.”
Matthew is raring to go back to playing at Bedwas, a club he joined from Cardiff after he had played for the world-famous club on contract for three seasons in the Welsh Premiership at Cardiff Arms Park.
Gained lots of experience in his younger days
He started out on the road to playing at that level alongside John Davies and Lloyd Phillips at Narberth as well as a very competitive and physical full back or centre with Haverfordwest Youth and then the first team as a very attacking player with a safe pair of hands who was very strong in setting up counter attacks from deep positions.
"I had lots of help from the likes of Bruce Evans at Tasker Milward School and Andrew Morgan as coach at Haverfordwest, who was a calming influence and helped me realise that being too physical wasn't necessarily a good thing.
Flattened at Pill Parks – and welcomed at Parc Llwyn Ty Gwyn!
"I made my debut for Haverfordwest in a winning Boxing Day clash at Pill Parks against a fired-up Llangwm side that started as underdogs but someone had forgotten to tell them that as they fought like tigers.
“I thought I had been put through a gap in their defence but as I tried to accelerate away Graham Badham quite literally flattened me and I saw stars for a couple of minutes.
"I learned a great deal before moving up a level with Whitland at Parc Llwyn Ty Gwyn, where I had two wonderful seasons with a cracking set of players, committee and supporters who made me very welcome.
Playing for UWIC – and a visit to Twickenham
"From there I went to UWIC for a BSc course in Criminology and Sociology where I gained a 2.2 honours degree which allowed me to work with the YMCA as a Housing Activities and Advice worker with young offenders and prison leavers.
"In my third year I played for UWIC in the national league set-up and as well as finishing in a respectable fifth place I was delighted to score 12 tries and be voted as the 'Players' Player of the Year', with another highlight being the fact that I scored a hat-trick of tries at top club Pontypridd when we took them on at Sardis Road.
"I also had the wonderful experience of playing in the British Colleges Cup Final at Twickenham, staying nearby the night before and enjoying a wonderful day out despite losing to Hartbury College, which has very strong links with the Gloucester RFC academy.
“I will never forget running out onto the pitch and hearing our supporters cheering us on.”
Rugby in Australia – and international representation in Germany
“I also went to Australia and played for Wollahra Colleagues in Sydney in 2013 coinciding with the Lions/Ashes tours and a highlight was playing in the Suburban semi-final where I played against Australia Internationals Ryan Cross and Drew Mitchell, I was lucky enough to pick up a try brace and get MOM but unfortunately was on the losing side.”
Not content with that little lot, Matthew also represented the Welsh Clubs’ amateur team selected to play against the German national team.
Steve Martin, who has been a brilliant centre with Narberth and is now back at Neyland, was also in the team, which played the Germans in Berlin - and the Pembrokeshire pair were duly presented with their caps afterwards.
Family matters
Matthew is aiming to return to Bedwas after Christmas, hopefully with his injured hand having mended enough for him to start training before that. In the meanwhile though, he has enjoyed putting his experience to good effect at Fishguard Road, helping out new club head coach Simon Lepetit by coaching the Haverfordwest RFC back division, whilst his brother Dan, known to all as ‘Tranny’, plays in the back row.
"He's not as skillful as me," says Matthew with a chuckle!
Be that as it may however, both brothers would say that they have been lucky to have the total support of parents Angela and Steve John, plus grandfathers Brian Oughton and Billy John.
Millennium bound - and moving from Cardiff to Bedwas . . .
"Another memorable moment was playing at the then Millennium Stadium for UWIC against the Welsh Under 20s in a practice game and although the superb stadium was eerily lacking a huge number of supporters it was great to play on the hallowed turf.”
His performances there came to the attention of Cardiff RFC and at 21 years of age he signed a three-year contract with them in the Welsh Premiership and was part of a team which finished seventh, sixth and then seventh again in a highly competitive league.
"Towards the end it was a little disappointing because our squad had been weakened and although I was tempted to stay for another contract, Bedwas were very keen for me to sign forms for them and made me an offer I couldn't refuse.”
. . . And delighted to be recognised there!
When he joined Bedwas he still lived in Cardiff and travelled up there for the twice-weekly training sessions which he says were highly intensive and with a focus on fitness early in the season before gradually practising handling skills and set moves more and more afterwards.
"Last season we just missed out on the play-offs after losing our last match against Llandovery and had to settle for seventh place - but I had a huge consolation when I was voted as the 'Supporters' Player of the Year' and, perhaps more importantly, was picked as 'Players Player of the Year' as an added bonus.
And finally . . .
"I still have two years left on my contract with Bedwas and can't wait to get restarted, although I know it is going to be tough because we regularly play against centres that are 16 or 17 stone and can almost run through a brick wall, let alone a 14-stone nipper like me."
So now Matthew John will help serve his original club well and is sure to command the respect of his back division with the Blues in the tough Division Two (West).
He has given his new short-term role 100% commitment as he has always done in the oval-ball game and then return to the Premiership aiming high with Bedwas RFC - and we wish this decent young player every success in the future because he flies the Pembrokeshire flag with a bit of style 'up the line'!