The Transformation of a team from losers to winners
To have a successful season in which only two games were lost and be crowned Winners of the Cornwall Merit Table Cornwall Senior Cup South West Merit Table drawn up by The Telegraph and awarded Junior Team of the Month for April 1983 by the prestigious magazine Rugby World is some achievement and can only be described as momentous.
A successful team does not just happen – there are many factors which contribute, none more so than the players believing the goals set by the coach were achievable and then giving their all to make it happen. The late Don Palmer had been coach for a number of years and inspired the players to strive for higher standards. Don saw the potential in Graham Dawe and converted him from a colt backrow forward to a hooker, who eventually represented England in that position. This didn’t happen overnight and it took years of dedication on the part of each of them. Don also saw the advantages of having a young twenty year old Steve Goodman at six foot plus with natural strength move from the second team second row to loosehead prop for the first team.
Two colts, Pete May at tighthead prop and Peter “Chunky” Bloomfield forced their way into the side in 1978 and by the Championship winning season were well established members of the formidable pack.
The Captain that season, and now the President of the Club, Merv Yeo rejoined from Plymouth Albion in 1980 and his lines of running and tackling in defense put oppositions under pressure. He linked with the nonstop hardworking, late Chris Strout in the backrow which began the start of a great partnership.
In the season 1981/82 Neil Thomson came to work in Launceston as a policeman and with the help of the Club Chairman, the late John Fry, who was friendly with the Chief Inspector of the Devon and Cornwall Police Constabulary, he was able to play most weekends. His position was flyhalf and with a prolific gamer kicking off either foot he was able to put the team in the right place on the pitch. His kicking from the tee in the opposition half was very accurate as was his uncanny knack of putting over drop goals.
At the beginning of 1982 Dave Mason a hard and aggressive No 8, returned to the Club which gave the team another tall player. Johnny Gower, a young player with sheer pace, came into the side and claimed the left wing berth as his own.
In the same year a dentist, Johnny Braidwood, just out of college moved to Bude and began playing at Polson. His preferred position was fullback and he soon made it his own.
The remaining members of the side who beat Camborne in the final had been at the Club for some time and knew what it was like to experience the lows and the highs. Ian Goodman was the longest serving member having been part of the first team before leaving colts and had the reputation of being very difficult to tackle with a forceful hand-off and a flick of the hips. Mickey Stephens and Trev Pearn joined around the same time and had been at the Club for over nine years. Trev Pearn was one of the finest tacklers to grace the Club and had a devilish sidestep which he only executed when in a tight situation. Mickey Stephens aka Tricky Mickey was a prolific try-scoring winger. Pete Dennis possessed a phenomenal turn of pace which at scrumhalf made him difficult to tackle. Finally there was the quiet Roger Gerry who was the mainstay of the pack. He was ideally suited to winning the ball in the middle of the lineout being tall and lanky. (There was no lifting permitted in those days) Roger Dinnis, a youngster just out of Colts was called up to play in the second row whilst Peter Bloomfield served out his time for being sent off and Roger’s enthusiasm and desire to win was infectious.
Mention should be made of those who also played in the team during the season and contributed to the Merit Table success - Monty Brown, the late Steve Gynn, Jed Fry, Phil Down, Richard Dennis, Steve Moir, Roddy Dawe, Dave Vanstone, Johnathon Parnell and John Perry.
Finally a mention should be made of the contribution Brian “Pasty” Barriball played as “Spongeman” for the team over a number of years. Without his cold water quickly applied to wherever the injury appeared to be none of the players would have got up quite as fast and played on!
The squad gelled in that season and as each game was played they became a more cohesive unit. Each win spurred the team to become more expressive and this meant turning up at training all the more worthwhile. The team had a blend of extroverts hard physical men and top quality players in the key positions.
