Lloyd Williams’ 14th and final season at the Arms Park was perhaps unlike any other.
On the pitch, the scrum-half broke Cardiff records, surpassing Taufa’ao Filise to be the player to make more professional appearances for the Blue and Blacks than anyone else.
Away from the field though, Williams was to the fore in trying to put out fires, with there perhaps never a more hectic time to be a Welsh Rugby Player’s Association representative.
Now, as he leaves Cardiff for Ealing, he does so with the club in a state of uncertainty. One of 16 departures, the Arms Park side are now simply trying to get enough building blocks in place to start the season.
Both fly-halves have gone, the squad is barebones, the director of rugby was suspended before the start of the season and it's understood that pre-season training has been pushed back from the early June start while things are sorted out.
Had he stayed, he'd have been one of the few players left in the Welsh capital who had even played at fly-half - having orchestrated matters against Connacht in 2021 when both Rhys Priestland and Jarrod Evans were injured. Not that it was a reason for his move to Ealing Trailfinders.
"Well, I was getting a bit nervous of that as the season was coming to an end," he joked this week. "I thought I’d better start practising my goal-kicking!
"But, no, it’s wasn’t that. I’d have been happy to play there!"
Instead, it was the allure of a new challenge that will see Williams head to London this month.
Still, given how faithful a servant Williams has been, leaving the Welsh capital is a big move. He is, in many ways, Mr Cardiff.
"It’s been tough to leave Cardiff," he said. "There’s so many good memories for me there but it was the right time for me.
"I’m really looking forward to a new challenge. There’s a bit of a transition period going on at Cardiff at the moment. I’ve been through a couple of them with the club.
"It was just time for me to move on. I’ve had a brilliant time there and I’m full of gratitude for the club. I was just wanting a new challenge and that’s what I’ve gone for.
"Every time I’ve spoken to Ealing, they seem ambitious. It was something that appealed to me. I’m looking forward to a change of scenery. I love Cardiff, but London life will be nice."
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Of course, there's the prospect of a family title race in the Championship, with brother Tom having just helped Jersey Reds win the league as an assistant coach.
"Yeah, we’ve already spoken in the family group," adds Williams. "I’m not sure when the fixtures are announced but I’m sure that will be a family affair!"
He leaves Cardiff having helped them to the Welsh Shield and Champions Cup rugby, but the path to that was scattered with many obstacles. Many of those hurdles are still remaining for Cardiff.
Financial uncertainty has been a default setting, with players in the dark more often than not to the point where strike action was a genuine possibility.
"It was a big shame," added Williams. "I guess it does happen in other jobs, but that uncertainty just went on for a bit too long.
"In sport, that’s always the risk, that you won’t have another job. But it just went on too long that it caused a bit of anxiety in groups, especially Cardiff.
"Hopefully that’s behind us now and the Welsh regions can move forward. (But) I’ll have to wait and see.
"I don’t think history would give me that confidence. But I really do hope so as there’s great players and people here and we could have great teams, but unfortunately things haven’t been managed the best."
The 33-cap Wales scrum-half is better placed to comment than most, having been a WRPA representative as chaos reigned.
He's seen the position that players have been put in up close and not been able to offer them the news they were hoping for.
"It was quite busy," he admits. "In fairness, people like Ashton (Hewitt) and Gareth (Lewis) at the WRPA were very busy and informative to us.
"It was a hectic time. You’re just eager to give good news to the lads. But unfortunately there were a lot of hurdles to go over before you could give them anything.
"It was a stressful time and I felt for the boys out of contract. It does happen in rugby, you are out of contract from one year to the next. But the way it went on for so long was unnecessary."
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