Cory Allen has been through some very tough times over the past three years, but one thing that has kept his spirits up is watching the progress of his younger brother Mason Grady.
Now Mason is about to follow in his footsteps by becoming a Wales international, with the young Cardiff centre selected to make his Test debut against England at the Principality Stadium on Saturday.
It’s a huge high that comes just a few weeks after the low of six-cap Cory having to retire from playing at the age of 29 following a three-year battle with a knee injury that saw him undergo four lots of surgery.
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While it was devastating - to use his own word - to have to finally admit defeat, he is at peace with life having given it his very best shot in a bid to return and has begun a new career as a quantity surveyor.
Now his rugby focus is on his 20-year-old brother, with the roles reversed from his own playing days.
“I could probably count on one hand how many of my games Mason missed,” he says.
“My parents would travel everywhere to watch and he would always be there.
“He didn’t miss hardly any games. He was at my first cap, which was ten years ago. We have got some photos of him and Gats back then. It’s nice to be able to watch him reach that point himself.
“Obviously there has been a lot of down side to me being injured the last three years, but one of the positives was I got to watch every one of Mason’s games which has been really nice.”
It was in September 2019, while playing for the Ospreys against Ulster in Belfast, that three-quarter Allen suffered the injury that was to ultimately end his career, as he ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and suffered two tears to the meniscus cartilage.
He underwent numerous surgeries and kept battling away, latterly with the Dragons who he linked up with in 2021, but at the end of December last year he formally called it a day.
“With ACLs, there is always a chance that could be it,” he says.
“There was pain all the way through and the bad days were really bad. I almost had to do a rehab programme just to get out of bed and leave the house to get to training on bad days.
“I had a very tough time between surgeries three and four in the summer of 2020. I couldn’t walk for two months and was on crutches. That was the real worst time.
“It was really scary. I was wondering if I was ever going to be able to walk again.
“Then there were other times where things started to look positive.
“But as good as the good days were, it was the hope that killed you. Every now and then, you would have a really good day and hold on to that and think I am coming back. Then you would have three bad days and think there was no chance. There were a lot of ups and downs.
“I can’t say enough about the Dragons. I am so thankful and grateful for what they did for me. They supported me right up until the end and gave me every opportunity. I was very grateful they stick by me.”
It was in the late autumn of last year that Allen moved towards his final decision.
“Speaking to the surgeon, around about October time, he explained just how bad my knee was. I have got very limited, if any cartilage left. He said if I carried on playing, the knee would degenerate really quickly and I would be a mess within a year, two years maybe. He was saying I would do serious damage very quickly.
“That was in the back of my mind constantly then. I was running out on the field and I was thinking ‘What am I doing out here, this is just not going to happen, I am just doing more damage’.
“Until you get on the field and start trying to play rugby, you never really knew. But I did manage to get on the training field for a couple of sessions to see if my knee could actually tolerate it and I got the answer that no, it can’t.
“There was a lot of pain and I couldn’t accelerate in the short distances that you need to. It would take me a long while to wind up and then stopping and changing direction was almost non-existent. I just couldn’t do it.
“I just couldn’t play at a professional level. I couldn’t perform at the level I wanted to be performing at.
“The Dragons were out in South Africa for three weeks at the end of November and early December. So I had three weeks there were I didn’t go into training and I really sat down and thought ‘Do I want to carry on trying?’ It was during that period I officially decided that’s me done.
“With what the surgeon had said, it just wasn’t a risk I was willing to take. There were just too many things really in the end.
“It was obviously devastating, but it did put me at peace.
“What I didn’t want to do was retire having not gone on the field and then always have that feeling of ‘What if?’
“I am at peace with it because I got that opportunity to get on the field and really give it a go. When I did, I was so far off it and in too much pain, so it was an easy decision in the end.”
He is now able to look back on his career and savour the high spots.
There was his breakthrough with Wales Sevens, starring in their run to the final of the Hong Kong Sevens in 2013. There was Cardiff’s Heineken Cup victory over Toulon in the October of that year, swiftly followed by a Wales debut against Argentina, while there was to be a hat-trick of tries against Uruguay in the opening match of the 2015 World Cup.
“My first cap was a massive one. It was just everything about that, with all the build-up.
I wasn’t really that nervous until the bus turned up Westgate Street and you just see the thousands of fans banging on the bus. That’s when I got my first ‘Oh, s**t, this is real.
“That’s something I always remember, I had a real lump in my throat
“The World Cup was good too. But, it’s funny, all my highlights seem to end in injury.
“The week after the Hong Kong Sevens, I played against Pontypridd at the Arms Park and dislocated my shoulder. On my first cap, I dislocated my shoulder again and then in the Uruguay game I tore my hamstring. That was just the tale of my career probably.”
Having hung up his boots, Allen - who turned 30 earlier this month - has now moved into a very different field, working for surveying firm Chandler KBS in Penarth.
“I have been in rugby my whole life and there were probably opportunities where I could have stayed in the game,” he says.
“But I’d had three years trying to come back from the injury and I thought it would be nice to step away for a bit and just enjoy watching it as a fan again and supporting my brother.
“My weekends are free now, so I can have a few beers and enjoy watching him play.”
Like Cory, Mason can cover both centre and wing, so how do they compare as players?
“He was a different player to me growing up,” says Cory.
“He always excelled at the athletic side of stuff better than I did. He represented Wales at basketball and he’s very strong.
“I was tall but I wasn’t particularly big whereas Mason has always been very big and very fast. So, growing up, he would always score three or four tries a game.
“He just never seemed to stop growing, getting bigger, getting quicker, and then he got to an age where he started to learn the rugby side of things and understanding of the game.
“Physically, he would be in the top bracket in the world. He’s a monster and he’s very fast, but that will only get you so far. It’s really good to see he takes feedback and advice on board and game-on-game you can see him working on them.
“It’s just about him getting as many touches as he can. The size and skill-set he has,
if you can just get the ball in his hands, he will get you over the gain-line every time and he can also make a big break that will end up in a try.”
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So how do the two brothers match up speed-wise?
“I have never lost a race to him, I’ve never lost a wrestle!” declares Cory.
“With me having been injured and finishing, I guess we will never know, is the answer. But his GPS times are quicker than I have ever hit.”
While Mason was heavily touted to start at outside centre against England, there was uncertainty over whether the game would go ahead amid a possible strike by Wales players. With his selection confirmed, his first cap now beckons.
“Obviously there was talk earlier on in the week that he was going to be involved, pending Wednesday’s meeting,” says Cory.
“It was exciting when that first bit of information came out, but then you were quite anxious. It was sort of like VAR in football, where you score the goal and you want to get excited, but you need to hold fire. It was the same waiting for confirmation the game was going to go ahead.
“When they officially named the team and he was starting, everybody in the family was obviously very pleased and it’s been a case of scrambling for tickets since then. I think there is going to be about 15 at the game. It will be a very proud day for everyone.”
So how will Mason handle the occasion?
“I don’t think there’s a bigger game to make your debut than Six Nations, Wales-England in Cardiff,” says Cory.
“He is very laid-back, very self-confident. I am sure there will be nerves, there always will be, but I think it will be more excitement and looking to show what he can do.
“I am amazingly proud of Mason, what he is doing. I am really excited to see where he can go in his career because I do think the sky is the limit for him.
“I do feel for my mum though. She had a good 15 years of watching me play and get injured and be worried sick. Then the year I retire, Mason is getting his first cap and she’s got to start all over again!”
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