Type ‘unsung’ and ‘Stephen Myler’ into Google and in 0.45 seconds 130,000 results will fire back.
The Ospreys fly-half isn’t the type to pursue headlines, preferring instead to go about his off-field business just as he operates on the field, calmly and without fuss.
A quiet Thursday afternoon chatting over Zoom to three reporters is negotiated without a single hitch — which is exactly what you’d expect from a man who was part of a professional rugby environment before some of his current team-mates were even born.
That was when Myler was coming through in rugby league in the early 2000s. He went on to play 49 games for Widnes Vikings and 12 for Salford City Reds before opting to try his luck in union with Northampton. There, he piled up 2,618 points over 12 seasons.
There followed a couple of years with London Irish. Along the way Myler was named at fly-half in the Gallagher Premiership’s team of the decade, selected on the basis of most appearances in England’s top flight in the 2010s.
Now he’s added to his mountain of points with 210 over a couple of seasons with the Ospreys.
But here’s the thing: these days the man now wearing Dan Biggar’s old No. 10 jersey won’t be found practising his goal-kicking for hours upon end. In fact, he sometimes has just the one session a week aiming at the sticks in training.
“I can only do that now because of the work I put in during my earlier years when I was getting to know my body and getting to know how I work,” he said.
“I’ve been a young player who’s kicking for up to an hour-and-a-half every day after training and you end up getting into a bit of a rut — or I did. I worked out from a personal point of view that wasn’t necessarily good for me. Once you understand your technique and what you need to do, the quicker you can do that on a daily basis and get into that zone, the better.
“A few years ago at Northampton I had a knee injury which was bugging me. It meant I could only really kick on a Friday before a game on the weekend, but I didn’t notice any drop off in performance, so I thought: ‘Maybe there’s something in that.’
“When you are getting a bit older you need to put more emphasis on looking after your body as well. It’s a bit of a ‘feel’ thing.”
It isn’t a rigid programme for Myler, a sort of ‘I must only kick so much in training’ type of thing. “It depends on how the week is scheduled with training days — which day off we have and when the game is,” he said. “For example, Monday and Tuesday are heavy training days. I’ll do some kicking but it won’t necessarily be kicking at goal. It’ll be little bits of punting, restarts, and I’ll have other stuff to do in terms of pre-hab or recovery stuff, which I’ll get more benefit from.
“So when I do kick in the week I’m fresh and I can get exactly what I need out of it.”
Whatever it is, it’s working.
When he played against Edinburgh recently, the one-cap England international posted a 100 percent goal-kicking return that helped propel the Ospreys to a 23-19 win over the then United Rugby Championship leaders. It was the latest in a long line of accurate performances in front of goal.
Nor is he just about quality marksmanship.
Myler is also the cool-headed general who makes good decisions on the field and brings the best out of those around him. He never shouts, but there is a calm authority about him that seems to lift the team’s performances. During the Ospreys' win over Munster earlier this season, Shane Williams said of him : “He’s the Ospreys’ silent assassin.”
At 37, he probably wouldn’t object to the suggestion that he’s in the late autumn of his playing career — time catches up with every sportsperson in the end.
But Myler isn’t ready to give up yet.
He is on a single-year deal at the Ospreys and whatever happens he hopes to continue playing beyond this season.
Of his contract situation, he said: “Things sometimes take time. My thinking is that I feel able to carry on and I want to carry on, so that’s my personal situation. As regards what’s happening, there’s nothing to report currently, so I can’t give you any more than, ‘yeah, I want to play’.”
But he's relishing his time in Swansea, saying: “I’ve enjoyed it at the Ospreys since my first day here. I felt like I had a bit of a purpose coming in.
“Gareth [Anscombe] was injured last year and I had to take a bit of a lead role in terms of leading the team along with the rest of the experienced players. They’re a good group of boys here, all working towards improving and getting this region to where it feels it could be, and I’m enjoying my rugby.
Youngsters may bring enthusiasm and energy to a team, but without savvy and been-there-done-that-and-got-the-T-shirt knowledge banked over many years a side can founder.
Myler said: "I’ve been a young player and I’ve come from a completely different code, so I know the value of experience and having people around you — it can help.
“If my experience and my relationship with other people who are leading the team can assist the side as a whole, then that’s great.”
There’s little doubt that’s the case.
While there may be more ostentatious players around than Myler, there are few more important to the Ospreys right now than their seasoned and still excellent No. 10.
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