The season coming to a close, Adam Warren had been delivered news every professional rugby player dreads, that he wouldn’t be needed for the following campaign.
For the 31-year-old west Walian, the timing was awful, leaving him little scope to set in place alternative arrangements on the professional scene with most teams having already spent their budgets.
He had given his all over seven years for the Dragons. Renowned as one of their most consistent performers. Liked by team-mates and supporters, who know a heart-and-soul player when they see one.
But the east Wales region were letting him go.
Read more : Sean Holley rips apart Cardiff's disastrous display
There was one final chance to play a final game for the team. How to react?
The answer to that question said much about Warren.
Early in Saturday's United Rugby Championship match against the Lions, Jordan Williams threw out a pass that was intercepted by opposition right wing Stean Pienaar. Momentum had taken Warren five metres beyond the ball before he screeched to a halt. Turning some 10 metres from the Lions line, he could see Pienaar heading upfield. It must have seemed a serious ask to try to chase down a wing who had a significant head start.
But Warren set off in pursuit because that is the kind of player he is, someone who doesn’t wait for others. Nearing the Dragons 22, Jared Rosser made it over to slow Pienaar down, but it was Warren who scragged him to the floor, having raced around 70 metres to do so. It was one of the moments of the game.
“I enjoyed it,” laughed Warren, who featured once for Wales, against the Barbarians in 2012.
“I was pretty fired up before the match, given what had gone on, and I wanted to finish on a high. Perhaps some players wouldn’t have wanted to play having just been told they were leaving and, to be fair to Dean Ryan, he did ask that question. But I just thought I’d been with the club for seven years, I’d played every game for the past nine or 10 weeks, so I might as well finish with one more, go out there and enjoy it.
“It was nice to take my kids on the field with me.
“The tackle on their wing meant a bit to me. The guy intercepted, I turned and saw him race away and a bit of me went ‘ahhh, no’. But I put my foot down, made some ground, somebody else slowed him down and I tracked back and put in the tackle.
“It felt nice. Maybe it was a nice moment for the fans as well. I wanted to make sure I gave everything in my final game.” You can read more about Warren here.
Not so nice was the moment earlier in the week when Warren learned his time with the Newport-based region was to end. He’d had an idea that bad news might be coming, with Dragons director of rugby Ryan having already signed two centres, Max Clark and Sio Tomkinson, for next season. They also had the promising Aneurin Owen on their books, plus Jack Dixon and the former Wales international Cory Allen.
But it still hurt when the news was confirmed — of course it did.
“Dean gave me a tap in training to go for a chat in his office,” said Warren.
“He told me the news face-to-face on Thursday.
“I guess he would have told me earlier if he had settled other things by then.
“But I still think it could have been done better. I know he was undecided about what sort of decision he was going to make but, from my point of view, it would have been good for things to have been worked out sooner.
“How do I feel after leaving? Emotional. I was with the Dragons for seven seasons and really enjoyed my time there. Up until a few days ago I didn’t know whether I was going to be there or not, so it’s tough to take.
“It went on until late and they’d signed two centres so I thought their priorities might be in other positions after those deals were announced. There was nothing there for me then. But I guess you’re hoping that if those arrangements fell through or something, the club might be able to offer me something late on. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen.
“Dean was saying in one of my last chats with him a couple of months before the end of the season that there weren’t many spaces left. He took for ever to make his mind up, then.
“Had he made his decision sooner, it would have given me more time for it all to sink in, because even though I slowly prepped myself mentally to be let go, I felt I was playing every game at the time and playing quite well, so I was hoping something, somewhere would come up.
“I’m a bit annoyed with the timing of it all, but it’s happened and I know how difficult it is for them, with the Dragons budget not the biggest.
“A lot of boys would be fuming, but I think everything happens for a reason and as much as the uncertainty about what will happen next isn’t great, I know I can go semi-pro, so that’s exciting. If I enjoy it, great.”
Warren believes there should be a time limit as to how long a region or club can keep a player in suspense over his contract.
“Not knowing for so long is a nightmare,” he said.
“There should be something in place, in my opinion, that a club should have to let somebody know about their future by a certain date. I knew how late it was going in my case, so I slowly tried to plan something else, just in case.
“Physically, I feel I could go for another few years at pro level. My agent is looking but it’s tough, with a lot of teams unloading players.”
It’s a gamble parting company with a player like Warren, mind, someone who doesn’t get injured much and is available throughout the season. History shows teams tend to rely on his sort as campaigns unfold, bumps pile up and international calls come in.
Rewind to 2004-05 when the Ospreys won their first Celtic League title, with their success owing every bit as much to week-to-week regulars such as Steve Tandy, Jason Spice, Andrew Millward, Shaun Connor, Barry Williams, Andy Lloyd and Elvis Seveali’i as to more celebrated names at the region at the time. Of course, the Wales regulars played important roles, but the availability throughout the season of the likes of Tandy, Millward and Co, team men to their core, helped hugely.
Of the Dragons’ situation, Warren said: “Dean has made a couple of big signings but has had to shorten the squad in doing that. I hope it doesn’t cost them, because a couple of injuries and you are down to the academy then.
“I was involved in every single matchday this season. I was travelling reserve for four or five games, on the bench for two or three and I started all the others.
“I’d like to think I tried my hardest in every game. I did try my hardest in every game.
“A lot of coaches have told me I’m consistent. I probably didn’t have that one standout quality which Dean has gone for in the shape of exciting players who can produce 9 out of 10s in matches, who perhaps have a special attribute — like Willis Halaholo with Cardiff, say: he has that step.
“I’ve just tried to hold my form and play to the best of my ability.
“What I appreciate is that the Dragons fans seemed to recognise what I contributed because I’ve had a lot of support from them.
“Sometimes when you are playing week-in, week-out and you are losing a lot it’s easy for supporters to blame every player and think the lot of them are not good enough. But I felt it went the other way for me. I was playing most weeks and generally I got on great with supporters and the other players. I thought everyone showed me good support in that sense. I felt appreciated.”
For Warren, it’s about worth to the team. A while back, one of his admirers told this writer: “He probably offers the most value of any midfield player in Welsh rugby right now.
“His stats show as much.
“He makes breaks, tackles, achieves turnovers and is a team man to his core.
“If you were picking a Moneyball side — that is, on statistics, as it’s done in the book called Moneyball — he’d always be there or thereabouts.”
Little has changed since that conversation.
Now, it’s about regrouping and starting again.
“I would have wanted to carry on playing professional rugby, preferably in Wales, but all teams seem sorted,” said Warren. “My agent has been looking in England and France but I have a family now, with two young boys, and my wife has a teaching job, so to make a move like that it would have to be properly worthwhile.
“I’ve had a fair few calls from semi-pro clubs and I appreciate every one because it’s always nice to be wanted. I’ll probably sign for one of those clubs, with the main thing being that I want to keep playing.
“I still enjoy the game and, touch wood, I have a decent record with injuries. I did have a groin problem a while back but I recovered quickly and I’ve also had a few calf issues. But apart from those, I’ve barely missed any rugby over the past 10 or 11 years.
“If I do go semi-pro I’ll have to get a job outside the game. Before going into rugby I was thinking of becoming a PE teacher. I also enjoy strength and conditioning, so maybe that’s something else to think about.
“We’ll see how it pans out.
“I will miss it if I finish as a professional player, because it is nice to do as a job.
“You make good friends and there’s great camaraderie. We may not have won a lot at the Dragons but there are some great boys in the squad and I’m sure I’ll stay mates with them for life.
“In 20 years’ time when I look back, I’ll think how much I’ve enjoyed my career, even though there are moments when you go in and think: ‘Here we go, I don’t want to do this again.’ But that’s the same with every job.
“Overall, I’ve loved my time playing professional rugby and semi–pro rugby.”
What’s to be said?
It is a privilege to be involved in professional sport for a living.
But such a career can have a razor edge, as Warren will testify after the events of the past week.
A player offering value for money, it seems, isn’t enough any more.
It’s a tough world we live in.
