The 21 stone prop-forward, who turns 33 on November 23rd, is just 21 games away from breaking the clubs all-time appearance record set by former lock Mark Vatcher who clocked up 252 first team outings during his time at Holme Park.

It all, of course, depends on `Grizz’s’ body holding up and remaining injury free but, provided that it does, then by the time that summer 2013 rolls around he should have already passed the Vatcher record.

“I’m a Reading boy through and through and when I was in the clubs Junior set-up all I wanted to do was make the first fifteen, so it would be great to break the club’s appearance record and it would also wind-up `Vatch’!” remarks `Grizz’ who was Vatcher’s former teammate for many seasons and who is now coaching at Newbury.

Born in Reading’s Royal Berks Hospital, ‘Grizz’ is very much a home-grown talent although both his parents are Scots and originally from Annan, in Dumfriesshire.

And ‘Grizz’ has certainly remained true to his maternal heritage having represented the Scottish Exiles team at all age groups and where, in the senior Exiles line-up, he crossed swords with the then Scotland tight-head Tom Smith in a Scottish District Championship match.

“I think I showed him a thing or two!” recalls ‘Grizz’ with a grin.

Club wise his senior Reading first fifteen debut came out of the blue when he was just 18 and, to further his experiance, was taken on the league trip North to Wharfedale by the then coach Mike Tewkesbury.

“It was a bit of a wake-up call,’ he admits. “I wasn’t supposed to be playing, but J J Harris fell down a rabbit hole during the Captain’s Walk around the `Emmerdale’ TV set on the morning of the match and twisted his ankle so I was, suddenly, in the team.”

It did, however, prove to be the launch-pad of an illustrious career mainly with Reading but also, for three seasons (2003/06), with Henley Hawks, when they were flying high in the leagues, and where he suffered his biggest injury to date when he broke his leg and missed a season.

While the injury was certainly a low point in his playing career there’s been plenty of great moments to reflect upon and savour with relish.

“Making my 100th first team appearance when I was still only 21 or 22 was a milestone while, I would say that scoring a try for Reading two minutes from time against a London team to clinch promotion to the National leagues was probably the highlight so far,” he recalls.

And who’s been his most difficult opponent in the murky waters of front-row opposition?

“There was a loose-head at Otley and he was a nuisance,” admits Grizz. “He was 6’4”, 19 stone and there wasn’t an ounce of fat on him and I actually played against him for both Reading and the Hawks.”
“But, overall, the game itself is a bit tougher now as everyone is bigger, there’s harder tackles going in and it’s a lot faster.”

As he approaches his 32nd birthday he’s considered to be at the peak of his propping powers, but for how long does he think he’ll continue playing?

He says frankly: “I’ll play for as long as the body holds out. Because I started so early it all takes its toll and, when you look at the amount of games I’ve played for Reading, Henley Hawks, Berkshire and the Scottish Exiles, who knows?”

Being a happily married man to Catherine for the past nine years there’s also a career to think about and, in the past six months, he’s just swopped jobs and joined the Newbury office of DTP Group as an IT Technical Consultant.

But, for as long as he can, this popular, smoking, beer-loving demon of the `dark arts’ will continue to torment the various front-rows that he comes up against as he gradually muscles his way towards his own little niche in the history books and sets a new all-time Reading RFC appearance record.

Steve Williams
Reading RFC Press Officer