Tank looks for fitting finale
By Mark Stevens
17/5/18
It didn’t take Thomas Waldrom all that long to realise that he was making the right decision in moving to the Exeter Chiefs.
After four years with the Leicester Tigers, Waldrom knew he needed a change of scenery and an opportunity to re-ignite his playing career. Exeter Chiefs were among those vying for his services and following a memorable first meeting with Rob Baxter, one in which the deal was effectively sealed by a chocolate muffin, the New Zealander knew fairly quickly that his next stop-off would be that of Sandy Park.
Waldrom agreed terms on a three-year deal and wasted no time in making his mark, scoring on debut in a healthy away-day win against London Welsh. In the time that has followed, the popular No.8 has continued to create headlines, scoring a staggering 51 tries in 99 appearances to date for the Devon club.
“When I first met Rob at the services, he spoke about his vision for the club moving forward. Hhe spoke with such passion and talking about the young kids at the time, who have definitely grown up now and have 50-60 Premiership games under their belt now.
“The way he talked about it and the way they enjoy it and play some decent rugby, he wanted me to come down and add some experience and it hit home with me and made my decision to come down here quite easy.
“Now, though, they don’t need me anymore! So it is probably the right time to move on.
“I never thought it would go as well as it has and everyone asks me why, but it basically comes down to enjoyment. When you enjoy something, it makes everything in life simple and easy and that’s what I put it down to, within the playing squad and the coaching staff, the amount of time they put in on the field and getting us right and the boys enjoy it and work hard.”
Now, as the 35-year-old prepares to bid a fond farewell to not only the Westcountry, but English rugby all together, the free-scoring forward is hell-bent on bowing out on a high note, helping the Chiefs to make it back-to-back titles in the Aviva Premiership.
Not known as a man that is moved easily, even Waldrom may struggle to keep his emotions in check if he runs out at Sandy Park for the last time this Saturday against Newcastle Falcons in the Aviva Premiership semi-final (3:30pm).
Waldrom is set to return to his New Zealand homeland in a fortnight’s time, bringing the curtain down on a glorious four years in Devon.
Sandy Park has been good to ‘The Tank’, where he has become a firm fans’ favourite. And it would be somewhat telling if the tune of Thomas the Tank Engine blares out one final time should he cross the whitewash again at the weekend.
“I knew when I was leaving that I had 12-14 times to run out in front of the home crowd and this will be the last one,” said Waldrom. “To have it sold out is going to be incredible and even in the warm-up, you get clapped and things like that, it really is an amazing feeling and you certainly get pumped up for it.”
Waldrom is expected to be part of a powerful Exeter line-up that will run out in front of a sell-out crowd as the Chiefs look for the win that would see them head to Twickenham to contest the Premiership final for the third successive year.
Twelve months ago saw them return victorious from Rugby HQ following an extra-time win over Wasps and after experiencing that high, Waldrom wants more.
“Once you get a taste of it, you just want to keep going and going and winning it last year tops off all the hard work you put in during the year,” he said. “On the cold and miserable days, all the hard work put in – and not just by the 23 that take the field, it is all the other boys, some of them don’t even see a game all year. The amount of hard work they put in to get us ready and stuff like that, you just can’t thank them enough.
“To hear them saying on TV that you are Premiership champions is nice and to get it again would be amazing, but we know we have a tough task starting with Newcastle on Saturday.
“We have worked hard this week on making sure that we have our house in order and getting ourselves prepared. We have looked at a tape of them and know they have threats all over the field.
“It’s do or die rugby and this is why we play it. Even if we win by a point, we go through, but we know we have to be on our best game if we want to progress, but training has been good all week really.
The Chiefs have twice beaten Newcastle already at Sandy Park this season – once in the Premiership and then in the Anglo-Welsh Cup semi-final – but that will count for nothing when the two clubs lock horns on Saturday.
However, Waldrom is desperate to ensure his final outing on Devon soil is one to remember for years to come.
“It’s an amazing club, anyone that is thinking of coming here, you have got my recommendation hands down, it’s a great place to be,” he added. “There are great coaches and the players are as well. They are a weird bunch at times, but they are really enjoyable as well.
“We are trying to get Sky installed and in New Zealand, they have the rugby channel where they show all the Premiership games and my wife asked me if we should get it. I said it was a no-brainer because if I don’t do that, I wouldn’t be able to watch the Chiefs, would I?”