THE lure of featuring in the same team as your son has been a reason for many extending their playing careers or making a comeback.
Bradford & Bingley lock Rob Woodhead is the latest example, the 46-year-old playing the entirety of their Counties Two Yorkshire derby at Yarnbury, which the home team won 63-19.
Woodhead played for the last seven minutes off the bench in the Bees’ 46-18 Intermediate Cup final victory over Gloucester Old Boys at Twickenham in 2004 but hasn’t played first XV rugby for over a decade.
Explaining his surprise comeback, he said: “I am coaching the Under-16 team down at Bradford & Bingley, which my son Max (also a second row) plays in, and I want to play a senior game with him.
“I made myself a commitment to get down to pre-season training and get myself fit for when he is old enough (to play senior rugby) in 18 months’ time.
“I stopped drinking in January, I am running more with the dog and it is great to play first-team games.”
Woodhead added: “I managed to play 80 minutes on a 4G pitch here, tearing myself to bits, so it is good fun.
“And it was nice for me to get the Peter Rae Memorial Trophy match (Bradford Salem Vets v Bradford & Bingley Vets on August 31) under my belt before the season started to get a bit of match fitness.
“I have now played three matches and I am starting to get into the flow of it now.
“I wasn’t blowing as much after 80 minutes here as I was at the start of the season.”
Looking back 20 years, Woodhead reflected on his Twickenham experience, saying: “Social media was not prevalent and no-one seemed to be taking pictures afterwards, which is a shame.
“It was great fun, there was a real camaraderie within the club and we had great support coming down on the coach, which we could hear from the stands all the way through.
“It was something special and they were great times, but we have a good set of lads now who have stuck together through thick and thin over the last five years.
“Hopefully we have found our level now and can start to bring some of the young lads through and move up the leagues.
“I try and mentor the lads and bring a bit of a calming head with my experience, knowing when to slow things down and when to speed them up.
“I try and lead from the front and take the lads with me but there are other good leaders on the pitch too.”
As for Saturday’s heavy defeat, Woodhead reflected: “We had a good chat on Tuesday with the coaches and Geoff Cook (former England manager) after losing to Dinnington, where we had some players out and had to bring young lads in.
“We talked about three micro things that we would do at Yarnbury, for individuals not to give penalties away, me not using my age as an excuse and get around the field better, and to put tackles in.
“It is a bit of a cliche but it is about belief in yourself, belief in the coaches and belief in the lads that you are playing with.
“We proved for 25 minutes of the second half that we can compete with good sides like this and I don’t think that the scoreboard was a true reflection of the game.
“We should have got a bonus point for four tries, it was there for the taking, but there were still lots of positives to take from the second half
“It is about desire and turning the ball over, but we shouldn’t beat ourselves up too much.
“It is about rallying together, sticking together and digging in when times are tough.
“We now have 14 points after seven games, which is reasonable given our unavailabilities and hopefully we can now go on after two tough matches.”
Yarnbury scored nine tries, with four being scored by players who left Wagon Lane in the summer.
Former Bees winger Luca Devittoris got a hat-trick, while centre Will Marshall crossed to score, adding three conversions on the afternoon too.
Other tries came from former Old Grovians flyer Max Kennedy (2), Max Lee, Tom Whitfield and Harrison Smith, with Daniel Pound landing six conversions before leaving the field with a rib injury.
Bradford & Bingley, who were trailing 35-0 at half-time on a glorious autumn afternoon, were more competitive after half-time and got tries by scrum half Dom Walker (2), who also added two conversions, and Corey Spencer.
The Bees lost Connor Capper with a calf injury in the second half.
Elsewhere, in Counties Two Yorkshire, Baildon kept visiting Bramley Phoenix at arm’s length to claim a 30-22 home win and move up to sixth.
Up in Regional Two North East, Bradford Salem recovered brilliantly from 14-0 down at Malton & Norton, roaring back to earn a thrilling 25-22 bonus point win that put them second in the table.
Cleckheaton were only 21-13 down midway through their Regional One North East game at Huddersfield on Saturday, but were blown away after the break, losing 48-21 to their hosts to slip to eighth.
Finally, in Counties One Yorkshire, Keighley slipped to third after an error-strewn 40-30 loss at Beverley, their first league defeat of the season.
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