He used to be a proud ‘Man of Gwent’ but these days Joe Goodchild is every inch a Cardiff ‘city slicker’.
For the past four years the former Wales U20 wing, who made four appearances for the Dragons before heading ‘west’ to the Welsh capital, has been at the heart of so much that has been good about the Blue & Blacks.
Now, in the 150th anniversary of the club, he is set to make his 100th appearance in the top of the Super Rygbi Cymru table clash with Ebbw Vale at the Arms Park today (saturday). He played for The Steelmen when he was in the Dragons Academy and would love nothing better than to end this month as he started it.
On 3 October he scored the final try in the 59-14 demolition of Ebbw at Eugene Cross Park. Now he gets another chance to shine against one of his old clubs in another mouthwatering contest.
“The club has been a massive part of my life for just over four years – not just for me as a player, but for my family as well. Reaching 100 appearances means a huge amount to me,” said Goodchild, capped at Wales U18, U20 and Sevens levels.
“Although I’m not from Cardiff, the club and the people around it have made me feel so welcome that it has become a second home to me. I’ve built some great relationships and memories here, and I’m incredibly proud to have represented the club 100 times.
“It’s a milestone that means a lot to me, and I’m grateful to everyone who has played a part in making the last four years so special.”
After one season in the English Championship at Ampthill he joined Cardiff at the start of the 2022-23 campaign. They were the reigning WRU Premiership champions and went on to add the WRU Challenge Cup to their trophy cabinet in Goodchild’s first season.
Their win over Newport at Principality Stadium included a spectacular corner try from Goodchild in which he launched himself high into the air before touching down one handed.
LLandovery ruined the perfect first season for him when they won the Premiership title by beating Cardiff in the final at the Arms Park.
He has gone on to score 39 tries in his 99 games to date and helped Cardiff to top the SRC table at the end of the regular league season in the last two seasons.
“It’s a massive achievement for Joe to be playing his 100th game for Cardiff. We want to make sure we put on a good performance so it’s one for him to remember,” said Cardiff head coach Dan Fish.
“We’ve played Ebbw Vale enough to know what they bring, and we’re looking forward to the challenge. We need to be squeaky clean with penalties, stick to our game plan and play some rugby.
“We know they are hurting from what happened a couple of weeks ago. We’ve made some adjustments over the seven games and the boys have reacted and adapted really well.
“We need to match them physically and our discipline has to be very good. We know they are dangerous when they get into the 22 so we want to try and limit their entries into that area.
“We have focused on how we can be the best version of ourselves and put our game onto the pitch. We know if we can do that we are a very difficult team to play against.
“It’s the last game of a big block of rugby and we want to make sure we finish with a good performance.”
They scored nine tries at Eugene Cross Park but will go into the return fixture showing seven changes from the team that started in Ebbw Vale. The Steelmen will be without second row Curtis Gregory, who was sent off in the last game against Llandovery, but welcome back the experience Dorian Jones to the bench.
Canadian international back row cap Sion Parry leads the side which also includes former Cardiff U18 hooker Ieuan Morris, once again the leading try scorer in SRC.
RGC get back into action when they host Pontypool this afternoon, while reigning champions Llandovery head to Aberavon still licking their wounds after losing at home to Ebbw Vale in the last round.