Seeing the pleasure and pride displayed by all 12 Welsh players who received professional contracts for the first time last week was wonderful and there can only be one way for the women's team in Wales to go now. . . UP!
So many have fought for too long to get to this stage, but 12 full-time pros and 15 others on retainers should help to dramatically change the game in Wales. While it is an important step for the players themselves, it is also a statement of intent for the women's game as a whole and will provide future generations with something tangible to aim at.
The announcement took me back to when I signed my first contract at Neath. I'd been paid a few quid to play before then, but I had never had a full-time contract. When I first started training under Lyn Jones at The Gnoll I couldn't drive and so my mother used to pick me up from my 9-5 job with the Employment Service and take me there. She'd wait in the car and then drive me home.
I wanted to do anything I could to get noticed and more than anything I wanted the coach and the club to know I was committed to them. What these women have done to get noticed goes way beyond that.
I know a few of them and have seen the sacrifices they make. There are three international players in my area who play at Worcester Warriors and drive up and back to train there twice a week and then play at weekends.
I was on peanuts when I first turned pro, but they have been surviving on husks. They deserve the chance to better themselves and to take the game to the next level.
Being a professional isn't just about doing more and more, rest and recovery time are key components as well. These women will now be able to work harder and recover properly. Lisa Neumann used to drive 200 miles from Manchester to Welsh sessions and then return home the same day. She'd get in at 1.00am and have to go to work at 9.00am.
“I was on peanuts when I turned pro, but the women have been surviving on husks”
She might still have to travel from Manchester to Cardiff as a full-time pro, but she won't now have the pressure of having to go to another job.
She can stay overnight and make the journey in her own time.
But perhaps most important of all for the group will be the environment they will find themselves in. They will work together and compete against each other. They will have specialist coaches, S&C advisers, nutritionists, dieticians and physios on hand. They will be able to work on their weaknesses and benefit from one to one coaching. They can only get better.
Ioan Cunningham and his coaching team have already worked wonders in a short space of time with the team and they will set the tone and create the culture. When Warren Gatland first came in as Wales coach he changed the way we trained and thought.
Instead of worrying about the opposition or any weaknesses we might have, he started talking about winning Grand Slams. And we did – at his very first attempt!
He got us thinking differently, working harder, competing within the squad and setting higher and higher standards.
He used to sidle up to me in training and just drop something in my ear like ‘Mark Jones has got you over 40 metres'. Or ‘Bryan Habana is on fire at the moment and they tell me he is benching 30kgs more than you'. Nothing like a blunt instrument to get a sharp response.
It was the same with the pianolifters in the gym. Gethin Jenkins used to bench 170kgs and Warren was forever trying to goad Adam Jones to get closer to him.
What being a professional player does is give you the chance to constantly improve, to finally have a shot at reaching your full potential. That is the biggest thing the women will have to look forward to.
