Being a master of persuasion, I managed to get Andy Grodynski to write me a little piece for the blog. Andy is a good friend who has packed up his life and moved to Australia which is a little sad as we don't get to see him much any more, still there is a holiday friend to tap up when I get to Oz! Andy has more passports than James Bond and Jason Bourne put together... He is a little bit British, Polish, Indonesian and Australian. Pick one of those four for a place to set up shop and its not a surprise he has headed down under to show them how to do some engineering. He is only back for three weeks and managed to get a wrestling session in, which was great fun.
Before I let you read any further I should state that Andy was "emotionally compromised" from excessive alcohol consumption at time of writing and claims to have been lurking in a dark place on Struggle Street.
Thanks for doing the Blog Andy, I appreciate it and hope you have a safe trip back home to Brissy!
All the best
@shocksjr
Grod vs.Shocks but really vs. Simmo
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| Andy Grodynski - Shortround |
Mike, or Shockers, as I’ve always known him, managed to appeal to my competitive side when he said Aran Simm’s guest blog entry would be a tough one to beat on the hits! So, here we go… I’m Andy, otherwise known as Grod, or Short Round, due to my slight resemblance to Harrison Ford’s sidekick in Temple of Doom.
I first met Mike nearly six years ago, making my debut for the Scotland U18s RL side, where he was part of the coaching staff. I must have been doing something right because he encouraged me to get along to play for the Edinburgh Eagles and the Napier University side. A handful of Student and Amateur caps and 4 Grand Final wins later, I’m now playing rugby league in Brisbane, and have much to be thankful to Mike for getting me involved in the early days.
I made the escape to warmer climates just over year ago and have missed a big year for Mike and his family. I left not long before his son’s first birthday, missed out on his stag doo and had to be content with viewing his wedding through photos! And then there was the announcement that he had taking up wrestling!
At first I thought the pressures of parenthood and married life had hit him really hard – so I had to Skype home to make sure he was feeling okay! However a thirty minute chat, and a bit of assurance from Emma, it was clear to see he was intent on giving the wrestling a real go. He has done really well to get a great back-room team up and running for him very quickly – he’s got fantastic facilities and a great team at work, and I know Emma and Cameron are rooting for him at home.
I already knew I would be home for Christmas, so as well as making sure I caught up with him and Emma, I was definitely going to get along to one of his sessions to see how it was all going.
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| Napier Rugby League league winners 2008/2009 |
I rocked up to the Friday night Wrestling session not really sure what to expect. There was some chatter amongst the other guys about different techniques; ways to win points; ways to win more points; ways not to lose points; and very quickly I was aware I didn't have the slightest clue about any of the rules! The speed of the session was good for me – after a quick warm up we went through an hour or so of technique work. I was fascinated by a lot of the drills we went through, which ranged from take-downs, headlocks and some counter moves. I had no idea that the sport was so technical, as I thought wrestling was just about throwing your opposite man into the ground. Some of the techniques were transferable to rugby league, but I’m not sure how legal the headlocks are in my game! I think I've forgotten a lot of the technique stuff already, and whatever I did manage to retain got thrown out of me when the session moved into a few bouts. The bouts were fun to watch – there were an obvious variety of different fighting backgrounds amongst the other boys and it was interesting to see them fight against each other. I was a bit apprehensive about taking on Mike as he’s got nearly 30 kilos on me in weight, but (I think) I held my own and came out in one piece! As there’s no video evidence, I might try and tell people I dominated the bout!
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| Proof that there are headlocks in rugby league |
I was very impressed by the session and the setup at the [EN]GAGE centre at Sighthill, and really enjoyed my short session there. I’d love to be able to do more to support Mike his bid for a spot at the games - I’ll definitely be keeping a close eye out on his progress from across the globe. Although his foray into the wrestling world may seem a bit left field to a lot of people, he’s made a huge amount of progress in a just a few months, and has a big year of graft and training ahead of him. The Commonwealth Games in 2014 is a huge incentive for him, and I know he’s got the added personal incentive of doing it for Emma and Cameron.
I hope a few more of his friends can get behind him and give him the support he deserves to ensure that the next time I’m back in Scotland, it’ll be 2014 and I’ll be cheering him on from the stands at the Commonwealth Games!
@the_grod
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