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Ealing sign Exeter utility back Max Bodilly

By Online Editors
(Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)

Ambitious Championship club Ealing have announced the signing of Exeter Chiefs utility-back, Max Bodilly. It’s been a busy week for the London side, who have also confirmed the contract extension of former Scarlets and Cardiff Blues fly-half Steve Shingler and the signing of Ulster wing Angus Kernohan.

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Bodilly, 25, was reared in the West Country, coming through the Exeter academy before going on to make 36 appearances for Rob Baxter’s table-topping Gallagher Premiership side. He has also turned out for the Cornish Pirates in the Championship on a dual-registration.

Truro-born, the centre can also play at full-back and on the wing, having established himself as an exciting broken-field runner and crossing the try line on seven occasions for the Chiefs. He made his senior debut in an LV= Cup encounter against the Ospreys in 2014.

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“I’m really happy to have signed with Ealing,” said Bodilly. “They have a strong squad with an exciting style of play and have been challenging at the top of the Championship for a number of years. I can’t wait to get stuck into a new challenge.”

Ealing boss Ben Ward added: “Max first impressed us while playing on loan for Cornish Pirates a few years back. He has been at Exeter, who are one of the best in the country, and he is a brilliant attacking threat to add to our current squad.

“He offers us the ability to play at either full-back, outside centre or on the wing. With game time we feel that he can really kick on with lots of room to grow. We are confident that he will be a brilliant player for us.”

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J
Jon 9 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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