Farewell Matthew James Sutherland Dawson

By Mark H
May 16 2004

It's over. After 247 appearances, 66 tries and 693 points in the Gold, Black and Green, Matt Dawson is a Saint no more. Keith Barwell confirmed on Friday afternoon that his contract had been terminated with a year left to run, enabling Daws to go with his wishes and look for a club in London.

I'll be totally honest, I'm not sure how I feel about the news at the moment. To many, me included, Daws and his enigmatic snappiness at the scrum and around the bases of rucks personified Saints - not afraid of others and willing to tell them so. To others, mainly opposing teams and supporters, he was the devil incarnate - gobby, always on the backs of referees, and generally using his status as England's premier scrum half as an influencing tool to try and get decisions going his way. Possibly the over-riding emotion is one of regret - regret that it should end this way, regret that we have not been allowed to give him the farewell that he deserves, regret that we have not seen him having a triumphant final season, regret that the legendary DawsonGrayson (one word as it should be) axis is now no more.

And regret that he has not completed the task that he wanted the most - winning a medal with Saints and providing all of us who love the club with a much cherished trophy.

The stated reason for his departure is wanting to be closer to the lovely Jo and his home, but there will continue to be rumours as to whether there are any other reasons for the separation. If the reason for leaving is the much documented dislike of Corne Krige and his “style” of rugby, then credit to Daws for sticking to his principles, but it could also have something to do with the emergence of Sharky as a truly world class scrum half, something that most of us could not have foreseen at the start of the season, and a reluctance to go from world champion to Wanderer in less than a year. Who knows? Perhaps we’ll only find out when the paperback version of “Nine Lives” comes out (and that may be harsh, but as the man himself reads and posts on the site occasionally, the floor is clear for any misconceptions to be clarified).

There’s so many memories of the man, where do you start? My main one will probably be his one man demolition of Edinburgh in the Heineken Cup winning season, when on a freezing cold Friday night, Daws skated to a hat trick of classic tries, running at defenders and getting past them just by the dropping of a shoulder and the acceleration away. If only he could have stayed fit enough to have taken part in the final and get that precious medal. It was not to be though, but he was one of the first onto that Twickenham pitch as the final whistle went.

That’s how much it meant to him - once the shirt goes on, it gets in your blood.

One set of eighty minutes this season, against Rotherham, and four other appearances which ended with that appearance at inside centre against Bath. Fairly fitting that he should end on a victory, as he helped in bringing so many of them to the club, and consequently so much pleasure to those of us who’ve watched him for all (or part) of thirteen seasons.

It’ll be strange seeing him in an opposition shirt next season, whichever colour it may be (and the smart money appears to be on Wasps at the moment). How long, I wonder, before the first cry of “shut up” emanates from C Block? How long before that first snipe? One thing I do hope is that although we may not all agree with his decision to go, that he isn’t seen as some sort or traitor, “the man who turned his back on the club”, or anything stupid like that, anything which could mean that he gets welcomed with anything but a fine reception on his first (and all future) returns to the club.

Matthew James Sutherland Dawson. 31 years old. Saint no more, but Saintsman for life.

Good luck, and most importantly, stay fit.

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