ALL GOODE THINGS

Let me take you back to 2019, long, long ago in a galaxy far away, before anyone had ever heard of COVID or Salary Cap Scandals. It is a fine weekend in Newcastle in mid may and Saracens have just confounded the “experts” with a systematic dismantling of the “Best team in Europe” Leinster, to become European Champions. Alexander David Goode has just deservedly been named European Player of the Year. And yet he has hit the headlines for another reason: Alex took himself on a 3 day binge, still wearing his playing kit, boots and mouthguard and with just a bumbag round his waist. His exploits were documented on Social Media and he became far more of a celebrity for that than for anything he had ever done on the pitch. As his mum reportedly says when people mention it to her “he’s a very good rugby player too, you know!’.

Alex was born on 7^th May 1988 into a sporty family. His aunt, Jo Goode won an Olympic bronze medal at badminton. He was a good all round sportsman excelling at Athletics, tennis and football (he was invited to join the Ipswich Academy), but rugby was his first love. He was privately educated at The Leys School in Cambridge and then Oakham School where his talent was nurtured and he was picked for the England U16 schools rugby team only to find himself behind Danny Cipriani and Adam Greendale for the 10 shirt. He attracted interest from several premiership clubs and was invited to pre-season training with Bath. He joined Saracens in the end because it was the closest to home and he had family nearby who could support him. Who would have thought at that time he would be the ultimate “1-club” man (we’ll forgive him the enforced year in Japan) and would win 402 Caps for Saracens.

Saracens in those days was pre Venter, pre McCall, not the close-knit family club it is now. Mark Mapletoft was no longer coaching the Academy and Alex struggled to make an impression. He went out on loan to Cambridge. It all could have been so very different but Alan Gaffney gave Alex his debut in the last game of the season against Bristol at Milton Keynes, co-incidentally Richard Hill’s last game of Professional rugby. Glen Jackson, the regular fly-half was unavailable so Alex stepped up. Nothing spectacular but a solid performance and he kicked his goals.

Richard Hill began to work with the academy and became a friend and mentor to Alex. Eddie Jones took over as Sarries coach and Alex had to wait a while for his 2^nd appearance – home to Scarlets in the Challenge Cup where he started at inside centre (and was replaced after an hour by a young lad called Owen Farrell). Further appearances followed erratically – at 15 in the EDF Cup and later in the Premiership. It was the arrival of Brendan Venter the following season that really made the difference. As Alex said “He changed the team culture and I don’t think anyone else in the world could have achieved what he and Ed Griffiths did together. They set the tone for the successful years at the club. They got everyone to buy into a very physical, ‘all for one, one for all’ approach that still serves us so well to this day.” It was the dawn of the Saracens culture we know today. With Glen Jackson entrenched at 10 and young Faz in the wings, fly half wasn’t looking a likely option so whether or not from choice, Alex became a full back who could cover 10. He was there for the agonising first Premiership Final defeat to Leicester in 2010 and back again for victory in 2011.

By now Alex was a fully-fledged and integral member of the team. We were treated week by week to his rapidly developing skills and his incredible rugby brain. Goodey thinks a lot about the game, all the time, every eventuality. He said: “I’ve tried to keep taking pictures and I like to think you could blindfold me and I could go: ‘Right, there’s two in the back-field there, the winger is high [up the field] in a ruck, they’re going to drift because their body language is slightly off.’ If you’ve got that information, you can make decisions. The subtle, or non-sexy thing is giving yourself the best chance to be in control and make those decisions and pick off those two-on-ones and not get blind-sided because you’ve taken the picture and you know what’s coming”.

Inevitably he caught the eye of the then England coach, Stuart Lancaster and made his debut in 2012 against South Africa, the first of his 21 Caps. It seems ludicrous that he only won 21 caps, the most complete rugby player I have ever seen and yet maybe his face didn’t fit. Whatever it was, England didn’t seem to feel they needed him. Their lost was Sarries’ gain. The arrival of Eddie Jones as Head Coach pretty much sealed his fate.

Alex said: “I think mentally it was tough. Because the media were always talking about it, there’s nothing you can do to control that opinion, but it’s ultimately his [Eddie’s] right to do what he wants. I kind of used it to focus on Saracens and some of my best games were when internationals were away or when I didn’t get picked [for the matchday squad] and was coming back [to Saracens] with no preparation and throwing myself into it. The club was so good at just going, ‘Goodey, do what you need to do, we love you, you’re brilliant, just go out there and be yourself’. I always had that love for the club to never let them down. It was a bit, ‘put your best foot forward, fuck England, I’m going to show how good I am and just keep doing that’. And so yeah, I actually think it galvanised me, and I think my form was good, but [at times] it did affect me mentally. It was a hard period.”

But Alex is the ultimate “nice guy”. In his mind he doesn’t hold it against Eddie: “ I’m not going to sit here saying ‘Eddie’s shit’. He’s a very good coach, he did great things for England, and I wasn’t what he wanted. There’s been plenty of players over the course of England history not picked when others say they should be. It’s one man’s opinion. It wasn’t to be.”

But if England didn’t value him, Sarries did. He was voted Premiership Player of the Year in 2015/16. He was a member of the Premiership-winning sides of 2011, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019 (the Double Year) and 2023. He won 3 European titles (2016, 2017 – when he made a try for Ashton and then scored one himself in Edinburgh against Clemont) and that incredible 2019 season. What is even more remarkable is that he played in every Saracens knock-out match from 2010 to 2024 – 47 consecutive games.

In rugby terms, Alex isn’t a “big” guy – 5’9” 90kg and yet he suffered remarkably few injuries during his 23 seasons with Saracens. I remember that sickening tackle at the Kingspan back in 2014 when a clumsy challenge by Payne resulted in what looked like a really nasty injury. Luckily he recovered quickly and was back in time to help his club overcome Clermont in the semi’s before loosing to Toulon in the final at Cardiff (the day of the “coaches” – all in all not one to remember).

For some he will always be “Andy” Goode! Too many lazy rugby journalists saw the “A Goode” on the team sheet and wrote down “Andy”. Strange as the loathsome one only spent a year at Sarries while Alex is part of the fixtures and fittings but like everything else that befell him, he took it all in his stride.

Alex broke the Club record when he won his 338^th Cap against Sale (and scored a try as well). He went on to represent Saracens 402 times – a record which I think will neve be broken. He always said he wanted to retire on his terms, that he didn’t want someone tapping him on the shoulder and suggesting he should move on. He absolutely achieved that winning his 400^th Cap exactly 17 years after his first. Mark McCall correctly substituted him after an hour of his 402^nd and final game allowing him to receive the applause he truly deserves.

Mark McCall paid him this complement:" I don’t think there’s been a more consistent player in the Premiership for the last 10 years, I can’t remember a bad game and he performs at a consistently brilliant level.  We watched a highlights video of him on Friday and you could hear a pin drop in the room because our younger players, who haven’t really seen it all, were amazed by what they saw. He’s been an incredible player but also an incredible person for the club as well. He enjoys a final and he also enjoys a post-final. But he’s also wonderful with our younger players. He’s got huge rugby IQ and our younger players are lucky that he takes the time he does with them. To watch him play is to be reminded of the subtle, skilful and intangible aspects that encapsulate great rugby performances."

So back to where we came in. Alex is a master in the art of celebrating. He loves to dress up, appearing as Eddie the Eagle, Bjorn Borg, the Joker and one half of the Wet Bandits from Home Alone. He and Chris Ashton formed a notorious double act.  But ironically it was that full-kit bender that cemented his fame. His departure leaves an enormous hole to fill. StoneX just won’t be the same but all Goode things must finally, sadly, eventually, come to an end.