1
The trick Andy Goode pulled to help a young Alex Lozowski at Wasps
By Ian Cameron
Saracens utility back Alex Lozowski has revealed how former England flyhalf Andy Goode helped him out financially when he was a young whippersnapper at Wasps.
ADVERTISEMENT
Lozowski signed for Dai Young’s Wasps in 2014 from Leeds and the 20-year-old would play second fiddle to the established Goode at ten, who was by that stage in the Autumn of his career.
Lozowski told the RugbyPass Offload Podcast how Goode would feign needing to be brought off late in the game to allow his understudy to get game time.
“At the start of the season he came up to me and said ‘How many games do play to get your bonus?’ Because, when I signed that year you didn’t get paid much, it was sort of performance-based payments and appearance-based payments.
“I said ‘I just need to play this many games’ and he said ‘Well just let me know when you’re getting close and I’ll sub myself off with five minutes to go in a few games.
“Dai Young probably won’t thank Goodey too much for that, but I probably had the record amount for two-minute appearances in that season and I managed to pay for my holiday that year.
“It was pretty nice. Thanks Goodey!”
While Lozowski benefited from Goode’s goodwill gesture, it came at a tune when Wasps were still struggling to make ends meet off the pitch. Prior to Lozowski’s arrival, there were stories of players having to pay out of pocket to fuel the bus on away trips.
ADVERTISEMENT
“I’ve arrived in 2014 when it was a lot more stable. Having said that, if everyone was carrying on like Goodey was, making sure everyone got bonuses, suddenly there’s no petrol for the bus or whatever.
“It was a good couple of years there, I learned a lot. Jimmy Gopperth came in there as well and he was class. There were a lot of good old pros in the team that helped me out so I always look back with fond memories of Wasps.”
