Jared Rosser may be completely focused on Dragons RFC’s clash with Edinburgh tomorrow but that doesn’t mean he’s not aware of the milestone he is set to reach.
Having made his first appearance in the 2017/18 season for Dragons, scoring eight tries, Rosser is now set to join the likes of Angus O’Brien, Dan Lydiate, James Benjamin and Taine Basham in making his 100th appearance for the club.
“It's finally come about,” said Rosser. “I’ve been eyeing it up now since the end of last season, thinking: ‘If I can squeeze in a couple this year then hopefully I can get to 100.’”
“It's come about now so hopefully I’ll get an opportunity to play on the weekend and hit the hundred.
"I do like things like milestones. If I forget then one of the family members, whether it be my girlfriend, father, dad and grandparent will tell me now and again.”
While still young by most metrics, at 27 Rosser is now one of the older heads particular in the backline with full back Huw Anderson almost seven years his junior.
“I remember when I first started that the likes of TRT and Cory Hill were like, ‘You're a ‘97 baby?!’ and thought it was mad and now we’ve got boys who are 2000 and something,” said Rosser.
“So it quickly changes and you’re one of the old heads in the group.”
While not ready to hang up his boots by any stretch of the imagination, being one of the older heads means that Rosser has already begun planning for his future after rugby.
Rosser has already completed his level three personal training as well as his level four nutrition and level two coaching as he looks to the future and has set up Rossfit with online training and rugby specific plans plus weight loss plans.
"I think it was last year I started it up, I just thought maybe see how it goes,” said Rosser.
“There's no pressure to get a business straight off the ground when you're still playing, but just to keep it ticking over in the background.
“So I've been doing some online coaching with fitness plans etc. but then, I spoke to some of the boys who were coaching with the Dragons 18s and Dragons 16s and picked their brains on what they'd like to see from players coming through.
“I wanted to see whether I could offer that then on some one-to-one coaching and it's gone really well, I enjoy it.”
For the time being Rosser feels that he would like to pursue a future as a “sports nutritionist” and “dealing with players on a one-to-one basis” along with academies.
While planning for his future is of course the main aim, Rosser is also reaping the benefits in the here and now.
“It's done me the world of good in terms of confidence and speaking,” said Rosser.
“Dealing with children, they sometimes don't grasp things for the first time but being able then to put that across in a way they can pick up and learn skills, I think has helped me.
“Talking in meetings here, whether it be press for example, and just confidence and speaking and being in the limelight a little bit, my confidence has grown from dealing with sessions and strangers.”
While the hard work is his own, he admits to having benefitted from a nudge in the right direction from another Dragons centurion.
“Ollie Griffiths was probably the one to really push me to start it up really,” said Rosser.
“Obviously I’ve been at the club with him for so many years and we both gelled over fitness kind of thing.
“I was talking to him one day about potentially doing it and he said ‘Just go into it, all guns blazing, if it doesn't work out then it doesn't work out, but I think you'd be good at it.’
“And he was the voice that made me start it up and now he's followed suit as well and he's doing really well. “It's not a competition we both help each other out with drills don’t worry!”
I remember when I first started that the likes of TRT and Cory Hill were like, ‘You're a ‘97 baby?!’ and thought it was mad and now we’ve got boys who are 2000 and something...
