Thomas Groves joined our club at the start of the 2025/26 season as some new to the game as a 17 year old. During pre season he very quickly impressed the coaches with his speed, strength and exceptional maturity. He became our 1st XV winger from the first game. Opposition sides became aware of his powerful running in attack and his commitment in defence – a great asset to our club but, more importantly, to the game.
Thomas was introduced to our club by Jon ‘Wiggo’ Wiggins himself a former sub mariner. Jon explained what Thomas had to look forwards to, “He will join the Royal Navy on Monday 19th January at HMS Raleigh in Torpoint Cornwall for 10 weeks Initial Naval Training learning Naval fundamentals, life skills and teamwork. After a passing out parade he will move onto HMS Sultan in Gosport Hampshire for his trade training as an Air Engineering Technician. He will have 6 months learning to maintain either fast jets(F35’s) or Helicopters (Merlin or Wildcat) after which he will be assigned to a squadron as maintenance crew. As they say, after that “The world is his Oyster” best of luck to him. I never regretted joining up – the best 23 ½ years of my life”.
We all wish Thomas the best of luck in his new career. Hopefully, on his leave periods he’ll pop into our club and let us know how he’s getting on.
