The 2023/2024 rugby season may only be at the halfway stage, but already teams up and down the globe are looking towards 2024/2025 as they aim to be in the best possible shape to either match or to improve on their current performances. With that in mind, there have been plenty of rumours circulating around as to which players might go where, with some signings already being completed, such as Gloucester’s acquisition of Cardiff and Wales scrum-half Tomos Williams.
However, he is not the only player from the Welsh club who could be on the move at the end of the current campaign, with highly-rated utility back Mason Grady also attracting a significant amount of attention and linked with a number of sides in the English Premiership, namely Bath, Sale Sharks (both of whom have reportedly spoken to the player), Saracens and Exeter Chiefs, as well as several French clubs.
At this moment in time, nothing has been confirmed regarding his future and Cardiff do seem confident of keeping him, and it should be remembered that any move outside of Wales would make him ineligible for the national team. However, given that the speculation refuses to go away, this tactical analysis will look at some of his key characteristics to see why so many are weighing up an approach for his services.
As a utility back, Grady has been used in a number of positions during his short career so far, with both Cardiff and Wales deploying him at centre and on the wing.
What has been clear about his performances though is that it doesn’t matter where he plays because he always demonstrates the same qualities on the field, and one thing that has really stood out about him is his ability to be in the right place at the right time to support his teammates. In this case, that is shown through the change of direction and turn of speed that he made once lock Teddy Williams had gathered the ball, with Dragons fly-half Angus O’Brien seeing his attempted grubber deflected and end up in the arms of the Cardiff player.
However, Williams on his own was never going to be able to turn this into a try, with there being Dragons players around him who were in a good position to tackle him and to prevent the ball from moving too far up the field. Therefore, Grady’s arrival and the passing option that he provided proved to be crucial in allowing Cardiff to score here, with him using his natural pace to take the ball up the field and to dot it over the line under little pressure.
There have been times though when Grady has needed to be more direct and to not either help or be helped by teammates. In this case, Cardiff have been forced to attack through the phases due to Zebre getting numbers back behind the ball, and so the chance of the Welsh side scoring in a similar manner is unlikely.
However, Grady, who is acting as scrum-half here following the drive forward by centre Ben Thomas, has realised that there is a gap ahead of him that he can penetrate, with flanker Giacomo Ferrari and utility back Gerónimo Prisciantelli just far enough away from each other that he can see the try line and can attempt to go on his own.
His attempt in the end didn’t lead to anything, but he still managed to catch Zebre out momentarily and to force them back a little further, and that shows how he can pose just as big a threat in these close-quarter battles as he does in open territory.
However, whilst the analysis has so far focused on his spatial awareness, what needs to be pointed out with regards to how he manages to access areas around the field is that a lot of it comes down to his skills with the ball in hand.
Most rugby players, when asked, will say that they favour one hand over the other when carrying and running with the ball, but Grady seems to be just as comfortable with either and has often been seen switching it from one to the other, and that creates a greater sense of unpredictability about where he might run into and what his intentions are. In this case, he used that to his advantage, with him initially feigning a pass inside him before then running between Dragons’ versatile forward George Nott and substitute scrum-half Dane Blacker, successfully evading their clutches and once again gaining a significant amount of territory for his side in the process.
Even though he was tackled soon after by fellow young Wales star Rio Dyer, his efforts had taken Cardiff into an area from which they could secure the try, with full-back Cameron Winnett on hand to take the ball over the line from Grady’s offload, and that shows again why he is such an important player for Cardiff and why they are so keen to keep him.
However, whilst the scout report has so far highlighted how Grady is a force when his team are on the front foot, it is important to look at his defensive contributions, and this is where he has sometimes tripped up, with it not being his strength on the field and any side hoping to sign him needing to be aware of that fact.
This is not to say that it has always been his fault, with him often setting himself up well and trying to stop opponents from getting beyond him, and there have been times when the opponent has simply been too powerful for him to contain, just as Bath forward Jaco Coetzee was here.
However, when looking at Grady’s overall defensive play, there have been moments when he has been caught out of position or has moved inside the pitch too often, and that is something that might affect where any potential suitors see him playing at his best and featuring in their tactics. Nevertheless, given the attacking threat that he poses, it shouldn’t be enough to put them off completely and should instead be seen as an area that they can develop if they were to firm up their reported interest.