Marco Mama hoping to make good on his promise
After Bristol failed to win promotion to the Premiership for the second year running, the back-rower had a choice to make: stay in the West Country or activate a clause in his contract and look to go on loan at a Premiership club.
Such is his loyalty, Mama thought hard about staying with the club that had given him everything since he joined them from school in 2009; but ambition to play in the top league won through and the 24-year-old joined Worcester – the team who consigned Bristol to another year in the Championship.
“It was a tough decision and it took me a bit of time to get over it,” he told TRP. “But there’s a bigger picture to your career and I wanted to progress as a player.
“I had negotiated that clause in my contract about two years ago. Myself and Andy Robinson agreed it was the right thing to do in case Bristol weren’t promoted.
“I felt I should be playing in the Premiership, and I had offers from Premiership clubs, but I wanted to stay loyal to the club. That’s why I signed a two-year contract but added that clause to guarantee I’d be playing in the Premiership this season.
“I’m out of contract with Bristol at the end of the year but the plan is to gain Premiership experience with Worcester, return to Bristol for the play-offs and help them get promoted so I’m playing in the Premiership with them next season.
“It helped that I was sure they’d reach the play-offs as they have a great squad and a very competitive back-row. It might have been different if I thought they’d struggle.”
Once he took his decision, Mama had to break the news to Bristol head coach Robinson and, given the former England coach kicked out Luke Baldwin and Andy Short after they had announced moves to Warriors last season, he knew it wasn’t going to be a pleasant conversation.
“My circumstances are different to Luke and Andy’s as I’m still a Bristol player, but I don’t think that Andy liked my decision,” Mama said.
“I hope he can now see how it’s benefiting me as a player and how Bristol can benefit from it in the future. If they still want me, I’ll return for the play-offs and I hope I can prove it was all worth it.
“Finding a club wasn’t easy because most had sorted their squads six months prior to that.
“It’s strange to now be at Sixways where I experienced that massive disappointment of losing that final and it was weird to speak to Dean Ryan a few weeks after that about potentially jumping ship and joining the winning team.”
Mama made his Warriors debut last Friday in the thrilling win over Northampton and says that despite all the drama, he has settled well in his new environment and is hoping to help them avoid relegation.
“Worcester are a great club with a lot of ambition. It’s worked out great so far. I fit their mould really well of players who have a point to prove in the Premiership.
“The back-row is competitive with experienced guys like Phil Dowson and GJ van Velze, and I remember playing against Sam Betty who I’m competing with for the openside shirt, and thinking he was a great player.
“We saw against Northampton how much desire there is in the squad to prove the club belongs in this league. It was a great start and I hope we can continue that way.”
NICK VERDIER
