Hooker Tom’s last hurrah

Hooker Tom’s Last Hurrah!

It has been confirmed that Cornish Pirates’ hooker Tom Channon is retiring and will play his final game for the club tomorrow.

The Championship Cup quarter-final 1^st Leg encounter at home to Bedford Blues (ko 2.30pm) will mark 31-year-old Tom’s 155^th appearance for the Pirates, nearing the end of what has been an especially remarkable season for him.

Indeed, after first announcing in July last year that he was leaving the club to move to Melbourne in Australia with his partner Abbey, Tom in August answered an SOS call when the Pirates were short of fit hookers and Covid restrictions had delayed his move abroad.

During this season, he has not only since made 23 appearances, but in the process has scored 16 tries in the Championship as the club’s top try-scorer. He was also nominated in the Championship’s team of the season.

And the move to Australia? Well, that is off, apparently, as Tom and Abbey will now be moving to Bath to live and work.

Cornish Pirates’ joint head coach Gavin Cattle has commented:

“So, it is retirement 2 for Tom! In all seriousness though, since answering our SOS call at the beginning of the season he had a new lease of life and we have been very grateful.

“Obviously, he has had some tough challenges with his knee injuries over the years, but he came through them with determination and has contributed massively both on and off the field.

“As for this year, he deserves enormous credit for what he has achieved, and he has also fully deserved the plaudits that have come his way.”

More About Tom

Plymouth-born Tom was educated at Torquay Grammar School and played his early rugby for Newton Abbot. Indeed, he represented the Devon club from under 8s to seniors, but for a break when he turned out for Torquay Colts and Torquay, before returning to Newton Abbot.

In his ‘junior’ rugby days Tom played at scrum half, however from the age of 17 he moved into the pack as a versatile and powerful front-rower.

Joining Bristol’s Academy in 2011, Tom’s debut for ‘Bris’ was a British & Irish Cup encounter away to the Cornish Pirates in September 2011. In total he made 15 appearances for Bristol Rugby prior to signing for the Pirates in 2013.

Although at present having made 154 appearances for the club, it is a tally that would have been much higher but for cruelly suffering serious knee injuries in both the 2017/18 and 2018/19 seasons. To his credit, however, Tom worked hard on his recovery and throughout his time at the club has also always been commended for his work in the community. Indeed, as someone always willing to respond and help where possible, he was deservedly awarded the Community Player of the Year award for three years running – 2018/2019/2020. Added to these awards he has also this season shared the Monckton Cup for Achievement trophy with Tom Duncan, besides proudly winning the Roger Pascoe Cup for being the chosen Supporters’ Player of the Year.