Byron Godfrey - FNB Player of the Week
Player Profile
Byron Godfrey, fullback for Monument and the Golden Lions, is our FNB Player of the Week – a young man of enormous potential.
Talk to Hans Coetzee, a man who knows schools rugby in South Africa if anybody does, believes that he is a most talented player, a fullback who can make a real difference to any side with his skill and flair – brilliant in counterattack and brilliant in joining in backline movements.
It will be a mystery to many that he did not make the SA Schools side or at least the SA Academy side.
Byron Godfrey was born in Johannesburg on 19 July 1987 and has spent most of his life at boarding school. He started at Bekker Primary in the Magaliesberg. There he started playing rugby Std 2 (Grade 4). He then moved to Roodepoort for his high schooling but, being English speaking, he wanted to go to an English medium school and so switched to Monument in Std 8.
Along the way there were coaches who nurtured his talent – JP de Waal at Bekker and Skip Viljoen and now Hans Coetzee.
He enjoys boarding school. "It gets you nearer to the field." he says with a chuckle.
He has always played in the backs – at centre, flyhalf and fullback, and fullback is his favourite position. When he went to the Under-13 Craven Week he was a centre. Then in Std 8 he went to the Grant Khomo Week for Under-16s and in 2004 and 2005 to the Craven Week.
He was one of the stars in the Golden Lions team this year which was the star turn at the Bloemfontein Craven Week, winning all of its matches including the main match on the last day.
Byron enjoyed Craven Week and admits to being disappointed at not making one of the national teams. But he has a contract from the Golden Lions and is on the way to playing for their Under-19 team this year.
He kicks well enough. Monnas has an excellent goalkicker in scrumhalf Christiaan van den Berg but when Christiaan did not play for the Golden Lions at Craven Week Byron was their reliable goal kicker.
But his strongest suit is running with the ball. He can destroy opposition with his speed and skill.
It takes hard work to do so. "You have top work hard on your footwork, sidesteps and that sort of thing, and on your pace."
The Monnas side was clearly the top side in South Africa this year, losing just one match. Ask Byron about the stars in the side, and he reels off the names – Charl, flanks Johan and Johan, Christiaan, Warren, Hercules, Ghaliel…….
(For a profile of the Monnas side, click here.)
He would like to be a fullback in the Christian Cullen mould, running at every opportunity. Not surprisingly Jaque Fourie, the fast versatile Springbok is a player he admires. After all Jaque was also at Monnas.
Byron is a 400-metre hurdler and has played in the 1st XI at cricket since Std 6.
Next year he is off to University of Johannesburg top do sports psychology – and play rugby, with dreams of playing for South Africa one day.
