Wales star is loving rugby again after tough times

Simon Thomas 

After his struggles of the past couple of years, Corey Domachowski has recaptured his love for the game and is ready for a very special reunion.

The Wales prop admits his “head was in the shed” as he was plagued by a series of injuries and he ended up putting on a front to mask his troubles.

But now he’s fit again and has regained his spark having embarked on a new challenge with the Scarlets.

As fate would have it, he faces an immediate showdown against his former team, with Cardiff Rugby the opponents in Llanelli this Saturday on the opening weekend of the BKT URC season.

After enjoying the high of making his Wales debut in the summer of 2023 and playing in that autumn’s World Cup and the following Six Nations, the 11-cap tighthead then went through some tough times.

“If I am going to be honest with myself, the last two and a half years have probably been a bit of a stall in my career. Numerous things have gone on,” he admits.

“I had a bit of bad luck with injury. I probably wasn’t as proactive as I needed to be during that time. I struggled a bit mentally with coping with the injuries.

“It wasn’t something I really had to face in my career until that time.

“It happened at a time where I was probably achieving the most I had in my career, so it was tough to take.

“You are in every day doing your rehab, but it can still become a lonely place, especially when you see other boys returning to play and you’ve still got weeks or months to go. I haven’t really had a run of games for a long time.”

Struggle

He continues: “I will be honest with you, I did really struggle.

“Being the type of person I am, always full of energy, laughing and joking, it did become a point where it was forced because I didn’t want to show people that I was struggling through the injuries.

“That’s the thing. It takes a lot to speak out and I found it hard at the start. I wouldn’t even speak to my family and tell them I was struggling.

“It came to a point where I had to because it was ruining my life. My head was in the shed with it all.

“I just wanted to do what I love and that’s play rugby.

“I found myself in a position where when I was coming back from injury I wasn’t really enjoying it as much as I had because I was a bit nervous of giving everything and my body falling apart again.

“Rugby is one of those games you can’t play at 90 per cent, you have got to give everything,

“That’s what I found I was lacking. It was a big part of why I made the decision to leave to see if I could get that spark back.

“It was quite a tough period, but it’s all about the character. It’s built me into the person I am today. I learned from those things. If I get injured again, I will definitely take a different route to what I took.”

Having been with Cardiff for more than a decade, making 135 appearances, it was a major shift for Rhondda product Domachowski to head west and join the Scarlets this summer.

Nervous

“I was a bit nervous the first couple of weeks. It was obviously a big change,” admits the 30-year-old.

“Cardiff was all I had known for ten years, so going to a different club was a bit nerve-racking, but literally from the moment I entered Parc y Scarlets I was welcomed by everybody and it just felt like home straight away. They have been good as gold with me and I am really loving it.

“I have got the urge and the love back for the game, while my motivation stays the same.

“I want to get back in the Welsh squad and I want to be number one at the Scarlets.

“I made a decision to leave Cardiff and try something different because I just lost that spark that I have always had and I have finally got it back.

“I think I just got a bit too comfortable being in one environment for so long.

“I think it was best I left from a personal point of view and from a club point of view.

“The last two years at the club didn’t really go to plan from my perspective and obviously their perspective.

“I didn’t play as much as I would have liked or they probably would have liked.

“We didn’t leave on bad terms or anything. It was just a decision I needed to make and one I am happy I made. I am really excited.

“The reason you play the game is because you love it. We are fortunate to be able to do it as a job.

“My kids say to me all the time ‘Daddy, you are going to work’. I don’t see it as work. It’s not work for me, it’s a privilege.

“At one point, it felt like a chore and that’s when I knew that things needed to change. I needed to find that love and thankfully I’ve found it and I am really enjoying it again.

“I fully believe you will see the best version of me this year.”

Now, first up, comes the derby day reunion with his old pals at Cardiff.

“You just couldn’t write it!” he says.

“Funny enough, when I told the players and the staff there that I had made the decision to leave, the following day was when the fixtures came out.

“We were in South Africa at the time. I had a bit of grief for the rest of the trip!

“It’s a game that’s been in the back of my mind since I made the decision to leave.

“I will be playing against good mates and we will be able to batter each other for 80 minutes. It’s going to be exciting.

“It will probably feel a bit weird initially, but when you are in game mode you are there for yourself and the team.

“I will have to keep my head on my shoulders during the game. It’s one I am definitely looking forward to and may the best men win.”

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