Warriors centurion Jonny Arr has had a summer to remember.
After celebrating Warriors’ return to the Aviva Premiership at the first time of asking, the number nine recently attained a BA (Hons) first degree in Leadership & Management.
Arr’s success illustrates the Club’s commitment to provide players with a platform to achieve on both a personal and professional level.
And after graduating last month, he admitted: “I still can’t quite get my head round it to be honest.
“It’s been a couple years of hard work. At times I thought I’d never finish it.”
And the born-and-bred Warrior confirmed he was in the team room when he learned of his success.
He explained: “I was a bit shocked when I found out. I was in the team room when I got the email through. I knew from the subject heading exactly what it was so the heart rate went through the roof and I was a bit nervous!
“Deep down I was hoping for a first. I knew what I had to do to get one and just had to produce the last bit of work to get myself over the line.
“So when I found out I got a first, it was a relief and of course I was delighted.”
The attainment goes to prove that professional rugby stars can balance a busy rugby lifestyle with studying, and Arr said he would recommend it to anyone.
He continued: “I would 100 per cent advise others to do something similar. There’s quite a few across rugby who are studying and I know fellow Warrior Andy Short is now doing it.
“It’s very important to think about life after rugby. I’m not 19 years of age anymore so for me it was a case of finding something else to do to keep me occupied away from the Club and having one eye on the future.
“It’s given me a lot of skills and shows I can juggle something else along with a full-time job that’s physically and mentally demanding, so hopefully that in itself will keep me in good stead for when the time comes to hang up my boots,” said the 26-year-old.
He continued: “One of the things I enjoyed was that it gave me the chance to take me out of the rugby bubble.
“Often if you go home and don’t do anything it’s hard to switch off but if you’ve got a different focus as soon as you get away from the Club, you can throw yourself into a completely different world and that certainly helps.
“You’d go mad if it was just rugby, rugby, rugby 24 hours a day. It’s not just that, you also start to build your CV up. You’re not just a rugby player.
“You could turn up tomorrow and get injured so it gives you a bit of a ‘Plan B’ and I’ve certainly realised that it’s not just a case of getting qualified. It’s a case of getting onto the next step and finding something else you enjoy and challenges you to push yourself even more.”
Although the 168-capped Warrior recommends studying with playing, he admitted it wasn’t plain-sailing.
He added: “It was tough to balance them both especially during pre-season because the intensity of training is so high and all you want to do is put your feet up on the sofa and recover for the next day.
“But you find a way to do it and certainly Northumbria University and the RPA supported me when I struggled to juggle both things because obviously rugby comes first.
“Both were very helpful and more than happy to give me extra time to focus on rugby when it was needed and getting back to studying when I had a bit more time on my hands.”
Warriors are now back in pre-season training and while many professionals dread the intensity during the summer months, Arr insists he actually enjoys it.
He revealed: “Pre-season has been really enjoyable so far. It’s nice to see old faces after a month or so off and also to be introduced to some of the new boys.
“It’s been tough and will get even tougher but I think deep down we all love pre-season in our own little way.”
And the half-back is relishing the start of the new Premiership season, which kicks off at Sixways against Northampton Saints on Friday 16 October.
Arr added: “I don’t think we could have asked for a better start than at home on a Friday night.
“Historically this place can be quite hard to come to and play in front of a Friday night crowd so that’s certainly one to look forward to.
“Hopefully with a good pre-season behind us we can come back to the Premiership with a bit of a bang and show everyone what kind of potential we have here.”