Saints farewell interview: Ethan Waller

The 31-year-old, who called time on his rugby career this summer, has started a new job as a financial planner at Telford Mann Pensions & Investments.

It's not Waller's first taste of life outside of playing, in fact the man who admits he is ‘allergic to free time’ has been spinning several plates in recent years.

He co-owns two businesses, has been Chair of the RPA and has been working one day a week at his new job, all while helping Saints claim the Gallagher Premiership glory they craved.

But with his Northampton contract not renewed, he decided the time was right to fully focus on his future career of choice.

"I've loved my time at Saints," said Waller, who racked up a total of 124 appearances across two spells at cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens.

"This year has been probably the most turbulent one I've had because it started off so strongly and then seemingly fell off the edge of a cliff, which was a tough one to take.

"It was one of the reasons I decided to retire because I don't think there's another club I could have given as much to as I did to Saints and Worcester so it wouldn't have been fair to anywhere I went to or to myself because I don't think I'd have been able to pitch up the way I had done.

"It was my time to call it a day with all those factors in mind, but I'm still going to be bragging about it now I'm retired.

"When I'm sitting in the pub, I'm still going to be able to say I've won two Premiership titles, despite not playing a minute in either final.

"It's something I'll be proud of for the rest of my life."

Waller is a product of Saints’ Academy system, making his debut in an Anglo-Welsh Cup match against Harlequins back in 2012.

He became a regular in the first-team squad during the club’s historic double Premiership and European Challenge Cup-winning campaign of 2013/14, making 15 league appearances and winning Saints’ young player of the season award.

In total, Waller made 95 appearances during his first stint with Northampton, becoming a fans' favourite thanks not only to his eye-catching performances, but also for helping to set-up numerous fundraising events for charity.

He departed for Sixways in 2017 in search of more game time, making more than 100 appearances for Worcester Warriors.

But Saints was always his true home and he returned to Northampton in the summer of 2022.

So does he feel the fact that he has already left the club once before will help him to accept that he won't be a Saints player next season?

"It definitely feels different this time," Waller said.

"Last time I left, there was always a view of coming back and seeing out my career at Saints, which I was fortunate enough to do.

"I've managed to go full circle and go out on the high that I came in on, which was massive.

"I would obviously have preferred to play, but nonetheless it doesn't take away from how special that weekend was.

"I cleared my locker out in the week leading up to the final because I knew I wasn't going to come back to it.

"I'll be back in the club at some stage and hopefully I'll be around there a bit on game days doing a bit of hospitality so it's definitely not a goodbye, it's just a goodbye from playing."

Waller had high hopes that he could finally secure the prized No.1 shirt at Saints when the 2023/24 season started.

And the fact the campaign ended with him not being able to play his part clearly hurt a man who loves the club so much.

"The reason I found it difficult was because at the start of the year, I was having, in my eyes, the best season I've had in a Saints shirt - definitely the most starts I've had in my nine years at the club," Waller said.

"Then one day it just stops. I was essentially told I was surplus to requirements and that they wouldn't be renewing me.

"That took me a while to come to terms with.

"For me, it was a case of ‘I can be miserable and mope around’, which I did for a fair bit of time, don't get me wrong.

"But once I made the decision to retire and had my options sorted, it then turned to just enjoying every moment and turned into one of the most enjoyable seasons I've had because I just enjoyed being around the lads, really embracing every aspect of being a professional rugby player that when you're in the tumble dryer you sometimes take for granted.

"It definitely put everything into perspective and the last few months were definitely the most enjoyable of my career."

As memorable as they were, Waller admits both of his spells at Saints were difficult at times.

"The first time, I didn't know anything outside of Saints," he said.

"I remember when I moved to Worcester initially and you get coached by different people, see different styles and realise that's not the only way to do things.

"So by the time I came back, I was certainly a more rounded player, definitely a better rugby player than I was previously.

"Both times (at Saints) were frustrating for different reasons.

"The first time I felt I needed to do more and I felt like I'd stalled in my progression but we achieved that first Prem title in my first senior year and I went on to play close to 100 games.

"Coming back, there was a level of frustration because I felt I'd gone out and earned my stripes so I wanted to play a bit more.

"I certainly felt like I'd improved and coming into the start of this year, I had taken all the pressure off myself and ended up playing some of the best rugby I've ever played.

"But rugby is a business, I'm getting on, there's some massively talented looseheads in Manny (Iyogun) and Tarek (Haffar) coming through so I can understand why they did it (opted not to renew Waller’s contract), but it didn't take away the frustrations for me.

"Both spells were frustrating for different reasons but that's not to say I haven't enjoyed them.

"There's no crowd like the one at the Gardens, there's no supporter base like it – it's truly a different beast.

"Me, Courts (Courtney Lawes) and Sue (Alex Waller) were all sat on the bus at the victory parade on the Sunday and we were all thinking it was even better than the first time round.

"The town was out in unbelievable force, the noise was incredible and it's something that was extremely special and won't ever be replicated.

"It's something I'll forever be proud to be part of."

The life and soul of a squad party, Waller played a key role in the team spirit that carried Saints all the way to their first Premiership title in 10 years.

"The difference this year and probably the biggest likeness to 2014 was just how close the lads were,” he said. “Every club does socials and hangs out together but there was something special about this year and the way we were off the field.

"It came from lads in the gym, to sitting in the Crooked Hooker having a coffee, the whole way through those were the times boys were really looking forward to and it then gels when you go out to training.

"You can go balls out at each other because you know there's no malice, there's no ill will or bad feeling, it's just lads constantly trying to get better and push towards a goal, which is what people are realistically trying to get out of every team.

"As a squad collective, this year was the tightest I've ever seen, and credit to Dows and his coaching team on that for doing what they did.

"I couldn't tell you the exact specifics of what they did, but us as a crew have never been closer."

And Waller says the success at Saints this season wasn't just about the people inside the club.

"The way the fans and the town has got behind us this year has been nothing short of phenomenal," he said.

"It's maybe something to do with the Shoe Army song galvanising us, Cobblers and Steelbacks, but it was unbelievable at the parade.

"It definitely felt even better than the first time."

While togetherness can take you so far, you obviously also need playing ability and excellent coaching to win a Premiership title.

And Waller said: "The biggest thing we had this year, apart from the closeness of the group, was that it didn't matter who came in from one to 15.

"Everyone was on the same page, everyone knew the game plan, everyone was able to bring themselves to the games, which is why the performances never really faltered.

"The boys that are staying… the core of that group is homegrown and knows what we're about so anyone who comes in will adjust to that pretty quickly.

"The coaching team is pretty spot on at the moment: James Craig and Ferg (Matt Ferguson) in the forwards, (Sam) Vesty is one of the best, if not the best, attack coaches in the league.

"Radders (Lee Radford) is a chaos bloke and phenomenal at what he does. He's one of the best people I've been coached by in rugby.

"Obviously Dows (Phil Dowson) is very good at bringing people together and getting that bigger picture so from a coaching point of view, it's in a very good spot.

"The players that are there are all really talented and now have the experience of winning a Premiership title so anyone they bring in will adjust to that.

"It seems like it's in a good spot and probably the best time for me to call it a day."

And Waller isn't the only one.

His brother, Alex, and Tom Cruse have also retired this summer.

So does that make it a little easier to accept?

"It was nice that there's a lot of other people in the same boat as me," Waller said.

"Especially retirement wise, I got really close with Tom Cruse because we were both in a similar position of not really playing much so we both did our best to drive that non-playing group.

"I'm obviously close to my brother so there were three people together in the same position of retiring.

"Courts leaving as well, that meant the three remaining players from the 2014 year were all leaving.

"It definitely made it easier in that sense that we knew it was going to be the final opportunity for us.

"We'd been through a lot and seen a lot of each other through the ups and downs.

"Throughout the year, it never felt like we weren't going to win that title, which is a weird thing to say because there's obviously so many variables within the year.

"But there was something about us this year that felt like we wouldn't be beaten and it was our year to do it."

Now it's all about readjusting for Waller, but even before he ventured into full-time work last Monday, he was grafting behind the scenes to set himself and his family up for the future.

"I've been fortunate they (the company Waller has joined) have been letting me do a day a week since January so I've been getting to grips with that and I'm actually quite looking forward to going into it full-time and doing something completely different," he said.

"Alongside that, I've got a couple of businesses. I've got the Backyard Card, which is something that has launched recently, and it's basically a discount card around Northamptonshire for independent food places because I've obviously owned a couple of food business and understand how difficult it is.

"We're going to be doing a load of marketing for these businesses and in return for that, they'll give us a discount at their places so people can purchase the card for a year and every time they go to a place, they will be able to get discounts there.

"I own it with my friend Amy Dorey, who I've been best mates with since school, and we'll be doing events as well through the year that they can get exclusive tickets to.

"Alongside that, I've got The Butchers Yard, which is my cooking school that I own with my business partner Phil Roberts. We put on classes for people who want to learn about open fire cooking, whether that's barbeques, firepits, everything, top to bottom so we'll do classes for around four to eight people at a time.

"We're doing a class for the RPA staff as a proof of concept and we can do private classes where we come into your back garden and teach you the best way to use the barbeque that you have.

"I won't be bored. I'm allergic to free time so I'll definitely have a lot on the go as we move forward into retirement.

"I'm looking forward to getting stuck into my work with the Saints Foundation and hopefully doing stuff at Saints on a matchday."

And Waller might even put the boots on again at some point.

He explained: "I'm still coaching at Wellingborough Rugby Club and if we're low on numbers I might jump in, but only if I'm playing in the backs.

"I'm not going anywhere near a scrum again!"