But those were different times when The Gnoll was one of the most feared fortresses in Welsh rugby and the title was handed to the first past the post. This season the champion will be crowned after two semi-final play-off matches, with Merthyr head coach Phillips hoping to add another title to his collection.
Merthyr head to Church Bank to tackle Llandovery in a game that is as difficult to call as the other semi between arch-rivals Cardiff and Newport at the Arms Park. In both games, each club has beaten the other once this season in the league.
“We had a slow start to the season before we built some momentum in the middle of the season. That sluggish start included a 36-12 home defeat to Llandovery before we went there and won 26-16,” said Phillips.
“It was a big achievement for us to reach the play-offs and it will be another big achievement if we can make the final.”
A victory over the Drovers would also give Phillips bragging rights over his nephew, Jac Jones, who leads the home side. It would also confirm he has put The Ironmen back on the road to further success.
Having taken over from Dale McIntosh last summer, he has used his specialist defensive skills to tighten things up in that department and has worked hard on the fitness of his side. They finished third overall with six defeats to four clubs.
“We lost twice to Cardiff and Newport, and once each to Llandovery and Aberavon. We had a lot of unforced errors against Cardiff last weekend that handed them opportunities, which meant we went from leading at half-time to losing,” said Phillips.
“Despite the scoreline, 39-7, we didn’t have to go back to the drawing board to try to find a way forward for this weekend, we merely had to tighten up in a few areas.”
Gareth Thompson will be fit to resume at outside half in the semi-final, but three key members of the pack, props Rhys and Callum Lewis and flanker Paddy McBride will be missing.
“We’ve run on four or five props this season and I guess our luck has run out with both Rhys and Callum getting injured. I’m confident we’ll still be strong enough to cope without them, but it does dent our strength in depth.
“We know what to expect from Llandovery. I have a lot of respect for them and the brand of rugby they like to play. It is a nice club full of very happy people.
“They can grind out results if they need to, but they enjoy opening things up. I reckon Euros Evans, their head coach, will be out with a hair dryer trying to make the pitch as dry and fast as possible.
“That said, they put 30 points on Cardiff on a filthy night earlier in the season. They caught us on the hop at the start of the season, but we played well when we went to Church Bank in January.”
Phillips has used players to help him with the coaching this season, putting his trust in the likes of Rhys Williams, Callum Bradbury and Gareth Davies to help get the best out of the side. Williams will be in the thick of the action at hooker, from where he will be in charge of the scrum, while Bradbury is the line-out caller. Davies hung up his boots last season and has turned into an excellent backs coach.
Merthyr: Ben Jones; Terri Gee, Morgan Sieniawski, Josh Lewis, Dafydd Thomas; Gareth Thompson, James Soanes; Louis Jones, Rhys Williams, Dave Whiting, Craig Locke (captain), Callum Bradbury, Jack Perkins, Osian Davies, Tom Daley
Reps: Dan Wall, Ross Jones, Jordan Rogers, Lloyd Ashley, Phil Rees, Tavis Knoyle, Morgan Meaclem, Rhys Davies
