While the former Wales and British & Irish Lions skipper, Jones, can point to 200+ games for the Ospreys and 170 Tests for his country and the Lions, the 38-year-old Dicomidis is equally delighted to be able to boast five caps for Cyprus and when he runs out at Sardis Road tomorrow to face Pontypool, 400 games for his beloved Pontypridd.
The club record may be 877 games over a 24-year stretch by another legendary second row, Bob Penberthy, but in modern-day terms reaching 400 games is a monster innings from Dicomidis.
“I’m really excited about reaching 400 games and I’ve got my sights fixed on getting past Tom David on 404,” said Dicomidis.
“This will be my last season as a player at the club and I’ve loved every minute of it. I can still remember coming off the bench to make my debut as a teenager at Sardis Road against Caerphilly in December 2004.
“Simon King was the coach at the time, and he took me to the club from my school in the Bridgend area. Apart from a short stint with Cardiff Blues I’ve been there ever since.
“I’ve got so many great memories. I was captain for four seasons, I’ve won three league titles and won three out of six WRU Challenge Cups.
“We also had two runs to the semi-finals of the old British & Irish Cup, which was wonderful. I’ve worked with some great coaches, played with some great players and made so many good friends.”
Things might have been a lot different for the 6ft 6in, 17st 5lb lock had the Celtic Warriors not collapsed back in 2004. He was in the academy at the time and then had a big decision to make – should he play for Bridgend and join the Ospreys Academy, or move to Ponty and enter the Blues Academy.
King helped to push him in the direction of Sardis Road and he has never looked back. He spent time as a student at what is now Cardiff Met, where he won Wales U21 and Welsh Universities honours, before dedicating himself to Pontypridd.
Between 2012-14 he was a key member of the Ponty side that completed the double-double, winning back-to-back league and cup titles as they established themselves as the best club side in Wales.
He did spend some time at the Arms Park, making 23 appearances over three seasons, but once again headed back to Sardis Road. And then, of course, there were those caps for Cyprus.
“I got an approach via Twitter asking me if I was of Cypriot descent. My grandfather was from Cyprus and my Dad told me to give it a go,” added Dicomidis.
“I had a chat to Dale as well and he backed me as well. There was little or nothing to lose and I went on to play five times for them.
“There were a number of players from the UK and the one thing that was asked of us was to learn the Cypriot national anthem. I did my best, but I wasn’t very good at it.”
His debut for ‘The Mighty Mouflons’ came against Luxembourg in 2012, when he scored a try in a 48-7 victory. It was a 12th win on the bounce for the Cypriots, who went on to overtake the world record set by the All Blacks as they went 24 games without defeat before falling to Latvia in November 2014.
“It’s every kid’s dream to play for Wales but at 26 I realised it wasn’t going to happen for me. Cyprus came calling, I thought it would be good to experience a different culture, and family were massively proud,” he said.
