Shades of 2001

“Once again our second half defence was absolutely outstanding” ~ Daniel Anderson

It was a game that had the feel of a Grand Final, loser gets sent packing, and winner takes all.  It wasn’t, but for

the players and the 74549 fans, there couldn’t have been a better game of footy.  Friday night was about Hayne, it was about El Masri, and it was about Sydney.  But throughout the course of the game, there was trouble for the stars. 

Patten taking an accidental knock to the head in the first play for the bulldogs.
Hayne on report for coming in with his knees when Goodwin scored the first try.

El Masri moving the fullback to accomodate the loss of Patten, and thus exposing the doggies right side defence to the brilliance of Inu and Burt.
Parra skipper Nathan Cayless limping down the tunnel with a hamstring injury

With all this going on, it’s easy to get sidetracked and lose your way in a game as important as this.  Fortunately for Parramatta, the supporting cast stepped up to keep the pressure on.  Eventually, after 70minutes of see-sawing scorelines, the tries came rolling in.


The win on Friday night was a credit to the underrated players of today’s game.  Starting with Ben Smith (left), was once a part of Parramatta’s backline.  After being sidelined with injury, is now in the 2nd row as a strong defender and reliable attacker.  Let’s not forget the awesome catch he made against the Titans to score a try.

Jeff Robson (middle), before last night, did you even know who he was?  Now you can refer to him as the “landscape gardener on minimum wage who got man of the match in possibly the biggest game Sydney has ever seen”  Sure he’s not the most exciting player, or even the most skilful.  But he brings solid defence, great organisational skills and a steady hand in possibly the most unpredictable team in the comp. 

Joel Reddy (right), always overshadowed by the great accomplishments of his father Rod Reddy.  When he’s not being compared to his dad, he’s being called mini-Hindmarsh (the resemblance is justified).  He is definitely the most underrated player in the team, he scores tries, saves tries, and even puts the Guru through a gap every now and then. 

We all love the stars of the game, but we can’t take these guys for granted.  The guys that throw “hand-grenades” before being held in a tackle, the guys that are always in support (ie the try by Daniel Mortimer), and the guys who spend half the match with their faces in the turf to keep the ball in possesion.  Grand Final is ours to win or lose, we’ve made history over the last 11 weeks, we just need to do it for another 80mins. 

At the end of the day, Jarryd Hayne’s Dally M medal, 7 game win streak, beating the Dragons, Titans and Bulldogs in succession … all this will have been for nothing if the Grand Final isn’t ours.  Nathan Hindmarsh knows what I’m on about “we’ve come from nowhere to being 8th and now in the grand final … but we haven’t won anything yet” ~ Hindy during the postgame conference.  Oh by the way, congratulations on 259 career games, tied in 1st with Ray Price. 

Maybe next Sunday can erase the bitter taste that I’ve had in my mouth since the 2001 grand finals.