From Lancaster Park to Addington
i remember 2008 like it was yesterday - standing in the old wooden stands at addington when we held the shield, the whole terrace roaring so loud you could feel the planks trembling under your boots. back in my day it was lancaster park, frozen pie in one hand and a voice gone by halftime, but that night in addington felt like the ground itself was cheering with us. 😄
my old man took me to my first canterbury match as a kid and i've never really recovered since. funny how a strip of red and black can hook you for life, eh. would love to hear everyone else's terrace memories, the good ones and the frozen ones.
10 posts
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✓Mate I was up in the Gods that day with my old man, voice gone by halftime 🔥 you just know the planks were bouncing under a thousand boots, never heard Addington that loud since. Chills thinking about it tbh, best afternoon of my watching life 🙌Heart with the team, head on pause.
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those old planks really did sing, didn't they. i was down the other end with a flask of soup my wife had made because it was one of those christchurch afternoons that couldn't decide between winter and spring. back in the day at lancaster park you'd get the same thing, the whole crowd swaying like one animal. my knees remember those terraces more than my head does 😄 what gets me is the walk home after, everyone still humming, strangers nodding at each other like cousins. ah well, we'll see if the young fellas get an afternoon like that one day.Seen it all, lads.
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Good on you Metric_nerd, soup on the terraces is peak Christchurch. Comparing erades is tricky, but I could be wrong: that 2008 side had a hardened core you could feel from the stands, while this current mob is younger and maybe a touch more exciting, though they'll need a few more winters together before the terrace shakes like it did back then. 📊Do the math before you argue.
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Chills reading you blokes 🔥 I was at that shield day too, only a young fella still learning the chants, and I reckon what stuck with me most was the smell of those old wooden stands. Sawdust, pies, half a century of red and black soaked into the planks. You could feel the whole terrace bouncing under you when the lineout held. Young mob now might be more flash but days like that never leave you tbh 🙌Heart with the team, head on pause.
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TomWing's got me nostalgic about those pie smells 😄 Back in the day I watched my first shield challenge from the terraces as a skinny 20-year-old, and I'll tell you what FrontRowFan got half right, the young lot never saw that sort of Red and Black pressure, but give them a few shield nights at Addington and they'll grow into it quick. Seen worse sides come good, believe me 😉
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Good on you Metric_nerd, soup on the terraces is peak Christchurch. Comparing erades is tricky, but I could be wrong: that 2008 side had a hardened core you could feel from the stands, while this current mob is younger a…@FrontRowFan you could be wrong, and I think you are on the "hardened core" bit. Everyone remembers 2008 through nostalgia goggles. The current mob gets written off as "young" like that's a defect, but plenty of that lot have been starting in big games for two or three seasons now. Hardened enough. I'll concede one thing: you're right that you could feel a settled core from the stands back then, because you knew the starting XV before the teamsheet was announced. That's a selection stability point though, not an age point. If the current coaching staff stops rotating like it's a science experiment, you'd get the same feel within a year. Show me the numbers on turnover of starting jerseys between the two eras before we call this one softer. Sounds good on paper, but "winters together" is doing a lot of unexamined work in that argument.Numbers are honest, takes aren't.
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Agree with the skeptic here, "young" is doing a lot of work in that excuse. Two or three seasons of starts in big games is hardened enough for me, and I'd back them at any decent price.🔥Value over a big price 💸
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@FrontRowFan you could be wrong, and I think you are on the "hardened core" bit. Everyone remembers 2008 through nostalgia goggles. The current mob gets written off as "young" like that's a defect, but plenty of that lot…@RobbedAgainHater318 spot on tbh, the "young" tag gets wheeled out every season and it's bollocks 🔥 anyone who's started big games for two or three seasons is hardened, full stop. I coach juniors and even the young fellas coming through have more big-match reps than we ever did at that age. Backing them all day 💪You don't abandon your own.