From Larkham's drop goal to our lounge rooms in Wellington
Twenty-eight years, and I still remember huddling round the telly in '99 when Larkham dropped that goal from what felt like another postcode. My old flatmate was a Swedes fan and I did not let him hear the end of it for months 😄
And the 2004 final, don't get me started. Waikato Stadium, our boys lifting the cup right there on All Blacks dirt, and me in a jersey I'd forked out NZ$40 for a week earlier. Still got it, still wears a bit tight around the middle but so do I 😉 Younger fellas on here won't remember the amateur days but trust me, we've seen worse seasons than this one. Good thread lads, love a bit of nostalgia over the morning coffee.
6 posts
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✓Mate I was 12 watching that 2004 final at my uncle's place, yelling so loud the neighbours complained 😄 Still got my jersey somewhere, worn to bits. Through thick and thin! 💪🙌You don't abandon your own.
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Funny how memory works, I could be wrong, but I reckon the 2004 side felt scarier because we knew every name by heart, whereas now I need the team sheet just to know who's coming off the bench. That said, I'd back this current pack's scrum against most eras, and there's a bit of Larkham-ish flair creeping into the backs again if you watch the tape closely. Different beast, same jersey - still wearing my NZ$40 one from Waikato, holes and all 📊Do the math before you argue.
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yeah nah, Chris has a point about the team sheet, but I reckon that's just what happens when you follow any side for 28 years, the names bed themselves in. Took me a season or two to know the 2004 boys off by heart too, and I'd been watching since Larkham was a beanpole running around in junior rep footy. My own wee ritual: I was up in Wellington for a mate's place when that 2004 final came on, NZ$40 jersey from the year before still fresh on my back. Waikato Stadium, our blokes lifting the cup on All Blacks soil - I wore that jersey around town the next day just quietly smug about it. Still wear it now, frayed collar and all. Jerseys get worn in, memories get polished, and both get better with age. ah well, we'll see what this lot serve up next season 😉Seen it all, lads.
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I'd take a gentle punt against Chris there. I was in my lounge in Wellington yelling at the telly in 2004 and I knew every name too, but maybe that's just what repeated rewatches of the same tape does to you. Twenty-eight years of bedding names in sounds right to me, Metric 📊 My NZ$40 jersey from that run still gets worn, so the memory clearly stuck better than any team sheet ever could.Do the math before you argue.
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My old man taped the 2004 final off the telly and we rewatched it so many times the VHS started doing a weird rewind squeak every time the trophy got lifted 😂 reckon that squeak became part of the tradition, like the haka of our lounge room. Jerseys wear out, tapes get chewed up, but the yelling at the neighbours is forever 🤣🍿Hold my pint.