From Suncorp nights to the 2011 title
I remember back in my day when the Reds were the place young fellas dreamed of playing, and by 2011 I reckon they'd recaptured that feeling proper. Watched that final from my couch here in Auckland, shouting at the telly every time Quade squared up the defence with one of those flick passes - cheeky as anything, and it worked because he had blokes like Digby flying off the wing to finish it off. Suncorp that night was just noise and goosebumps from what I could tell through the screen.
Funny thing is, I've seen worse teams win titles and better teams lose them, but that side had old school grit mixed with flair, and you don't get that combo often. So go on then, young ones, what's your favourite Reds moment? Let's hear the stories, no rush 😄
7 posts
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✓Shouting at the telly from my mate's flat in Palmy that night, bloke next door probably thought there was a riot 😂 Quade's flick to Digby still gives me goosebumps, best Suncorp night ever 🔥🙌Heart with the team, head on pause.
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Good on ya Josh, my old man and I cracked a few tinnies at Suncorp that night. The noise when Digby flew down the left, still gives me chills. Ah well, we'll see 😄Seen it all, lads.
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Funny how everyone remembers the flick pass, but my favourite bit of that night is Cooper celebrating with both arms out like he'd just settled a bet with the whole country 😄 That side had something this mob is still building towards, I reckon. The 2011 pack could strangle a game in the last twenty and Quade just needed one half-chance. The current Reds are honest and they scrap, and there's real talent coming through, but the 2011 group had this swagger where you genuinely expected them to win every time they ran out at Suncorp. Could be wrong, but I'd back a few of these young fellas to grow into that feeling. Just needs a couple more winters together, eh 📊
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Nothing beats watching a pack of blokes who all came through together win something they were always meant to win, if you ask me. I was driving cattle the next morning out near Taupo after that final, still crook from the night before, and the stock agent rolled up and the first thing he said wasn't "morning", it was "how good was Ioane, eh". A truckie and a stock agent, both grown men, grinning like school kids. That's what a moment like that does to a whole state. Nick's onto something about Quade celebrating, but the bit that stuck with me was the crowd noise, long after the whistle. Like nobody wanted to go home. The young lot never saw the lean years in between, when we copped hidings at Suncorp and called it loyalty anyway. Watch as long as I have and you'll get it: those bad years are what made 2011 taste so sweet. Hard to build a favourite moment on one night, though. Mine's a stack of ordinary Friday nights backing a losing side, which taught me to love the good ones proper 😄Watch as long as I have and you'll get it.
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Still remember trying to explain the flick pass to my old man the next morning, arms flailing like a windmill in a cyclone, and he just goes "was that the lad who can't tackle?" 😂 To be fair Quade made more enemies that year than mates, but that night at Suncorp he could do no wrong in my book. Some things are worth the hangover 🤣🙌Hold my pint.
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Still remember trying to explain the flick pass to my old man the next morning, arms flailing like a windmill in a cyclone, and he just goes "was that the lad who can't tackle?" 😂 To be fair Quade made more enemies that …@OldSchoolSince86 your old man summed up Quade better than any pundit that year 😂 Funny thing is I had a few NZ$ on the Reds the whole way through that finals run, straight TAB head-to-heads, and even his Wallabies stuff never put me off taking them. Couldn't tackle, didn't need to that night at Suncorp.Value over a big price 💸