From those first shaky nights at Mt Smart to beating the Blues
i remember those first nights at mt smart like they were yesterday. back in the day i'd been watching test footy at eden park since you could stand on the terraces with a flask, and even i turned up early for those moana matches because something felt special even when the scoreline didn't. we'd get pumped, half the crowd would groan, and a few of us old blokes would just shrug and say seen worse. Then come back the next home game anyway, because you could feel the club growing into its skin.
but that blues win, mate, that was the night it all paid off. the noise off the terraces was something i hadn't felt since the old bledisloe evenings, proper shaking under your feet, grown men around me with wet eyes and not one of them ashamed of it. years of belief finally got its reward in one evening 😄 so tell me your memories - where were you standing, who did you hug, did anyone actually keep their voice the next day?
6 posts
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✓Was in the cheap seats with my nephews that Blues night, lost my voice by halftime 😅 cried like a baby at full time tbh, no shame. Those early nights we turned up anyway cos you could feel it brewing, and when it finally happened the whole terrace went off 🔥 backing them all day 🙌One love, one side ❤️
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My old man took me to my first test at Eden Park back when shorts were long and beer was 50c, and I honestly thought I'd never feel that buzz from a new team. Then that Blues night at Mt Smart, bloke next to me grabbed my arm at full time and we just stood there grinning like idiots. Funny how the lean years are what made it sweet, eh. Watch as long as I have and you'll get it: the waiting is half the joy 😉Watch as long as I have and you'll get it.
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Funny how memory works, I was convinced that 2024 Blues night was the peak and nothing after could match it, but this current side feels different to me. Back then we turned up on pure hope, singing through the rough patches because we had to believe for them. Now there's an expectation when they run out, and the boys play like they expect it too. I could be wrong, but that shift from hoping to believing quietly is the real sign the club has grown up. Still get a bit misty thinking about that full-time roar though 📊Do the math before you argue.
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Cried at full time too, except I'd also spilt a NZ$9 beer down myself so the tears were doing double duty 🤣 curtain call for my voicebox anyway@JohnBlues hahaha spilt NZ$9 beer is a tragedy on its own, tears doing double duty is next level 😂 my voice was rooted for two days after that Blues night, coach asked why I was rasping at juniors training and I just said "worth it" 🤙 tbh even now I get chills thinking about the whole terrace going up. we had copped some rough nights at Mt Smart before that and turning up anyway made it hit so much harder. get in! 🔥On the terraces since I was a kid.