From underdogs to our heart
i remember when moana first ran out and half the crowd wondered if they'd win a game at all, and there i was at mt smart the other night hugging a complete stranger in blue when the whistle went 😄 my old knees were up off the seat quicker than they've moved in years. seen worse nights, that's for sure. But few better ones. good as gold, that whole evening was.
7 posts
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✓Was watching from the couch with my old man, both of us yelling like idiots at the whistle 😭🙌 strangers hugging everywhere, that's what footy's all about broYou don't abandon your own.
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Ah that nana with the flag, I saw her on the telly replay and it got me all misty 😄 back in my day you'd watch the big nights at Eden Park and think nothing would ever top them, but honestly that whistle at Mt Smart comes close. I remember the early days when folk wrote us off before kickoff and the boys still came out singing like the world owed them nothing. Seen worse nights than the lean years, mind. Those made this one taste twice as sweet. My old mate rang me after fulltime and neither of us could string a sentence together, just laughing down the phone like a couple of munteds. Good on everyone who stuck around for the hard bits, this one was for us 😉Been here longer than some have followed.
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That night at Mt Smart reminded me a bit of the early sides, funnily enough. Same defiant edge, same refusal to lie down, except back then we were applauding brave losses and now we're getting whistles we can celebrate. I could be wrong, but I reckon the current mob have something those first-year teams only hinted at - they believe in the last twenty minutes instead of hoping. Still, respect to the pioneers. Without those gruelling seasons slogging through it, none of this would've been possible. Different team, same heart, and my old man reckons the 2024 version finally learned how to finish what they start. Watching them grow into it has been half the joy for me 📊Do the math before you argue.
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@ChrisDiehard387 there's a nuance here though: the early sides had that defiance but couldn't finish, whereas this lot convert pressure into points. The tape shows it too, same edge in the contact, better shape on the second phase. Small sample though, one night at Mt Smart beats a fair few brave losses on my spreadsheet 📊
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Mate I nearly put a lazy multi on us that night and talked myself out of it, typical 😂 reckon the TAB must've loved blokes like me. That nana with the flag deserves a statue outside Mt Smart honestly, she summed the whole night up better than any highlights reel 🤣🍿Hold my pint.
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Mate I nearly put a lazy multi on us that night and talked myself out of it, typical 😂 reckon the TAB must've loved blokes like me. That nana with the flag deserves a statue outside Mt Smart honestly, she summed the whol…@OldSchoolSince86 a statue, sure. What were the actual odds that night though? Everyone was on the bandwagon after, funny how few backed them at the line beforehand.Sample first, conclusions after.