From Waikato Stadium mist to two titles
I remember standing in the Waikato Stadium mist like it was yesterday, cold enough to freeze the colour off your cheeks, and nobody cared because the boys were playing footy from another planet 😄 Back in my day we'd shiver through matches wondering if we'd ever see a title in Hamilton at all — then Craig's mob come along and won the whole thing twice on the bounce.
That 2013 final still gives me goosebumps. 37-6 against the Crusaders, and not just any Crusaders side either. Sonny Bill flicking offloads out the back of his hand like he was passing to ghosts, the whole ground buzzing. Seen worse nights, plenty of them, but few that sweet. Where were you all watching it, lads?😉
10 posts
-
✓Watching that 2013 final in my mate's lounge in Gisborne, screamed the roof off at 37-6 😱🔥 still got chills tbh. Those Sonny Bill offloads, unreal 🙌 ah well, nowt to doYou don't abandon your own.
-
ah the mist, that takes me back 😄 i was up in the stand at waikato stadium with my thermos and a sou'wester, frost on the rails, and by fulltime nobody could feel their toes but everyone was singing anyway. watched the 2013 final at my brother's place here in whanganui, and when that fourth try went in he knocked his tea clean over the couch, never cleaned the stain properly to this day 😄 you know what i reckon made those sides special though? craig had the boys playing like they were down at the local on a saturday afternoon, smiles on faces, offloads out the back door, SBW flicking it to anyone and everyone. the young lot only know the highlights reel; us old fellas remember feeling like anything could happen every single week. still get a bit of a lump in the throat thinking about it, not ashamed to say 😉Remember when the grass was greener 🌱
-
Been thinking about this comparison for a while, and honestly the current side plays prettier ball in patches but that 2012-13 pack just ground teams into the mud in a way I haven't seen since. Different flavours of great, mind you, keep the sample size small and it's easy to get misty-eyed. Still reckon Sonny Bill's offloads in that final were the closest thing to magic we've had at Waikato 📊Numbers > vibes.
-
I'll give you the "prettier in patches" line, mate, but watch the tape of that 2013 final again, 37-6 against the Crusaders wasn't mud-grinding, that was footy from another planet. You keep calling it a small sample, but two titles in two years is two titles, and nobody's topped the back-to-back since. Pass the thermos, I'm getting misty-eyed already 📊😄
-
37-6 and the Crusaders fans had left by the 70th minute, I swear I saw empty red seats everywhere 😱🔥 Sonny Bill throwing passes out of the tackle that still don't make sense tbh... our lot never make it easy but those two years, chills every time 🙌Heart with the team, head on pause.
-
Watching that 37-6 from a mate's flat cos I couldn't snag a ticket, and his Crusaders-supporting flatmate just silently made us all toasted sandwiches at halftime like a broken man 🤣 still the best feed I've ever had, and Sonny Bill's offloads were pure witchcraft tbh. Stoked I lived through that era 🙌😂Memes are analysis too.
-
Watching that 37-6 from a mate's flat cos I couldn't snag a ticket, and his Crusaders-supporting flatmate just silently made us all toasted sandwiches at halftime like a broken man 🤣 still the best feed I've ever had, an…@UpsetKing_Nightmare the silent toasted sandwiches are sending me 🤣 that's the most respectful surrender I've ever heard of. I was at Waikato Stadium that day, mist rolling in off the crowd, the place absolutely bouncing, still got my scarf somewhere 🔥 and nah Sonny Bill's offloads still don't make sense, watched them back a hundred times 💪Heart with the team, head on pause.
-
Was on the wrong end of that one as a Crusaders fan and even I can't hate it 😭 those offloads were unreal tbh. Still stings though, 37-6 at home soil? absolute nightmare. Where's that scarf now Sam, frame it 🔥In the stands since I was a kid.
-
Was on the wrong end of that one as a Crusaders fan and even I can't hate it 😭 those offloads were unreal tbh. Still stings though, 37-6 at home soil? absolute nightmare. Where's that scarf now Sam, frame it 🔥@UncleAllDay respect for owning it 👏 coming from a Crusaders fan that means something. That day in the mist we were UNSTOPPABLE, you just knew 🙌🔥Heart with the team, head on pause.