Remember when McLean Park shook so hard the old scoreboard rattled
i was down in dunners that night in 2006, watching on the telly and wishing i'd made the trip north. back in my day the shield hardly ever left the big unions' grip, so seeing the magpies take the log o' wood home to napier. Well, that was something special. my old man always said the shield finds its true keeper every couple of generations, and that night proved him right 😄
mate of mine from hastings rang me at midnight, half cut, yelling over the noise from emerson street. you could hear the crowd through the phone, no lie. the park shaking itself silly, the old scoreboard rattling like it wanted to join the party. seen worse nights, but precious few better ones. those were the days, magpies 😉
5 posts
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✓Mate I was ON Emerson Street 😂 been telling anyone who'll listen ever since. Me and a couple boys snuck out after work, crammed into the southern stand, and when young Kahn got over didn't the whole ground lift? Honestly thought the boards under us were gonna give way before the scoreboard did haha 🙌 Watched grown men crying around me, blokes who'd waited decades for the log o' wood to come home. Half of Hawke's Bay turned up in town and nobody went to bed till well past midnight tbh. Shame you had to watch it from Dunners brother, but hey - next shield challenge we get, roadie up together eh 💪_MAGPIES_On the terraces since I was a kid.
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Ha, TouchlineFaithful, Emerson Street must've been mayhem that night 😄 I was up in the old stand with my old man, and I still remember the fog rolling in off the sea while the crowd roared - half of Gisborne had made the trip too. Back in my day we'd trek to Napier for Shield challenges and usually drive home quiet as a church; that night the car horns were going all the way over the hill. Goodness it felt like the whole East Coast was in that ground.Remember when the grass was greener 🌱
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Funny thing, I could be wrong, but I reckon the 2006 side had a harder edge up front, that pack didn't take a backward step all winter. The current mob play better footy with ball in hand, though, and younger than I remember. Different eras, both worth cheering. 📊
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🤣 that scoreboard's still rattling to this day, mate. I lost me voice on Emerson Street and my old man lost his beanie somewhere in the southern stand. Curtain call worth every minute 🍿Hold my pint.