Twenty years on and I still get chills thinking about that 2004 final
i remember that night like it was yesterday, and i wasn't even supporting the brumbies properly back then, kiwi bloke through and through. but my brother-in-law is canberra born and dragged me along on a work trip, so there i was in that sea of gold when mortlock went over. the noise nearly took the roof off. ah well, we'll see if anyone here still has their photos from the terraces.
funny thing is i've seen worse nights at eden park, plenty of them 😄 but that 2004 final had something special about it, old school super 12, everything on the line, a full stadium singing. twenty years. where did that go? would love to see some pics from you lot who were actually in gold that night.
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✓Even a Kiwi convert saying it gave him chills. That says it all mate 😂🙌 I was 4 in '04 but my old man reckons he cried when Mortlock went over... proper goosebumps family story 🔥Heart with the team, head on pause.
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I wasn't in Canberra that night, watched it from a mate's lounge back in Auckland with a few defectors among us, and even the staunchest blues men in the room went quiet when Mortlock hit that gap - old school finals rugby, no hiding place. Back in my day we copped plenty of grief off you blokes when the Brumbies started winding up the Kiwi franchises, but nights like that you had to take your hat off. Anyone else remember how quiet the trip home was for the rest of us 😄Watch as long as I have and you'll get it.
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My old man still rates the 2004 backline the best we've ever fielded, and honestly the current side has flashes of that same width but a different flavour, more grind, less flourish. Even so, I reckon this mob are two or three seasons from being spoken about in the same breath. Nice thread this, good memories lads.Numbers > vibes.
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Back then I was hauling freight down to Wellington and pulled over at a roadhouse just to catch the radio call of that final - nearly put the truck in the ditch when Mortlock went over, I swear. Wasn't there in the flesh but the sea of gold came through the radio all the same 😄 And as for the best backline debate, my two cents: the old crowd had more time on the ball, the young lot never saw that - today's fellas do it with half a second less and I take my hat off to them for it.Watch as long as I have and you'll get it.
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A roadhouse radio call in a truck, an Auckland lounge full of grumpy Blues men, funny how many blokes claim that night who weren't anywhere near Canberra Stadium 😂 I could be wrong, but I reckon half the "chills" stories here are borrowed nostalgia. Me, I was actually there, up in the eastern stand, and I'll tell you the bit nobody mentions: the last fifteen minutes were torture, everyone around me went dead quiet waiting for it to go wrong. Mortlock's try only became magic afterwards. Still got the old scarf somewhere, might dig it out for the first home game of the season 📊 (ok, no tables this time, promise).Do the math before you argue.
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Chrisdiehard calling out borrowed nostalgia while half this thread's "memories" sound like a EA Sports highlight reel 😂 I was 6, my "chills" are 100% recycled from my old man. Hold my pint, borrowing his story too 🍿@UltraLife 😂 appreciate the honesty mate. I was 20 and actually watched it, whole club pub went mental when Mortlock went over, still rate it the loudest I've heard a room. Doesn't matter if your chills are secondhand tbh, the old man passed them on fair and square 🔥🙌Heart with the team, head on pause.
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Chris is onto something though. Half these "I remember it like it was yesterday" posts would fall apart under three questions. Same happens with the 2011 RWC threads, everyone was at the semi apparently. My actual memory is patchier than the hype suggests. I was 10, watched part of it, remembered Mortlock because everyone did. The rest I've absorbed from replays since. Doesn't make the side any less good, that backline was stacked on paper and the results backed it up. But chills on demand twenty years later? Mostly a family story people keep retelling until it feels firsthand. And BootToBallGuru, two or three seasons from same-breath status is a big call. Receipts please, at least a semi or two before we start drawing lines to 2004.Sample first, conclusions after.