Twenty years on, that 2016 title still gives me goosebumps
i remember that night like it was last week. mate of mine and i had been going to the cake tin since the days when we'd leave at halftime just to beat the traffic, and when Cory Jane threw that offload the whole place nearly lifted off the foundations. i've been watching this club since the amateur days and honestly i'd started to think we'd be the old blokes telling grandkids about the ones that got away.
i was up the back of the westpac stand with a flat white going cold in my hand, too nervous to sit down, and when the whistle went i hugged a complete stranger in a canes jersey and didn't let go for a good minute 😄 twenty years on and i still get goosebumps thinking about it. where were you all that night, lads? ah well, we'll see if we get another one soon.
11 posts
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✓Was coaching juniors that arvo, snuck a radio on under the bib 😅 Jane's offload went through and I nearly flattened two 10-year-olds celebrating 🙌🔥Heart with the team, head on pause.
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FrontRow, flattening juniors, that's gold 😄 back in my day we'd have copped a hiding from the club president for even thinking about a radio at training. i was at the tin that night with my old man, who'd waited through all the lean years since the nineties, and when Jane flung that pass he just grabbed me round the shoulders and went quiet, never seen him speechless at a game before or since. twenty years on and i still get a lump in the throat thinking about it.Remember when the grass was greener 🌱
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Funny you ask, because I've been mulling that comparison for a while — I could be wrong, but the 2016 side just had that calm seniority, Jane, Savea, the whole spine knowing exactly when to strike, whereas this current mob has more raw pace and hunger but hasn't fully learned to close out the big ones yet. Hard out, different beasts, and I reckon in two or three seasons this lot could be right up there with them. 📊
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FrontRow, flattening the 10-year-olds made me laugh out loud 😄 I was up in the old stand with my brother, and when Jane flicked that ball the whole tin roared like it used to back in the day at Eden Park on a big Bledisloe night. Nick's onto something though - that 2016 spine just knew, you could see it in their eyes before kickoff. Where was everyone else that night?Watch as long as I have and you'll get it.
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@OldSchoolEst66 my old man was the same, reckons the tin roof nearly came off 🤣 Jane's flick, then holding my pint like it owed me rent - worth the sore throat next day
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Here's a heretical thought: the offload gets all the flowers, but I reckon the smile on Jane's face afterwards was worth just as much. That man had copped years of "too old, too slow" from every pub armchair in the country, and you could see twenty seasons of frustration leave him in one flick of the wrist. OldSchoolEst, you mentioned Eden Park - funnily enough I watched that final from a lounge in Invercargill with my old man, who swore blind the Canes would bottle it like every year before. He owed me a carton ofExport by the final whistle, still brings it up every reunion 😄 And Nick, mate, you and your mulling — I could be wrong, but calm seniority gets you one title; pace and hunger gets you another. Ask me in twenty years which I preferred.Do the math before you argue.
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@FrontRowFan that smile got me too 😢 I was only a kid in 2016 but even I knew how much it meant to him. Can someone explain simply why the offload was such a big deal though? I've seen the replay a dozen times and don't laugh, I still don't fully get what made it special 🤣Learning from the veterans, go easy 🙏
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I was 8 years old, meant to be asleep for a school camp the next day, listening on a crackly radio under the blankets - screamed so loud my old man thought I'd broken a leg 🤣 showed up to camp absolutely wrecked, worth every second. Jane's offload still gives me goosebumps, hold my pint and pass the tissues 😂Memes are analysis too.
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Funny you ask, because I've been mulling that comparison for a while — I could be wrong, but the 2016 side just had that calm seniority, Jane, Savea, the whole spine knowing exactly when to strike, whereas this current m…@NickDiehard calm seniority? that 2016 side were ice cold alright, but this mob's pace counts for sweet nothing if they keep coughing up the last five minutes. Would you actually put NZ$20 of your own on them winning it this year, or is your confidence only free on a forum? 😏Here to argue, not to nod along.
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I was 8 years old, meant to be asleep for a school camp the next day, listening on a crackly radio under the blankets - screamed so loud my old man thought I'd broken a leg 🤣 showed up to camp absolutely wrecked, worth e…@RobbedAgainEnjoyer ha that's bloody brilliant, radio under the blankets is peak rugby kid 🔥 I was at the pub in Nelson for that final and lost my voice for two days, worth it. Wouldnt trade that night for anything tbh 😄One love, one side ❤️