2005 GF - Eels v Dragons (ooops!) I mean Cows v Tigers
Very exciting to watch my team make their first ever GF, especially since we'd only made the top 8 for the first time ever the year before - this was a fairytale already. If i'm truly honest, i
hoped we could win this game somehow but deep down i didn't know how. The Tigers had put a huge score on us in the first week of the finals already and I feel like we were just riding a wave that was sure to break eventually. The hurt from this loss was more out of feeling like we might not ever make another one, rather than a dislike or rivalry with the Tigers - who i quite enjoyed watching as they played a similar style to the Cows.
2015 GF - Cows v Broncos
This is a day i'll never forget - it had everything a Bronco hating Cows fan could
ever ask for.
- We won our first comp.
- We beat our bitter rivals in the process.
- We handed the Broncos their first and only (so far) GF loss.
- We tied the game on the buzzer in the corner, just when most Broncos fans must've thought it was theirs. Be honest.
- We did it in Golden Point, rubbing salt into an already uber-salty Wayne Bennett.
- We gave the gift of Bronco tears to rest of the NRL fans to enjoy for years to come. Neutral fans dine out on this game.
- We gave Justin Hodges the retirement present he deserves.
- We were part of what's now widely regarded as the best/if not one of the best GF's ever.
I watched this game in my home, in the dark, on the edge of my couch with only my mother (a lifelong Bronco tragic) alongside me, completely silent. I couldn't bare to be around anyone else. I didn't want to talk, i didn't want anyone else to talk. Im pretty sure i was crying when Ben Hunt spilled the ball off the kickoff and the reality set in that we had a scrum feed right in front of the Broncos posts, the win was
right there and all we had to do was take it. I was inventing all the ways we could possibly lose it from here, mentally preparing myself for the worst. A charge down, an intercept pass, lost in the play the ball, drop-goal going wide to give them seven tackles and field position to win it. I ran through every scenario in my head. I clenched my teeth with every pass and run, expecting someone to knock on at any moment. Then...
BANG!
Even when JT slotted the kick and the players began celebrating, i refused to let myself accept what i'd seen it until i saw our score tick over to 17 and the little "GOAL" graphic ran across the scoreboard on the screen followed by "FULL TIME". I'm sure i just stared at my TV for a few moments trying to gather my thoughts. I still struggle to find the right words to describe my feelings after that. We'd won one, and life was good.
2017 GF - Cows v Storm
In all honesty, i often forget we were even in this GF. From about the halfway point (or probably even earlier) of the season, it was just a race to see who would lose to Melbourne on Grand Final day. They were simply miles and miles ahead of everyone else in the comp, it wasn't even close. We limped into 8th spot off the back of the Dragons choking hardcore to the Dogs (who had nothing to play for) in the final round. Half of our players would've booked holidays if they weren't already booked for surgery.
We had a mini fairytale run through the finals series, beating the Sharks, Eels and then Roosters to book our seat at the slaughterhouse, those three weeks were our Grand Final. The Storm were never going to lose that game and it made watching the game at my Storm fan mates place a really enjoyable, stress free experience. There was no tension, no expectation, just satisfaction in knowing that my boys had done an almighty job to get there. Obviously i'd have loved for us to pull off the upset of the century but i couldn't be disappointed with the result really, it was inevitable.
