gregstar
Referee
- Messages
- 20,465
Waite's effort in 1996 for me remains the greatest coaching effort I've seen in rugby league.
We started the season without a CEO, a coach, half the playing roster (only 7 or 9 players attended the first training session and media eulogies (such as Brian Smith's "smell of Newtown statement) proclaiming that as a club, we were basically F*cKed.
For a coach to join on such short notice, make the finals let alone the grand final was astonishing. Even his grand final opponent Bob Fulton said it was the greatest coaching achievement he'd seen.
Despite my hopes on grand final day, I knew we'd struggle to roll Manly but the Ridge / Brown "held" fiasco at the crucial stage before halftime effectively F*cKed the game. I believed then and there because of that moment we were gone.
And I was absolutely spewing & gobsmacked when Waite was rissoled in 2000. I was depressed from that moment until 2005 (but depression returned promptly after the final against the Tigers.)
But overall 1984's loss in the final to Parra & 1999's loss are the most depressing, soul-destroying moments I've had supporting the club. And sadly when we finally won in 2010, I actually was only minimally excited and if anything, only relieved. The disappointments endured over the previous 40 seasons had taken their toll.
We started the season without a CEO, a coach, half the playing roster (only 7 or 9 players attended the first training session and media eulogies (such as Brian Smith's "smell of Newtown statement) proclaiming that as a club, we were basically F*cKed.
For a coach to join on such short notice, make the finals let alone the grand final was astonishing. Even his grand final opponent Bob Fulton said it was the greatest coaching achievement he'd seen.
Despite my hopes on grand final day, I knew we'd struggle to roll Manly but the Ridge / Brown "held" fiasco at the crucial stage before halftime effectively F*cKed the game. I believed then and there because of that moment we were gone.
And I was absolutely spewing & gobsmacked when Waite was rissoled in 2000. I was depressed from that moment until 2005 (but depression returned promptly after the final against the Tigers.)
But overall 1984's loss in the final to Parra & 1999's loss are the most depressing, soul-destroying moments I've had supporting the club. And sadly when we finally won in 2010, I actually was only minimally excited and if anything, only relieved. The disappointments endured over the previous 40 seasons had taken their toll.
