Matabele
Journey Man
This time it's personal
Watching the Storm on Friday night I was transported back 17 years to a remarkably similar “dynasty†- that of the Canberra Raiders circa 1989-1991.
There are profound similarities except that by their third Grand Final the Raiders has two Premierships under their belt when they entered the 1991 finals series.
But both the Raiders and the Storm had/have that same air of battered hubris about them.
When the Raiders won in 1989 it was against the odds – particularly as they had endured a slow start to the season. Similarly in 2006 noone expected the Storm to feature in the finals following the loss of Orford and Bell. But both teams were stacked with a young group of players that played with an excitement and panache that made them crowd favourites.
The following year (1990 and 2007) both dominated the competition and concluded it with an emphatic victory in the Grand Final against a side that was rising but dogged with criticism. Both of the vanquished sides that year (Penrith and Manly) featured a halfback (Greg Alexander and Matt Orford) criticised as flaky in big games and prone to choking. Both sides we resoundingly beaten.
So we come to compare 1991 and 2008 where the dynastic team comes into a replay with the side they vanquished the previous year. Again there are remarkable similarities.
In '91 Raiders and '08 Storm both made it to the Grand Final the hard way – hard slogging victories that took an immense wear and tear on bodies already tired from massive representation during the Origin series.
Their tag of “crowd favourites†were shed during the year as both sides submitted to a nauseating hubris – a born to rule mentality vented in ranting and raving driven by a culture of being above the law from a corrupt club management.Â
In 1991 the Raiders were found to be widely rorting the fledgling salary cap and at the end of the year the club would face an exodus of some of its biggest names, including the Brisbane-bound “brick with eyes†Glenn Lazarus.
As the Raiders marched into the Grand Final against a keen-to-atone Penrith Panthers side their fans romped around in “t-shirts†emblazoned “this time it's personalâ€Â, fueled by their rage with what they saw as the injustices of the competition's administration.
Flick forward seventeen years and there are the extraordinary diatribes coming from south of the border alleging judiciary corruption and media conspiracy following the thoroughly justified suspension handed out to Storm captain Cameron Smith for trying to unscrew the pumpkin off Sam Thaiday's shoulders.
It's hard to miss the similarities between Penrith '91 and Manly '08 too. The previous year both sides seemed content to just make the Grand Final and were powerless to stop a juggernaut. However, the losing experience pained them and drove them for twelve months.
Manly enter the 2008 Grand Final immeasurably stronger than the previous year and has strengthened it's “spine†with Lyon, Stewart and Orford 12 months better and wiser in their positions and the Ballin/L'estrange hooker combination a more skillful manifestation than the previous year's lone hand played by Michael Monaghan.
The other great similarity is that this Grand Final will be the last game at the club for legendary club stalwarts. For Penrith it was Royce Simmonds who had a grand farewell in 1991, capped off with a remarkable two-try performance.
Simmonds was the first player from Penrith to represent his country and had been with the club through many dark years. Steve Menzies is the once-in-a-generation forward who stuck with the club through the dark years of the Northern Eagles merger disaster.
It would not surprise should Menzies repeat the two-try farewell of Simmonds in the 2008 decider – he is the greatest try-scoring forward of all time so it would be oh-so appropriate.
So we're a week away from the big square off in a Centenary year. The bruised and battered champion somewhat bloated by its own hubris against the stripped-down and hungry challenger looking for atonement and a fairy-tale finish for one of its greatest champions.
Let's hope the ending is similar to 1991.Â
This time it's personal.Â
Watching the Storm on Friday night I was transported back 17 years to a remarkably similar “dynasty†- that of the Canberra Raiders circa 1989-1991.
There are profound similarities except that by their third Grand Final the Raiders has two Premierships under their belt when they entered the 1991 finals series.
But both the Raiders and the Storm had/have that same air of battered hubris about them.
When the Raiders won in 1989 it was against the odds – particularly as they had endured a slow start to the season. Similarly in 2006 noone expected the Storm to feature in the finals following the loss of Orford and Bell. But both teams were stacked with a young group of players that played with an excitement and panache that made them crowd favourites.
The following year (1990 and 2007) both dominated the competition and concluded it with an emphatic victory in the Grand Final against a side that was rising but dogged with criticism. Both of the vanquished sides that year (Penrith and Manly) featured a halfback (Greg Alexander and Matt Orford) criticised as flaky in big games and prone to choking. Both sides we resoundingly beaten.
So we come to compare 1991 and 2008 where the dynastic team comes into a replay with the side they vanquished the previous year. Again there are remarkable similarities.
In '91 Raiders and '08 Storm both made it to the Grand Final the hard way – hard slogging victories that took an immense wear and tear on bodies already tired from massive representation during the Origin series.
Their tag of “crowd favourites†were shed during the year as both sides submitted to a nauseating hubris – a born to rule mentality vented in ranting and raving driven by a culture of being above the law from a corrupt club management.Â
In 1991 the Raiders were found to be widely rorting the fledgling salary cap and at the end of the year the club would face an exodus of some of its biggest names, including the Brisbane-bound “brick with eyes†Glenn Lazarus.
As the Raiders marched into the Grand Final against a keen-to-atone Penrith Panthers side their fans romped around in “t-shirts†emblazoned “this time it's personalâ€Â, fueled by their rage with what they saw as the injustices of the competition's administration.
Flick forward seventeen years and there are the extraordinary diatribes coming from south of the border alleging judiciary corruption and media conspiracy following the thoroughly justified suspension handed out to Storm captain Cameron Smith for trying to unscrew the pumpkin off Sam Thaiday's shoulders.
It's hard to miss the similarities between Penrith '91 and Manly '08 too. The previous year both sides seemed content to just make the Grand Final and were powerless to stop a juggernaut. However, the losing experience pained them and drove them for twelve months.
Manly enter the 2008 Grand Final immeasurably stronger than the previous year and has strengthened it's “spine†with Lyon, Stewart and Orford 12 months better and wiser in their positions and the Ballin/L'estrange hooker combination a more skillful manifestation than the previous year's lone hand played by Michael Monaghan.
The other great similarity is that this Grand Final will be the last game at the club for legendary club stalwarts. For Penrith it was Royce Simmonds who had a grand farewell in 1991, capped off with a remarkable two-try performance.
Simmonds was the first player from Penrith to represent his country and had been with the club through many dark years. Steve Menzies is the once-in-a-generation forward who stuck with the club through the dark years of the Northern Eagles merger disaster.
It would not surprise should Menzies repeat the two-try farewell of Simmonds in the 2008 decider – he is the greatest try-scoring forward of all time so it would be oh-so appropriate.
So we're a week away from the big square off in a Centenary year. The bruised and battered champion somewhat bloated by its own hubris against the stripped-down and hungry challenger looking for atonement and a fairy-tale finish for one of its greatest champions.
Let's hope the ending is similar to 1991.Â
This time it's personal.Â