This game was always going to be a tough game. South Sydney were sitting second on the ladder after some easy wins over the lower ranking teams. Fortunately for us Greg Inglis was still out on suspension, although the team have been winning without him I really thought that this was one of the key reasons we were able to win. South Sydney have a massive forward pack, sitting on the sideline and watching them live really opens up your eyes to that, they're huge!
It was a windy, rainy, freezing cold night up in Gosford, NSW, the conditions were awful, not just for the fans but also for the players. Over 17000 fans braved the terrible conditions to cheer on the teams, the majority of which were Rabbitohs supporters hoping to watch their team snatch their 7th win in a row.
South Sydney supporters started off quite loud, especially when they had scored what was to be their only try in the first 5 minutes. However they quietened down an awful lot once Manly started stacking on the points.
I felt a bit outnumbered, and a bit lost without my little WF crowd that I have at Brookvale, but after a few tries the Manly supporters sitting around me found their voice and we cheered our boys onto victory. The score was 6-23 to us - of course - and would have been much higher if Jamie Lyon had converted all the tries instead of one from 5. And that odd score? Well that was thanks to Daly Cherry Evans popping a sneaky field goal over after the siren had sounded to end the first half.
I love Manly supporters, we were excited we won, but we were also very humble about it. Only a few of us turned around to the Rabbitohs supporters and rubbed it in. The rest, well we just held our head high and walked from the grounds with massive grins on our faces. Why? We, of all teams, know what it's like to have an up and down season, you win some and you lose some. Sometimes you are even left wondering how we lost, and why we didn't play like we did the week before.
As for me, I was this humble type of supporter, until I looked up who South Sydney had actually been playing during their 6 game winning streak. I was not impressed, they have had a fairly easy roster this side of Origin, let me tell you. Their last recorded loss was to the Broncos in Round 16. Since then they have played (and won) against, Penrith, Newcastle, Sydney, St George, Wests and Gold Coast. Not exactly a tough draw, and possibly the reason why they were so high on the ladder? Now don't get me wrong, I also know that it is possible to lose to the lower ranking teams, so whether there would have been a different result had they versed a couple of top eight teams, who knows.
Anyway, enough of my ranting and raving. I should just be happy that we won and that such a good game of football was played. So highlights? Definitely seeing George Rose's fluoro yellow undies, Cherry-Evans kicking that field goal, seeing Sam and George Burgess in the flesh, the rain stopping just before the game started, and then starting again just after the game stopped, no cheerleaders, oh and lastly watching the junior teams playing at half time, such cuties especially when one of their team mates scores a try and they all run up and hug him!
Happy Footballing!
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