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July 23, 2006
Top of the League, We're Having a Laugh....
Probably Saints' biggest test of the season so far was played out in monsoon conditions at Headingley this afternoon and boy did we come through smiling. Dressed, as we all were, for the heatwave, there was nothing you could do but laugh as we dripped, squelched and pruned through 80 nail-biting minutes. At least it was warm rain eh!
When second plays host to first in the league, it's always going to be a near thing, and it was. Both teams battled hard, it was bloody tough, and a few fists flew at times but it was thrilling and made all the more so by Saints' eventual victory and the six point lead we've now got.
When the players came down to the away end at full time to applaud the crowd, Leon Pryce was punching the air and shouting "come on, come on" and the crowd roared even louder. You could feel their passion, it doesn't half make you proud. They knew they'd had a tough test but I think they appreciated the fact that we had too. It's not always easy to whoop and holler when you're wet through to your undies or your feet have frozen to the terraces.
I think that's one of the things that makes me love Rugby League more than football: that closeness to the team. You're physically close, you can feel the tackle, hear the thud of shoulder against chest and the occasional crack of head against head when Ade and Wello jump for the same ball. You're also close enough to trade wisecracks with the players or egg them on with rallying cries. And they respond to both.
But, off the pitch too, there's another kind of closeness. They might be rugby stars but they're not in the superstar bracket like your Beckhams and your Ronaldos. When you see the players around the ground, they'll always let on and they never refuse an autograph for the kids. I guess they're not stuck up their own backsides like footballers.
The only drawback to the afternoon was Jamie Lyon's red card for a late challenge on Rob Burrow (the little rat.) That's likely to mean he'll miss next week's Challenge Cup semi final against Hull KR and that's not going to help the cause one bit. On the plus side though, I'm going to have to miss next week because I'm going to a wedding, so maybe Jamie can have my ticket!
Posted by lilliebet at July 23, 2006 12:21 AM
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