Johnathan Thurston by Johnathan Thurston

Author:Johnathan Thurston [Thurston, Johnathan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperSports
Published: 2018-10-05T00:00:00+00:00

Soon the Tigers, once again, had my full attention.

Bloody Tigers. It had to be the Tigers.

Wests had, of course, won their way through to the decider. They had beaten Brisbane 34–6 to continue their stunning finals form.

Another chapter in our rivalry would be written.

I was actually happy the Tigers had got through. I was beginning to hate them and I wanted the chance to beat them in the big one. I thought the rivalry would bring out the best in us. We wouldn’t be lacking in motivation or desire.

We went into the grand final as underdogs, no surprise after our 50–6 first final flogging. But that didn’t worry us. We liked being underdogs – it had certainly worked for us against the Eels.

Things didn’t start well. I took the ball to the line early on and almost got through. Caught but arms still free, I offloaded and, following some quick hands, Ty Williams scored in the corner.

Try! What a start.

But it wasn’t. Referee Tim Mander was about to award the four-pointer in what would have been a perfect start. And then he took the whistle away from his mouth when touch judge Matt Cecchin approached.

‘Check for a possible obstruction by the Cowboys,’ Cecchin said. ‘I have a no try.’

I lost my shit. ‘What obstruction?’ I shouted at Cecchin. ‘How could you see an obstruction? You were on the other side of the field. You couldn’t see a thing.’

He called it anyway.

‘How the fuck can you call that?’ I blasted. ‘You were nowhere near it. This is bullshit.’

The final decision was soon up on the big screen.

NO TRY!

I kicked the ground before composing myself.

‘No,’ I told myself. ‘We have this. Let’s go again.’

And we did. Matt Bowen scored the first try of the night, touching down in the eighth minute – striking back soon after being denied – to go to a 6–0 lead following the conversion, I touched the ball twice in the movement.

Yes! We’ve got this.

But the Tigers soon scored to level the match at 6–6. In a moment Paul Bowman (Bear) would like to forget, he threw a pass in our own goal to avoid being trapped. Bryce Gibbs pounced on the loose ball to put the Tigers back in the match.

And then came a moment of magic no one will ever forget – though I wish I could. I am of course talking about the famous flick-pass try. The Benji Marshall magic. The freak try that has gone down in rugby league folklore.

I have the dubious honour of having started the historymaking play. Ball in hand, last tackle, I drilled it into the corner with a well-weighted kick.

Perfect.

We had them right where we wanted them, ball buried on the corner, the Tigers facing a set of trying to work the ball off their own line. I took off to chase. I wanted to get down there and make the tackle. Pin the Tigers down. But I was tripped.

‘Fuck!’ I shouted as I picked myself up and resumed my run.

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