Junior Teams
AUSTRALIAN 18s TOUR DIARY DAYS 7-9 |
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 Apologies for the delay fans but things became quite hectic from here in! We again had an early start to the day & a big Bus ride ahead. The return to Christchurch incorporated 1 stop & games against Burnham, who were to have some very handy players. We stopped in some little town & as a result of our meeting the night before diet adjustments were the order of the day. Fruit & salad as well as bread & many other tasteless condiments while all the other teams hit the Bakery for Pies. The Bus ride was enhanced by a viewing of Charlie's Angels full throttle with Shannon Sankey starring. We then stopped at some little town to play shoe golf & bought some outstanding hats for the team. We met at the Bus at exactly 1:10pm, exactly! Then off we go again - Hot & Colds & wait for our game that had been moved to another time. The game was the best so far with some real attacking player's challenging our defence. We won the game 13-8. Then had a drop off that we also won 2-1. The realization was that our defence was still coming together & needed to improve more if we were to be competitive against the Kiwi's. Dinner & then the mental preparation kicked over another gear with each player having an individual interview to discuss playing position, performance so far, expectations, strengths & areas for improvement. It was also an opportunity to reassess goals & look at the thoughts you had on the team strengths & areas that can improve in the days to come. After the interviews we had a Team meeting where the thoughts of our Team mates were put to us as well as reaffirming the messages that were verbally given to us on our phone hook up last week by Ian Stanley, Dean Wilbow, Troy Malcolm, Neil Ward & Sam Ayoub. Nerves are kicking in & tomorrow is the real test we have been waiting for, Canterbury - NZ Champs. We are saying it is our first Test match & we know that the NZ Team will be out watching the game as the Coaches have been following the Tour for the last couple of days & they are looking to gain any edge they can. Hopefully with only one day before the Test Match we can play well & remain injury free. Day 7 Families & reality Today is a big day for us & we have Training, 2 Team Meetings, and Lunch with our families & the game against Canterbury. I think this is to keep us busy so the nerves don't kill us, I am thinking I will need a pest controller to get rid of the butterflies that are already starting to plague my stomach. Our first meeting involved video of the Hakka & the Australian & New Zealand National anthems. We talked about passion for our Anthem & how we would approach the Hakka when it eventuated. The video was from the Rugby World Cup & was great. Training was very light & allowed us to go through some of the key areas of the game - Rucking under pressure, shooting & our line defence. The session went for an hour & started at the time we will warm up tomorrow. There really won't be that much time. After this Col had asked us to organize our Parents to have a Family lunch. This was really good as it allowed all of them to meet & interact prior to the Test's as well as a chance to spend some time relaxing away from the College. The food was sensational & the service well it was worth looking at! Our game against Canterbury was looming & we were quite pumped with no real expectation of what they would be like. All reports are that they are good. They beat the NZ team last night but the Coaches will not tell us the score. We got off to a bit of a rusty start & that was the difference in the end. We were down 3-0 after 10mins but came back to lose the game 7-4. On a brighter note we are getting to be drop off specialists beating Canterbury in a trial of what could happen in the Trans Tasman...God I don't want to have that happen, what pressure. The evening meeting was awesome. We had a talk on how we had developed into a family & then Col asked permission to do something. A bit nerve wrecking but with the trust we were gaining we all said yes. At that he pulled out a whole heap of letters they had organized from our Parents wishing us luck & telling us how proud they were of us. It was great to hear everyone's & know that we all had the support needed to achieve this dream - playing for Australia. We all then went to bed charged up & ready for the challenge that was about to happen. The Trans Tasman series started tomorrow. Day 8 The time has come The day started with an early breaky & well there are nerves just going berserk. There really wasn't even that much time for them to settle with a quick meeting & off to the opening ceremony. We had a few glimpses of the opposition at our accommodation & it was time to face them. We assembled for a bit of a warm up as the ceremony was only 20mins before we played. The ceremony was short & sweet with our thoughts being on the task at hand. We were the first team to play & we knew it would be tough to beat the Kiwi's in NZ & it had been a while since it had been done. We sparked ourselves up with singing the National Anthem together in a huddle (The one played at the ceremony was a bit slow & no one really sang & we were looking forward to belting it out similar to what we watched on the video yesterday). The game was flat stick early & we surprised the Kiwi's by jumping out the quicker. 1-0 Australia & we were off. The first 10mins was hectic but we were still leading 2-1 at this stage. The pace & strength of the opposition was something we were going to have to get use to pretty quick. The NZ Boy's scored 2 very good TD's & the score was reversed & we were then chasing 2-3 down. It was the last 2 minutes of the first half & the first 2 of the second that destroyed the dream of winning the first Test. The Kiwi's scored with a minute to go & the half time score was 2-4. Straight after half time they got 2 quick ones all of a sudden the score was 2-6, the call was to persevere as we had talked about & there was belief in the camp that even this score was reachable. We then lifted - 3-6, 4-6, 4-7, 5-7, 5-8 & 6-8. We were unlucky not to score again & in the final minute of the game the Kiwi's got another & 6-9 to NZ was the result. We were shell shocked but the call came out that it was the best of 3 & we needed to keep our heads high & not show them our real thoughts. We really got a lot out of the game & knew we could improve. It did make it hard for the rest of the day to watch all the other games but it was great when the girls got over NZ in a drop off. Our spirits lifted by their performance we went back & had a Team meeting where it was pointed out to us how we had performed & how the game transpired. We addressed the areas & felt that tomorrow would be our day. Dinner was low key as was our team meeting & Col & Mick said that everyone had to be in bed by 10am. True to their form at 10 they came out to check where we all were & relaxed us after Josh was found getting a band aid from the physio. They tee'd him up that he wouldn't play because he missed curfew & he got us all up to help convince them it was a genuine reason. They stood at the end of the hall when we got their laughing. But it was an early night as we had a real test tomorrow, 1 down in the series & the last real day of the tour upon us. It was time to find out what we had in us. Day 9 Do or Die & the result (not the fairytale we had wished for) Up & at them nice & early, 7am. We were playing at 10:40am & if yesterday we didn't have a lot of time today we would be playing before we knew it. We had addressed a few issues last night in our meeting & a light run & the group seemed different. Ready! We arrived at the fields & the atmosphere for the first one was intense. We again started well but this time no one seemed to get the jump. This was the sort of game we thought we would get. Tight to the finish. We had talked about being there at the end, the one in front was the goal & we just kept digging. We were down 2-3 with not long to go. Then all happened - first one then another then what was that the siren. It was 4-3 to us but the NZ Boy's still had the ball & are dangerous in this situation. We closed it out & then straight in together. 1 more was the call. We went straight to the showers to get ready for the game that was in 2 hours. The girls had gone down & that meant that both of us were going to deciders. We sat in the shade getting ready when the news came through that our game had been moved back 2 hours. We then went home but had to wait for the Bus, an hour out of the sun was better than nothing & gave us time away from all the hustle of the fields. We had been a big supporter of all the teams all week so we were always going to be back for the girl's game which stayed at the time the games were to be. We arrived back & watched the girls play awesome to really give it to NZ. What an inspiration, but also a bit of pressure for us now! We got ready for the game & then the moment we had waited for. The Hakka - while we were having a team talk the Kiwi's had come up behind us & started. We linked arms & faced it but a lot of people got between us & the Hakka which was a real disappointment. That didn't stop us from getting very pumped. The game was tight again & we had numerous chances to win the game with a few close ones (as did the kiwi's but that doesn't count). The game played out an intense struggle & in the end the last result was reversed & we went down by 1. Heart ache was the order of the day for all of us but we held our heads high. We were a young group (9 eligible again) & we had gone toe to toe with NZ & improved right through the process. Of course it hurt like hell but I guess that is sport. We faced the Hakka again in what we think was a show of respect by the NZ Boys. As far as the Tour went it was over it was just the last night & farewells to contend with. We returned to the college for our own Team Meeting where we thanked Col, Mick & Ron for their effort & we wrapped up the Tour. We also had Westy in the Meeting & special mention of his attempt to achieve his goals was discussed. We all thanked him for his friendship & support. The whole Australian contingent had a meeting where the Tour was summed up & each Team announced Player's Player or the Chairman's award. Col said that although this was a great award it could not encapture the effort of the whole group & how we should be proud of the fact that we had the opportunity to represent our Country. That said the award went to a great bloke & an outstanding performer over the whole tour - Nathan Butcher. At the function we mixed in with the Kiwi boy's & received our runner up medallions. Dylan won the most valuable player for Australia. It was then Disco time & we got into party mode. The rest of the night was spent trying to forget the fact that we would all have to leave each other's company tomorrow. So in saying that we are back to where we were at the beginning of the Tour! Day 10 Friends forever 12:01am & again the next day starts. I really don't know what time everyone went to bed but I do know that it was the end of a tour where we made the best of friends & in the morning 8am to be exact the first of them would leave. We all made some great friends & one can only hope that we treasure the opportunity we had to represent our Country in a sport we love. I am sure we all hope that we get the opportunity to do it again some day but I am sure if we don't we will all be proud of our achievement. The NSW Boy's left first with their WA Boy in tow, and then the SA Coach followed last but not least by the Qld contingent until there were no members of the Team left in Christchurch. We were off home to start building for the NTL & hopefully another opportunity to take it up to the Kiwi's at the Youth World Cup with one or 2 big differences. 1 - It's on our home turf & 2 - Hopefully we will be the World Champions Ends |
