{"id":5443,"date":"2011-07-10T21:36:25","date_gmt":"2011-07-10T11:36:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?p=5443"},"modified":"2011-07-10T21:55:02","modified_gmt":"2011-07-10T11:55:02","slug":"super-15-final-queensland-reds-vs-crusaders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?p=5443","title":{"rendered":"Super 15 – Final – Queensland Reds vs Crusaders"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Last night was the night of the big Super 15 Final between the Reds and the Crusaders.\u00a0 Although it’s the third sporting final I’ve had the good fortune to watch this year, it didn’t make me any less nervous on the day.\u00a0 Probably the best idea that afternoon was when Dom suggested we go kick the ball around in the park before kickoff.\u00a0 Otherwise I would’ve just been pacing around the apartment, driving everybody nuts.<\/p>\n

I think just about everything there is to say about the Reds and their meteoric rise in the last two seasons has already been said.\u00a0 But I’ll repeat some of the figures again because they’re awesome.\u00a0 The Reds won sixteen games this season which is as many as they did in seasons 2005-2008 combined.\u00a0 Prior to the 2010 season, they finished amongst the bottom three spots in the Super Rugby ladder for four consecutive seasons.\u00a0 Their marquee players were either retiring (Chris Latham) or jumping ship (Berrick Barnes).\u00a0 At their darkest hour, with crowd attendances spiralling downwards, the club had to ask for financial assistance from the ARU.<\/p>\n

The arrival of coach Ewen McKenzie kickstarted a very sudden and abrupt change in fortunes.\u00a0 He helped shape Quade Cooper from being a troubled young player who got arrested for stealing an ex’s laptop into a world-conquering Number 10 who is drawing comparisons to Dan Carter for his ability to control and dominate a game.\u00a0 The average age of the Reds players is 22.\u00a0 But Ewen McKenzie has not only managed to bring out the best of the young players, he has also helped turn around the career of players like Radike Samo, who is 35 years old and last played for the Wallabies seven years ago.\u00a0 After his performance this season, Robbie Deans has named him in the 40 man line up for the Wallabies squad leading into the World Cup.<\/p>\n

As with the Roar final, Jen and I pooled together eight tickets and brought along a group of friends to share the occasion.\u00a0 As expected, Suncorp was a sellout.\u00a0 53,000 people attended the game – an Australian Super Rugby attendance record.\u00a0 Ewen McKenzie also tweeted that the game was the most watched non-free-to-air sporting event in Australian history with 500,000 people tuning in.\u00a0 During the game I had a twitter message from Matt in Dubai, a TFW comment from Pat in London and an SMS message from my parents in Malaysia to all say they were tuning in to watch the game.\u00a0 It was a pretty cool feeling knowing that all these people were getting a chance to see my local team play the biggest game in the club’s history.<\/p>\n

The final between the Reds and the Crusaders has been billed as the ‘disaster final<\/a>‘, for the fact that both cities experienced a major natural disaster earlier this year.\u00a0 The Crusaders were obviously more impacted of the two clubs – they didn’t play a single game at their home ground this season which was badly damaged.\u00a0 For that matter, the Courier Mail<\/em> pointed out that in the lead up to the finals, playmaker Dan Carter had travelled over 10,000 kilometers in flying from Christchurch to Capetown, back to Christchurch, then off to Brisbane to complete his journey to the finals.\u00a0 By comparison, Quade Cooper travelled just 12 km, with his home in Bulimba being just a stone’s throw away from the stadium.<\/p>\n

The game itself was a tense affair, particularly in the first half.\u00a0 Although both sides made plenty of line breaks, the final pass never seemed to stick and both teams coughed up chances.\u00a0 After a deadlocked opening half hour, it was Cooper who opened the scoring as he kicked a penalty from the touchline.\u00a0 That Cooper managed to improve his kicking after last week’s wayward efforts, would make a significant impact on the outcome of the game.<\/p>\n

The first try however, fell to Dan Carter who scored a well-worked individual effort, kicking a grubber past the Reds line, picking up the perfect bounce and scooting under the posts.\u00a0 Cooper kicked one more penalty before halftime to leave the score at 7-6 in favour of the Crusaders.<\/p>\n

At the break, Ewen McKenzie earnt his paycheck with what must have been an effective half team speech.\u00a0 In the second half the Reds adjusted tactically, played with greater composure, retained possession and ultimately it lead to the breakthrough.<\/p>\n

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Digby Ioane, who has had an incredible season and drew attention for his post game celebrations, cut through the Crusaders backline and stormed over the line to put the Reds in front.\u00a0 He celebrated by doing The Dougie.\u00a0 (Post game he would also go on to do a spin-a-roonie).<\/p>\n