Grand Final: Raiders (1) V Pirates (2)

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greeneyed
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Grand Final: Raiders (1) V Pirates (2)

Post by greeneyed »

Given R69 is not here, I will kick off...

We need every second we have to prepare for the Grand Final...

Anyone who wants to make a bid to play in the Grand Final can post their draft stories here...

R69 will name the team at some stage, I'm sure. :)
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Post by greeneyed »

This is my draft for the Grand Final... 750 words. Comments/edits welcome. Do I need another one to choose from?

It is in the blood

I grew up in my *'s house, along with my family and my four aunts. The eastern suburbs of Brisbane in the ‘sixties. It was rugby league heartland. It was one of those old weatherboard houses on "stilts", and I slept in the room that was converted from the old front verandah.

It was a very full house. I remember watching the black and white TV – the Mickey Mouse Club, the Flintstones. My aunts were young and beautiful – all unmarried and they had stickers on their dressing table mirrors of the Beatles. It was a wonderful childhood, with so many people paying attention to the first of the new generation. Apart from the parents, aunts love the new children in the family almost more than anyone.

But not more than my grandfather. I remember sitting on his lap on his rocking chair while he told me stories. And football was never far from those stories. Our household was an Eastern Suburbs Tigers household.

My grandfather played for Coorparoo, the club that was eventually transformed into the Easts Tigers. He used to tell me over and over how they would “have to win the fight on the field” against the opposition before they could win the game. Then they would have to "win the fight all over again after the game behind the dressing sheds". If the team played away, they would not only have to fight the other team after the match… they would have to "fight their way through the opposition supporters" to the truck that would take them home.

When I was a child, the Easts Tigers were my *'s life. It was my *'s life as well. He played for Easts and then he became a coach for Easts in the junior grades. It now seems like a blur. I can’t remember the timelines and all the details… I keep getting told about how I was taken to my first ever football game, at the age of six months. It was at Davies Park in South Brisbane – Easts versus Souths in a lower grade match - and my mother keeps telling me how I got thrown from player to player who played for my *'s team after the match… In another blur of childhood, my aunts, one by one, seemed to marry footballers. I loved them and my heart broke as they moved out. But they were Tigers. My uncles were Tigers, some more prominent than others, but they were part of the Tigers family no matter what.

My earliest memories are of my grandfather going down to the Stone's Corner pub every Saturday morning, selling chook raffle tickets for the Easts Juniors. He was a football manager in those days. That rocking chair. It was given to him by the Easts junior team he managed in 1964. It was there as long as I can remember, in the corner of my “room”. My uncle got one exactly the same chair, the same year, as coach of the team.

My family moved out of my *'s house when I was nearly seven years old. A few years later, I remember a day at Lang Park, when my uncle was the coach of the Easts reserve grade team. They won the Grand Final that day, and our whole family was in tears. There was nothing better. Football was our lives and winning the Grand Final is the ultimate. It didn’t matter to us it was reserves. We lived and breathed Easts.

Today, in 2005, the Tigers are still living and breathing. A number of the clubs of my childhood are not - the Valley Diehards, Brothers… They no longer compete in what is now the Queensland Cup.

But I moved away from Brisbane long ago. I moved to Canberra in the year that the Raiders started. I have a passion for a team that didn’t exist when my grandfather fought his way home after an away game decades years earlier. He passed on the year before I left Brisbane.

But I still remember what he told me as a kid in that rocking chair. That was when I developed my love for rugby league. It is in the blood. That rocking chair was left to me in my *'s will. It is still sitting there in the corner of my study right now. I can still make out on the ageing silver plaque: “To Reg. From Easts Under 18. 1964.”
Last edited by greeneyed on October 2, 2005, 12:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by thickos »

It's a nice article GE, and I've read it before and felt the same way. One thing, however, is that I feel like it lacks closure or something to end the article beautifully. I'm not sure about the position of the final line you have right now... maybe before or integrated into the 2nd last paragraph? Maybe a stronger flash forward to the present, something about the players coming and going, good times and bad, yet the rocking chair remains a constant reminder of the origins of your love of league?
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Post by thickos »

I'm thinking GF strategy... at this stage, I would guess that the five who played the Lions final will be the team again, unless someone comes up with a cracker of an article that changes our view.

However I think azza should be on the bench. Even if he doesn't have anything he considers 'up to scratch' ready to go, his writing ability would be an awesome asset in the event of another draw, when we have to go to the bench players. Our Pirates games have been close, so it could be on the cards. No doubt whoever plays extra time (if it happens), will be up against Thierry Henry....

This is of course if azza would be willing to help out :) Maybe even a starting position 8)
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Post by IBG »

Considering I scored poorly this round, I'm happy to sit out if azza wants to start. But I'll come up with something regardless. It'll probably be easier to tell in a week or so when we have some articles to choose from.
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Post by Azza »

Thanks Stu :) . I'm pretty frustrated at the moment as I've had a lot of distractions but as you would know uni has been off for a week and so I spent the whole of this afternoon trying to come up with something I'm happy with. I've got writers block. Seriously I don't know how yourself, Nick IBG, skeepe and GE and co do it week in week out (pure genius), this is something I'm going to need to work on as next year will definitely be less busy and I should be able to participate more regularly. Maybe I'm not thinking clearly enough atm - tend to think clearer when not under Uni stress etc.

I've wanted to submit a couple more articles after the first stint but have had distractions: anyway I'll keep trying, don't want to be thought of as a bandwagoner or something so rest assured I'm working hard. Next season though :D.

No way I'd want to be named in the run-on team to start off with though IBG, you guys have been the regulars this season, so you deserve the starting spots :).
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Post by greeneyed »

Thickos... Maybe the final sentence should be part of the final para... The idea was to introduce the rocking chair early... and then finish on it... being a linking image through the piece.

Would be very, very happy for you to have a go at a suggested redraft/edit, though.
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Post by IBG »

Game thread is up.

Mystique is the ref.

Just to do a bit of research, here are a few matches he's marked on, to see what style he prefers:

http://forums.leagueunlimited.com/showt ... p?t=105859 - Raiders vs. Rhinos from Round 5

http://forums.leagueunlimited.com/showt ... p?t=107379 - Pirates vs. Rhinos from Round 5

http://forums.leagueunlimited.com/showt ... p?t=119574 - Panthers vs. Lions semi

Seems he might like the Pirates style... but he also likes emotive pieces.
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Post by greeneyed »

Any other games that Mystique has refereed us in?
Last edited by greeneyed on November 25, 2007, 7:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by IBG »

I couldn't find any others, no.
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Post by Nick »

ok boys, ive got a GF shindig tonight but tomorrow ill get stuck in hard on the team and what not

with any luck GC and Azza can submit something to put up against us reggies,

id expect Myself, Schifty, GE, Thickos, Skeepe, IBG all to submit something with hopefully azza and GC chipping in too

as always best 5 writen go in, no one is exempt from it
ill name the team next sunday so if ya can before then if not let me know 8)
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Post by Sasha »

Heres my Draft Effort,

--------------------Make Or Break- Canberra 2006

After four years at the helm of the Raiders, 2006 is shaping as a make or break season for Canberra Coach Matt Elliott. After guiding the side to 3 finals appearances, things hit rock bottom last year when the side fell apart in the 2nd half of the season losing 13 of tis last 16 matches and only avoiding the spoon through pure luck.
After 2003 it seemed like the “5 year plan” was looking like it had gained momentum, now 2 years later it seems things have only gone backwards..

For next season Elliott has brought in the likes of Tilse, Thurling, and Learloyd- Lahrs to the club, all these players have “potential” but whether or not they stand up in 06 we can only wait and see.

One Thing working in *'s favour is the closeness and unpredictability of this years competition, hardly anyone would have picked the tigers to take out the premiership at the start of this year Fact is the salary cap has done such a great job that these days a fit side who can go through long periods injury free will be right up there. The Canberra side were leading the competition after 9 rounds, but once a few injuries occurred they lost their momentum, structure and stability and eventually fell into a heap.

In 2003, the raiders managed to sneak up on a lot of teams because no one expected them to do anything, they played a simple brand of football and it worked for them,.
In 2004 Elliott knew that teams had worked their game plan out so he had to instil some change, unfortunately it didn’t work at all as points started to dry up and we lost direction.
In 2005 it seemed the raiders had worked out how to attack again with the side scoring over 100 points in the first 3 matches , but after the 42 points the side put on the Dragons in round 4, the side failed to score over 30 points for the rest of the season. Casey Stengel once said that “Most ball games are lost, not won.” Sadly for the raiders this could not have been more true, too many times the raiders would be leading at half time, yet go on to lose the match/ There were also times where they had such poor ball security that they were forced to make a 170 more tackles that the opposition, yet still only lose the match by 8 points.

To be more successful in 2006, Elliott needs to have some faith in youngsters and be more ruthless by showing less patience in out of form players. For those that have met Elliott they will know that he is one of the nicest blokes you will ever meet, he has a good personality and always has time for the fans, however this could be one of his week points as a head coach of an NRL side, players could take advantage of him as he is one of those blokes who you could easily become good friend with.
To be a successful coach you need to have a mix of many different personality traits, for Elliott to be more successful he needs to start making some hard calls and not be intimidated and influenced by the size of the players salary, if young players are consistently performing well in premier league with the experienced players struggling, make the call. To *'s credit he did use plenty of young blood this season and would have liked to use more if not for using up all his second tier salary cap, some might say his hand was forced due to injury, but whether Elliott would have used these blokes regardless, no one but him will ever know.

Matt *'s contract will expire at the end of the 2006 season, while the club has publicly came out to say that he is under no pressure, Matt Elliott will not have the same attitude, he wants to earn a new contract by guiding the team to their full potential. He has stood by his players even when they struggled and were playing with broken bones, what 2006 holds? No one will know. Perhaps Elliott should take the attitude of former green Bay Packers Coach Vince Lombardi who once said “Winning is not everything, but wanting to win is”

736 words
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Post by IBG »

Schifty, I may be wrong, but wasn't that quote "Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing"? Or am I thinking of something else...
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Post by Azza »

Schifty's on the money. Both of those quotes re winning were made by Lombardi.
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Post by IBG »

Was just testing you... :oops :lol: Sorry Schifty!
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Post by thickos »

Nice work Schifty, solid start so early in the week, I've got nothing as yet :lol:

Actually, I do have my idea: 'Every Dog Has His Day' - I'm gonna discuss (from a Raiders perspective) how, despite all the big name players (i.e. Mal, Lozza, Sticky), GF's are often won on a moment of brilliance from a lesser light - Steve Jackson 1989, Paul Osborne 1994 come to mind.

I'm thinking of hitting this from a very unusual angle however... not sure if it will work, but all to be revealed later in the week!
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Post by greeneyed »

I think IBG is right. I will do an edit of your article Schifty...
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Post by Azza »

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Post by greeneyed »

My suggested edit of your article Schifty.

Make Or Break- Canberra 2006

After four years at the helm of the Raiders, 2006 is shaping as a make or break season for Canberra coach Matt Elliott. After guiding the side to three finals appearances, things hit rock bottom in 2005 when the side fell apart in the second half of the season - losing 13 of its last 16 matches and only avoiding the wooden spoon through pure luck.

After the 2003 season, it seemed like the coach's “Five year plan” was looking like it had gained momentum. Now, two years later it seems things have only gone backwards.

For next season, Elliott has brought in the likes of Dane Tilse, Trevor Thurling, and Tom Learoyd-Lahrs to the club. All these players have “potential”, but whether or not they stand up in 2006, we can only wait and see.

One thing working in *'s favour is the closeness and unpredictability of this year's competition. Hardly anyone would have picked the Wests Tigers to take out the 2005 premiership at the start of the year. The fact is the salary cap has done such a great job that these days, a fit side that can go through long periods injury free will be right up there. The Canberra Raiders were leading the competition after 9 rounds. But once a few injuries occurred, they lost their momentum, structure and stability and eventually fell into a heap.

In 2003, the Raiders managed to sneak up on a lot of teams because no one expected them to do anything. They played a simple brand of football and it worked for them.

The next season, Elliott knew that teams had worked their game plan out so he had to introduce some changes. Unfortunately, it didn’t work at all, as the team lost its direction and points dried up.

In 2005, it seemed the Raiders had worked out how to attack again, with the side scoring over 100 points in the first three matches. But after the 42 points the side put on the Dragons in round 4, the side failed to score over 30 points for the rest of the season. Legendary baseball manager, Casey Stengel once said that “Most ball games are lost, not won.” Sadly for the Raiders, this could not have been more true in 2005. Too many times, the Raiders would be leading at half time, yet go on to lose the match. There were also times when they had such poor ball security that they were forced to make a 170 more tackles that the opposition - yet still only lost the match by a handfull of points.

To be more successful in 2006, Elliott needs to have some faith in youngsters and be ruthless handling out of form players. Those who have met Elliott will know that he is one of the nicest blokes you will ever meet. He has a good personality, a great sense of humour and always has time for the fans. However, "being a good bloke" could be one of his weak points as a head coach of an NRL side.

To be a successful coach, you need to have a mix of many different personality traits. For Elliott to be more successful, he needs to start making some hard calls and not be intimidated and influenced by the size of a player's salary. If young players are consistently performing well in Premier League and the experienced players are struggling, he must make the call. To *'s credit, he did use plenty of young blood this season and would have liked to use more if not for using up the second tier salary cap. But some might say his hand was forced due to injury, and whether Elliott would have used these blokes regardless, no one but him will ever know.

Matt *'s contract will expire at the end of the 2006 season. While the club has publicly stated that he is under no pressure, Matt Elliott cannot have the same complacent attitude that club management seems to have. In 2005, the team struggled with form, suspensions and injuries. But in the final rounds, the club showed considerable courage, character and determination as players took to the field to play with broken bones, as they ran short of eligible players. What does the future hold in 2006? No one knows now. But for Elliott to survive as coach of the Canberra Raiders, he will need to show faith in the up and coming players. He will need to take the courage shown in the final rounds of 2005 and transform into a unswerving will to win. He will need to heed the words of former Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi when he said “Winning is not everything, but wanting to win is.”
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Post by greeneyed »

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Post by greeneyed »

Schifty, I struggled a bit with the last paragraph and changed it around a fair bit, so as to use the quote to best advantage. See what you think anyway. I haven't checked the word count.
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Post by Sasha »

Good work on the edit Greeneyed, although it is now 800 words, I will try cut out some unimportant/ less revelent bits :)

I'm thinking I should cut out the west tigers reference bit :?
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Post by Sasha »

This version is 747 Words....


Make Or Break- Canberra 2006

After four years at the helm of the Raiders, 2006 is shaping as a make or break season for Canberra coach Matt Elliott. After guiding the side to three finals appearances, things hit rock bottom in 2005 when the side fell apart in the second half of the season - losing 13 of its last 16 matches and only avoiding the wooden spoon through pure luck.

After the 2003 season, it seemed like the coach's “Five year plan” was looking like it had gained momentum. Now, two years later it seems things have only gone backwards.

For next season, Elliott has brought in the likes of Dane Tilse, Trevor Thurling, and Tom Learoyd-Lahrs to the club. All these players have “potential”, but whether or not they stand up in 2006, we can only wait and see.

One thing working in *'s favour is the closeness and unpredictability of this year's competition. Hardly anyone would have picked the Wests Tigers to take out the 2005 premiership at the start of the year. The fact is the salary cap has done such a great job that these days, a fit side that can go through long periods injury free will be right up there. The Canberra Raiders were leading the competition after 9 rounds. But once a few injuries occurred, they lost their momentum, structure and stability and eventually fell into a heap.

In 2003, the Raiders managed to sneak up on a lot of teams because no one expected them to do anything. They played a simple brand of football and it worked for them.

The next season, Elliott knew that teams had worked their game plan out so he had to introduce some changes. Unfortunately, it didn’t work at all, as the team lost its direction and points dried up.

In 2005, it seemed the Raiders had worked out how to attack again, with the side scoring over 100 points in the first three matches. But after the 42 points the side put on the Dragons in round 4, the side failed to score over 30 points for the rest of the season. Legendary baseball manager, Casey Stengel once said that “Most ball games are lost, not won.” Sadly for the Raiders, this could not have been more true in 2005. Too many times, the Raiders would be leading at half time, yet go on to lose the match.
To be more successful in 2006, Elliott needs to have some faith in youngsters and be ruthless handling out of form players. Those who have met Elliott will know that he is one of the nicest blokes you will ever meet. However, "being a good bloke" could be one of his weak points as a head coach of an NRL side.

To be a successful coach, you need to have a mix of many different personality traits. For Elliott to be more successful, he needs to start making some hard calls and not be intimidated and influenced by the size of a player's salary. If young players are consistently performing well in Premier League and the experienced players are struggling, he must make the call. To *'s credit, he did use plenty of young blood this season and would have liked to use more if not for using up the second tier salary cap. But some might say his hand was forced due to injury, and whether Elliott would have used these blokes regardless, no one but him will ever know.

Matt *'s contract will expire at the end of the 2006 season. While the club has publicly stated that he is under no pressure, Matt Elliott cannot have the same complacent attitude that club management seems to have. In 2005, the team struggled with form, suspensions and injuries. But in the final rounds, the club showed considerable courage, character and determination as players took to the field to play with broken bones, as they ran short of eligible players. What does the future hold in 2006? No one knows now. But for Elliott to survive as coach of the Canberra Raiders, he will need to show faith in the up and coming players. He will need to take the courage shown in the final rounds of 2005 and transform into a unswerving will to win. He will need to heed the words of former Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi when he said “Winning is not everything, but wanting to win is.”
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Post by greeneyed »

Schifty, I think it is looking good, though I'm still wondering if we have a consistent theme through the article. Thickos... what do you reckon?
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Post by Nick »

awesome effort boys and girls
ill have mine done before the weekend 8)
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Post by thickos »

Too busy at the moment to comment guys, currently writing my own. Will get onto Schifty's tomorrow :)
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Post by Sasha »

No worries Thickos, take your time champ- I don't even expect to get a run anyway- I say the 5 that won the major semi get the starting spots, with and maybe Azza if he comes up with something :)
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Post by Nick »

as always schifty past matches count for squat, the best 5 go in, regardless of who got us home last week or not 8)
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Post by thickos »

OK... this is probably the most different article I've ever written... thoughts please. It's way too long at about 840 words.

Every Dog Has His Day

Grey clouds hover menacingly over the horizon. It is morning, yet the life has already drained from this bleak winter day. The dull metallic sarcophagus rolls gently into the train station; a mechanical whirring noise renders the doors open. Drones in immaculate grey suits file on board quietly, content to spend another day of their unfulfilled lives in an unfulfilling job.

He is amongst them. Another face in the crowd, he feels so small, so isolated and so worthless. A mere dot in part of one of the faceless corporations that rule our world, he clutches an incomplete Sudoku in a vain attempt to pass the time. The train slowly pulls away, heading for the city. He is about to waste another hour of his existence.

In a sea of grey, he offers a speck of colour. A lime green tie illuminates the carriage – he is a Raiders fan, and despite the season of woe, he proudly wears his teams’ colours. It is one of the few things that makes him feel alive; the noise of the crowd, the elation of victory, even the despair of defeat. With his football team, he feels like he is part of something.

Scrunching up the Sudoku in a fit of frustration, he pulls his laptop from his briefcase. Many of the drones on this train work on their laptops, but he uses it to brighten his day. He inserts the first disc from his CD wallet into the drive – it is the DVD of the epic 1989 Grand Final. He hits fast forward, and replays the greatest twenty minutes of his life for the hundredth time.

The score is 14-all at the conclusion of regulation time, with the Green Machine staging one of rugby *'s great escapes in the dying seconds through a freakish try to the evergreen ‘Chicka’ Ferguson. Champagne is re-corked out Leichhardt way, while for the residents of the ACT, the dream is still alive. It is Canberra who is coming home the stronger, destined to take the trophy out of Sydney for the first time. Behind for the first eighty minutes, Raiders stalwart puts Balmain behind for the first time with a long range field goal. Shoulders slump on the Tigers bench.

He shifts excitedly in his seat, as he knows what is coming - the greatest of grand final tries. In an act of desperation, Balmain kick ahead deep in their own territory, but it turns out disastrously. The ball falls into the hands of Steve Jackson, perennial bench player for the Raiders, and he sets out for the tryline. Michael Neill, Steve Edmed, Garry Jack and others try in vain to bring him down, but this is the king of bullocking runs. With one final lunge, the ball is planted in the blood red in-goal, and Steve Jackson confirms his place in history.

It was Steve *'s only try of the season and final try for the club, his career ending ingloriously at both Wests and the Gold Coast. Yet in a team full of superstars – Meninga, Belcher, Daley, Stuart and Clyde to name but five – fate decided it would be Steve Jackson whose feats would be the stuff of legend. This ‘lesser light’ will never be forgotten.
Adrenalin now powering through his veins, he excitedly fumbles the 1994 Grand Final DVD into the drive. This one, he knows, was never in doubt, but it was equally as inspirational. While the thousands of fans there that day got to send the great Mal Meninga out a winner in the best possible style, the match was highlighted by one of the great cameo performances in the engine room. It did not come from Quentin Pongia, New Zealand test star, nor did it come from Steve Walters, one of the great hookers of the modern era. The ‘unofficial’ man of the match that day was Paul Osborne, a late call-up for the suspended John Lomax.

Languishing in reserve grade for the majority of the season and on his way to England in 1995, Osborne was seen as the weak link in the Raiders pack. In a team full of representative players, he was the ‘nobody.' Yet it was Osborne who delivered the pass for *'s opening try; it was Osborne who set up Ken Nagas for the Raiders to go further in front. Substituted after 26 minutes with the game virtually sealed, it was a maestro performance from the ‘nobody.' On the biggest stage, where the stakes were the highest, another Raiders premiership was delivered by the man least likely.

The train arrives in the city, a beam of sunshine blazing through the parting clouds. He steps off the carriage inspired, excited. A nobody himself, his team has given him hope once more. One day he could be the star. One day he could achieve something great. With a renewed sense of optimism, he takes the crumpled Sudoku from his pocket once more. One day could be his day.

But it probably won’t be today.
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Post by Nick »

my original idea for an article doesnt seem to have enough legs to be interesting for an entire 750 words, so i think im gonna go with one about my grandfather and the tigers 8)
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Post by greeneyed »

Thickos... as discussed already.... Andy Currier kicked ahead and it went into Mal Meninga's hands before he passed to Steve Jackson. Gary Jack is the first attempted tackler on Jackson.. fails...

15.. I'm pretty sure that it Shaun Edwards and Mick Neil fail to tackle .. Kevin Hardwick can't hold him back and he steamrolls over the top of him just before the line... Gary Freeman jumps on top of him as he goes over the line but it is all too late. Jackson scores after having 5 players attempt to tackle him.

Jackson had one appearance and was a replacement 4 times during the 1989 season... so I would in fact call him perennial reserve grader, not bench player...
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Post by greeneyed »

Thickos, I would also inject the title somewhere into the concluding paragraph, plus as discussed, the first para is a bit confusing, and space can be saved in the initial set up paras, IMO. :)
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Joined: January 6, 2005, 7:21 pm
Favourite Player: Jack Wighton

Post by Nick »

hmm just had a crack at the grandfather thing, it just not feeling right, ill rack my brain over the next few hours for an idea
IBG
Gary Belcher
Posts: 6247
Joined: January 8, 2005, 1:25 pm
Favourite Player: Jordan Rapana
Location: Sydney

Post by IBG »

I've got absolutely nothing, but that's not unusual for me at this time of the round.

And uh, I just looked at the team they named.

:doubt:

They're just weird...
Nick
Mal Meninga
Posts: 54995
Joined: January 6, 2005, 7:21 pm
Favourite Player: Jack Wighton

Post by Nick »

:lol: :lol: :lol:
summed my thoughts up perfectly

arrr matey :doubt: :lol:
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