And what a week for a tennis tragic and mad Sea Eagles fan. First up, the mighty Manly plays its way into a Grand Final qualifier by scoring more points in a half of Finals football than any other team has ever done in the history of this great game. Then slammin’ Sammy Stosur cleans up Serena Williams in the Final of the US Open… in straight sets!
Coach of the Year
Let’s take a quick look at the magnitude of these achievements in isolation. First the Sea Eagles. At the start of the year, who would honestly have expected them to be in this position? Surely not even their diehard fans (of which I claim to be one). They had two new and inexperienced halves… Brett Stewart remained under an injury cloud… surely this would be a season in which the groundwork would be laid for a future premiership tilt – perhaps next year.
Forget that! Des Hasler has these guys believing they can win ‘the big one’ in 3 weeks time… and who could doubt him? I was amazed they finished 2nd in the Minor Premiership race, going undefeated at home all season. I was astounded they accounted for Melbourne so ruthlessly in the now infamous ‘Battle of Brookie’ … the Storm were never in that match! I was thrilled when they went to Brisbane for Locky’s last regular season game, very much under-strength… yet flew home with the wind in their sails and gave the Broncos an almighty fright.
And I was rapt when they played the Cowboys last weekend – again without Glenn Stewart, Jason King, Darcy Lussick… and with their youngsters never having played a Finals match. They were up against a team that contained ‘the best halfback in the world’ and ‘the best prop in Australia’ and a team that boasted a heap of other rep. players too (think Tate, Bowen, Tonga, etc.). And in the first half, the Sea Eagles weren’t at their best. They seemed a bit nervous and allowed Thurston the time and room to do his thing.
But in the 2nd half, they unleashed! 42 points in 37 minutes (or thereabouts)! What a performance. T-Rex was
What a Grand Final it would be!
smashing through defenders and throwing no look passes like he was Benji Marshall. Killer was superb as he has been all season. The Snake was back to his try-sniffing best. And those young halves… to quote Gus Gould: “WOW!” Now they play either Brisbane or St George for a well earned place in the Grand Final. I can see them there fer sure and I think they’ll play the Tigers. (Although what a build up it would be if it was a Manly v Melbourne decider again!) GO MANLY!!!
Then to Sam. I proved myself to be a bad judge again. I always knew she had all the weapons to win a Grand Slam… I just didn’t think she had the mental strength to go with her skills and fitness. Again, I was happy to be proven well and truly wrong. There was no repeat of her nervous performance in her first Grand Slam Final appearance in Paris last year. She took on the best female player on the planet and undoubtedly one of the all time greats, in her own backyard on a day that meant so much to all Americans… and she wiped the court with her!
Sam Stosur - Grand Slam Champion!
Sam was incredible. She simply blew Serena away in the first set. In the second, Sam only faltered for one game after Ms. Williams used that well documented altercation with the umpire to reignite her desire… then she returned to her game plan and executed it perfectly. Her serve was magnificent! Varied placement (unlike in her Semi.), varied spin and varied pace. Her sliced backhand was impeccable… the shot that made the difference. Deep and staying low, it was such a contrast to the heavy top spin forehands used as her main weapon. And this combination kept the American off balance throughout the match. Sam Stosur – Grand Slam Singles Winner! When she hit that last brilliant off-forehand crosscourt winner off a Serena second serve, I swear I almost burst into tears of joy.
Well done Sammy… just amazing!
Now it’s over to the Wallabies to add the Rugby World Cup to Sam’s US Open trophy and Cadel Evans’ Tour de France. (Ah, it’s good to be an Aussie!)
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