Eels Blogs

The wind pushed it's way across the smooth grass of the Sydney Olympic Stadium, the small flags sitting atop the goal posts gently moved in the breeze. The ground was empty, of course it would be. It was 9am on Sunday 6th October 2013. But slowly, as the day rolled on, the ground began to fill. The Blue and Gold faithful filled the stadium they had occupied 4 years earlier. This time they hoped for a different outcome. The Eels had come steaming into this finals series, again off the brilliance of spear head fullback Jarryd Hayne. However, halfback Chris Sandow was back to his best and playing the kind of footy he'd enjoyed in 2011 at Souths.

Greeting them at the Grand Final were arch rivals the Manly Sea Eagles. For the Eels' long suffering supporters it was a flashback to the 1980's when the two teams were the benchmark of the competition. Now they were set for another epic battle. One that would surely go down in NRL folklore. Once again, the Eels had done it the hard way by having to win the majority of their remaining 10 matches to make the finals. In a fairytale season the Eels had called on retired legend Nathan Hindmarsh to lead them off the bottom of the ladder. It took 2 weeks of coaxing from coach Ricky Stuart to bring the old boy back. Once there, the team filled with confidence.

As usual Hindy didn't want the fan fare surrounding his triumphant return, he wanted one thing and one thing only. To win every remaining match. Hindy had been retired for 8 months but the heart of a champion still beat inside him. The Eels didn't just win the majority of their remaining 10 matches, they won all of them to sneak into the Top 4. After disposing of Minor Premiers the Storm, they met the Bulldogs in yet another Preliminary Final. The Eels running out 18-10 winners. Hayne had won his second Dally M, the first man to do it since Andrew Johns, and was in ominous form.

As kickoff neared, the tension in the air built. Eels fans equally excited and apprehended. They wanted a Premiership. Not just because they had been waiting 27 years for one but because they didn't want to lose to Manly. The warhorse called Hindy had returned and it was his final shot at glory. His last hurrah. The players didn't need to be reminded of the enormity of the task ahead. The supposed invincibles of 2001 had been beaten, nothing was to be taken for granted.

The anthem was sung and the ball placed on the tee. Ex-Eel Jamie Lyon moved in and the match was under way. Mannah with the first hit-up, followed by Moimoi and the Eels began rolling forward. With Manly already going backwards Sandow threw a dummy and busted them open, only dragged down by a despairing Watmough. It was a cracking pace and the Eels looked set to wreak havoc just like the men of the 80's had done. The weight of history was on their shoulders.

The ball was spun to Hayne on the last tackle. He shaped to bomb it but on seeing a charging Glenn Stewart running at him decided to run the ball, easily stepping Stewart. The gap opened and Hayne motored through it. Brett Stewart was hot onto his tail and Hayne grubbered around him, regathering and just like that the Blue and Golds had drawn first blood. Sandow moved in for the conversion and the score read 6-0 after 2 minutes. The Sea Eagles crowd was stunned to silence.

To Be Continued...