As the siren sounded around ANZ Stadium and Hindy's penalty goal sailed over the cross bar the curtain fell on the careers of two true club legends. Whilst the Dragons claimed the 2 points it was a night of celebration for both teams. The two Eels legends were given an amazing reception by the Blue and Gold faithful who made the trek to ANZ Stadium. With 45,863 fans packing out the ground it would truly be a final match for the legends to remember.
The Dragons burst out of the blocks to score two early tries. Two wayward Jamie Soward attempts at conversion meant that the score stood at 8-0. The crowd was then sent into raptures when Ryan Morgan scored in the left hand corner. The roar was deafening when Luke Burt then piloted the ball calmly over the black dot. At halftime the score stood at 8-6. However, the referees then began to have an impact in the second half. A number of dubious calls cost Parramatta field position and then points. The first controversial call came when Luke Burt stripped St George winger Daniel Vidot of the ball but it was ruled as a Luke Burt knock-on. The next came when Ben Hornby beat the tackle of Ben Roberts and ran behind his own player to prevent himself from being tackled. No penalty was given. These calls slowly turned the match more and more in the Dragons favour until they had built a substantial lead late in the game. A Jamie Soward field goal sealed the win for the Dragons.
The biggest roar of the night came when Parramatta was awarded a penalty only 30 seconds from full time. The ball was handed to Nathan Hindmarsh to allow him a shot at goal. Instead of calling for the usual plastic kicking tee, he called for the bucket of sand. After a fairly clumsy effort of building a mound Hindy placed the ball, moved in and much to the delight of the Parramatta fans, the ball sailed over the crossbar. The Dragons won the match 29-8 but that wasn't important to the fans. 30 minutes after full time the fans were allowed onto the field to celebrate 4 wonderful careers. As always Hindy left them laughing with one of the funniest retirement speeches ever seen.
Whilst Burt and Hindy both said they don't like the legends tag the fans see them as two of the finest to wear the Blue and Gold. In the years to come we can all say we saw the careers of two fine players. The boy from Robertson who became a crowd favourite and always had a crack. The surfie from Newcastle who became the ultimate professional and point scoring machine.
FAREWELL HINDY AND BURTY, YOU WILL BE MISSED
Replies
I'll be missing the great man Hindy, but i wont be missing the great man Burty.........
Those half time dancing dudes were terrible and duly received the appropriate boo as they left the field.
SURE IT WASNT THE SWARM?
Well it wasn't the result we wanted but I'd like to thank the powers that be for giving 25000 people the chance to say goodbye to some of the game's greats because thats how many would have missed out had the game been left at Parra Stadium.
While some season ticket holders continue to whinge the vast majority of people enjoyed the night that really celebrated Hindy and Burt's careers.
Piss poor effort by the swarm
PLAYED HARD - DONE GOOD.
Well written SE22 - and when you get to be my age I bett you will still be talking about them.