Well not quite! However it was the Grand Final for the ‘Touch for Heart’ Corporate Touch Rugby Series in Darwin……and the Raine & ‘Hornets’ were in it!
Following what can only be described as a gruelling 8 week Qualifying series the Raine & Hornets found themselves atop the ladder!
Admittedly this was more by good luck than good management. The team had been ‘stacked’ with professionals???? 6 of which had never seen a rugby ball before let alone played touch rugby!
Checkout that ‘lookaway’ pass! I’m pretty sure what he was looking at?
There may have been a couple of fortuitous results….there was that time that we lost 3-2 only to find that the ref scored it 3-2 our way!
Then there was that 5-1 loss that we had only to find out that the other team had actually forfeited as they didn’t have enough players.
Then there was the highly publicized ‘Top of the Table’ clash where we had 2 players turn up and the other team that had been blitzing all others only had 1 so they had to forfeit! Anyways….we found ourselves undefeated in the Grand Final.
So here are your hapless heroes….cast against the World Beaters….never lost a game until the ‘unlucky’ forfeit and it’s on!
Enter the hero….unlikely at that….our 12 year old winger Aiden Holt who simply could not be contained. When he wasn’t defending 2 people on the wing by himself (as I had passed out through exhaustion) he was finding himself on the end of a pass and diving over the line to score.
With 20 seconds to go from full-time he launched a game saving lunge to stop a try and leave the scores tied up at 3-3 at full-time. The teams shook hands, Cameron McDonnell breathed a sigh of relief and said ‘thank god that’s over’ as I personally collapsed on the ground. Then the stupid ref came over and told us there had to be a winner….so we are going to ‘Golden Goal’.
Within the first roller I fumbled the ball and we were defending on our line immediately. Somehow Aiden stepped up and kept them out.
Then Cam decided he would throw a pass at something above slow and I dropped that! So he abused me and I him.
Aiden kept them out once more….Elvis took a phone call on the sideline….clearly recovering from concussion of the week before and Michael went in search of a drink as he was parched. The game went on.
Stories got free in an attacking move and lunged toward the wing. Aiden was open….the pass came out….from nowhere I dived in front of the 12-year-old, stole the ball and dived over the line for the winning try! Yeah I know….not very sportsmanlike however I was delerious…..AND WE WON!
4-3 in extra time…..All hail the Hornets!
The big guys in the photo are actually Rugby players….Canberra Raiders or something? But we are the heroes right!
