What's a Friday Night Game?

Last Friday night, Melbourne Storm played their FIRST Friday night HOME game since 2001. Whoo hoo!

Things nearly didn't go to plan - eg. we nearly lost.

With 15 seconds to go Storm had possession and were trailing the Bulldogs 10-12. The ball came to Cooper Cronk in the middle of the field. He kicked it from our 40 metre line, Ryan Hoffman - who for some unknown reason, even to himself it seems, was playing out on the wing - gathered the kick on the Bulldogs 30 metre line, drew in two Bulldog defenders, off-loaded to Jake Webster who raced the final 30 metres to score the MATCH-WINNING TRY with only 2 seconds remaining on the clock!

It was one of the most incredibly dramatic finishes to a game since the 1999 Grand Final! Unbelievable stuff!

I was holding poor little Ryan at the time and I know I was screaming as much as the other 10,000+ spectators. My throat was certainly proof of that for the next hour or so. I suddenly realised at one point that I probably shouldn't be screaming whilst holding dude. I stopped and I looked down at Ryan and he just looked back at me as if to say; "You nuffa!" ;) What a great kid! If the noise and commotion at Olympic Park after Jakey crossed that line didn't phase him, I don't think there is anything on this Earth that will. It was total chaos!!! But Ryan, and the other babies must have known it was ALL GOOD chaos.

Of course, we were all excited and re-lived those dying seconds numerous times before the night was over. Emma and I were still discussing it our way to Krispy Kremes (another story for another time), some four hours later, and our memories from that final minute of the game seemed to pretty much match.

However, once I got home and watched the replay for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd times, I came to the conclusion that I SERIOUSLY do not remember anything of the last 3 minutes of THAT game. Honest. I remember Chris 'Sally' Walker throwing the ball over the sideline and that's it. That's the last thing I remember.

What I thought I remembered of the lead up to the final try was actually the lead up to our try in the 74th minute, which could also be attributed to Hoffy and Jakey, with a bit of help from Sally this time. Weirdness.

The minutes following the siren on Friday night (not that I actually heared the siren) are a different story and I will always remember what happened next.

Watching the boys jump all over the place and all over each other made it LOOK as if we had just won the Grand Final not a Round 16 Premiership clash.

Watching the supporters around me jumping up and down and high-fiving every person within reach and sloshing their beer everywhere and not caring and smiling and laughing and cheering and screaming and yelling and then finally all coming together, as one, to chant MELBOURNE!!! MELBOURNE!!! MELBOURNE!!! over and over again made it FEEL like we had just won the GRAND FINAL!

It was un-freakin'-believable!

Even now, some 72 hours later I still feel the urge to smile and pump my hand in the air with a victorious "YES!!!" everytime I see "the man with the coolest name in sport" Cooper Cronk kicking for Hoffy and Hoffy off-loading to Jakey and Jakey sailing over the goal line for THAT try.

Rugby League is alive and well in Melbourne, let me tell you!