Monday Maul
AS THE Waratahs have brutally discovered, Sydney loves a winner.
It wasn't exactly standing room only at the Sydney Football Stadium yesterday morning. Instead, little more than 100 true believers assembled under threatening clouds to welcome back the Waratahs on their return from a failed Super 14 finals campaign.
For some time there was even a fear that the function had attracted more members of the media than loyal fans, but a late rush, which coincided with the arrival of Tah Man, enabled the crowd to at least faintly feel each other's body warmth.
As deeply worrying was that for a time the majority of people outside the SFS waiting for the gates to open were Sydney Swans fans wanting to get the best vantage points at the SCG, or Sydney Roosters players heading to a gym session. Definitely the best beanie on show was the one covering big Willie Mason's melon.
And you can guarantee that due to the excellent work Australian football does in the junior recruitment area in NSW that if it had've been the Swans returning from a grand final loss, they would have lured thousands, rather than the devoted few.
Let's hope rugby administrators heed the message.
Thankfully, the Waratahs did the right thing - as they have all year. They all attended, and happily agreed to every fan's need. They remain excellent ambassadors.
Yet there was a certain uneasiness about the situation. In the background, several NSW Rugby Union directors kept their distance. The body language of some of the players and team management was as much of a giveaway. The end of an era prompted a lot of darting eyes and was punctuated by shuffling feet.
This is not surprising considering suggestions of differences between a few players and team officials, or the claims by some in the inner sanctum that the players have in recent weeks taken over the running of the side.
And on top of that was the sideshow that never ended over who was and who wasn't going to replace Ewen McKenzie as NSW coach.
Considering all these distractions, that the Waratahs were even in a position to be able to hold a finals function was a feat in itself. No other team in the history of Super football has been immersed in so much stress and achieved so much.
The only comparison is the ACT Brumbies in 2004, when the senior players conspired to get rid of their coach, David Nucifora. But the off-field antics were kept to a minimum because the ACT Rugby Union and Brumbies players stuck solid. That hasn't been the case at the Waratahs this year. The Waratahs also discovered on Saturday night the importance of sticking solid. The Crusaders showed them how.
As the Waratahs mull over when they lost the final, some of the arguing points will include the period just before half-time, when a meaningless midfield bomb led to the first Crusaders try, or when through an act of frustration, Phil Waugh luckily avoided the sin bin, but still gave away an untimely 74th minute penalty for sneakily tugging Scott Hamilton away from the ball.
One could also argue that losing their go-forward in the second half, which coincided with many NSW players suddenly looking completely exhausted, cruelled the Waratahs. But the most telling period was between the 56th and 66th minute when the Waratahs were unable to take advantage of an extra man on the field, after the Crusaders had a try disallowed because some time earlier Brad Thorn had belted Dan Vickerman. During Thorn's 10 minutes in the sin bin, the Waratahs made no impact at all, primarily because the Crusaders picked up their act, rallied brilliantly, and the Waratahs didn't.
That was when the Crusaders showed they were unified, and the Waratahs were suddenly playing above their weight. That was also when Sydney turned off, and went in search of another sporting distraction.
