Was it pretty? Absolutely not. Was it ugly? Absolutely! Was it disjointed? That would be putting it lightly.
But it was a win.
You don’t get any more points for a pretty win than an ugly win, so I’ll take it. And it was an important win.
I’ve heard a bit of commentary about, that a wooden spoon might be good for the club for various reasons, but I’m not a believer in it.
I want to stay as far away from that dreaded metaphorical ‘prize’ as possible.
When you talk about the pride of the club, premierships are of course the top honour, but a lack of wooden spoons is somewhere on that list.
I’ve resigned myself to an offseason of taunts from opposition fans, but I am not ready for those taunts to include references to wooden spoons.
So the fact is, I don’t care how the win came and against who, I’m just happy to have a little breathing room from the bottom of the ladder.
But for those who wanted a little more than two points, there were positives to come out of the weekend.
Firstly, the roll of the forward pack was impressive. They laid a good platform, most notably Dane Tilse who was heavily mentioned in the media by Coach Ricky Stuart.
Secondly, congratulations are in order for the solid debut of Jeremy Hawkins. He got involved from the start and made some pretty good decisions in defence. More of that, please!
And lastly, I thought Jack Wighton had a solid game at fullback. Sure there was an error or two, but he wasn’t afraid to have a crack. Well played.
Jumping forward in time, this weekend sees the boys in with another winning chance against the internal bickering, injury affected Wests Tigers.
The game has a familiar ring about it. With a win, the boys will hear from some ‘fans’, ‘oh it was only against the Tigers’.
With a loss, the boys are likely to see a bitter fan or two light their torches again.
For me, I just want to see the boys improve again. It’s been a long time between back-to-back wins, and that has to be the first priority.
The next priority is to put on something more of a show.
Wins have been rare this year, but the wins at home have been even rarer.
The boys have said throughout the week that they want to use the final two games to thank the loyal fans who have turned up week in, week out and build some momentum going into next year.
I'll be expecting not only thanks, but a really good game from the boys this weekend. Here’s hoping we get it!
See you at GIO Stadium Canberra on Saturday afternoon.
Go the Green Machine!
