NOT A GOOD FRIDAY FOR WEST TIGERS

FRIDAY 22nd APRIL

  The day started in the same vein as yesterday with the sun smiling down benevolently on the good citizens of Sydney.  Jeannette cooked breakfast for all of us, and I did the usual business walking the dog and working on the computer.  However after getting up from a session I found my back had seized up on the left hand side and I could only walk at a tilt!

  At 4.00pm we set off to pick up Nick from Epping - he and Jane are in the throes of moving in with 'Pa.  Simon was there with his two daughters who chased after Nick wanting to give him a goodbye kiss, something he wasn't overkeen on!  Rob, Nick and I set off for the stadium adjacent to the SCG, which is where West Tigers were playing tonight against the top team, the Broncos, from Queensland.  We arrived good and early and I had plenty of time to buy Nick a Tiger's rugby ball.  We got some good seats and I then went off to buy some food for Nick and myself.  Robert then went off to get some chips and bumped into his mate Harry and his son who came and joined us.  There was an under-19s game on when we arrived that the Tigers won fairly comprehensively and this was followed by what looked like 6 or 7 year olds playing rugby.  The teams then came out for a warm up watched from the sides by the youngsters, before the game proper started.

  The first half did not prove to be a good one for the Tigers.  The Broncos' winger caught a high cross kick and went over, the Tiger's full back got tackled five yards from the goal line, dropped the ball which was picked up by a Broncos' player who dived over to score.  A third try was scored by the opposition and all three were coverted.  Eventually the Tigers managed to get one back, but the Broncos kicked a drop goal to make the score at halftime 6-25.  The entertainment proved at half time was possibly better than the team's performance in the first half.  There was a race between various mascots in costumes, which was won by what looked like Mr Mushroom but was in fact The Muffin Man.  There was a race between the two teams in inflatible rollers with two guys running inside to make them turn.  Tigers were well in the lead but fluffed it on the home straight and lost!

  The Tigers fared much better in the second half scoring two converted tries bringing the score to 18-25 before the Broncos scored again to kill off the game with a final score of 18-31.  By the time the match was over by back was in a really bad way and I struggled to get back to the car - no way could I keep up with the dashing pace was setting, as my shuffling gait was not suited to fast progress!  It at least gave Nick a chance to play with his new ball, although that did accidently hit the occasional passersby!

  We dropped Nick off at Epping, and changed cars back to Robert's (Jane's has the tags for going along the motorways so we had done a swop).  Nick's ideas of having a kick around in the garden were quashed as it was gone half ten when we got back.  He'll have to wait until Tuesday when Rob and I will take him to the park.  We came off the motorway only to find a spot police check and they were breathalysing every driver.  Robert truthfully answered that he didn't have a drop all evenining, but said he could do with one after watching the West Tigers!  He counted up to 10 on the breathalyser and we promptly sent on our way. It was about 11.30pm by the time we got home.  A beer went down a treat, and I couldn't be fagged running a bath to soak my back, which had been my intention earlier - it was off to bed and the land of nod!