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Melbourne Storm RLFC | |
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Me
and Rugby League Down Under The Early Years Having only started watching Rugby League in 1990, following Salford in the UK. It was only two years later that I was travelling to Australia on a Rugby League Ashes Tour with Peter Banner's "Club Strength" and what a tour it was. I would recommend "Peter Banner Travel" to anyone. I first visited Melbourne in 1992 on the Great Britain Ashes Tour of Australia. Spent two night's in the city at the legendary Victoria Hotel on Little Collins St. Great Britain played the 2nd test against the Aussies on the second night at Princes Park the home of Carlton Blues Aussie Rules Club. Great Britain won the game 33-10 to level the series, the next morning we left for Sydney, so other than a tour of the MCG didn't see much of Melbourne. In 1992 Melbourne didn't have a Rugby League team but I new i needed a Aussie team to follow but who? A mate of mine Mark Dentith always wore a Canberra shirt, didn't like the lime green so they were out. Next i went for strange names and choose Parramatta, but it didn't feel right. On the 92 tour we went to watch Canterbury Bankstown v Balmain. Liked the Balmain shirt, but Terry Lamb for the Bulldogs was awesome and we had a fantastic night in the "Leagues Club" after the game, i bought a Canterbury shirt. But my interest in them was short lived, I really was struggling picking a team to follow. For the next few years i just watched Aussie RL on the TV with no real support for any team. First Storm Game In 1997 I returned to Melbourne for the F1 Grand Prix and a State of Origin game (NSW v QLD) at the MCG. I saw a hell of a lot more of Melbourne and loved it. It was after that State of Origin game I learned of a rugby league team from Melbourne joining the NRL for 1998, and from that instant I was a MELBOURNE STORM supporter! Later that year I returned once again to Australia this time following Salford in the "World Club Championship". I saw us get hammered in Adelaide and also in Townsville. I returned to Melbourne in 1999 on a special stopover on my way to New Zealand, just to visit a Melbourne Storm game. Friday 18th June 1999, Olympic Park along with 11,870 other people I cheered Storm to a 26-8 victory over the Sydney Roosters. What a night!! Later that year I was up in the early hours of Sunday 26th September to watch history. The grand final, Melbourne Storm v St George in front of a record 107,558 crowd. Storm only 2 years old won the game 20-18 with a penalty try and I went off to celebrate. The Stormcat Years During the early part of the 2000 season I joined up with the original "MSSC" message board. I got to know quite a few fellow Storm supporters, Storm Dork, Storm Girl, The General, The Bannockburn Brigadier, Fampa (who i met in Brisbane later in the year) and Stormcat!! At the beginning of the 2000 season Storm travelled to England for the World Club Challenge to play St Helens at Wigan's JJB Stadium. on a freezing cold February night I was there as Storm smashed St Helens to win the trophy. Throughout the forthcoming season I would regularly ring "Dork" in the "Baistand" to get updates on the matches. I also had a trip planned for May to see a couple of Storm game's. One, little did I know was to change my life forever! Friday 12th May 2000, Melbourne Storm 40 West Tigers 10. Before this game I met for the first time Stormdork & The General in the bar of the Victoria Hotel. We had a couple of VB's and made our way to the ground. This was to be my first visit to the "Baistand" on arrival we went to the social club and I was introduced to lots of people. once in the "Baistand" I met Stormgirl & Stormcat. During the game everyone was great to get on with, one of the fans had hurt her ankle and was quite quiet during the game, but I liked her! After, back in the social club everyone was up for going into the city for a meal, but one by one people dropped out and in the end just me and Stormcat, you now know her has Ali Henderson. We went to China Town. We had a great time and I really like this fellow Storm supporter. At about 3am she got a taxi home as she was flying to San Francisco the next morning and out of my life, so I thought. I went to an internet cafe and sent her an e-mail saying how much I enjoyed her company and hoped we'd keep in touch. It must have worked we've now been married 7 years!!! We lived in Melbourne in 2001 and were Storm members for the season we played at Colonial. We moved to England later that year but have made several pilgrimages back to the Graveyard since. The last being the finals game v Parramatta in 2007. Storm Links
www.melbournestorm.com.au
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