WHO SAID 13 WAS UNLUCKY?

The young guys, who have spent much of our season providing stern competition for our experienced players at training day-in, day-out, got their moment to shine.

The 20-17 win is the 13th in a row and with it set a new record for the Blues. The previous best was 12 wins and a draw by the 1997 team that went on to win the championship final.

It didn’t come without a struggle – and more of that teak-tough Blues defence, especially in the first half when we were down to 13 men for 10 minutes and managed to hold out to lead 3-0 at halftime.

The Tahs really tested with their physical approach, and opened up opportunities for their slick backs to jump to a 14-3 lead midway through the second half. But our big Blues pack really turned up the wick – the advantage at scrum time, and making gains with phase-after-phase on attack led to a try to Cam Suafoa, his first for the Blues, and followed by one for Captain Courageous, Luke Romano.

That gave us a 17-14 lead with five minutes to go. Flashback. The opposition win the ball back from the kick-off, plough on to attack and earn a penalty with two minutes to go. 17-17. And like last week – the boys got into their work, turned the ball over, hammered away, and hammered away – this time it fell to Zarn Sullivan to slot the winning dropped goal with time up.

Leon MacDonald said: “That was hugely satisfying. I was proud of the effort of the team. For a lot of our guys, it was a big opportunity to get out there and show what they were capable of. They were brilliantly led by the skip here and some of the older guys and I thought they stood up - and to snatch it at the end was a really proud moment.

“Going into the finals we have got huge depth across the squad, match-fit and match-ready. You had to see today – we lost a player who will be out for the season and it is going happen again. To have guys ready to go with confidence is huge for us. All we have done in the past is to give you this opportunity. We start again. It is a brand-new comp for us. What we have tried to do is hit the playoffs in the best condition possible, strength and depth across the squad. 

“It is also good to be at home which is a big advantage for us. We love playing in front of our fans.”