HARRY'S HOUSE - HURRICANES WEEK
Mon 15th Feb: Wash up from the loss to the Brumbies. Cam Shepherd is out for a long time with a hip flexor tear. If that wasn't bad enough Brownie has dislocated and done some cartilage damage to his shoulder - 6 weeks maybe with no operation, season if he has to go under the knife, tragic news. Personally I have to face the music with my game review.
A week can be a very long time in rugby, I just want the Hurricanes game to hurry up and get here. In the afternoon more bad news with our super star open side break away Dave Pocock has snapped a tendon in his middle finger, 6 weeks. I have never seen anything like this. It is getting beyond a joke. Training in the afternoon; I score a couple of tries in the game of touch. I have my suspicions that the forwards let me have them to build my confidence back up. It worked.
Tues 16 Feb: Day off
Wed 17 Feb: Skills in the morning. I will give it to these boys, with this injury toll other teams would have thrown in the towel already, especially with so many experienced players missing. Conversely this squad has galvanised as a result. We train long and hard this morning with ‘Rabbits’ O'Connor running at 10 and me at 12, which feels like a better balance. With that under our belts we are ready for the ‘Canes.
Thurs 18th Feb: Travel day. I leave my house at 6.40am and we are scheduled to arrive at the hotel at midnight.
Fri 19th Feb: Woke up at midday. That was the plan stay on Perth time, it helps with jet lag. Forwards were looking good for their 1st victory in our touch games after pressing on our line for most of the game. Rabbits scored at try in the last play to steal victory. Captain’s Run was our best yet. Boys are primed for a big one.
Catch up with some friends that I played in Japan with for dinner they had a baby boy, Tevin, 6 weeks ago. It was good to reunite and trade stories of our newborns.
Sat 20th Feb: Wake up at a similar time. I like this approach. It makes it easier to stay in your groove. The cricket sides have been altered cause of our heavy injury toll, the result was still the same. The match was marred by a horrific yet comical incident involving the youngest member of our squad Luke (the goods) Jones. Going for a catch, "the goods" failed to acknowledge that there was a park bench in his path. It looked painful as well as looking very funny. Probably the last thing you need when your 18 and your about to make your debut against the Hurricanes in Wellington in about 7 hours. Like the true green horn he is he just shook it off. First 20 mins didn't go to plan but we fight our way back into the game with a well orchestrated try to Josh Tatupu. We go to the break 10 points down but with all the momentum. Second half we again were mounting pressure. But the Hurricanes, being the great team they are, soaked it up and then went on the offensive and we couldn't go with them. In the wash up it just came down to us missing 5 crucial and simple tackles, and at this level you can't afford to do that.
http://rugbywa.com.au/news/article,57595.html
