October 2nd 10 Years On - With Cronulla Sharks Premiership Winning Local Junior Chad Townsend

[00:00:01] The Royal Motor Yacht Club Port Hacking is a hidden gem of the Shire, situated on the banks of the beautiful Port Hacking. It's a great place to catch up with friends, celebrate your birthday or any special occasion, and they always show the NRL live on the big screens. The RMYC Port Hacking, proud sponsors of this podcast and big supporters of the Cronulla Sutherland Sharks. Check out their website rmycph.com.au

[00:00:26] They've got a Facebook page, or you could go old school and call them on 029523 9300 SharkCast! Turn your porch lights off because we're coming out with a trophy!

[00:01:05] Alright, we're recording anyway. Yeah, we're good, we're ready to go. Alright, welcome to SharkCast Pod, a different episode today, October 2, the greatest day on earth. And I have you and your mates to thank for that. We always do on SharkCast Pod, a special episode. We've had staff members, we've had fans, the whole thing. Now we've got a player, which is awesome. Chad Townsend, I'm in your presence. I'm in your studio. I'm honoured to be here. Let's have a chat about October 2 specifically.

[00:01:34] If everyone could subscribe to Chad's channel, if they haven't, they will find a whole series about the year that was. All your teammates, most of your teammates, your coach. Amazing insight. So congrats on that. Thank you. Go subscribe to Chad. We're going to talk about October 2. I want to know, where did you sleep October 1? I slept at home actually. Yeah, I was at home.

[00:01:59] At that stage I just had a unit in Cronulla and my, she wasn't my wife then, but she is now. We just started out, we had no kids. It was very different times back then, 10 years ago, it goes quick, yeah. So no camp? No, no camp. It was tossed up, but our senior players said no. We wanted to stay at home, which I loved. I would rather stay at home. It's very different nowadays. A lot of the teams camp and stay in the hotels and things like that.

[00:02:28] But yeah, our senior playing group chose not to. Okay. And did you room with someone? Over the course of the year, I did. I roomed with James Maloney, who I kind of got over rooming with to be honest with you. We, we, I mean Jimmy, I love Jimmy, right? Yeah. But yeah, let's just say, wasn't the most hygienic person, James Maloney. So if you had room with him on October one, we could have a different result. Oh, potentially. Yeah.

[00:02:57] I mean, we, we, we, we roomed a lot. I mean, he didn't brush his teeth. He didn't flush the toilet. He didn't do it. He snored, you know, I was at home and comfortable in my own bed. So yeah, I was very much happy that the senior players and Flano came to that decision. Okay. So when did you meet as a team on grand final day? We met at the Cronulla High School car park. That's where we got on the bus. We, just the parking there and the drop off point was kind of out of the way.

[00:03:26] And yeah, we, we got there in the afternoon. I can't remember the exact time. I remember the sun coming down. I remember walking on the bus. Michael Ennis always had his seat at the front of the bus and Luke Lewis. And then it was like Val and Jack Bird up the back. So it was like old heads at the front, young guys at the back. I was kind of in the middle section as, as I kind of was. Uh, and yeah, very relaxed. I got to say when the scenes on the way in, you know, people lining the street flags, everything.

[00:03:54] It was a really cool moment to be, be a part of. So as a fan, I remember it was the longest day from breakfast to kickoff. How did you spend the day before you met the team? Was it a normal day for you? Were you trying to keep it like a normal game day? Like the biggest day of your life? Yeah, I'm for me. I tried to keep it pretty normal. Like I didn't want to play the game before I got there too. You know, I kept it as a normal game day.

[00:04:22] I lived across the road from the beach at the time. So I went for a swim. I've had an afternoon nap. I'm never a big fan of the, you know, 7.30, 8 o'clock games because there's such long days. And you're forced to kind of stay inside for a long period of time. And I didn't want to kind of get out and around Cronulla and see people and talk to them about the game. And I didn't want none of that. Yeah. I just wanted to sort of do my own thing and not have to have those conversations. I was like, I can have those after the game. So try to keep it pretty simple.

[00:04:50] Had an afternoon nap, which kind of just makes the day go a little bit less longer than what it is. Yeah. I don't know how you nap, Chad. Like I didn't sleep the night before. Yeah. When I got a few hours sleep, I woke up legitimately with a stomach pain that no doctor would be able to sort of assess what it was. It just takes you a little bit out of reality, right? Yeah. You just don't have to think about it. You're sleeping. So yeah. You know what? I slept well all week, to be honest with you. I don't think I fully understood the enormity of the occasion until after we actually did what we've done.

[00:05:18] Even to this point, it's still like, you see what Newcastle are trying to do this weekend. And it's like, we've actually done it, right? Yeah. It's a cool feeling. So on the bus, get to the stadium. Is that when you see the sea of colors? No. So you kind of, on the bus, you get to a core stadium and you go underneath and then you arrive and then you basically get off the bus.

[00:05:43] You're honestly walking 50 meters and you're in the shed straight away and you're not going out to warm up. So we warmed up inside. You're obviously got the pre-game entertainment, which you can kind of hear. A sense of like, the enormity of the occasion. Guys listening to music. Guys zoning in. Michael Ennis just like, ready for war and doing his speeches that he did for us. And it was that moment where I was like, this is the most important game of my life right now. So I needed to prepare like that.

[00:06:13] You know, with the fact that you wanted to keep it as like any other game, but also understand that this isn't any other game. So the first time we saw the sea of black, white and blue was when we ran out, to be honest with you. And I still got, it still gives me shivers when I run out and you see 83,000 fans. And honestly, probably 80,000 of them were Sharks fans. So it was, that was the moment that we, we thought that. I think it's the only time I've seen Gallen smile before a game. Yeah. He had a smile.

[00:06:42] I was like, that could go one of two ways. I'm going with the positive, but he looks so happy. He was, I think he was just happy with the support and you know, as the rest of us were too. Like we had a huge opportunity in front of us running out. We really felt that wave, the emotion or the, the presence, the sound, the noise just hits you in the face. And you're like, yeah, we are, we're on here. We're ready to go. Can you hear that in the sheds at all? Or is it soundproof or?

[00:07:10] You can hear a little bit, a little bit of like the crowd cheering. Not a whole heap. I've got to say, yeah, not, not a whole heap. It's, it's pretty quiet in there, especially when most guys are listening to music and doing their own thing and preparing individually. This is kind of time before, like nowadays there's, you know, boom boxes and music playing everywhere, but everyone was kind of doing their own thing back then. And where were your family and friends?

[00:07:36] I mean, obviously you had friends all over the stadium, but could you, did you know where your family was in the stadium? I didn't know. I usually the family sits next to the tunnel. Um, and yeah, I couldn't find them pregame, to be honest. I only got a, uh, I found them post game where, you know, we've got to sort of see him for the first time. But, uh, as I got older, I tried to just make it, try and find them as quick as I can. Cause it would have been fantastic. As you know, you, you're doing the anthem, like trying to find your family.

[00:08:04] That's the reason why you play, you know, it would have been a special moment, but yeah, I knew I had plenty of friends and family there. I'm cheering us on. And talk us through the anthem. Uh, yeah. I mean, it's emotional, right? Yeah. You know, singing the Australian anthem. It's such an, it's the greatest country on earth and get to get the chance. You don't get many times where you, before you play an NRL game where you get to sing the anthem. Yeah. Obviously Anzac day is one that comes to mind, uh, and an NRL grand final. Yeah. It was, um, it was special.

[00:08:31] And just standing in that line and, you know, be arm in arm with the boys was, uh, was a really special moment. Uh, just backtracking who had the last word before you ran out? Was it Ennis? Uh, Gow would have had the final word. Yeah. Gow always had the final word. He never spoke a lot. Gow, he was always an actions man, very much so. Um, but our other leaders, Wade Graham and Michael Ennis were very vocal, especially Michael. I'd say Michael was probably the most vocal out of everyone.

[00:09:00] That was his role at that stage. And I took a lot from that, not only for the year and for the game. Um, Michael made me want to run through a wall as a halfback, you know, that doesn't happen very often. Yeah. He makes the hairs on the back of your neck stick up really motivating. And that's what you need in a team. You need guys who can motivate players. And yeah, he was excellent at that. So I was lucky enough to beat your live show. And there were a lot of Mick Ennis stories from inspiring to comedic humorous.

[00:09:29] And I work with Mick at Fox and I know him reasonably well, but the whole straight E 180 story you told, and you can go listen to it on your episode, the live episode. That got me thinking just ever since about what a unique character he is, especially in rugby league. And to have that guy there, especially 2016, but then there's gallon and there's Lewis and there's Graham because the whole list. I mean, what a team.

[00:09:59] Yeah, absolutely. Look, we had such a great mix of leadership and exciting youngsters. And I kind of put myself in the middle of all that. You know, I was, I wasn't an older veteran. I would say I was, you know, kind of in that emerging bit in the middle part of my career, 25 years of age. You know, being a halfback, you've got to be the leader as well. So I felt like I was an emerging leader. You know, I'd stepped out of that rookie role, but also learning and taking in everything the older guys had played. And then we had that special mix, right?

[00:10:28] You look at our backs. Our outside backs were all young and fast and fit and agile and mobile. And our forwards were just veterans, hard and edged. Nearly all of them had played over 200 games, premiership winners. Yeah. And they were the enforcers, right? You talk about someone like Matt Pryor, who did things to Jesse Bromwich that I've never seen done to Jesse Bromwich before. And he's one of the best front rowers we've seen. But Pryza just manhandled him, right? He took it personal.

[00:10:55] Andrew, it was a bit younger than a lot of those other guys in the forwards, but in his prime and playing like he was, had an answer on him, right? Yeah. We had such a great mix at that time. So on Sharkast, we've been doing a recap game by game. We're a little bit behind schedule. We're about halfway through. The thing that I'd probably forgotten about was the speed with which the team played for most of the game. And that's most of the year. There was a bit of a dip, we know.

[00:11:25] But so we just recap the Canterbury game where Maloney gets the goal after the siren. We know how that goes. But when you guys click, and it's for the majority of games, it's not just for like five minutes. What do you attribute that speed of just the game? Like, how do you 10 years later look on that and go, oh, that was one of our attributes? Like just the speed in which you play? Five tempo. Five tempo.

[00:11:52] For us, it was being really focused in on our roles. And I think you look across that side and I think, honestly, I could ask any one of the boys, even today, you tell me what our style of play was and the circle or the process that we used to work towards with Flano and our coaching staff. I know that they could all still answer the same question. And I think that just comes down to your individual role. Like for me, it was getting a team around the park, support play, kicking game, organizing our sets. What sets are we doing?

[00:12:22] You know, and that was my job. And I felt like everyone had their individual jobs. And we had the ability to like move the ball from one side of the field to the other like that. Like we had great skill in our team. We had great catch and pass. We had strike everywhere. And everyone wanted the ball all the time. So for us, I felt like, you know, I often talk about Penrith and how quick they are to get into position. But I felt like we were very good at that as well. Moved into position quickly.

[00:12:50] We had a lot of urgency, which is also a great trait of a footy side. In defense as well, I have to obviously we'll get to that. But in defense. Yeah, absolutely. Well, you know, you hear the boys talk about a lot, the training we did throughout that season. And we did it right from the start of preseason with regards to a lot of time we do defensive drills where the attack would have an overlap on the defense. And the goal was to not let anyone come through you. You have to try and force them on the outside. If they're going to score, they go around us because obviously they've got the advantage. Yeah.

[00:13:19] So we worked hard and you saw that in the final minute, right? Us just covering sideline to sideline. And yeah, everyone says like that one is thick. Those drills won us the grand final. And I absolutely agree. When you watch that last minute back, you see what type of team we are. Urgency care, backing each other up, looking after each other. And yeah, I think we just wanted it more to be honest with you. So was your training very regimented? Like, was it this was it very similar every week?

[00:13:49] Pretty similar. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. And athletes like for me, I was someone who liked routine like structure. It liked, you know, this the the same drills which you can tweak slightly and change. But also, I feel like athletes, if you know, like everything from if you know what your warm up looks like, you know, you can jump into it. I know you need a freshen up here and there, but for us and our staff and Andrew Gray, who you've probably heard a lot of the boys talk about our head of performance, got the best out of our guys because he knew what we needed and when we needed it. Absolutely.

[00:14:19] So we won't touch on a bunch of what you've touched on in your podcast series. Please go listen or watch it. But I do want to talk about is it big man down? Is that what's called? Yes. Yes. So that's the Ben Barber try. Yep. No, not in the game. In the game. Yeah. No, we practiced it all week and over the course of the final series. So you practiced it that week? Yeah. Yeah. Why would you practice it that week with one game to go if you weren't going to do it in the game? No, we did practice it.

[00:14:49] Sorry. No, you did. But how did you not know? I didn't get to. Gow didn't tell me. So if you watch the replay, you'll see Ben Barber. Oh, I've watched the replay. Yeah. Gets packed into the back row in the scrum. Is Jack Bird feigning injury or something? Someone's pretending to be hurt or something? No, that's a real injury. That's a real injury. But yeah, Gow, he didn't tell me. Yeah. And I get asked to listen about it a little bit and Gow didn't tell me.

[00:15:17] The only thing he needed to tell me was not pick up the ball. Obviously the ball was right in front of him. So yeah, we bumped heads. That wasn't part of the plan? That wasn't part of the plan, although it looks dramatic. But yeah, he passes back on the inside and it's good night. You know what I mean? What a try. Talk us through what you remember. Like, were you just in shock? A little bit. I was a little bit in shock. But then as soon as we went for the, I went for the ball and Gow picked it up. I was like, oh, it's big man down. Gotcha.

[00:15:42] But getting Benny in the scrum was kind of pretty key and not having them, you know, red alert that. Like if you see, they see Ben Barber in the scrum, it's like, hey, that's, you know, that's an alarm bell to me. I'm saying Ben Barber's in the scrum, like watch the scrum play. You know? So. Do you think if they'd done that as a professional football like yourself, is that something they could have stopped? Would they have known that was what was coming? If they had talked up that and said that Ben Barber's in the scrum and seeing him pack in that position. Yeah.

[00:16:12] That may not, they may not have scored and may have shown more urgency. Okay. So getting him in that position without them knowing was key. And also, you know, Gow could have obviously whispered and told me and mentioned it to me. A little wink. You know, but obviously him worrying that it may give off them a bit of a sniff. Yeah. Potentially. I don't know. But regardless, Benny scored what was one of the best tries. I know it seems so simple, but setting it all up was hard and executing is hard.

[00:16:41] It's a ballsy move. Yeah. Like, and then I think about Paul Gow and I think about Shane Flanagan and they're not the most adventurous at what they do. Like they're amazing at their jobs. I mean, I could see Maloney, I could see Val Holmes, but those two guys kind of okaying it plus the other guys. Half time we're winning. We're not winning by what we should be. We had a lot of possession. Louie goes close. Everyone knows what happened. What's the vibe at half time? Are you confident?

[00:17:11] What's being said in the sheds? Yeah, I think we were confident with what we were doing. Like we knew that there was a lot of ball in play, right? And that's the thing. When you actually watch this game back, like there's a lot of ball in play. There's not many errors at all. It's just set for set, set for set. And the team, you hear the teams talk about it now, live ball. And I feel like we were really comfortable with that. Like we, I feel like we just wanted to stick with what we were doing. We knew the game was going to be a close one. Like Melbourne don't beat themselves. And we wanted to out Melbourne, Melbourne.

[00:17:40] Like you look at our completion rate at the end of the day, it was 93%. So for us, it was like continue to complete our sets, kick to the corners, and then back our defense. And that's what we wanted to do. That's what Flano mentioned. And Jimmy and our leaders were like, look, at some stage it'll turn. We'll be behind against the momentum. And we'd spoken about that. We trained for it. I felt like we were ready for it in whatever was to happen in the second half. Okay. So we trail. They get two tries.

[00:18:10] We know about the speeches behind the posts. What's going through your mind as an individual? Are you thinking I've got to win this game or are you thinking I've got to win this grand final? Is it all starting to weigh on you that these people are going to be heartbroken? What are you thinking as a professional athlete? Yeah. I mean, to be honest, I didn't think about the people at all, to be honest. I was just focused on doing my job. But is it winning a grand final or winning a game? It's winning the game. It's not winning the grand final. It's not creating history. It's not putting that fairy tale into your mind.

[00:18:40] Because if you think about that, you get distracted, right? Sure. It's just a game of footy. That's where you go back to your game of footy and your job. And for me, it was always like I'd played footy since I was five years old. That's where I find the comfort in my life. Like, I've trained for those moments. I've practiced. I've sacrificed to get to that moment, to have the opportunity to play. And it was really clear about what I needed to do. I felt like for me, continue to do your job.

[00:19:10] Just keep competing. Keep your turn up for your teammates. Didn't want to think about the result. You know, you're very much process driven as an athlete. You're not results driven. Although I'd like to win, if I go out thinking about winning, that distracts me from my job and my process. If I do my process and my job, that's how I get the result that I want. Gotcha. So, Fafita scores changes the course of all of our lives. Remind me, where were you when he scored? I was out the back.

[00:19:40] Okay. Oh, yes. Okay. Do you want to run through that? Yeah. I mean, this is the shape. We did a lot in our style of play 2016. The first time we'd have a shift in the set, we'd all be on the shift. Jimmy, Benny Barber and myself, we'd all be there. Then we'd come back towards closer to the post. And then we'd kind of split where Benny would kind of sit on the short side and Jimmy and me, or it'd be me and Benny. And it would just be two and one. We'd have two options there. And this is the same play like the week before. We ran the exact same play.

[00:20:09] Mickey Annis played out the back to me and I played short to Luke Lewis, who scored over Jonathan Thurston. Yeah. And this moment here was the same play from the same position on the field. You hear about the boys who received the look from Mickey. And Mickey had this thing like he wasn't going to pass the ball to anyone if you weren't running hard. So you had to run hard. But if he gave you the look, like the look, it's just like, yeah, like, you know, it's on. He was going to hit you. And he gave Andrew the pass.

[00:20:37] And I was at the back and I was like, Jesus, it looks like it was pretty crowded there. You had Munster in there, Tohu Harris, Dalfa Nukin, Cam Smith. It looked like he was pretty like well covered. But Andrew just did the Andrew things and hit, spun around, reached out, and then somehow managed to get the ball down. I was at the back and I was just blown away. I couldn't believe it. He just scored an amazing try. The grip is what gets me. Yeah. That's crazy. And the spin too, right? Oh, the whole thing. The whole thing.

[00:21:07] So we are back in front. And there's, I don't know, 10 minutes to go. What's the mindset there for the Sharks? Are we just all about defense? Have we shut up shop? Like what are we doing here? Yeah, I think defense was obviously a big thing for us. We had about 10 or 12 minutes left in the game. And you know what? Our focus didn't change with regards to the style of play we'd played up until the previous 70 minutes. Yeah. We knew it was going to be tight. We knew the storm were going to come.

[00:21:36] We knew defensively that we would have had to, you know, defend for our lives. And it was just like, keep kicking complete into corners. We didn't just, don't make errors, which we didn't. We would just kick to the corners and we'll see what Melbourne can do, right? We give them limited ability or limited chances to attack our try line. We were comfortably able, I felt like we were quite confident to be able to defend our way to victory. And that was the message from our leaders at that stage of the game, for sure.

[00:22:03] A couple of near misses, a very famous Chambers-Kronk one. Yeah. I believe Kronk is waving his arms for the ball, but it wasn't meant to be. There's a great moment where they kick the ball dead and Bird gets the ball. I think it's Bird and he starts running back. And I think it's Val of all people. Val goes, oh, hold up. Cause we're all going, slow down, slow down. Birdie fist pumps when the ball goes dead. Yes. But then he runs the ball back and we're like, don't run the ball back. Yeah.

[00:22:31] Now that's, I think that's our last set and you get the ball. Were you always going to have the ball in the fifth tackle or was it, is there a chance Maloney gets it? Yeah, definitely. It was just like we were closer to the right hand sideline there. Yeah. Yeah. And the, the, the play at that time was to drill it into touch one, the clock down, you know, which we ended up, I mean, back then you could milk the clock a bit more. We probably got about 40 seconds off the clock at that stage, which was vital for us. And we knew the storm were going to come.

[00:23:00] And it was that stage. It was like, let's go, let's just, let's defend our way to. Yeah. A lot of near misses in that, in that play. There's, there's high shots, there's missed tackles. Um, but we got there. What's going through your mind? Like, can you go back 10 years? What's going on? I know you've gone back to your, your procedures. You're going left. You're going right. One man short, that whole mentality. What are you at? What's Chad thinking?

[00:23:29] Have you, are you starting to think about grand final yet or not? Not at all. No, didn't think about. Okay. It was just like, honestly, I was just so locked in. And so that could have been around one game. Same thing. It was just, it was just like my only sole focus was don't stop moving. Yep. Don't stop me. If I, if you walk or rest, like you are just your, I wouldn't be a, I don't feel like you can live with yourself to be honest. Like you're not only letting your teammates down, which you've worked so hard for the opportunity, the whole Shire, Sharks fans everywhere.

[00:23:58] And it was just like, don't stop moving. And it was just screaming at everyone. Like I just remember screaming, don't stop moving. Don't stop moving. And the other boys were doing the same thing. Like, and like, you can clearly see it from the way we defended in that last minute, how much we wanted it. And like I said to you before, that just goes to show why we, why we earned that. And we, we wanted it more. We wanted it more. We wanted to work harder than anyone else did. And that's why we, we defended the way we did in that last minute.

[00:24:28] We're under all that fatigue. Ridiculous. I've watched the game a million times and watch that moment a million times as all of our listeners have. I often sometimes get to when he has the ball and I'm pretty sure he's got players around him that he can pass the ball to, and I still can't believe they did all that. They come back and then he just, I'm not going to say he just takes the tackle. Like Ricky does a great job, but I feel like if he had his time again, they would keep doing something offloads. Yeah. I think he just kind of. Yeah.

[00:24:58] Well, you know, Corey, but he was, you know, one of those players, right? Great ball runner. He could bust a tackle. Yeah. But did you ever see him pass and put someone away in the centers? You know, his first thought process is to run the football. So when him and Chambers kind of swapped around at that stage, it was man on. And you hear Ricky sort of say like, man on, man on. And he just goes and makes a play. So yeah, I mean, in hindsight, they probably should have kept passing and kept kicking. I'd like to think we still would have covered it, but yeah, Ricky makes an amazing tackle and he was so underrated that year.

[00:25:28] He was so special to us and so important to us winning that competition and that tackle. I'm so glad it was him that made that tackle because yeah, he was a, he was a great defensive center on his day. Interesting that he and Bill were fighting it out in the first, at least we're up to like round 13 of a rewatch that they were fighting it out for that spot. I'd forgotten that they, they kind of tag team each other in and out and it wasn't necessarily because of injury from what I can tell. Yeah. Yeah. It was a bit of a thing that Flano managed over the course of the year.

[00:25:58] We had an extra outside back and we carried an extra back on the bench with, you know, Mickey able to play 80 minutes. Um, well yeah. And the back, the back three in the pack can do it. Yeah. And both props can play big minutes. Absolutely. Yeah. So it was, um, it was one of those things that Flano managed, right? And he managed to do it without making it like a big scene with on the outside. It was very well handled. It was open, you know, um, it was competition for sports and Flano kind of had the luxury because we obviously won 15 games in a row throughout the season.

[00:26:27] They just put the same team shit in every week. And, you know, if we had injury, we had cover, we had, you know, uh, a world-class outside back at our disposal. And, you know, Fecchi ended up going off in that game with an MCL injury and Bealee just came on and done a great job. So yeah, it was really handy to have. So we win the comp, uh, history is made. Who's the first person you go to? Do you know? Um, I think my first cuddle was maybe Gau, to be honest. He was the closest there.

[00:26:56] Then there's pictures of like Hino and myself. I don't even know. Oh, up there actually. Yep. That top right one is Nico Hines and I just celebrating. Um, he was huge for us that year with his leadership and his impact off the bench. Him and I jumping up and down and carrying on. Um, yeah. So I think it was Hino and Gau that I first saw. Um, and just, yeah, over the moon to be honest at that stage. So it's pandemonium at this point you can hear the crowd and you're, you're aware of what's happened. Yeah. Can hear it now.

[00:27:26] Still kind of in shock. Yep. I just feel like, um, every, I remember it was sinking into me and it was like everything I'd gone through in my life was worth it. Yep. You know, and as an athlete, like it doesn't always go your way with, um, you know, um, selection, form, injury, setbacks, um, things away from football that you have to deal with.

[00:27:51] You know, getting to the NRL, how I got to the NRL, my journey from where I started to where I was at that stage of my life was like everything I did. Um, and I think all the sacrifices. I think I was a little bit of a lot of money. Um, I think I was just, I was just, I was just really looking forward to going and celebrating with the Shire to be honest. Um, and I think I was still the only local junior to win a comp for the Sharks. That's something. Yeah. It's something that I will sit with me for the rest of my life, to be honest. It's very special.

[00:28:20] And I grew up, um, for me, it's a fairy tale. Like I sat on the family, I sat on the family hill with my flag as a kid, as a Sharks fan. I grew up in the area, born in Sutherland Hospital. All I wanted to do was play for the Sharks. Um, you know, that's something I hold with me for the rest of my life. It's very, very special. I live in the area still, um, you know, still support the Sharks today. Yeah. Um, my, my kids. You did tip the Roosters the other week. I did tip the Roosters. Yeah. Um. That's okay. Yeah.

[00:28:49] I only tipped against them twice this year, actually. Oh, nice. Um, but yeah, it's a special, special time. And as my kids are getting older now, you know, they're starting to understand what I used to do and asking me more questions. And, uh, yeah, it's something that really, you know, really is, really does mean a lot to me and my family. Uh, what did Sterlo say to you after the game? He grabbed you during an interview, I think, or, or, or you're on, you're on camera. Yeah. I've seen it. Yeah.

[00:29:18] Um, you know, Sterlo, he's just grabbed me and just sort of said he's very proud of me. Um, well done. Halfback to halfback. Yeah. You know, and, um, your journey has many ups and downs and I had some ups and downs over the course of the final series with, you know, when I got taken off in the, in the Canberra game. But had that have not happened to me, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to bounce back like I did against the Cowboys. And that Cowboys game was one of the best games I'd, I'd played all season. Um, I was proud of the resilience I'd shown the bounce back.

[00:29:45] Um, and yeah, just to get that recognition from one of the games greats was, um, again, one of the highlights for me. And I've got a photo of Sterlo and I at home with that cuddle. So nice. Really, really special moment. I have to say, uh, and I'll say it to Flano. I think I've already said it to him. The hooking of you was very dramatic as in like, I thought it was touch over the top. And I've told you this before, when you score that try against the Cowboys, is it the first try? Yeah. Yep. That's one of my favorite, one of my favorite moments of yours.

[00:30:15] Like just when you get up and you're like, come on boys, let's go. It was like, Oh, got the feels. Um, we're going to start wrapping up cause we haven't got much time. I want to know about the team song in the sheds. I'm assuming it happened in the sheds. It happened many times. Sure. Yeah. Um, so I just remember the champagne and, um, bottles of champagne going everywhere. And we didn't have any goggles then. Yep. And, um, I just remember going, Oh, I can't even see just shaking the champagne everywhere.

[00:30:44] Um, the sheds were full with family and friends and, um, special, special times. And obviously to have that opportunity to celebrate, then we went back out into the middle of the field and just the players and the staff and an empty stadium. That was a really cool moment. Were you, do you reckon you were one of the first teams to do that in the NRL? No, I think they'd done it a lot previously. Yeah. I think it's more like an unwritten tradition that they, they do. And, um, yeah, we obviously did that as well. I've still got some photos and videos on my phone from those moments.

[00:31:14] And then there's a photo of Fafido where he's just like lying on the spot. Yeah. You might have the trophy. Yeah. It's iconic. Yeah. Absolutely. All right. 10 years on, uh, we did it. Unbelievable. I could talk about this every year. I probably will until we win another one and then I'll still keep doing it. Yeah. Uh, I want everyone to subscribe to your show and you've got a million subscribers, don't get me wrong, but, but there's probably people who subscribe to your show, your show. That'd be great too. Yeah. But you know, there's probably people who listen to my show who are like, Oh yeah, Chad was okay. Whatever.

[00:31:44] Hey, he's a local junior, won the comp and be your, your output of what you do with media is crazy. I kind of, we've got half an hour with you now, but more importantly for sharks fans, the content you've given, particularly about that year that we just spoke about off the charts. I appreciate that. Yeah. Like talking to all the players, even your photos, follow you on social. So follow Chad, man. Yeah. I appreciate that. Yeah. No, it's great. I love my content. I did. I loved it while I played. I love it now. Yeah.

[00:32:14] I'm fortunate enough to, to be in a position where I can chase a passion of mine and still talk about the game and be involved in doing media and radio and content is something that I've planned on doing for a long time. And yeah, I love what I do. I'm very grateful for the opportunities I've had in the game. And yeah. I still have a DM from you where you were like, Hey Sam, how do I do a podcast?

[00:32:41] I'm paraphrasing because you'd been on our show a few times in 2016. Yeah. And I remember that. And I remember writing back a really convoluted, stupid reply going, you need this, you need that. And I was just like, I should have sent you a link or something. Yeah. It's changed a lot, hasn't it? It's changed a lot. And you've come so far and now I'm in your studio, which is just amazing. Thanks for your time. Happy October 2, my friend. Yes. And everyone else, follow Chad. Forget about SharkCast Pod. Follow Chad.

[00:33:10] And we appreciate your time, man. And we appreciate your efforts. We'll see you at the grand final lunch later on. And up, up. Let's go. Thanks, Sam. Up, up. So Gallup. Oh, scumbies play back. So here's Ennis now. Fafita tries to crash his way out.

[00:33:58] That was formed in 1967. They had heartbreak in grand finals in the 70s. They went broke in the 80s. They went broke in the 90s. They had a Dasana scandal two years ago. Has any club, in any country, in any sport, had a more arduous journey to its first title for the Quinella Sharks? SharkCast is supported by the best and most honest real estate agent in the Sutherland Shire, Jason Hawes from Crips & Crips Real Estate.

[00:34:28] He's an expert in the Caring Bar region and has his eye all across the Shire. Lifelong Sharks fan and supporter of this podcast, if you're looking to buy or sell in the region, the person you need to be talking to is Jason Hawes from Crips & Crips Real Estate. Call him on 0410 417 450. That's 0410 417 450. Jason Hawes, Crips & Crips Real Estate.