The Inside Word - Round 11
16th August 2011 10:31AM
Afternoon all,
What a big week it's been in the Waikato camp. In the space of eight days we managed three wins, a trip to Christchurch and back and a move up the ITM Cup Premiership table. We started our week with a trip to Pukekohe, where we faced a very determined Counties Manukau side in extremely wet conditions. We were happy to come away with the four points, however we knew we would need to step our game up before taking on Canterbury three days later.
Tuesday saw us make the trip down to Christchurch, where we were determined to turn around 12-years of defeat on Canterbury grounds. I was incredibly proud of the boys notching up four tries within the first 25 minutes and gaining the valuable bonus point. While we didn't hit our straps as much in the second half, we managed to hold out Canterbury and came away from the game knowing that when we stick to our plan it works.
Two hours after the Canterbury game we were back on a plane to Hamilton to prepare for our Sunday afternoon match against Otago. On behalf of all team and management I want to thank all of those who came out to support us and took part in the Junior Marchpast. To see the Wel Network stand filled with young fans really pumped the boys up, and it was just awesome to see the support we have behind us. The bonus point win over Otago was a fantastic way to celebrate Brendon Leonard's 50th game for Waikato. Brendon is a valued member of this squad, who provides fantastic leadership on and off the field. His cool, calm and collected attitude is an asset to this team, and we hope to see him notch up another 50 games in our colours.
We now enter into the final phase of our campaign, with six days preparation before we take on Manawatu in Palmerston North on Saturday, Wellington at home on Tuesday and Auckland at home on Saturday afternoon. We know that in order to secure a place in the final we need to stick to our plan and continue our methodical approach to preparation, recovery and review. We hope to see the stands filled with Red, Yellow & Black at our final two games next Tuesday and Saturday, and hope to continue to make you - our fans - proud.
Red, Yellow & Black Forever.
Gibbo.
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