Emotional triumph the stuff of dreams

THE strangest part for Sam Ward about a winning his first grand final was that he’d seen it all before. Played out in his day dreams, like a movie.

“It was such a fairytale, it was weird,” Ward says.

“All that post-match stuff I had already imagined that had happened, and I was just living it again. It was very bizarre.”

The victory was Warringah’s triumph in the Shute Shield decider in August, a thrilling 30-25 win over premiers Norths.

The fairytale was much more. So much more.

The Warringah Rats surged to an emotional premiership in front of 15,000 people at North Sydney Oval just 10 weeks after losing one of their clubmates in a fifth-grade match on a grey June morning.

Lachlan Ward was 25 and Sam’s little brother.

The loss plunged the club into deep mourning but it quickly gave them purpose, too. They set out to win the comp for Lachlan, and after some time away from the field, Sam returned to his place as Rats vice-captain and inspirational No.8.

“It was strange. I have other players who have won comps talk and it was the same, we never ever thought about anything else apart from us winning,” Ward says.

The Rats always had a picture of Lachlan with them in the dressing room, and Sam even wore his brother’s boots in the semi-final and grand final.

Ward will play against the Classic Wallabies on Tuesday night in Lismore, and may even get game time against the Wallabies on Saturday afternoon at Allianz Stadium.

Super Rugby franchises could do a lot worse things than pay attention.