The ‘garden gnome’s’ astonishing offload
In an extract from his book Andrew Voss explains why a Warriors try was his favourite of all time.
FOR as long as I live and follow this marvellous sport, I will never forget the events of July 12, 2015 at Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland. It was a big game too with the New Zealand Warriors – in decent form after five wins from their previous seven – against the star-studded Melbourne Storm. Traditionally, Warriors/Storm tussles have been good, with the New Zealand club earning a reputation as a bit of a bogey team for their rival. With almost 18,000 fans on hand for the Sunday afternoon match, you just knew something special would happen.
What we all saw, and what I got the thrill of calling in the second half in commentary for Sky Sport New Zealand, was one of the most astonishing tries of all time, let alone the season. The try-scorer was Tuimoala Lolohea, and his finish was pretty damn good, but it is a few passes earlier that makes this four pointer the top of the heap for me.
How do I recount the moment and be 100 per cent respectful and kind to the headline star, Nathan Friend? Nathan had been a tradesman-like hooker throughout his long career. Tough as a two-dollar steak, he was better known for big tackle counts than big attacking plays.
Physically, in a sport where the big blokes have graduated to become giants, Friend was a garden gnome. So here he was at 34, one of the oldest players in the NRL, still trying his heart out every week.
It is not an exaggeration to say that of all the players in the competition at the time, he was among the most unlikely to pull off what he did.
It was Warriors halfback Chad Townsend who had hoisted a high bomb from 15 metres out from the Melbourne line on the last tackle.
Up stepped our superhero Nathan Friend. With the highest jump of his life since playing on a trampoline as a kid at home in Toowoomba, up went Nathan to make a clean catch, but at the same time he was flipped over the back of Storm player Kenny Bromwich. PHOTOSPORT
In commentary I knew it was Friend because of his trademark headgear, but it was as if my brain refused to let my mouth shout his name, as this was not the sort of play he would ever be involved in. So instead of, ‘what a remarkable catch’, the viewers got, ‘what happened there?’ My brain just refused to accept that the ‘garden gnome’ could be the one.
How Friend then got the ball away is beyond the thinking of mere mortals, as the pass he delivers is while he is upside down, perpendicular to the turf, and is thrown between his spread-eagled legs! I have watched it back a million times and still can’t believe it. That’s Nathan Friend!
The pass was received by a stunned team-mate Sam Tomkins, who then delivered to the mercurial Shaun Johnson. What Johnson did was mesmerising enough as he stepped back infield, and offoaded a no-look flick pass to Tomkins who only snared it on his fingertips. Then it was quick hands to young back David Fusitu’a who, in the blink of an eye, passed to Lolohea to dive for the corner, with scrambling defence lunging across in cover.