PrinterThe wrote:
With McGuire suspended we only scored the one early try but Sinfield took kickable penalties when given the chance and a drop goal in the first half. At the end 1 point behind with 3 mins left and 45m out most would've tried a drop goal which would've been unlikely to land but Sinfield shows great patience and puts up the bomb so even if the FB catches it we can hopefully get field position for one final set. When we end up with the ball again such smart play by Burrow to run right at Farrell to win the penalty where again many others may have run for the line looking for a try. That 10/15 secs shows perfectly why we've had the success we've had in playoffs and exactly why people say playoff rugby is different and point out Cas turning down kicks as a massive mistake.
To quote Sinfield's post match interview after that game
"Look it wasn't great, it wasn't pretty, but it didn't have to be, we just had to win"
Let's head back a prior 9 years from that game to the 10th October 2003 - the last tackle of the 2003 season for Leeds versus Wigan at Headingley. Sinfield made a break on the back of a Senior/Cummings break leaving Wigan flocking back in numbers but many offside. Rob Burrow at the dummy half throws the ball to Dunneman and via a pair or two hands later Mathers is tackled on the blind side giving victory to Wigan and them a path to the Grand Final.
If you watch the two instances back, there are many similarities and I strongly believe that Rob will have watched that back and thought if the opportunity arises itself, I will run at an offside defender and get a penalty to put us ahead.
The gift of experience.