Re: Wembley '98 : Thu Apr 15, 2010 10:06 pm  

forestwood wrote:

as a wigan fan it was a bit sad but that day i was on a start of a 6 week holiday. first week off to benidorm, flying from gatwick at 2355 hrs.home for a week then off to oz on the following friday to watch nrl for four weeks. one of the games i went to was cronolla sharks home game about 3 weeks after wembley. waiting for a train back to central sydney after the game. me in a wigan shirt on the platform and about 40 sharks fans waiting for the train. they saw me and all chanting eagles, sheffield and 17-8 till i got on the train

That makes me so happy that they even knew about it in Cronulla. They are now my NRL team!

Re: Wembley '98 : Thu Apr 15, 2010 10:25 pm  

i don t if its same now but in 1998 nrl clubs did not have home match programmes but had a magazine which all the nrl fans brought with 6 pages of their team match sections. which also had 4 pages of super league results and reviews of super league games. all the fans in oz knew of sheffield win because it would have been in the magazine a week after wembley 98

Re: Wembley '98 : Thu Apr 15, 2010 11:17 pm  

Gutted - Disbelief - Crap journey home - And peculiarly strong(er) Anti-Yawkshurr feelings.
And a bit of relief too..........I mean, it could have been St Helens!

Re: Wembley '98 : Fri Apr 16, 2010 7:13 pm  

A mate of mine had an awful day at Beverley races when he lost around £300 on the horses.When asked if he was gutted,he replied that he would get his money back as he had put a few hundred on Wigan winning at Wembley the day after as a fail safe bet.He still has nightmares.

Re: Wembley '98 : Fri Apr 16, 2010 7:53 pm  

10-5 wrote:

A mate of mine had an awful day at Beverley races when he lost around £300 on the horses.When asked if he was gutted,he replied that he would get his money back as he had put a few hundred on Wigan winning at Wembley the day after as a fail safe bet.He still has nightmares.

Re: Wembley '98 : Fri Apr 16, 2010 8:26 pm  

I spent hours, I mean hours decorating this bloody inflatable hand! It obviously wasn't any Sheffiled Eagles merchandise so it was my mission to make it SE's. My daughter was only 1 then n she decided she might help 1 day n picked the permanent marker up and consequently used it to draw all over my beige carpet! It's prob still there! And back then Sheff Eagles were a swear word in my house, cus it meant me going to the match whilst my Hubby, who could never understand y I wanted to watch RL! Stayed at home with Ella. Thankfully he's got used to me watching the Eagles (he played for the Hawks after I brought him over to my Way of thinking). Anyway back to the inflatable hand! The day came n I forgot it! Gutted. I was so elated after the game, I'd watched the Eagles for 12 years up2 that point and never never thought I would c this day. I'd placed a £1 bet for them to win (I wasn't that optimistic).

Re: Wembley '98 : Sat Apr 17, 2010 6:06 pm  

I also went in 98 and i was sat with a few Wigan friends of mine and the grief i gave them(being a Saints fan) was fantastic.

Re: Wembley '98 : Sat Apr 17, 2010 9:53 pm  

My experience of the two weeks surrounding Wembley '98 must be the strangest ever. My dad had been diagnosed with terminal cancer a few weeks beforehand, and I was in termoil in the week leading up to the game, wondering whether or not to go. However, my dad, being the great bloke he was decided for me.
"You'll probably never get this chance again, son", he said. "Get yourself off, don't worry about me". I arranged for a TV to be brought to his room, so he could watch the game, and went on the day, with his blessing. The rest is history, and I'll never forget that great day. What a performance.

My dad said he watched the game when I next went to visit him on the Sunday night. I'm not sure if he would've been strong enough to or not. He passed away the following Friday.

As Charles Dickens said, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times".

Re: Wembley '98 : Sun Apr 18, 2010 8:37 am  

Great story Marty, sure your Dad would've been proud watching us from the pearly gates yesterday!!