Twas the Night Before Rugby.
T’was the
Thursday Night before the Rower’s Christmas and all through the bar,
There were
players and coaches from near and from far.
They downed
the odd jar and obeyed all the rules,
Except when
they didn’t, and acted like fools.
As the noise
level grew and the staff fled in fear,
The Rowers
reflected on their 106th year.
T’was a
summer of workouts crafted by Si Taylor Two,
And fitness
with Coach Ben, where we ran ‘til we puked.
We hosted
some prize-fights, cuz the club’s strapped for cash,
Where Skylar
& DJ had each-others’ faces smashed.
As the days
shortened up and the sun sunk down low,
A bunch of
U20s started to show.
Two
strapping young back rows from the isles out East,
Named Pat
and Dave Matthews who ran like wild beasts.
The Kootney
Connection brought Bjorn and Kane,
Who walk
between raindrops and play like freight trains.
With Matt
Bacon and Vince and Ben Johnson up front,
The academy
looked like a promising bunch.
But wait!
What’s this? Around goes the word;
Lack of
numbers club-wide – they’ll all have to play 3rds.
To Kelowna
and back with a bus jammed with beer,
We made the
round trip, barely lost any gear.
Gaden and
Yankee at 9 twisted passes like screws,
The
Godfather made us an offer we couldn’t refuse.
Under the
careful direction of new coach Brett Russell,
What the
thirds lacked in brains they made up for in muscle.
Nate Tough
and Andy Donne and Nick Coles and Rob Crowe
Saf, Trev
and Rice all put on a show.
The thirds
lost some players to call-ups and pains.
They dropped
a few games and their fortunes did wane.
But when
news of the trouble reached field agent – Jake Chahwan,
He sent
Jaden and Chayse, the original French Connection.
With size
and with courage they owned the front row,
The 3rds
rolled over Burnaby, and had one more place to go.
A determined
squad showed up hungry at Klahaney,
They’d
earned their cup final against U-B-C.
At 9 was
Josh Dougherty, at flank Brian Andrews.
It felt on
the sidelines like the Rowers couldn’t lose.
The cameo cast
featured Nikki Grease & Fagan
With support
from The Gus Bus barreling in to the station.
John Fitzy
ran twelve and some good solid lines,
And captain
McGlivery broke through for a try.
They bled
white and red for their spot at the dance,
And the
great 3rd division walked out league champs.
The cup sat
and shone in the carver room case,
We got one
more round to close down the place.
When out on
the deck there arose such a cacophony!
We fell over
the couch on the way past the Christmas tree.
And there on
the mast tower, his clipboard in hand,
Stood
square-jawed and determined a coach with a plan.
He raged a
cold fire, not a bit self aware,
His bark
left no doubt: it could only be Jer.
“What the
hell are you doing?” we heard him exclaim,
“Resting on
laurels will bring only pain.”
“There’s
weights to go lift! Don’t just drink and get fatter!”
“We’ve only
8 weeks to work on the pattern!”
“On Seyler,
on Cowie, on Chapman & Richmond!
On Henry and
Brandon, Parlato and Nickelson!”
“I need
Michael Jordan at 8, and Brett in the centers,
Get on
Facebook, you guys – we’re already short numbers!”
A great
laugh erupted from the VRC faithful,
For that
dedication is what set the table.
From Bice’s
diplomacy, Pete Muirhead’s support work,
To Mark
Smith’s tireless game-day help network.
The club has
been blessed with a big-hearted fanbase,
Who back all
divisions whether in first or last place.
Timmy
Shaddick, Bob Flood & The alumni come out in force,
Amy, Nadine,
and Pat Sorge, of course.
It feels
good to look over at the sidelines all jammed,
It never
gets old to know we have fans.
And so we
all drank a toast to a great Rowers Year
To the
feeling of union we all feel in here.
As ‘014
closes, ‘015 promises so much more,
For Cam
Tompkins is hard at work on our World Cup Tour.
