Northland's Kara Pryor knocks through the Waikato defence in their 48-27 win, ending a 19 game losing streak. Photo/Tania Whyte
Northland's Kara Pryor knocks through the Waikato defence in their 48-27 win, ending a 19 game losing streak. Photo/Tania Whyte
Mitre 10 Cup action, the NRL grand final, the AFL grand final, the All Blacks, the Ryder Cup, NFL - all that and more made for a veritable sporting weekend for the ages.
Three losing streaks came to an end in such glorious fashion - Quentin Tarantino couldn't havescripted it better.
We'll start with the Mitre 10 Cup, where Northland ended a tough run of 19 straight defeats with a convincing 48-27 win over Waikato.
As a passionate born and bred Mooloos fan from the beautiful town of Morrinsville (head there and check out the awesome cow sculptures!), it was shattering to watch them slump to a third straight defeat. But as a lover of the theatre that is sport, it was brilliant.
Northland have threatened to win all season. Had short lapses in concentration and questionable refereeing decisions not blighted their matches against Manawatu and Wellington, the Taniwha could have ended the pain earlier.
But instead they provided a flawless first forty to give their fans their first win since October 3, 2014.
A lot happened in those two winless years: the All Blacks became the first team to win back-to-back Rugby World Cups, Facebook surpassed one billions users, Leonardo DiCaprio finally won a Best Actor Oscar and Donald Trump inexplicably became a Presidential candidate and provided enough controversial sound bites to make a trilogy of movies.
But the almost two years of losses doesn't come close to the heartbreak suffered by the Cronulla Sharks and Western Bulldogs faithful.
The Cronulla Sharks hoist the Provan Summons Trophy after 49 years of heartbreak. Paul Seiser/Photosport.nz
Cronulla have had to wait 49 long years to end their premiership drought. Many of their fans had never seen them with Provan Summons Trophy.
They beat the Melbourne Storm 14-12 in an absolute slug fest.
Despite opening the scoring through Ben Barba, Cronulla were looking like their non-premiership winning ways were going to continue into its 50th year after Will Chambers put Melbourne into the lead with just 16 minutes to play.
Enter Andrew Fifita. The blockbusting prop spun over under the uprights to give Michael Ennis, the ultimate grub and an admittedly great hooker, a perfect retirement gift.
This was their first ever title after making three grand finals since they entered the NRL in 1967.
To put it in perspective, 1967 was the year Muhammad Ali was stripped of his boxing world championship for refusing to be inducted into the US Army, Jimi Hendrix recorded the iconic Purple Haze and Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt disappeared without a trace swimming at Cheviot Beach.
The Holt occurrence is one of major significance to the Cronulla win. Legendary league coach Jack Gibson famously uttered the remark "waiting for Cronulla to win a premiership is like leaving the porch lamp on for Harold Holt" - a dig at the improbability of Cronulla ever winning the title.
Cronulla captain Paul Gallen got his chance to get back at Gibson, saying to the Sharks' fans "turn your porch lights off because we are coming home with the trophy."
Not to be outdone, the Western Bulldogs ended an even longer streak.
Western Bulldogs players celebrate their first AFL title since 1954. Adam Trafford/Getty Images
They stopped their 62-point AFL premiership drought with a 22-point grand final win over Sydney.
After five lead changes, the Bulldogs pulled clear in the second half of an epic contest to win 13.11 (89) to 10.7 (67) at the MCG.
1954 was the last year the Western Bulldogs tasted the champagne. In that year, Queen Elizabeth II opened the New Zealand Parliament, the US Supreme Court ruled that segregation at schools was unconstitutional and Grease! star John Travolta was born.
Even if you aren't a supporter of one of those teams, there's something about a long overdue title that makes you jump on the bandwagon just for one night.
But the real test for Northland, Cronulla and Western Bulldogs is just beginning. They've got the monkey off their back, but now they need to establish themselves as a constant force.
