By CATHERINE MASTERS
In the tunnel at Ericsson Stadium, the Mad Butcher is nervous.
This highly excitable - some might say at times manic - fan of the Warriors is oddly quiet and looks a bit queasy.
"Me guts are turning over," he says.
When the Warriors score after a couple of minutes,
the man also known as Peter Leitch turns and says with a glint in his eye: "That's only three minutes into the game. Sensational."
But he continues to look nervous for most of the match.
At 12-nil to the home side he confides he will worry until the end.
"A game can turn so easily. Don't get me wrong, I have great confidence in the team. But until the final whistle goes ... "
He's right. The Canberra Raiders score and run in another try with only two minutes until half time.
"See what I mean," says the Mad Butcher.
But the Raiders did not have much chance against the vocal fans at Ericsson.
Among them was rugby giant Colin Meads, who admitted that while the Auckland rugby side were struggling to fill seats, the Warriors crowd was loyal: "They're more vociferous and they're passionate."
Chris and Joe Kinsey, "Mangere boys", are living proof.
Front-row season ticket holders, the brothers, aged 45 and 46, never miss a game.
When Chris is not yelling at the referee he is listening to the commentary on his transistor radio - or watching replays on his portable television.
The Kinseys have been supporters through thick and thin in their seats next to the tunnel and the officials know them well.
At the end of the match, Chris is overwhelmed. For his loyalty and vocal support he has been rewarded with the grass-stained match ball and it humbles him.
"That's history," he says, holding up the ball.
"That was not expected at all."
But Joe sums up the emotion of the day best: "Now we know what it's like to stand in the sunlight."
As for the Mad Butcher, he cannot contain a smile when Ali Lauiti'iti scores for the Warriors and when Stacey Jones gets one he rubs his hands in glee. "It's a bloody try, it's a bloody try."
By the end of the match he is in full voice.
Among the overjoyed fans packed into the Mad Butcher's Lounge at Ericsson Stadium afterwards is one beaming Helen Clark.
The Mad Butcher asks the Prime Minister if the country will get a day off when the Warriors win the NRL.
"Starting with everyone that works for the Mad Butcher," is the reply.
By CATHERINE MASTERS
In the tunnel at Ericsson Stadium, the Mad Butcher is nervous.
This highly excitable - some might say at times manic - fan of the Warriors is oddly quiet and looks a bit queasy.
"Me guts are turning over," he says.
When the Warriors score after a couple of minutes,
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