Kate Hawkesby: What a weekend for sport!

Wasn’t the Warriors game just the much-needed boost we all needed? Amazing scenes on Saturday night, a wild home crowd, as raucous as any I’ve seen.   I mean that was ebullient and electric – how awesome to have been there for those who were. I was so thrilled for Shaun Johnson – a last-minute bounce back from injury and what a superb performance he gave right up until his final minutes on the field, which was a lot longer than I think any of us anticipated.  One reporter described it as a masterclass and it really was. He’s a leader and just such a great performer – so deserving of the standing ovation he got as he left the field.   But seeing how far the Warriors have come, watching them progress to this end of the competition and to look like such a class act with it – confident, strong, bulletproof. Whatever happens, this team under Andrew Webster have grabbed us all like nothing else.   My sister-in-law was bemoaning the fact her family had to leave their restaurant dinner early Saturday night as my niece – who was watching the Warriors game on her phone at the table got so excited at the game, she made them all hurry up and finish eating so they could head home and watch it on the big screen. No time for dessert, they all had to run.   She’s now trying to convince my sister that tickets to Brisbane this weekend are essential. Although flights look like an issue there - apparently if you don’t already have a ticket booked you may not get one now.   My sister was asking whether they’d failed as Kiwi parents, that both their kids are obsessed with league and F1 as opposed to rugby.   I just think it’s that so much about the spirit of what’s happening with the Warriors – and with Liam Lawson at the F1 for that matter, has captured us and enraptured us.   Maybe it’s the underdog thing? Maybe it’s the small player taking on the big guns? Whatever it is we are mesmerized by it.   Young people love it, whereas much of what rugby stands for these days is older tropes that no longer serve young sports fans.   Although to be fair to the AB’s, we are not yet at the business end of the World Cup, so it’s understandable that people aren’t that enthused yet.   But even the anticipation, on Friday’s show last week, people were texting me “let’s just focus on the really important issues.. up the Wahs.”   So the anticipation was there, and the Warriors certainly delivered. I mean the pressure Shaun Johnson was under – and the way he just took that and ran with it – and exceeded probably everybody’s expectations. I mean you can’t bottle that.   The place they’ve gotten to as a team, especially with him on the field, it’s just magic.   Likewise, Liam Lawson is blowing everyone’s minds at the F1, another fantastic story. A rookie who doesn’t even have an F1 seat, just a young guy being thrown an opportunity, grabbing it with both hands and laser-focused on nailing it.   He said to Mike a couple of weeks ago after the Dutch Grand Prix that all they’d really hoped from him as a fill-in reserve driver is that he didn’t crash the car. And now look at him.   Holland, to Italy, to Singapore – outclassing even top drivers, points for AlphaTauri – unbelievable – and next week Japan.   He feels unstoppable, in the same way the Warriors do at the moment. And I reckon it’s that kind of momentum, energy and focus that grabs us, enthuses us, and keeps us absolutely riveted. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.