Parramatta Eels 28
Brisbane Broncos 14
The Good: |
Well, this could be a lengthy entry. What a ridiculously good performance, particularly after the first 7 minutes looked so ominous. Where do I begin?
How about with 5 numbers – 108, 119, 146, 152 and 158? The metres gained by our back 5 (French, Taka, Auva’a, Semi and Jenko in order) against a much more fancied Broncos opposition. How about somehow picking ourselves up off the canvas (we surely neared a proverbial 8 count), and not only responded to make it a contest, we then went on to dominant a Top 4 fancied side 28-2 in the final 73 minutes? How about the play of Mitchell Moses, a game so good that the continued return of Corey’s running game almost went unnoticed? How about another herculean effort from Nathan Brown? What about Timmy Mannah’s return to form? What about that freaking kick return from Suaia Matagi?! If it were possible, I’d get all 80 minutes of this game tattooed across my back. Brace yourself sports fans, there’s going to be a lot of As tonight. |
The Bad: |
If you scored 73 out of 80 in a test you’d be pretty stoked, right? I know I certainly would be. Yet evidently BA wouldn’t, and that’s kinda what we love about him. He won’t stop until we’re a 100% team, and if tonight is anything to go by, if we ever get there, the rest of the NRL better look out.
Last week I wrestled with all the different ‘bad’ aspects of our game, outside of the first 7 minutes, and a wayward, deflating pass from Semi that sailed into the fourth row, I have struggled to come up with some. The 28 missed tackles aren’t ideal, but I’ll be honest with you, after a win like that, I couldn’t care less. It was still all heart, all energy, all brutality. It took me back to our 2015/2016 seasons where we weren’t always the biggest pack on the park, but we usually hit the hardest. Tonight’s contest was brutal, almost gladiatorial, and it was us, our midget pack, who came out well on top. And sure, I could talk about the Kenny controversy, but I’m sure social media’s commentary is much more colourful than anything I could come up with. Kenny’s reflections are an interesting add, however:
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X-Factor: |
I think it’s worth noting how many extra tries we almost scored. Sure, if it wasn’t for a miracle Radradra tackle the Broncs would have had another four pointer themselves, but we had the Moses ankle tap, Corey dropping a sitter and the Corey obstruction call (which for the record, I completely agree with, don’t @ me).
Ashley Klein not being a total ass clown also completely threw me off. On a personal note, shout out to my wife for becoming an Eels fan before kick off tonight. She grew up in Brisbane and so has been a Broncos fan her whole life. Tonight she surprised me by turning up at the game in Blue & Gold, and I almost shed a tear when she booed Sam Thaiday. |
The MVP:
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Brown was once again incredible (he could take the prize every week, and will surely be our player of the year). Taka also backed up last week’s brilliance with another blinder. Cameron King was terrific, Bevan French was stellar, Semi Radradra a force, Corey Norman elusive, Kenny Edwards ferocious, Manu Ma’u was at his terrifying best.
But again, we’re not half the team we were tonight without that skinny little number 7 who almost single handedly got us back in the contest, and then masterfully steered us home to victory. I thought we’d be pretty good when Mitchell arrived, but if he keeps on improving as he has already done, we could be a downright scary prospect going forward. Mitchell Moses, you the MVP.
Me too, Clint. Me too. |
The Starters
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1- Bevan FrenchFullback, Parramatta Eels Back to his best at the back tonight, as the rest of the world saw why BA is so adamant he’s our Number 1 Number 1. Besides his aforementioned 108 running metres, French Fries had a whopping 6 tackle breaks, 2 line breaks and a couple of try saving tackles. That’s Champagne stuff from Air France. |
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2- Semi RadradraLeft Wing, Parramatta Eels Ok, yes, that pass over the sideline destroyed our momentum. Luckily for Bula he was also single handedly responsible for creating it on numerous other occasions. His 2nd and 3rd tackle hit ups in our 20 are worth their weight in gold, earning him his 152 running metres tonight. He looked enthusiastic, he looked aggressive and was mostly solid in defence. Strangely for Semi there was no try tonight (even more so at ANZ where he’s had more tries than you’ve had hot dinners), and even stranger not a single tackle break. There must be a glitch in the Matrix. |
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3- Michael JenningsRight Centre, Parramatta Eels A simple switch of sides has taken the solid play of our centre three quarter, and super sized his impact. BA brilliance or unsustainable fluke? Time will tell. Nonetheless, I do love him on the right and I did love his game tonight. (I do not like green eggs and ham, I do not like them Sam I Am). A backline leading 158 metres, and a couple of tackle breaks for good measure punctuate a victory in the b-b-b-Battle of the Jets with James Roberts. As an aside, even though we didn’t score from it, Jenko’s break after the Matagi hit up was maybe my favourite moment of the game; I look forward to watching that moment over and over. |
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4- Brad TakairangiLeft Centre, Parramatta Eels I said it last week, and I’ll say it again – I love it when Taka just tucks the ball under the arm and charges at the defence (14 runs for 119m this week). I was not alone in my horror when Taka grabbed at his knee with a few minutes to go (particularly as at the same time Nathan Brown was in Disneyland), but was similarly relieved when he walked away unscathed. The team and Taka are in a sweet spot at the moment, whereas the team coached by the man who rejected both Taka and the Eels flounders in 10th position. We’re very glad you rose above it Bradley. |
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5- Kirisome Auva’aRight Wing, Parramatta Eels Glory, glory to Kirisome; our Bunnies import redemption story two try hero. What a game he had, and what a huge signing he’s been. For a new recruit this bloke certainly bleeds Blue & Gold. I must admit, I was pleasantly surprised the Broncos didn’t send more bombs his way, but his value is always going to be his running game, and run tonight he did – 14 runs for 146m, 2 line breaks and 2 tackle breaks and the aforementioned 2 tries for the man they call ‘Somi’. Cracking game, big fella.
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6- Corey NormanFive-Eighth, Parramatta Eels The long awaited return of the run has made its way back to ANZ Stadium the last couple of weeks, as tonight Corey churned out 67 metres (from 5 scurries), albeit this is 40 or so less metres than he would have had if he wasn’t somewhat controversially called back for a shepherd (which was definitely a shepherd by the way, don’t @ me). Corey made 36 passes, 3 tackle breaks, 1 line break, 5 kicks, but most pleasing is his continued rhythm with his partner in crime, below. |
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7- Mitchell MosesHalfback, Parramatta Eels Brilliant kicking, terrific vision and some solid passing. Only 2 missed tackles once again, including him falling off at least one trying to hobble around injured in the shadows of half time. Mitch had 30 passes himself, and 11 kicks, so a little more dominant than Corey tonight, but that may have simply been a result of Corey’s running game. As touched on above, the combination and direction these two together are providing the Eels is simply invaluable, and I believe the biggest reason we’ve won 5 on the trot. Although some of these games were sans-Corey, it’s also worth updating our win/loss record with Mitchell in the side; it now sits at 7-2. In unrelated news the Tigers have gone 1-7 in the same period. |
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8- Siosaia VaveProp, Parramatta Eels Viva la Vave! Ok, so we’ve come down from the high of last week’s performance, but his 71 metres (from 8) were more than welcome. Besides, that first 7 minutes wasn’t really the time for our big bloke to be chasing James Roberts all over the park. Just the way it goes, sometimes. |
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9- Cameron KingHooker, Parramatta Eels The other King stuck it out for the full 80 and is surely playing himself closer to that elusive contract extension. Sure, he might have missed a team high 4 tackles, but also made 36, to add to 4 scoots from dummy half and 105 passes without a single error. Cameron also continues to reveal an increasingly handy kicking game. |
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10- Tim Mannah (c)Prop, Parramatta Eels How on earth anyone can get through 123 running metres (from 11 hit ups) in 29 minutes is beyond me. Tim also had 11 tackles and as far as I’m aware zero HIAs. That’s a win for our good Captain.
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11- Manu Ma’uBack Row, Parramatta Eels Is it just me or has Manu bulked up? Evidently there’s plenty of protein in the tears of his enemies. A frighteningly solid 132 metres (from 13 hit ups), 2 tackle breaks, and 32 tackles in another 80 minute performance from Monster Mash. |
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12- Tepai MoeroaBack Row, Parramatta Eels Our first try looked like Tepai was taking a stroll in the park, came across a football and simply fell on it. I don’t understand where the Broncos players were hiding (Darius in the defensive line, no doubt), or why Tepai was able to simply slip by undetected. Nonetheless, a huge moment. A much more pleasing 88 metres from Tepai tonight (from 9 hit ups), along with his standard solid helping of tackles (27). Good stuff Tep, you try scoring machine. |
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13- Nathan BrownLock, Parramatta Eels What’s that, Bad Dog Brown? You lead the team in tackles (45) and running metres (205) again tonight? You’re asking why I didn’t give you MVP for the millionth time this year? The constant nagging about my MVP awards is getting old, man. Your stellar contributions to our team performance, however, are most certainly not. Dear football department, I know you’re reading this – please just extend him until the end of time. |
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Interchange
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14- Daniel AlvaroInterchange, Parramatta Eels The Polar Bear Express (trademarked to someone sitting behind me at the game tonight) had only 68 metres (from 8), but added a whopping 42 tackles, breaking two Broncos tackles himself. More solid improvement from Danny Boy. Ps – Shout out to all the good people sitting behind me tonight. |
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15- Kenny EdwardsInterchange, Parramatta Eels I’m sorry Twitter, there’s enough outrage already out there for 10 posts on Kedwards, so I’ll just report his stats. Just 9 runs, but 111 metres, 5 freakin’ tackle breaks and a line break assist. If he makes his way to the NRL Judiciary this week, so be it, but I still loved his game tonight. Sure the hit in question was misjudged, but no one was hurt and Kenny’s first contact was arguably with the ball so maybe, just maybe, everyone should just move on with their lives and talk to their families again.
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16- Suaia MatagiInterchange, Parramatta Eels That hit up / line break from kick off has changed the trajectory of my life. Only 7 runs for 85 metres (is that right?), but an impact that will haunt Broncos defensive lines for generations to come. Unleash the Matagi. |
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19- Peni TerepoInterchange, Parramatta Eels Welcome back into the fray, Penepo. Only 15 minutes for The Butcher tonight, but it was nonetheless great to see him back out there after such a long lay off. |
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Admit it, you made a face like this at least once tonight.
So that makes it 5 in a row for the first time since 2009, and it feels good.
Go you Eels,
Mitch.
Photos courtesy of the Parramatta Eels. Stats courtesy of Champion Data.
All smiles from me!! Ps. I called Danny the Polar Express sooo long ago 😉 haha.
Happy happy parra fan!
Yeah, it’s a great call and was no doubt not the first time it’s been said. Kudos to you too then Gem!
Just would have felt bad nicking from the people behind me without credit.
See Triple A below – another solid moniker.
Go the freaking Eels.
Hey, Mitch,
It may well have been me you heard last night yelling “go Polar express”. But yeah, probably not the first to call him this. I’ve sometimes also called “Daniel-son” as in karate kid.
And the cries for Tim Mannah’s head have finally faded after that cracking effort. He’s baaack!
“Stop Mannah Time”
BTW – I’m the bloke who said hi just after the game two rows behind you.
Ah good sir, thanks for stopping by at The Throw! It certainly was you, hope you liked the shout out.
Always a pleasure to sit near passionate Eels fans such as yourselves. I think your girls’ signs are the reason my mug continues to find its way onto TV screens nationwide.
Looking forward to more games near you guys in the future mate.
Come on Mitch. Give Gem the credit now.😀 How good was that win, Gem!
Awesome write up mate. Go the eels
Thanks mate. What a night.
Triple A had an awesome game on the wing, I had written him off as a winger it was centre or no spot in the 17 but tonight he showed he can be a finisher. That side line run was beautiful to watch.
Note : I can’t pronounce Auva’a so from the start of the year bay 131 has been calling him Triple A.
Killer name! I might adopt it if that’s alright!
I THINK I’m right when I say it’s pronounced ah-ha-va.
Triple A also works, however.
Ah oo va ah
Awesome performance from the boys tonight. There wasn’t a bad player in the whole 17 and gee isn’t it nice to get a win over the Broncos.
Seriously. Game of this year and maybe 4 or 5 years. What a win.
Nice one Miatch.
Moses – what a wonderful signing. And his defense has risen 5 notches. Very tough as well.
Special mention to Taka for mine. Ran like an extra forward all night.
Woooohoooo 🐴🐴🐴🐴
I’ve fallen in love with Mitch’s game. He completely changed our side. Completely.
His defence has been very solid too. Great to see.
Taka has been on fire last two weeks in particular.
His goal kicking is not half bad either. Never looked like missing a shot.
I believe that’s the third time this year Browny has done the 200m+ 40+ tackles in the one game. Only other player to do that is Taumalolo, wouldn’t know how many times he’s done it though.
Gotta be our Ken thornett medalist you’d think? Surely.
Has to be. His stats are up there with the best in the NRL. Surely we’ll having him put pen to paper on an extension before the year’s out?
BA wants to extend him, Brown wants to stay.
Those scenarios usually work out pretty well.
The best game, a great write up Mitch. So happy to see a great result, for the team, from all that effort at training. Well done team and I am so proud to be a member of this club.
The club thanks you. Tonight we got our season’s worth in membership fees IMO. What a win.
Yes Pete, isn’t it great to see reward for effort!
Great write up to go with a great game Mitch. Nice to read the Mrs has seen the light too.
She said some beautiful things I can’t repeat about Sam Thaiday *tear
Conversion from Broncos to Eels! Mitch, you miracle worker. It’s a beautiful thang.
What a night.
So the night got even better later? Wow!
You’re out of control.
Good write up Mitch.
I like you will be watching replays over n over again of matagi busting the line for jet boots Jennings to make the break.
You weren’t wrong in saying there’s going to be lot’s of A’s but all well earned.
Moses has been a god send since his come home. Yes …eels jr …. tiger fans.
His combo with Norman is starting to Bear fruits. It will be even better after a offseason together.
On our forwards they really muscled up last night. Working as a unit good to see. But further more we have to maintain this level of playing.
I see us beating the bore dogs they attack is well flat lined. If parra played like last night the game vs bore dogs will be over by half time.
#Eels4life#
I’ll say it again, I’ll take a one point win. Never take any NRL team for granted.
Perfect Sixties. Completely agree.
I think the difference last night was that they were patient and stuck to the game plan and let the weight of possession and time in the Broncos half to get the points. A lot different to last week where they seemed to be rushing everything.
Love your work Mitch
PS – I struggled to get to sleep last night after returning from ANZ. What a game – what a high!
You should write the Post Game Grades while I sleep!
Thanks Susan.
Very generous with the A’s Mitch – and deservedly so. Your summary is spot on. Win was so much sweeter after the slow start prompted memories of the Roosters. The team was so purposeful and patient – a real maturing which sets the standard going forward. Hope your retaining your holiday chill karma.
Always good to hear from an old friend DDay.
The chill was in jeopardy 7 minutes in, I can tell you that much.
Very chilled now, however.
Excellent grades all round, I bet it was a pleasure to write that one.
Thank you to everyone at our club, administrators, fans and most importantly our wonderful players and coaches. Our great club is back and we have such a bright future.
My son was so upset all week about Gutho but as we were going back to the car last night he just kept saying ‘wow mum, what a game’, with a beaming smile on his face. Priceless moment and if he wasn’t already he will definitely be an eel for life. It made for a wonderful trip home in the car.
Yes they played with so much spirit and toughness, but we have skill, both in our forwards and classy backs, that most other teams would kill for. At the footy this morning at my sons game and everyone is talking Parra and how fun they are to watch with all the skill. Most are not Parra supporters but admire the resilience of the team and supporters. It is so good to have and hear these comments as compared with the talk last year about all the trouble.
What a proud night for fans, players and everyone behind the scenes that make this club and kept it going through all the dark times.
Moses and Brown what brilliant recruitment. We have a footy staff with a good eye for talent.
Go Parra!
It felt like nothing staying up writing the Grades, I just couldnt get the smile off my face – much like your young bloke.
I didn’t think Brown would be anywhere near as good as he is, and Gutho is maybe/probably/possibly our best player. Mitchell Moses played incredibly well last night, and that gap between his best and worst is beginning to close.
Just superb all round for all things Parra.
Mitch, I need to find my pre-season training report where I wrote:
“Remember this name – Nathan Brown”
I’m gonna boast – I called it!
Ha true true. In the sake of fairness and transparency surely we should also list all the predictions you misjudged too?
I thought this game along with our Manly game was the best of the year. I hope we can play Manly again in the finals so we can smash them again! 🙂
Also, it was brilliant to see Mannah troubling the Brisbane line with every hit up. They have no answer to his ability to find the ground in the tackle!
I couldn’t believe the impact he had in such a relatively short stint.
Unless you can alert me to another occasion, off the top of my head I think that was Tim’s best game of the season.
What! only a B+ for King, put your glasses on Mitch. I don’t remember when he came into the team but have we lost yet with him in? A really great contribution from him. He’s not as explosive as KP but doesn’t have to be, AND his passes from dh are always spot on and crisp (whereas many of KP’s were borderline).
Ha I don’t mind criticism for marking our players too lightly, but I’m grading tonight’s performance, not his all around impact. With that said, B+ is a very, very good grade.
To answer your question however, no – Cameron King is yet to lose a game in the Blue & Gold; he’s 4-0.
Completely agree re the quality of his service. Would love nothing more than for him to get another contract for next season. He’s made an outstanding contribution to our team.
Oh Dear Mitch – you are such a hard marker ! How about an A to A- for THE TEAM as it was a total team performance. And how about the NEW Mitchell Moses for Mitchell Moses – forget the comparison with past players he is here and now! His was a gutsy stellar performance I am just a little worried about how he can be protected a bit more.
GO EELS
A hard marker? I gave out 9 As!
Just for you Alan – our team performance last night: A+. One of the best games I’ve seen the Eels play in years.
Wasn’t able to watch the game live, instead watched the game when i came home at 11pm. From what my tired eyes could pick up i thought Alvaro had arguably his best game this season, being so devastating in defence and his runs becoming more damaging. The stand out for me though was Manu Ma’u. He was absolutely throwing himself at the defensive line with so much energy – almost brought a tear to me eye!
I love it when he makes opposition players question their desire to continue in the game.
It’s beautiful to watch.
What about the Ron Coote around the legs cover tackle in the second half by Manu.
On James Roberts? Taka had a similar tackle in the first half if memory serves me correctly.
There were plenty of highlights as above, but after watching the replay, there was actually very little that we did that was all that flashy – it even felt a little Storm-esque. With that said, I don’t care how we win them, I just enjoy winning them.
It’s as though you hadn’t seen Norman’s running game last week.
Yeah that’s fair, but I feel the re-emergence is ongoing.
Maybe it was a case that I was just struck about his tackle breaks last night (when I think he had 0 last week) – a key feature of Corey’s peak running game. The run post shepherd also stuck in my mind a bit too, although it didn’t actually count.
He’s certainly coming into some form.
Nice time for it, too.
In a game of many highlights, one of the match highlights for me was Matagi’s run from the kick off after he came on at about the 70th minute. My seats are behind the Eels bench and he did not look happy about waiting so long to run on. When he took that run from the kick off, Bronco’s players just realed back from the impact. Then to get the pass away to MJ it simply deserved a try.
It’s made a big impact on the person I am today.
A special night to be an Eels fan.
Great read Mitch; have it right this week mate.
Superb work on the lady mate; she’s seen the blue n gold.
Alvaro was superb…..and the entire pack v good. King is becoming one of my favs. He seems smart and has the versatility we need; with some deft touches.
How good was it on 9 later to see BA embrace his own boys and Guth…nice work.
For me we need to replicate this effort again on Thursday. Make a real statement like an Exclamation mark in the NAPLAN…….
We make no apologies for our unabashed fandom of BA here at TCT.
Good to put a smile on Gutho’s face re footy too.
I know kennys a wild man but hes our enforcer and i will put up with his odd brain snap because of what he generates within the team , all good teams need someone like him , hed be in 15 other teams if they could get him but he loves parra and competes like does,!!!!!!!!
Forty made special mention of Kenny’s shot in Whiskey Musings. It added to the forward dominance last night.
He is just so damn talented. To be honest, despite the hysteria from the rest of the rugby league world, I loved his game last night.
Brutal and uncompromising defence, straight and hard running with the ball.
He is just so effective.
You only have to watch his passion in the team song , thats what he brings to our game every week mitch .
Love that he’s recognised some potential weaknesses, but still wants to play with all that intensity.
I need to watch the game again. I did not think that he made contact with the head of the winger.
Highly impressed with the game from Cameron King, He’s really making a go at his opportunity. Personally, I think he has a more complete game than Kaysa offered, which is further aiding the halves.
I really didn’t the first 7 minutes were that bad. Sure we got stretched out wide twice, but we had solid sets of 6 in that time and aside from those 2 tries the defence was still solid,
Really pleasantly surprised how we could lose our starting hooker for the season (after losing IDG already) and barely skip a beat.
Speaks to the outstanding ability of Cameron King to come in and make it work.
I agree, I’ve been pleasantly surprised with Cameron King. His service from dummy half has been crisp and also adds another dimension to the kicking game.
A potential dilemma looks like it may arise with the possibility of Kaysa’s return. Personally I’m leaning towards (if I was coach, which I’m not) keeping King. But this does throw an interesting spanner in the mix.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/nrl/eels-get-boost-with-likely-return-of-beau-scott-kaysa-pritchard/news-story/a0ab210781468c3fe313c9bf3d7e0333
As it’s been with the “how do we fit Taka and Hoff when healthy” issue, these problems (often unfortunately) tend to take care of themselves.
A two punch combo of Smith/Kaysa/King wouldn’t seem out of place for mine, particularly considering that if Kaysa is fit to return (a big if) he will be coming back in during Finals football – a huge ask regarding fitness/intensity.
I don’t suspect it will be an issue one way or the other. Beau Scott, if available, on the other hand I think is a more worthwhile consideration.
As I said the other day I travelled down from the central coast after work with my son & what a game we both loved it. So many highlights Semi’s try saver on Roberts right in front of us was a ripper & so important at the time, but our favourite highlite was Matagi’s charge & offload we jumped up out of our seat, ran to the top of the stairs loving life, until Semi passed the ball over the sideline then I thought we should sit back in our seats before we jinxed them. In fact my son follows the Parra boys on twitter or snapchat not sure what one. He wrote to Matagi saying move over Taumalolo the NRL has a new wrecking ball & Matagi replied thanks Champ, my son took a photo & text me from school I thought it was great & maid our day good on Matagi. Back to the match amazing win & I believe there is a lot more to come we got back about 1:15 am & put the game on & watched it again, go the Mighty Eels
It was a terrific win, and for the context of the game, unbelievable.
Outside of the Moses pass, it wasn’t flashy or filled with Bevan French esque magic – it was solid and gritty and brutal. But what a win.
Thanks to this post, it was also a very late night for me Friday night, but like you and your son I suspect, I didn’t care.