By DAVID ROWLANDS
NORTH SHORE TIMES - 23/4/2004
In their previous life, the North Sydney Bears became famous — particularly in the 1970s and ‘80s — for being able to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
But now, as participants in the NSWRL Premier League, they are doing the opposite, forging a reputation as the comeback kids.
After their astonishing recent recovery against Cronulla that opened their account for 2004, the red and blacks found themselves in a similar situation against the Bulldogs last Sunday upon their homecoming to North Sydney Oval.
From 14-0 in arrears after just 10 minutes, the Bears rallied to forge an 18-14 advantage by halftime, in almost identical circum stances to how the Manly-Parramatta NRL match at Brookvale Oval unfolded.
It may have been asking a bit too much for another mini-miracle, however.
At 24-all, the two points were there for the taking as the match lapsed into it’s closing 10 minutes, but that’s where the visitors composure and conditioning told. Two late converted tries made the difference in an entertaining 36-24 verdict.
“Call it the art of
winning,”
said Norths general manager Greg Florimo. “I think it probably showed
the
difference between an NRL club and a non-NRL club, because their
players are
exposed to that higher level of intensity in their training and they
were able
to pick up the pace when they needed too.”
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