rubber duckie wrote:
Purple Aki is notorious not a legend...a huge difference.
I think he means PA is a legend in the way that he is a character surrounded by myth and stories in the local area.
Nat Wood is also a legend as I heard plenty of tall stories about him.
Did he really take a replica firearm on to the field in his socks to see if he could get it past the ref who would be checking whether the arm padding was legitimate?
Could he grab on to the side of the goalposts and extend his body at 90 degrees to the ground?
Did he tell all his teammates that he was Keanu Reeves stunt double in the Matrix?
Was he set to sign for Wigan as a replacement for Adrian Lam but then turned them down to stay with us?
All these are stories I've heard about Nat Wood. Truth or fiction, who knows, that's the sign of legend.
Watching that clip of his hat-trick against Wigan takes me back. You can see why he was so popular with fans as well as team mates, look at the energy he brought to the team when he had the ball. He was one of the best running halfbacks I've ever seen. A lot of the players that are known as running halfbacks are basically guys with pace who are good support runners, like McGuire, Myler and Gale, and have a great try scoring record. Wood ran at people and beat them one on one. He had superb footwork and balance and could turn defenders inside out even though he didn't have express pace, it also helped that he was stocky and strong so close to the line he could shrug off tackles.
Another incredibly likeable thing about Wood was his attitude to playing for us. We've had other overseas players to whom it seemed like Warrington were an option when they couldn't get a deal in the NRL, their agent fixed them up here on good money, they came over, went through the motions without ever really looking invested in the club, before going home or retiring. Wood completely got stuck in and showed real enjoyment and pride in playing for the club. He came to us aged 30, and I think he had the hunger of a player who had had an unfulfilled career up till then, as he'd been a bench player/understudy for Lam and Fittler at the Roosters for a long time, despite being an obvious talent and well regarded in the NRL. Wire gave him the chance to be the main man and he revelled in that.
Looking back to the Paul Cullen era, you can split it in to two halves: first half of hope, pride, exciting games on Sky and a feeling of the club heading in the right direction; second half of mounting frustration that despite the squad getting better on paper with more and more big signings, the performances were slipping slowly backwards. The dividing line was the point Nat Wood left. 14 years on and we have yet to sign a halfback as good as him apart from Sandow for a half season. Blake Austin looks like he might have similar qualities so fingers crossed.
