Here we are on the brink of another Cobras’ Wednesday night, with another massive rugby game to be played, and another stupendous fines session to be held but before we get ahead of ourselves I believe it’s necessary to realise why this match on Wednesday vs. the Spanners is so important. I find myself sitting at the computer, choosing to write this instead of my sociology course essay that’s due tomorrow, hey you can repeat a course or two but we only got one shot at winning for this year. So lets have a look see at some of the stats: We have played the Spanners all of 3 times and emerged the victors in all three games, with a points difference of positive 33, with the last match being played last year when we won 10-0. Despite this somewhat one sided ‘rivalry’ between us and the Spanners, this game is even more significant as it will be the 50th time that the Cobras run out onto that ‘Green Mile’. Friday night at Tiger I managed to get hold of Graeme ‘the uncle’ Steen as well as Stefan Terblanche, as I pulled them off the dancefloor where they were starting to make their move towards 2 young possibly school girls, I managed to ask them what this big event would mean to them. Stefan, filled with emotion could not bare the though of not being able to run on for this monumental event, faltered briefly before tapping me on the shoulder with a “Do me proud out there Dino”, he then proceeded to grab this unsuspecting girl by the hand and yank into the bathroom, a true master of the art at work – how lucky I was to witness it. On the other hand I was then left with the uncle, who then explained to me how the Cobras had changed is life the last 20 years he’s been playing in the purple and no matter how many tall chicks he cooks dinner on a Wednesday night; the Cobras will remain at the center of his heart. Yes I shed a silent tear in awe of the man.
Anyway... Flashback - 49 games ago, Tom Brukman lead a young and talented side out onto the field for the first time (I was 13 at the time, I know fuuck some of these dudes are old haha). The crowd watched in anticipation as a somewhat unknown Cobras outfit took the field and with a dazzling display of running rugby, running in tries from all angles, the Purple Cobras had arrived onto the UCT internal league scene, the match ended 33-0. Ok exit flashback, back to this week - The Spanners, yes that’s their real name, stupid isn’t it? They have played pretty well this year and they’ll come at us hard as they try to steal that top spot in our group away. So we are going to need a massive performance to annihilate these dudes and crush their dreams at the throat.
I struck gold in the fact I managed to land an interview with Cobras stalwart and veteran flyhalf, Warren Butler himself, I caught him in the middle of his mid afternoon walk in the park with his pre-fiencee, Julz, and managed to persuade her to give me 10 minutes of their precious time. I also attempted to get Ian Armstrong some questions but due to the fact that he hasn’t been at one touch session or captain’s practice this year, I was unable to contact him. Back to the real deal, here it went:
Dino: Can you share with us your pregame ritual and how you get yourself amped to do what you do for what is now your 6th season in the purple and white?
Warren: I have a fairly basic pre-game ritual, which normally starts on a Tuesday night with lots of tossing and turning in bed as I quietly humm myself to sleep to the tune of Kyle, Kyle Rennie. Wednesday's are tough days for me, normally starts with a message onto the Cobras BBM group describing my excitement. I don't make many classes on Wednesday's as I feel it distracts me from the task at hand. I can't sit still for more than 5 minutes, over the years it would have been a walk down to Cavendish from the White House, kicking a ball and talking about the game at Bugs place and these days it normally starts by fetching you from your place, heading to the Cottage to have a game of Tiger Woods, one cup of Coffee (3 sugars on match day) one glass of water, a pass of a ball, past the bottle store to pick up a case and finally onto Cecil where I can't hide a big smile as I see the excitement of The Cobras as they gather for a-nother Co-bras vic-tory!
Dino: It was been an aweome season so far, what has been your best cobras rugby moment so far? and even more, what has been your best cobras 'everything else' moment off the field?
Warren: It has been a great season so far and the new faces in the family really has rejuvinated our vibe and brought a whole new dimension to The Cobras. It's hard to single out a specific on field moment as I feel every game and minute I get on the field is a special occasion in itself, it's such a privilidge to be able to be a part of something like this, and the fact is not many people have or will ever experience something remotely close to this. As for results, the white wash over a tough Wild Boys side was a highlight, also the maturity and composure shown while pushing aside Claredon was also pretty special, although I feel there are far bigger highlights to come! Off the field, has to be the moment when the tents were set up and all the guys gathered around in a cirlce on James Corder's farm in Elgin for the tour welcome, to look around and see 30 of my mates all amped and raring to go really did send shivers down my spine.
Dino: This year we have blooded alot of new faces into the purple and white, if you had to give them advice as young cobras for the next 4-7 years, what words of wisdom would you give them?
Warren: Firstly just to enjoy every single moment of The Cobras, whether it's on the field, standing in the rain as a reserve, sitting in the changeroom drinking a beer...grab every little piece of Cobras you can and hold on tight to it. Also to focus on the finer things, whether it's offering to pour beers, taking water bottles onto the field, running that extra 20 metres to make that final tackle whatever it is, if all the smaller things are done 110%, then everything else will be taken care of. No Regrets!
Dino: With the 'business end' of the competition coming up, how key will our experienced campaigners be in the road to that Illustrous trophey?
Warren: We all know the saying 'You can't buy experience' which is only partly true in our case, as the amount of talent, belief and ability amoungst the younger guys in the side most certainly keeps the older guys on their toes. I feel it won't be the influence of the more experienced guys but rather a combination of the two that will be far more beneficial to the greater cause.
Dino: And finally, tommorrow night, Cobras FTW?
Warren: You bet your fucking life on it!
The man really knows his stuff. Food For thought.
Ok back to details, we are having captain’s run 2moro at half 4 on the C field and dinner at Hudsons. We are meeting at cecil at half 4 sharp on Wednesday, kickoff is at 5.30. On this note with out further a due here’s the starting line up:
1) Shane
2) Warren Handley
3) Poen
4) Tom Horne
5) Fridge
6) Callan ©
7) Evan
8) Dino
9) Brian
10) Warren Butler
11) Stu Black
12) Blanky
13) Cobi
14) Mano
15) Hawski
Beer roster is:
1. Evan
2. Shane
3. Fridge
4. Maarzi
5. Warren H
6. Blanky
7. Mano
8. Khoury
9. Matteo
Camaan lets do this!
OH SO BRAVE.
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