I just want to win something!

As I sat and watched Brisbane Roar players and fans celebrate their miraculous comeback and victory in the penalty shootout of last weekends A-League final I was left with a sense of emptiness. A sense of longing and wondering…. What would that feel like? What would it be like to support a team that actually won something?!

Years of supporting the Chiefs, Bay of Plenty, The Nix, Black Caps, Warriors and of course Arsenal leaves me with a serious sense of emptiness. Maybe the All Whites qualifying for South Africa qualifies but that was more of a one enough moment as opposed to season long euphoria of supporting a dominant side or the ecstasy of a playoff run and a grand final victory. Bay of Plenty’s Ranfurly Shield victory was perhaps the greatest day of my life and came on the back of a catalogue of Ranfurly Shield tragedies, that can only be matched by Wellington, but again it was a one off victory that lacked that long term feeling of contentment (not that I haven’t been dining out on it ever since!).

I can’t imagine what it would be like to watch the captain of your team lift a trophy that has for so long eluded us. I’ve dared to believe with the Warriors before, the Phoenix of 09/10 gave me a fleeting moment of dreaming but dreaming and believing that amounts to nothing is oh so painful.

So where will a trophy come from? The obvious one is Richie lifting up a little piece of gold in October. Every World Cup I picture myself standing amongst hundreds of countrymen, hands in the air belting out a rousing rendition of “We are the Champions” but as we all know that’s never come through. Surely this year, Party Central in Auckland will resound with the sounds of binge drinking Kiwis being completely ungracious winners???? Surely, it has to…… Because I really want to win something!