by James Wall of Gardenworld Nursery
It was 2 mates of mine that got me into rugby league and being a Hawthorn supporter all my life, it was certainly a whole new ball game. The first mate Steve, was originally a Sydney boy whose family relocated to Melbourne. He's a diehard Cronulla supporter still waiting for an elusive premiership. The second mate was Ben from Hansa Butchers who had been sponsoring the storm for a few years. He convinced me to sponsor the team, which included Gardenworld providing plants for the three corporate areas at Olympic Park.
The two things that emerged from this was learning how to dress corporate areas with lightweight pots and plants, and enjoying watching a new sport to me, that when you looked past the big hits, also had a bit of strategy to it. Little did I know it would lead to last nights effort of the team gallantly defeating rugby heartland club Parramatta in the Grand Final. It had been a dream run this year, and after the disappointing performance to lose to the NZ warriors in the dying seconds of the home final last year and then Manly in the grand final, it was great to beat Warriors in the last round this year and then Manly in that first final this year which resulted in ending their season.
Gardenworld was a gold player sponsor of none other than Greg Inglis this year and I was fortunate to meet the player and invite him down to Gardenworld. Being a 22 year old, he is not a mad keen gardener - YET. It was a testing year for Greg, with an off field personal issue he had to work through that may have been more challenging than the on field ones. With some time away from the game, Inglis seemed to come back an even better player. Maybe sometimes we do need some time out to be able to see the world from another angle.
Congratulations Melbourne, and as for next year - go Storm !
Greg Inglis meets James Wall
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