Key events
Preamble
The West Wing’s Toby Ziegler once stated: “They’ll like us when we win!” In the show, this was a questionable justification for yet another US war, but the sentiment probably sits well with the Lions head coach.
It is oft repeated that Andy Farrell is a winner and this has broadly been true of his career (if you discount Ireland progressing beyond the quarter finals of a World Cup; but you can’t expect one man – however impressive – to solve that particular historical psychodrama). With the series is already won hopes were raised of something resembling a banter team selection for Lions in this cherry-on-the-top third test. To expect this is to misunderstand Farrell and his history.
His 13 years as a player at Wigan delivered 15 trophies in their continued domination of rugby league from the 1980s. Key to this domination was the culture of his hometown club. Rugby league was never a fully professional sport, with players working to supplement the modest income from the game and Wigan was the first team to change that. Wigan made the move to full professionalism in the middle of Thatcher’s decade and ushered the period of their boot relentlessly stamping on the face of the sport for the best part of two decades. No one else had the money, the desire or the sheer bloody-mindedness to pull it off.
Was it fair? Debatable. Was it fun for anyone else? I can speak from personal experience as a non-Wiganer it absolutely was not. Was it successful? Hell, yeah!
This unyielding approach arrives in Sydney in a few hours, because they’ll like us when we win.
