For me it was always Smeltzy that made the difference. And Daniel.
He came off that game against Wales where he looked like a stone cold gold scorer. And then Daniel’s equalizer in the first game.
Browny’s goals against Sydney and anyone in fact. That Melbourne game when he bounced one in.
But it was that goal from Smeltzy against Melbourne that made we think we weren’t NZ teams I’d seen before, making up the numbers and kind of apologising for playing football when it got serious. We could be a class act.
We’d always it seemed had guys like Ivan or Ryan in NZ, or that is to say our better players were often defenders, but Smeltz could score off his left or right peg, with his head, from distance or the six yard line, a finish after a swift counter or through bodies after a corner.
I guess this shows my football age that I didn’t see prime Wynton and also the pre-internet age where overseas could be the moon for any chance we’d see coverage, but yeh, for me Smeltzy was the guy that showed the club could and would be something different. With a very decent support cast.
Edit: Actually looking back, and thinking about what Uffie said about your signings being a big part of the job, this was one thing that Ricki really was able to get right in those first couple of years with Smeltzy and a fair bunch of decent All Whites behind him.
He came off that game against Wales where he looked like a stone cold gold scorer. And then Daniel’s equalizer in the first game.
Browny’s goals against Sydney and anyone in fact. That Melbourne game when he bounced one in.
But it was that goal from Smeltzy against Melbourne that made we think we weren’t NZ teams I’d seen before, making up the numbers and kind of apologising for playing football when it got serious. We could be a class act.
We’d always it seemed had guys like Ivan or Ryan in NZ, or that is to say our better players were often defenders, but Smeltz could score off his left or right peg, with his head, from distance or the six yard line, a finish after a swift counter or through bodies after a corner.
I guess this shows my football age that I didn’t see prime Wynton and also the pre-internet age where overseas could be the moon for any chance we’d see coverage, but yeh, for me Smeltzy was the guy that showed the club could and would be something different. With a very decent support cast.
Edit: Actually looking back, and thinking about what Uffie said about your signings being a big part of the job, this was one thing that Ricki really was able to get right in those first couple of years with Smeltzy and a fair bunch of decent All Whites behind him.