Our squad met and flew out of Dublin airport on Tuesday morning. The flight was 7 and a quarter hours straight through to Philadelphia. As soon as we landed we were whisked straight over to our hotel for the night. As soon as we checked in, we were given the rest of the evening off, so everyone decided to have a team meal and head in to checkout downtown Philadelphia.
The time difference is 4 hours behind. So after we landed everyone felt exhausted even the though our watches said it was still only early evening. The excitement of being in a new city helped us hold off the tiredness for a couple of hours. I've been to the states plenty of times before, but it always hits me how big and bold it is. There's so much to take in.
Wednesday morning the tour really kicked off. We were taken to the crown plaza over the border in new jersey to check in for the rest of our stay. This place is really impressive. But just as we thought we'd have this swanky hotel all to ourselves, the USA squad began to arrive and check in. I've stayed in the same place as opponents before and the atmosphere can get really tense in the build up to the game. Rugby league is not the kind of sport that you hold grudges and you can guarantee that after the full-time whistle, we'll all be good mates, but it's just human nature to separate yourselves from your rivals and weigh up your opposite number.
We haven't learned anything new about the USA squad. We knew that they would be big physical and athletic; and we knew that we would have to play faster and smarter to beat them... But my god, these blokes are huge. It will be a real David and Goliath battle, but we've been preparing for that for months.
Yesterday was the formal welcome for both squads. We were driven to city hall to meet the mayor of philadelphia and the councillors. It was a great big event with media and photo opportunities. The whole city seemed to be celebrating St Patricks day. There were green banners and Irish flags everywhere. Business men were wearing green ties and everyone we spoke to seemed to have some proud Irish connection. It was very welcoming and it was amazing to be part of. Meanwhile, the ireland captain brendan guilfoyle and another member of our squad Ross bergin went over to the NBC studios to be filmed for their10 show (like itv this morning). Two of the USA players were there too to promote the game on St Patricks day. The media even came down to watch us train, taking photos of practice and interviewing the coaches.
It didn't stop there. We had a promo event on St Patricks day evening with both squads for the sponsors. The streets and bars were packed with people celebrating St Patricks day and we were the centre of attention anywhere we went. It was probably something to do with our green and black team tracksuits- no one could miss us. Needless to say both squads kept themselves very separate. And the atmosphere was abit edgy at times but it's time for us to concentrate on preparations for the test match on Saturday.
I still haven't ran up the rocky steps singing 'eye of the tiger'... Yet
No comments:
Post a Comment