Durante's program for perfection

THE NEWCASTLE HERALD

SATURDAY MID-AFTERNOON (leave Newcastle United Sports Club)

It was crazy. We all met at the Adamstown club and there were a lot of supporters already up the front waiting for the bus to leave. We thought that was pretty much it. Then we were heading down the road past EnergyAustralia Stadium and there were heaps of cars along the sides of the road and flags waving out of all of the cars. As we headed out towards the freeway there were even more cars lined up on the side of the road. It was just unbelievable. That played a big part, I'm sure, in all of the boys' thoughts before we went out to the game.

SATURDAY EVENING (arrive Crown Plaza, Coogee)

After dinner, Dutchy [Jets coach Gary van Egmond] and Jonesy [assistant coach Mark Jones] put a video session on for us. We spoke about things we needed to do some tactics and stuff. Straight after that, [captain] Jade [North] pulled all of the boys together to stay behind. He wanted each player to say what winning the grand final would mean to them and what they will do to play their part in helping make sure we get the title. It was a bit emotional, actually, because when it's a group of boys, you don't really speak from the heart. It's always a bit of mucking around and taking the piss a bit. To hear each player talk about what it meant to them, and what they're going to do to help win the game the next day, was pretty powerful stuff. We normally play poker the night before games but we decided to have an early night and to get into bed early and just concentrate on the game the next day.

SUNDAY MID-MORNING

We got up and had breakfast then went for the usual jog down to a local park and did a couple of laps. We then got together and had some lunch around 11.30 to 12 o'clock. We had our own time until 2.30 then we got on the bus and headed straight to the stadium.

SUNDAY 3PM (arrive Sydney Football Stadium for pre-match preparations)

There was heaps and heaps of Jets fans, and they were all screaming and waving flags around. We went into the change room and that's when we started preparing for the game. Dutchy put the formation up on the board because we still weren't sure if we were going to definitely play the three at the back or stick to the four, but he made his decision and we all saw what he wanted us to do in that formation. Then a policeman came to the door and asked Jonesy could he get a Jets jersey signed. Jonesy was a bit hesitant because we don't normally sign stuff just before a game, but he said why he wanted it signed. Apparently his brother had died the night before and requested that he be buried in the Jets jersey. Dutchy told us the story of why we're signing this jersey and just said it spoke volumes of what we've created up here in the Hunter that this guy, on his deathbed, wanted to get buried in a Jets jersey signed by the players. That was his dying wish. That was pretty huge for us. We all took that in massively when we heard about that.

SUNDAY 5PM (kick-off)

The walk out was incredible when the fans on both sides were cheering. I got goose bumps. Going out there was incredible the noise that was going around the stadium, seeing all of the gold ribbons and flags being waved in the stadium was an incredible feeling. We were just trying to soak it all up. It just lifts you another level to hear all of the fans and all of the supporters get behind you. We could hear them throughout the whole game they were jumping around and singing non-stop. Normally, when I finish a game, I don't really remember how noisy the crowd was, but it stuck in my mind how vocal they were with the Newcastle chant. The whole game they were pretty much supporting us. There wasn't a time where it was quiet in the game.

THE GAME

I remember most of it. I thought the first half of the game we were extremely dominant. They didn't know what hit them for at least the first half an hour, then the game sort of settled a bit. They came out in the second half and probably put us on the back foot a little bit at the start of the second half, but we stuck to our game plan. Bridgey [Mark Bridge] got that crucial goal which sort of opened up the game a bit more because they pushed on a bit further and pushed three up front eventually, so we went back to a back four. I just think, tactically, Dutchy's decisions were pretty much the reason why we won the game.

THE GOAL

It was unbelievable. To see Bridgey pinch the ball off Tony Vidmar at the back there and to show a cool head and finish it like that in a grand final speaks volumes about Bridgey and the kind of character that he is. And then the crowd was just crazy. It was fantastic.

THE FINAL WHISTLE

I can't even think of the word to tell you how good it was it was unbelievable. You dream about getting an A-League medal and winning the trophy in Australia, and we did it that day. The feeling between the boys is something that will stick with us forever.

WINNING THE JOE MARSTON MEDAL FOR PLAYER OF THE GRAND FINAL

That was very emotional for me. I've had a bit of bad luck in my career with a broken leg and just missing out on grand finals for certain reasons. To win it was unbelievable, but to get player of the match was beyond my wildest dreams. I didn't even consider that before the game to go out there and try to get man of the match. I just played as good as I could. To get that was a huge honour.

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