Farewell Petero

 

Welcome you all who came to visit my blog article on this special event!. This was a NRL match where Broncos fans wished farewell to their much beloved player Petero Civoniceva for Broncos. 

Suncorp  Stadium located at Milton ( Brisbane suburb ) is the home  to the Brisbane Broncos, QLD Reds, QLD Roar, Socceroos, and the Kangaroos! So on the this beautiful Friday afternoon we gathered here to say farewell  to much loved Petero Civoniceva of the Broncos .

With me ( on the Right ) are my fellow ambassadors who came to watch this special event !  and not forgetting to mention our fellow Ambassador Shao who took this pic for us !

Here is the ticket that went to my little box of collectables!! I have a whole bunch of tickets there with special memories. Broncos played with Panthers on this day. 

Here he is . Playing atr number 10, the man who is destined to become the star and the hero of today’s match, Petero! he will be getting his well-deserved Farwell soon after this game…but before that..he has a game to win!

Civoniceva, 36, has played 306 NRL games, 231 for the Broncos and 75 for Penrith. He has played 45 Tests for Australia and 33 Origin games for Queensland.

To honor this feats by Petero, the management has agreed to allow supporters on to the field after fulltime, as they did for last year's emotional farewell to Broncos skipper Darren Locker.

"Stadium administration recognizes what Petero has done for the Broncos and Queensland, and have kindly afforded him the same honor as Locky," Broncos CEO Paul White said. And furthermore he adds "It's not as though this will happen every year. They are icons of the game." 

don't forget to have a read at the article i have added about him towards the end...in memory of a Humble leader. 

Excited us !!! with me is Hussain Al-Awami, a current Football (Soccer) player in the University of Queensland Football Club (UQFC), Member of the Saudi Strikers Football Team in Brisbane, and my dear fellow  Brisbane International Student Ambassador.

 

Can you just tell how excited we were that day from our faces ?! and ofcource we didn’t have many chances to take group photos !! we all were too busy enjoying avery second of the match!

 
Ha I guess I have nothing much to say about this pic !!!! my expressions say it all !!!

 Our fellow Avid photographer shao took this great shot!!! Thanx shao ! this reflects the sense of excitement and brings back that great feeling I had when looking at the picture.

 Yes  that was the attendance on the day ! 35,178 people ! imagine the that !!!! so far I have only been to a few such events where  a crowd like this gather and certainly I was having the time of my life !!! I should confess I am not much of a NRL fan ( I don’t follow each and every match in the season!) but certainly I was enjoying this and if I felt that way I can only imagine how true fans felt !!!!

The cheer leaders had no trouble at all in their mission to keep the crowd cheering !!! We were all up on our feet half the time anyways

Courier-Mail helium filled balloon entertaining the crowds during a break ! I am positive it had cameras fitted to it !! I was very keen on trying to spot one as it passed us! It was remotely controlled and I was happy as a kid watching it ! I have a thing for gadgets like that actually.

A supportive banner amongst the crowd! And as you can see everyone is trying to capture these precious moments via their mobile devises.

A proud father, a proud player, enters the field after there victory. And this is his moment. With him his kids… what a feeling they must have had at that moment? Amazing..totally deserving.

A brief bio in honor of this down to earth humble leader

“Petero Civoniceva both as a man and as a player has come to define what is truly good about the great game of rugby league. In a culture where rugby league players are revered with rock star status and often have accompanying ego’s to boot, Petero remains humble and unassuming despite his momentous achievements and his standing in the game. In fact, if anyone in the modern game had cause to big note themselves it would be Petero.

The 36-year-old Fijian-born prop has a resume almost unmatched in the history of rugby league. At Suncorp Stadium on Friday night Petero will run out for his 300th NRL game, only the 17th player and just the third Queenslander to achieve the milestone. Add onto that stat a record breaking (for a forward) 45 Tests for Australia and 32 State of Origins for Queensland and you have the resume of a true star.

According to the man who gave Petero his start in first grade, Wayne Bennett, Petero’s achievements take on even greater significance because his 299 club games and 77 representative games were played in the furnace of the front row. Bennet said "Front rowers do the toughest job in the game. There's never an easy game for those blokes. Not only do they do some of the biggest hit-ups, they make 30 or more tackles as well. So his ability to stay at it is one thing. But the other thing is there's obviously a very talented football player there."

Indeed, Petero’s quiet nature and mild manner belies the player that has repeatedly and consistently for his whole career launched himself into the teeth of the fiercest defensive lines or again and again lined up his opposite number for a hit that could be felt in the grandstands. In fact, Bennett believes Petero is still one of the hardest hitters in the game adding “Beyond the mild manner of his, you just wouldn't want to stir him up. That's the unspoken thing about Petero. I don't think anyone would want to see him angry.”

Bennett recounts one instance in particular in 2004 against the Warriors when Monty Betham tried a stiff-arm tackle to Civoniceva's head. Betham broke his arm and Civoniceva marched on. Bennett argues "That's why he's got such esteem within the game because no one ever has taken him on in a physical confrontation. No one has ever wanted to."

You can be assured that when Petero laces up his boots this Friday night for his 300th game against the Rabbitohs his effort and his commitment will be the same as it was when he started his illustrious career. The man they call ‘Bulla’ is sure to be found charging into the line, bending it backwards and even though his legs may be slowing down the mere presence of Petero on the field should be enough to propel the young brigade of Broncos to victory.

Indeed, Petero does represent what is good about rugby league; uncompromising toughness. Not the sort of toughness that needs to rub a players face into the ground after a big hit or the kind that resorts to dirty play to get over the top of opponents. I have never once seen Petero do either of those things. But rather the toughness to not complain when things don’t go your way but just get on with it and take the next hit-up. The toughness to keep tackling and keep running right until the 80th minute no matter what the scoreboard says. The toughness to play through pain for the good of the team. The toughness to not compromise on the standards that you set for yourself and ultimately the toughness to remain gracious and humble in both victory and defeat. Now all those things I have seen Petero do and that is, in my opinion, what makes Petero the man and the player great and in all senses of the word a true champion “-http://au.christiantoday.com.