THERE were well over 35,000 rugby league fans attending the annual Anzac rugby league match between the Sydney Roosters and St George Illawarra at Allianz Stadium, Sydney.
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The camera panned around the crowd during the solemn and moving Anzac ceremony and zoomed in on Lithgow’s ‘man of many jobs’ Paul Stewart and his wife Jenny with many hometown viewers spotting them.
Both are regular attendees of the annual clash and other Rooster and Dragons matches with Jenny a die-hard Rooster fan while Paul bleeds red and white.
Jenny has had the better of these clashes over the past couple of years but it was Paul’s turn to crow when the Dragons got up 12-10 in a thriller that had everything.
It will be a game they will remember with the match being halted 30 minutes into the game for around 40 minutes when a ferocious storm hit the ground.
Lightning was flashing, there was pelting rain and large hail that turned the ground into a pool.
It was a game neither Paul or Jenny will forget with the magnificent Anzac ceremony that preceded the game, the sky divers coming in, the Anzac Cup being ferried in by helicopter with former league greats Anthony Minichello (Roosters) and Shaun Timmins (Dragons) delivering the cup, the thrilling game, the spectacular storm and that all led to a special day.
For Paul it will be “lest we forget”.