As we approach September, plenty of footy teams are looking to hit top form and one Ladbrokes punter had a weekend for the ages, successfully backing a 13-leg Legendary Land. With a healthy dose of the final round of AFL and a bit of NRL action for good measure, this person turned a $50 investment into a remarkable return of $17,581.13.
The multi kicked off with the Thursday night NRL clash between Wests Tigers and the Manly Sea Eagles. A week after being run down in the second half by the Gold Coast Titans, the Sea Eagles almost pulled off a comeback victory before going down by two points at Campbelltown. Daly Cherry-Evans scored and converted his own try with seven minutes remaining to bring the score to 22-20 but that would be the last points of the match.
After kicking off the multi with a win, our punter cast their eye over two Friday night fixtures backing Essendon to beat Port Adelaide and the North Queensland Cowboys to top the Parramatta Eels. Port needed an absolute miracle to make the finals and it all began with them beating the Bombers however that would not be the case as they trailed for almost the entire game. In Townsville there was no way the Cowboys would do anything other than win in Johnathan Thurston’s final home game and they dispatched the Eels 44-6.
With the minor premiership already sewn up, you could have forgiven Richmond for being a below par when they faced the Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon. It turned into an excellent game for viewers with the Bulldogs coming so close to a comeback as Jordan Roughead had a chance to win the match late but sent his kick through the behind post. Fremantle gave Collingwood a scare in the late Saturday afternoon game, but the Magpies withstood the Dockers rally to come away with a nine point victory.
The first of two Saturday NRL legs came into play in the twilight game between the Storm and Titans. There was a real scare in this game as the Storm looked out of sorts early and the Titans took an early 8-0 lead which they held into the second half. Tries to Curtis Scott and Cameron Munster along with a Cameron Smith conversion put the Storm in front and they did enough to hold on. In the second NRL leg meanwhile the Broncos shut down the Roosters and pulled off an upset win in Sydney to secure yet another finals berth for the club.
While the Broncos were on their way to victory in the NRL, Adelaide faced AFL wooden spooners Carlton in a contest that rarely in doubt after the opening bounce as the Crows took care of business with a 104 point win. The other AFL game was just a bit closer as Sydney and Hawthorn went down to the wire as they almost always do. The Swans opened up a big lead in the second quarter without Buddy Franklin but the Hawks rallied and took the lead in the fourth quarter before holding on for a nine point victory and fourth spot on the ladder.
With four legs remaining, our punter was set for a nervy Sunday afternoon starting at the Gabba as the Lions hosted the Eagles. The early going was tight with the lead changing hands however a four goals to none second quarter saw the Eagles pull away and they managed to maintain a lead of 20 points or more for the rest of the contest. At the same time the last NRL leg came into play as the Sharks took on the Knights. Cronulla scored a big try just before halftime to take a six point lead into the break before four tries to one in the second half gave the Sharks the win.
As the AFL season reached its final countdown, so did this Legendary Land with a huge return hanging on the final two games. With a home final on the line, there was no way the Demons were going to take it easy on GWS and they pulled away with a monster third quarter and finished 45 points clear. With not much else on the line other than pride for these sides, the Kangaroos and Saints played out a high scoring contest at Etihad Stadium with North taking care of business and securing the 13th and final leg of this Legendary Land.
