At Olympic Stadium, Wallabies needed spirit of Cathy Freeman. They got Eric the Eel

October 17, 2026 — 7:22pm

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After being flustered, dusted and busted at Eden Park last week, would the Wallabies be stronger on the sacred turf at the Olympic Stadium this bright Saturday afternoon?

This was, after all, where Cathy Freeman lit the flame and then lit up the track on her way to 400m Olympic gold in 2000. It was where Justin Harrison stole the ball from Martin Johnson for the Wallabies to beat the Lions in 2001. Right here was where John Aloisi scored the penalty to put the Socceroos into the 2006 World Cup. And here again, that Johnathan Thurston kicked the field goal for the Cowboys to beat the Broncos in the 2015 NRL grand final!

This was precisely the kind of magic we needed. Sadly, all we saw was All Black magic, pretty much from the beginning.

Less than 30 minutes in, the All Blacks led 24-0, from three four tries to zippity-doo-dah, zippity-zip-nothing.

Your humble........

© The Sydney Morning Herald