We are in the semi's!! I'm so happy! Road hasn't surely been easy for us, but we made it and that's the only thing that matters now. Actually the Elitserien went better than any of us expected. We lost only one game and by each game we have learned something new. We are stronger than ever I think. I'm still playing as a fly half and I have learned so much from this new position of mine! I feel really comfortable in that spot and can't wait to play again. The hole back line is doing great I think, and we are encouraging each other to do our best. My body feels great, or at least as great as it can be at this point of the season. Me and Minna have been talking about recovery and all the bruises we have, how many more games our bodies can take etc... We can feel it, the recovery is getting harder by each game and you get new bruises all the time before the old ones have been healed. You can feel some pain in your body 24/7 and sometimes sleeping is little hard. Sundays and Mondays are the most difficult days of the week. So recovery has become very important part of every day life. We do recovery training, we nurse the bruises with ice and liniments every day, relax the muscles in sauna, use the team physio and of course rest and eat a lots! Being fit helps our body to recover faster and it makes everything so much easier for us. And if we are still sore at the game day, there is nothing tape and Burana wont fix :) So no worries, bring me the next fight!
Uppsala won the hole series and they got to choose who from the semifinalists they want to play against. They chose us 'cause we are the last semi team and we lost our games against them in Premilier season. We are also the closest team, so they don't have to travel too far. Göteborg will play against Stockholm Exiles and that's gonna be really rought game I bet.
If you look at the statistics, Uppsala is the stronger team and people say they should win us. They have lost only 1-2 games during this long summer and they have been very strong team from the start in the end of April. I know Uppsala has more wins and they have more experienced players than we do. They have that "winning culture" in them because they have won everybody at least once and they are used to win tought games and good opponents.We don't have that, we have had to struggle and fight our way to semi's and Uppsala is one of the teams we have lost earlier with clear numbers. But, we are the team that has never ever given up, we have had to fight in each and every game and we are used to play our backs against the wall. So if anything, we sure have heart and cold will to play this game.
We are also said to be the team that has developed the most during this season. We are playing better and better by each game and we have been working really hard in every training. We have been forced to learn from our mistakes and find new tactiques to better our game. Uppsala instead have been struggling lately, they had a tight game against Malmö Pingvins 2 weeks ago and the last game, against Göteborg, they lost. Two of their very significant players were injured last week and we have no injuries at the moment. So we have every chance in the world to win and I refuse to think anything else. Pressure is on them, let the games begin!!!
-T