- What is it that makes teams come back and win a match with the final play…the final drive…of a game…a match…?
- What environment allows the team to perform to the best of its ability…to produce this outcome…time and again…?
- What leadership is in place to make…to allow…this happen…?
- What can we learn from all these situations…?
- What processes are in place to make the unthinkable doable…?
NBA: Golden State Warriors v. Miami Heat (12th February 2014)
Down 108-110 against the Warriors…with 20s left in the game…Miami Heat regain possession. Lebron James receives the ball with 8.5s left on the game clock…20+ yards from the ring. He plays and fakes…and then releases a 3-point shot with 1.8s to go…He scores…! Leaving 0.1s on the game clock.
NBA: Miami Heat v. Indiana Pacers (23rd May 2013)
It is the 2013 Eastern Conference Finals (NBA Semi-finals)…Game 1…and the game has gone into OverTime…with the scores tied at 92-92. With seconds left on the game clock…2.2s…and the Pacers 102-101 up…LeBron James receives the ball on the edge of the 3 point line…and drives to the basket…releasing the ball with 0.4s left…the ball drops through the hoop…leaving 0.1s on the game clock.
NFL: New Orleans Saints @ New England Patriots (13th October 2013)
It is Week 6 in the regular season…and the Patriots are 23-27 down late on in the 4th quarter…with 1min 13sec left on the play clock…and no timeouts remaining…they find themselves 70 yards from the Endzone for their final drive of the game. During the drive they have a 4th down with 4 yards to go for a 1st down on the Saints 26 yard line and 24s on the game clock. Quarter-back (QB) Tom Brady finds a way to get a 1st down…and having no timeouts means the clock runs down to 10s left. The ball is now on the Saints 12 yard line…with time remaining for one last throw of the dice…Brady throws and the Wide Receiver (WR) catches the ball wide out on the edge of the Endzone to score the touchdown (TD)…leaving 4s on the clock.
http://www.neworleanssaints.com/media-center/videos/GameDay-New-Orleans-Saints-vs-New-England-Patriots-highlights/5f25680c-0d75-4c99-abad-db30e7d4296e (Final Drive: 4min 5sec into the video clip)
http://youtu.be/KpJoCsnR_GU (Final Pass)
What is it that enables the team to score under the most intense of pressures…? With seconds ticking away…reputations on the line…Championships at stake…and World Cups there for the taking…
NFL: New England Patriots v. St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI (3rd February 2001)
The scores are level…at 17-17…and the New England Patriots have possession of the ball…with NO timeouts remaining…and 1min 21sec left on the game clock…with the final drive starting 83 yards from the Endzone. Quarter-back Tom Brady drives the Patriots to the Saints 36 yard line…leaving them with 7s for the final play (FG)…and a 48 yard Field Goal attempt…Adam Vinatieri kicks the FG to win the Superbowl for the Patriots.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nA0VWLhCh-k
NFL: Denver Broncos @ New England Patriots (“Greatest NFL Comeback”) (24th November 2013)
Trailing 24-0 at half-time to the Denver Broncos and Peyton Manning…Tom Brady drives the New England Patriots to an 34-31 OverTime victory…
What is it that gives teams the belief that they can come back…when everything seems down and out at half-time…to put in a 2nd half performance…that at one stage looked likely never to happen…which seemed to be pulled out of the bag from nowhere…?
Rugby Union: Rugby World Cup Final…ANZ Stadium…Australia (22nd November 2003
Now cast your mind back to the 2003 Rugby World Cup…for the RWC final…between England and Australia…one of the most competitive rivalries in sport…in one of the most important matches in the careers of the players’…a life changing occasion for the winning team…with millions of rugby fans watching the game around the globe…with everything on the line…everything at stake…
Why was England’s Jonny Wilkinson able to kick the winning drop goal for England…?
How did the England team provide the position for Jonny to kick the life-changing winning drop-kick…from 25m out…on his “wrong” foot…in the dying seconds of the Rugby World Cup Final…under the most intense pressure…?
With the penultimate play of the game…and the scores tied at 17-17…with 118 minutes of high intensity rugby behind them…with 1 minute 6 seconds left on the clock…and 30m from the Australian tryline. The England team have a lineout…they throw to the back…over 15m…then crash the ball up…Matt Dawson snipes…making significant yardage…Captain Martin Johnson then takes a hit up to free up Matt Dawson from the base of the previous ruck…Dawson then steadies himself for the most important breakdown pass of his entire career…over 10m…to a waiting Jonny Wilkinson…the rest is history…!
Why did England…the only Northern Hemisphere team to do so in the History of the World Cup…win the 2003 RWC…?
What makes the feat all the more impressive is a team’s ability to do it time and time again…under the most huge amount of pressure…in the Test arena…against the best nations in the world…
Rugby Union: Ireland v New Zealand…Aviva Stadium…Dublin (24th November 2013)
Now rewind yourself back to Saturday 24th November 2013…at the Aviva Stadium…in Dublin, Ireland…with millions of people around the world watching on TV…50,000 Irish fans cheering on the home side…looking for their first ever victory against New Zealand in the nation’s history…with the All Blacks 17 to 22 points down…with an unbeaten record on the line…and 19 seconds left on the game clock…the chance of becoming the first ever international team in the professional era is slowly falling from your grasp…New Zealand are awarded a penalty…a lifeline…62m away from the Irish tryline…needing a try to at least draw and maintain their unbeaten record…with the conversion making it a victory…to place the 2013 All Black generation alongside the famous 1924 ‘Invincibles’…
Why did the New Zealand All Blacks have the belief that they could score a try…in the dying seconds…with history beckoning…from 62m out…against the best Irish team that has graced the field ever…with legends Paul O’Connell and Brian (BOD is GOD) O’Driscoll amongst the team…?
Rugby Union: Tri-Nations 2010…Soccer City…Soweto…South Africa…(21st August 2010)
Trailing 17-22…with 77:22 on the game clock…New Zealand’s Richie McCaw scores in the corner…after a referral to the TMO…to tie the game…22-22. With 79:25 now on the game clock….and a ruck 55m from the Springbok tryline…Ma’a Nonu bursts through the South Africa defensive line…and then passes to Israel Dagg who goes over to score from 25m out…to win the game for the All Blacks…with 21s left in the game…resulting in the final whistle after Dan Carter’s conversion attempt. Final Score: 29-22 to the All Blacks.
http://youtu.be/QRHgM8KZOww (Final Play: 4min 21sec into the video clip)
Rugby Union: Tri-Nations 2010…ANZ Stadium…Sydney…Australia…(11th September 2010)
The All Blacks found themselves 22-9 down after 67 minutes…another tough international in a ‘hostile’ environment. With a 5m scrum from the Australian tryline…Kieran Read and Richie McCaw combined together to make the scoreline 22-16 to Australia. Later in the game…and another attacking build up…driving close to the ruck each time as the All Blacks moved closer to the tryline in the 22m area…Kieran Read finally broke the Wallaby Brickwall defence down…scoring right by the posts…ensuring an easy conversion kick for Peri Weepu…making it 23-22 to New Zealand…with 72 minutes on the game clock. The All Blacks then dig deep and held out for another clutch victory. Final Score: 23-22 to the visitors.
http://youtu.be/Fq5XojeMPts (Last Scoring Play: 4min into the video clip)
Rugby Union: 2014 June Internationals…Eden Park…Auckland…New Zealand…(7th June 2014)
With the game clock showing 77:10…with the scores equal at 15-15…The All Blacks have a 5m scrum in the England 22m area…and they manage to keep the ball in their possession…creating the chance for Conrad Smith to dive over in the corner in the 78th minute.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNRc7J0lI6U (Try Scoring Play: 5min 18sec into the video clip)
Rugby Union: The Rugby Championship 2014…Brisbane…Australia…(18th October 2014)
New Zealand find themselves down by 6 points with the scoreline 28-22 to the Australians…and there is only 1 minute 12 seconds left on the game clock…The All Blacks start from a lineout 25m out from the Wallabies tryline…they keep keeping the ball alive…edging closer and closer to the tryline…the All Blacks keep the ball time and again…which finally sees Malakai Fekitoa score with 3 seconds left on the clock having broken through a couple of would be Wallaby tacklers…Colin Slade now has the conversion to win the game…with no time remaining in the game after the conversion attempt…
What are the chances of Colin Slade making the conversion…? What is going through his head…? What does he do to keep a cool head and his body calm…? Does he feel the pressure…?…any pressure…? What is he thinking when Dan Carter is normally the goal kicker…?
What does history say…?
…and you guessed it…Colin Slade kicks the ball straight between to uprights to seal victory for the All Blacks with the last kick of the game…the 2nd time in 12 months!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3O0QPj84MmY (Last Scoring Play: 3min 11 sec into the video clip)
What are the factors that create the belief that the players…the team…the coaches…have in their side…to be able to produce the goods when it matters…?
What makes the players believe they can get themselves out of the hole that they find themselves in…with a couple of minutes…with a few seconds…remaining in the game…?
What environment do the coaches create for their players in training to achieve these seemingly amazing feats in matches…that allows their players to makes decisions on the field…in the heat of the battle…at the right time…at the right place…in the right way…?
How much is it down to physical capabilities…? How much is it down to psychological factors…? Or is it BOTH mental AND physical factors together…?
Would these feats be possible without the physical capabilities present…? Would these feats be possible without the mental skills present…? Do you need to have the physical capabilities to allow the mental skills to come to fruition…and be the deciding factor whether you end up on the winning or losing side…?