Ready to deliver the Goodes
It is invariably when the fly-half is at the top of his game that a team plays well. But that is more conspicuous at Leicester than many clubs, and so the pressure is building on Andy Goode ahead of Saturday's Guinness Premiership Final.
It is invariably when the fly-half is at the top of his game that a team plays well. But that is more conspicuous at Leicester than many clubs, and so the pressure is building on Andy Goode ahead of Saturday's Guinness Premiership Final.
Goode Leicester are once again squaring up to old foes Wasps, who denied them a Heineken Cup to add to their EDF Energy Cup and Premiership titles last season, a day when Goode was eclipsed by opposite number Alex King.
King is gone. But Goode is still there and ready to make amends to his own club fans – rarely ones to shy away from criticism if they feel their team needs it – as well as the public at large.
“You either like me or you don't,” said Goode to the Leicester Mercury.
“I don't worry about other people's opinions. If the players around me believe in me, that will do for me.”
Goode has been pivotal for the Tigers over the past couple of months, beating Saturday's opponents almost single-handed in the EDF Energy Cup semi-final. he was again instrumental in the last-gasp victory over Harlequins that clinched a Premiership semi-final spot, and then it was his boot that got them through to the final in the 26-25 win against Gloucester.
He won't always deliver under heavy pressure – very very few can, but when the heat is on, he is as good as anyone to have around – just as when the heat is on his team, you can be sure they'll have something up a sleeve somewhere.
“When we lost at Newcastle, everyone wrote us off,” continued Goode.
“But we've come good in the last two games and we'll take that.
“Leicester-Wasps is always a big final. For a lot of our guys, it's the last game of the season and for others it's the last game for the club.
“I accept that fly-half plays a big part in a game, but if our pack gets going forward, it makes my job easier. We did that at Cardiff. It was a very physical battle, which we won.
“We did it at both Cardiff and Gloucester and we can do it again. It's a massive game, but we are refreshed and we play well under pressure.”
“We know what we have to do and know how to do it. We've crashed them twice this season and they've crashed us once. This is just another big one.”