Challenging times

Luke Dorn reflects on an emotional few weeks following the tragic death of Garry Purdham.

Quins look to continue late charge for the play-off places

A 50-22 win and four tries would normally be cause for celebration. Instead after the home game against Crusaders, everyone involved at Harlequins finally had time to reflect on what had happened during the week. As has been well documented, our captain, Rob Purdham, lost his brother Garry after he was one of the tragic victims of the Cumbria shootings on the Wednesday. There is nothing that can prepare you for being touched by death, but when someone is lost at such a relatively young age and in such circumstances then it is impossible to get your head around it. Coach Brian McDermott spoke publicly in the build-up to the Crusaders game about how we had to get on with our jobs, because that was what 'Purdo' would have wanted. We spoke about the situation internally and although we were still thinking about it emotionally, we knew we must carry on. However after the game we had time to stop and consider what the magnitude of what had happened on that fateful day. Personally, it has been tough. It is just awful to see a good friend go through something like that. On Thursday some of the squad travelled up to attend Garry's funeral. The club have given Rob leave for as long as he likes, allowing him time to sort out with his dad and the rest of his family about running their farm. Everyone in the country has been trying to understand what went on since June 2. Being at the funeral was heavily emotional. Nobody should have to go through such circumstances.

Opportunities

It's always nice to cross the try-line, but to be honest I didn't have to work very hard for three of the four I scored against Crusaders, which I will take any day, while the other did at least involve me having to put in some effort. Playing at full-back brings about opportunities to score some points. I'm honestly not sure if I will be remaining in the role long-term, with Ben Jones-Bishop still a few weeks away from a return to action. Whether I go back into the half-backs or stay where I am right now, it will be interesting to see. At least Mac now has a selection headache over where to put people, whereas earlier in the season injuries meant he had to just fit players in wherever he could just to get a team out on the field. The win against Crusaders was not only crucial in terms of the battle to reach the play-offs but also for the manner in which it was achieved. We've toughed a few out in recent weeks, albeit playing some good footy in the process, but to put a team away like that is a real boost to our confidence. It was also a good performance in defence, proving that the work we put in during training is paying off. Though we leaked a few points near the end, the game was well and truly put to bed by then. We know how it feels to have shipped 50+ points after being on the wrong end of a one-sided scoreline at Wakefield not so long ago. Such topsy-turvy results show that these days in Super League you can't afford to have more than two blokes performing below-par and expect to win games. The loss at the Wildcats is the one real blip we've had in the last month or so. While there have been plenty of positives to take out of our recent good run of form, it's also a little disappointing that we've left it so late to make our charge for the top eight. We can only hope there's still enough time left to make up the ground on those above us. Next up is Leeds, and if there's ever a good time to play the Rhinos then I guess it is this weekend. As well as having a few players sidelined, they will also be missing some big names due to England's clash with France. However the defending champions will still turn up at the Stoop with four or five internationals in their ranks, so it will still be a very tough battle.