Last nights game was a game of two halves. Yeah, a first half and a second half.  OK, corny jokes aside, of course all the games have two halves

We played another mixed team: Tuckers Luck – and let’s just say that Tucker and his team had just a wee bit more luck than we did.  They also had a bit more skill than they did last season – and a couple of fast young dynamos. I’m pretty sure one of them – who works for a plasterer friend of mine – plays rep grade rugby league.  So any false sense of security we had when we thought we might have been on an equal footing was quickly shot down in a blazing ball of disappointment in the opening minutes.

It’s hard to believe we drew against these guys last year.  I have a theory that Tucker has had them eating steroids like vitamins. Training 7 days and 7 nights a week over winter. And they are all professional athletes, in elaborate “normal people” disguises….  Alright, conspiracy theories aside, maybe they were just a bit more organized and they have played together longer. Remember, this is only our second game and we’ve had absolutely no practice. Many of the team have never played before. Tuckers team have played together for at least 3 years. With a few more games under our belt, we’ll no doubt start to gel together as a team and come up with all sorts of fancy footwork and elaborate plays. Who knows? Maybe we’ll even win a game!

For the benefit of our US friends, and anyone else not familiar with what I’m rambling on about, touch rugby is a derivative of what I’d call ‘normal’ rugby,  that is played over the summer season as opposed to winter, and instead of tackling the opposition, you tag (or touch) them. There’s a good explanation on Wikipedia

The proper draw has only just been sorted and we didn’t get it until we arrived. While we weren’t sure if we had the early or the late game, we certainly weren’t expecting to turn up and find we were scheduled to play twice!  There are nine teams in the module, and instead of giving one of the teams a bye, someone decided (bless his socks) that it was a good idea to give one of the teams 2 games so nobody misses out. It’s kind of ironic when we had floated around the idea of calling our team ‘Bye’ in the hope we might get a night off. Of all the teams that had to get the first 2-game nights, ours was by far the worst choice. Maybe in a few weeks when we’re a little fitter and a little faster. But not right at the start of the season! Excuses were made — and I’m not going to give anybody any grief over that because I was one of the first to say “no way man, you’ve picked the wrong team!” — and a team was scrambled together from some of players from the other early games who were still crazy enough keen to play a second game.  So while I felt a little guilty, at least the other team still got to have a run around. They probably won too.

I’m sad to say I didn’t get a try. Well I’ve already my quota from last season so I’m pretty happy with that. If I get another one, I’ll surprise everyone including myself.

Our star player of the night was Craig with our only given try. Colin came in a very close second, with an awesome sidestep and try. But alas, it was not to be awarded. The other team called touch and the blatant one-eyed ref wouldn’t allow it. OK, maybe I’m the one-eyed one, but allowing it was not exactly going to make a difference.  Special note should also go to Martin – our man of steel – who opted not to sub so he could “direct” the team from the field.  What can I say? Those were interesting directions Martin!

At the end of the evening, touch was the winner, with us a close (well, maybe not quite close) second.

Next week we play the Jokers. I know a lot of these guys, and while many of them still play premiere and reserve grade rugby, they are a great bunch and nowhere near as serious (at least not when it comes to playing touch) as the mixed teams. In my experience, it’s really only the mixed teams that get competitive. The guys teams are generally there to have fun and keep fit in the off-season.  So while we might get our butts kicked again, I think it’ll be a lot more fun.

Until next week,
Gretchen

Breaking News! Our first game and our first win! Will the season continue on such a high? Only time will tell…

The evening got off to a relatively slow start with team members trickling in one by one leaving us wondering if we’d have any subs.  In the end, our numbers reached nine (that’s 2 spares for those of you who don’t know the rules), so I was quite happy to start on the sideline.

Lidi-Ann showed up at the last minute, a little worried as she hadn’t played before and that it all sounded a little “serious”. Serious I asked? Then I guess you haven’t seen us play…  Serious is not a word that could be used to describe the Kamikaze Squad. At least not unless you’re using it with a few other words. Like seriously uncoordinated. Seriously hysterical… Well, you get the picture…

We tried (unsuccessfully) to convince her to play. Her excuse? She was wearing a skirt and dress boots so wasn’t “equipped”. We suggested she play naked. It could be our strategy I said – the opposition would be too scared to touch her. Well, maybe not all of them…  some of those guys would probably be quite keen on catching her! In the end, she opted to be our second cheerleader  – although neither Sarah or Lidi-Ann brought pom-poms, and I didn’t hear any fancy cheers on the sideline. Lots of laughter, but no cheering…

The game kicked off, with plenty of touches and our first try by our newest recruit, Vicki.  Her secret?  Well, remember she was a constable for the Queensland police force so she has had plenty of practice chasing suspects.

Some fantastic moves and our second try by our wonder boy Martin, who was already a little tired due to helping blow up over 300 balloons for Tracey’s farewell (that’s another story), and playing the early game for the ADP team (who helped us last season by providing a few ring-in players when we were short).

Our third and final try by yours truly. An amazing breakaway you ask? Kind of… The other team just sort of stopped and let me through, but I have no shame and will happily take the credit for it!

We did start wondering if it was ever going to end. The problem with the late games, is Stew (who organizes it all), is usually too busy chatting and drinking and forgets the time. Eventually he blew the hooter and we went and enjoyed a nice cold well deserved beer and headed home.
Rock on next week!
Gretchen

PS. The team we were meant to play pulled out at the last minute so we won by default. We played another team Shut The Gate who had already played the early game. You couldn’t tell. They were faster, fitter, and if the score did count it wouldn’t have quite gone our way with 3 tries to the Kamikaze Squad, and a few more to the other team. But who was counting?