To this end the
Cascade Tasmanian Tigers decided to discover, once and for all, not
only who we would like beside us in the trenches but who would be any
good once we were in them.
So
it was that on the 31 st of July at approximately 0900 hours that the
Tigers assembled under the harsh eye of Colonels Wright and Downton to
battle it out laser skirmish style. With a backdrop of lush Lea forest
and the steady pitter patter of rain falling, the two 7 man teams went
head to head in a trio of skirmishes designed to break up the very busy
and vigorous pre-season training regime.
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In
the first game, one of simple attrition, lines were drawn early as the
true colours of players shone through. The outgoing personalities and
temperaments of Lockyear and Geeves saw them charging through the bush
at a million miles an hour emptying many rounds and, in the process,
returning to base to reload their lives. This was in stark contrast to
the sniper like approach of Dawson and Doherty, not to mention the
deceptive sneakiness of the 6ft.5 Adam “BIG” Griffith . Another notable
performance was that of Assistant Coach Dene Hills. Dene, whose cricket
career was based on tremendous concentration and a rock solid defence,
could not extend this mantra to the battle field as he was continually
peppered from all angles no matter how deep he bunkered down.
After
this warm up game and with the rain increasing steadily the first base
assault was held. Downton's team of ragamuffins were chosen to defend
the camp first while the elite Commando force headed by Wright had to
use stealth and brute force to take the base. With Lance-Corporal Hills
issuing orders remembered from his time in ‘Nam, the Commandos hit the
track with a mix of strength bursting up the middle from Cunningham,
Geeves and Hills combined with some sneaky commando work through a
gully and creek from Bailey and Dawson. Unfortunately the latter pair
got bunkered down due to some crafty work from Downton, Marsh and
Butterworth and despite fears they would not get out alive (including
swapping last words to repeat to loved ones left behind) the boys
managed to divert the ragamuffins attentions long enough to escape
deeper into the forest. While this battle was raging, the main battle
was also in full swing and despite some fierce resistance from Coach
McFadyen, who had found himself a lovely little burnt out log to hide
in, when the final whistle was blown it was the Commandos embracing
with their second victory of the morning. George Bailey 17 Aug 04 |
