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.

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