WA Over 60's - 2009 News
Team
Simon Thomson (Captain)(“Thommo”)
Ashley Challenor (Manager)(“Flash”)
Len Blyth (“Toro”)
Bill Campbell (“Rufus”)
Graham Challenor (“Chip”)
Clyde Evans
Dave Evans (“Spider”)
John Harper (G/K)(“Harps”)
Peter Hearne (“Pedro”)
Mal Horrigan (“Hagar”)
Geoff Hudson (“Huddy”)
KY Lee (“KY”)
Alan Stewart (“Wombat”)
Nigel Thomas (“Gadget”)
Heath Tyrrell (“Irish”)
Simon Williams (“Lunger”)
Introduction
Sunday 20th September
Eight days to go, as the team meets for its final training run at Melville. It seems a good while now since the team was selected…………well, it is – 11 weeks, in fact.
Simon “Thommo” Thomson and Ash “the Flash” Challenor had been smart enough to put their hands up for the position of Coach and Manager respectively.
Captain and Vice-Captain were to be selected by democratic voting of the players.
And so it was, as the team assembles on the appointed voting Sunday, only to find that Coach Thomson has already, mysteriously, been appointed Captain, with Mal “Hagar” Horrigan as his deputy.
To this day, nobody knows how this came to pass, but we can only suppose that, with Thommo’s initials, there has been divine intervention - St. Simon, he’s the man !!!
Eight days to go, Melbourne beckons, an ale at Bridie O’Reilly’s, food on Lygon, a flutter at Crown Casino, wine tasting up the Yarra Valley, an Old Speckled Hen at the Elephant & Wheelbarrow, cafes on Brunswick ……….oh yes, and the Hockey !!!
Pre-Tournament News - Sunday 27th September 2009 - Late night report from "the Nightowl"..........
- all the boys are here in Melbourne, last arrival tonight is Stewie (Alan "Wombat" Stewart) almost unrecognisable at the airport in his No. 4 haircut - but all was forgiven on this of all days, his birthday.
The biggest contingent have arrived 5pm Saturday with hair-raising stories of their landing. Such an event can bring even the biggest and larger-than-life characters like Huddy to his knees.
The plane's approaching the Tullamarine runway, with the wingtips rising and falling in the crosswinds like giant seas crossing Cook Strait.
Huddy's knuckles are going white as he grips the arm rest, the young girls in the backrow are "wowing" and shrieking all in the same breath.
Five hundred feet to go, with the plane seemingly out of control, there's a tremendous roar of the engines, the plane surges forward under new-found power, landing is aborted, pilot pulls back the joystick, and as the plane jerks back skywards,
our Huddy suddenly finds he is religious, he's praying to god .... in fact any god that will listen !!!
So it's second time round, all hushed in the cabin, the pilot hits the deck rocking, and the plane is down.
Lunch-time Sunday and the Captain, Simon "Thommo" Thomson, arrives just in time to make the minibus to the ground for
the training run - his dishevelled appearance does nothing to belie the 4.30 am start from Perth, socks are inside-out, can't find his stick-bag ....... maybe he just pickled his brain on the plane... but tonight it will be worth a fine !!!
Our two minibuses do the test run to the ground. Street maps, google maps and a GPS appear to be testing the cognitive
ability of the drivers and navigators in the front seats. The engineer and the plumber in Minibus 1 claim the GPS won't function
in their vehicle and it is passed across to the firefighter driving Minibus 2 where it worked earlier. But no, there is still a problem,
technology fails again - clearly it's a case of two Chips amiss !!!
Rain and wind at the ground, we have our run, stretch out the tight limbs from the plane-ride, and it's back to base for a glass of
red medicine before the serious events of tomorrow.
P.S. And then there was The Green Frog ...... watch this space for more !!!
Send your contributions to vets2009@wavets.org.
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