Anti aging from football

On saturday, I looked quite mature, maybe late thirties. By Sunday night, I'd lost a decade, regained my youthful good looks. Let me explain.






About 15 weeks ago I came back to Whites Hill to play div 2 touch. My teammates were a bunch of lads from the 90s. Born in the 90s that is. Yet this group of guys were the best fun to play with. There was not a selfish bone in their bodies. They worked hard. They listened to our supercoach, the best touch player in the world, nathan jones. So halfway through the year, we had had one draw and four or five wins. We were looking pretty good for finals and the boys laughlingly suggested that if we won the grand final I'd have to shave off my Kram from Spiderbait beard I had been cultivating.



Despite being quite attached to my bushy growth, I jumped on the idea. As each week went by and the wins piled up, they grew more cocky, they wanted more. They wanted my long flowing locks too! They tried to renegotiate the deal and we came to the agreement that if I got player of the final I'd shave my head as well. It was a pretty safe bet. If some of those boys keep developing and playing like they are now I am certain representative teams will follow.



I was right too, we won the final convincingly and I played ok and scored a few tries but our young guys tore the other team up. I ended up with nothing but a cold beer and a hitler mustache and the best feeling I've ever had after a full season of touch.



I trained harder this year than I have in ten or so years. I wanted to make sure I could keep up and be fit enough to show a bit of leadership. Our captain was in NZ for a funeral and I was stoked to get to skipper the side in the final. What a season.

Thanks boys. Thanks Nath.




Lantanaland from the iPhone

Boating

When I was at the end of primary school my parents decided to take me round Australia for a year. There were several reasons. They have a really bad case of wanderlust. All my closest friends were in the year below me and I am one of those in between ages, being born in December. Also my mum and stepdad were using it as a trial to see how I would cope with us as a family unit, which was hilarious, Allen was the only father I had ever known and I was already saying they should get married.

The highlight of the trip was undoubtedly the first days barramundi fishing in the NT. It was really just a trial run in the tinny, to make sure the setups worked and the gear was all ok. But on the second or third pass I caught what was to be the biggest barra of the trip, 83cm. Since then I have always had a soft spot for that little tinny.



Once I left home for uni, the folks got down to some serious travelling, with a much more serious boat setup. The little tinny stayed tucked under the house in Gladstone and when we bought a place that was near the river I dropped a few hints about the old girl.

Much to my delight this year it arrived with the folks on one of their trips south. I bought a cheap electric motor and a deep cycle battery and yesterday we putted off down the river. It's not like the NZ rivers, the Albert, being a shade of brown and having lots of leaf and twig litter on the surface but it was still very relaxing, puttering along the water almost silently, getting quite close to the wildlife.



Didn't take the rod but there were hundreds of fish working, one mullet even jumped in the boat, so the next trip will include a few lure, a beer and some food, should become quite regular!

Lantanaland from the iPhone