While judo exponents play for the love, not the money, the 33-year-old from Bruce said the fiscal inducement added an extra dimension to this weekend's national judo championships in Tuggeranong.

A former member of the Australian judo team in 2003, Frankcombe is entered in the heavyweight division and will also enter the open men's contest which carries a $2000 cheque for the winner and a total prize pool of $3750.

The carrot may not be made of gold, but the fact it's been dangled has been enough to lure many judo exponents to the capital.

''What I wanted to do was bring it back to what it used to be years ago,'' open promoter Chris Palmer said.

''The open was the fight to win and ... all the players used to fight.

''We want to lift the profile of judo so we need to have it at a different time-slot, have a bit of VIP, have someone commentating and a bit of music. That way the crowd get into it, there's more enthusiasm.

''The cash prize helps, if you get a few dollars you get more players because in judo there's never any cash.

''If there's money your ears prick up, you think 'I might as well have a go because I usually fight for nothing'.''

Frankcombe agreed.

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