The Legends Football League – previously dubbed the Lingerie Football League – will soon kick off in Australia and has attracted free-to-air TV coverage. But meet the Canberra women who want to generate interest in American football without stripping down to their bare essentials. The Tuggeranong Tornadoes were the first female team to form in the capital, and there are hopes to start a four-team ACT league mid next year. But Tornadoes centre Sarah MacArthur certainly did give the LFL a dressing down, saying at least it “helps bring exposure to gridiron” – pardon the pun. “They play it for real, they just play a different format to us,” MacArthur said. “The LFL has a good marketing strategy and I have no qualms with them playing gridiron the way they do, we just play it a different way. It brings the spotlight to our sport. The more people hear about gridiron, they might realise there’s women who play it in full kit uniform.” The Tornadoes have been playing teams from interstate for match practice. Eleven of their players will feature for North Western Phoenix in the NSW grand final against Newcastle Cobras next weekend. Three other Canberra teams – the Diamonds, Sirens and a Gungahlin-based squad – are also recruiting. “The thing I love about it is there’s a position for everybody and for every body type,” she said. “Next year at the men’s national championships they’re hoping to have a women’s competition at the same time, and there’s a World Cup to work towards too in 2017.” The Tornadoes final training session for the year is on Thursday at Garran Neighbourhood Oval from 6pm.
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More defections
There’s more changes at Brumbies headquarters, club doctor Angus Bathgate joining the list of departing staff. Bathgate was recruited to join the Wallabies for their Rugby Championship campaign and the end of year spring tour of Europe. Brumbies coach Jake White, chief executive Andrew Fagan, athletic performance director Dean Benton and Bathgate are all gone from the staff which led the team to the Super Rugby final in August. Fagan will finish in the coming weeks after a decade as the club’s leader.
Brady walking tall
English cricketer Stuart Broad is copping plenty this summer for his infamous refusal to walk, despite clearly smashing the ball and being caught at slip in the Ashes in England earlier this year. The opening bowler should take notes from Marist Royal under-18 player Richard Brady. In a match against Tuggeranong, Brady nicked a ball which carried through to the wicketkeeper. The umpire was unsighted and decided to give Brady not out. Brady then walked because he was sure the wicketkeeper caught it fairly. Brady was rewarded with the Cricket ACT junior spirit of cricket prize last week. He will be playing against Tuggeranong at Marist on Sunday morning.
Khawaja goes green
He’s not playing Test cricket any more, but Queensland-based batsman and mad Raiders fan Usman Khawaja got an early birthday gift to lift his spirits. Khawaja got the chance to visit a Raiders training session when in town with the Chairman’s XI last year, Raiders centre Jarrod Croker presenting him with a jersey. They’ve obviously stayed in touch. “Arrived back in Brisbane and got an early B’day present! Thanks @Jarrodcroker @RaidersCanberra! #Greenmachine,” Khawaja tweeted with a picture of his loot.
Finding peace in outer Mongolia
Emerging Canberra cricket star Ryan Carters is firming as a favourite to be picked in the Prime Minister’s XI to play against England and the 23-year-old credits a trip to Mongolia in the off-season for a remarkable run of form. Carters is on fire for the NSW Blues, scoring 409 runs in three Sheffield Shield matches at an average of 81.8. Before starting his cricket second chance in Sydney after a frustrating four-year stint in Victoria, Carters went with two friends to Mongolia and canoed across lakes and rivers. “We started in a rural lake, lit a fire each night and camped on the river,” Carters said. “It just gave me some perspective on life. I didn’t think about cricket too much and that’s the key. It made me realise how lucky I am and reminded me not to take anything for granted. It also made me think about using my cricket to help others and do coaching clinics.” Carters is expected to be in action for NSW against South Australia at the SCG on Sunday, less than a week after scoring a century against Tasmania.
PM ducks chance of batting embarrassment
Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s staffers refused a request for him to bowl in the Manuka Oval nets when he announced Brett Lee as captain of the PM’sXI during the week. Perhaps there was a fear Abbott couldn’t stack up to John Howard’s cringe-worthy bowling action (the ball landed at his own foot on two separate attempts) on a trip to Pakistan in 2005. Abbott was heard telling Lee the only shot he could play was a “swipe to get out” in his days at Oxford University. Abbott’s not usually shy in the sporting arena. Only last year, when he was on the election trail, he was doing back flips at the AIS for a gymnastics launch. A quick look through the records show Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard only had one win each as PM’s XI leader while Howard had six victories.
Caught in traffic
Maybe we don’t realise how good we have it on Canberra roads. Spare a thought for ex-local jockey Kayla Nisbet, who now plies her trade in Victoria. After a month out with injury, Nisbet was booked to ride odds-on favourite Lord Of The Sky in the first race at Caulfield on Saturday. But she didn’t make it to the track in time after being boxed-in by traffic en route to the Doveton Stakes meeting. Lord Of The Sky duly saluted under fellow apprentice Jake Duffy, earning himself the five per cent winning jockey sling, a cool $2400 for a typical Saturday meeting in Melbourne. That’d pay for plenty of tram tickets around Melbourne.
A Mandela moment
There’s still an outpouring of emotion around the world for Nelson Mandela, who died, aged 95, on Friday. Brumbies strength and conditioning coach Damien Marsh has his own Mandela story that will stay with him forever. As part of a Brumbies tour in 2004, Marsh went to Robben Island, where Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years in prison. Marsh walked ahead of the official tour group to look into the tiny cells, when he took the lid off his drink bottle and dropped it. Like slow motion, it rolled under the iron bars and into the middle of one of the rooms. “The tour guide came to me and said, ‘that’s Mr Mandela’s cell’,” Marsh said. “Then the group started taking photos of this bottle cap in a tiny cell.” Mandela’s cell was 2.4 metres 2.1 metres with a straw mat to sleep on.
Manuka IT pitch perfect
The new Manuka Oval surface is almost finished and it has some of the most advanced technology to ensure it’s in perfect condition all year. There are moisture gauges under the grass which tell curator Brad van Damn when he needs to water and what areas need the most to stay lush and green. Van Dam is also about to get a new toy in time for Christmas – a irrigation control system which allows him to log into Manuka Oval from anywhere in the world to turn the sprinklers on at any time of the day. Staff are putting the finishing touches on the new configuration of the fence and seats. The pitch area will be fine-tuned this week and the ground will be in top condition for the PM’s XI match against England on January 14.
