Help us find this man: the weekend warrior who took on 'Big Mal'

Imagine what was going through this little hooker's mind when he raced out of the defensive line and saw Mal Meninga charging at him with thighs almost as big as the defender's torso (check out the photo below for proof!).

A week after more than 3000 fans voted Meninga the Canberra's greatest footballer, beating ACT Brumbies legend George Gregan in the final of a vote decided by the fans, we need your help again.

We were trawling through photos of Meninga and stumbled upon this gem. It's Big Mal playing for the Tuggeranong Bushrangers in a George Tooke Shield game at Greenway Oval on April 26, 2003.

Yes, that's Meninga - the three-time premiership-winning Canberra Raiders icon, the Queensland star and the only man to be selected for four Kangaroo tours - suiting up for Bushies alongside Paul Osborne.

The picture's caption tells us its University Scholars hooker Matt Cousins, so we tracked down a Canberra businessman by the same name.

Was this the guy dropping the shoulder into rugby league's 13^th Immortal during a game at Greenway Oval more than two decades ago?

"Sadly not, there is two of us in Canberra though," he replied.

So we tracked down a Matt Cousins. Turns out it's just not the Matt Cousins we're after.

Now we're on the search to find the man who charged out of the line at Meninga, because you'd expect after 21 years that tale has grown some legs.

Meninga's appearance for Tuggeranong came in the club's first year under the Bushrangers banner following a merger between the South Tuggeranong Knights, Tuggeranong United Buffaloes and Valley Dragons.

"Mal was the first president of the club. As well as Mal we had Paul Osborne and David Sharpe, our first grade coach play in lower grade trials. From memory, Mal played two or three George Tooke games in our first year," former Bushrangers secretary Phil Watts said.

"I remember Mal was finding the holes for these young blokes to run through, they couldn't believe their luck to be on the field with such a legend. Paul Osborne was an integral part of organising the start of the Bushies, Paul played a number of reserve grade trials with the club.

"I remember after one such trial he had been on the field for the entire game and said it was first ever that had played an entire 80 minutes only to be told reggies only play for 70 minutes. That particular day he played in the No.6, we stirred him saying we had sewn two No.3's together to make the No.6. He was a great asset for the club in our first year.

"David Sharpe was our first grade coach for the first two seasons. Sharpie also played in our early trials to get a gauge on our playing strength and possibly to relive some of his playing memories.

"These three people were invaluable in bringing the three clubs together in the early days and set us up to be the club they are today."

And the No.3 jersey Meninga wore might stand the test of time as the most sought-after Bushrangers jumper of all time.

The icy weather worked in the ACT Brumbies' favour last week. Well, sort of. The cold wind whipping through Canberra Stadium prompted most people to leave the comfort of the Meninga Stand and move east to enjoy the sun for the game against the Canterbury Crusaders.

The result was the crowd of more than 8000 looked a lot larger than it was on television given the cameras shoot towards the eastern side of the ground.

The Brumbies are hoping a fan frenzy sparks up in the coming weeks as the team shoots for a top-two spot in the finals, and some have even been dissecting the draw to see if they can clinch the minor premiership.

But for all the rugby doomsdayers in recent years, there is definitely a bright spark on the horizon. The general allocation for tickets to the Brumbies v British and Irish Lions game next year have sold out.

The only tickets currently available are hospitality packages worth almost $400 per person. Fans moved quickly to get their spot at the once-in-12-years event and if you missed out on the first lot, you might need to buy the premium package to guarantee your spot.

We hear there may be another release of general public tickets later this year, and then the rest will be released closer to the game.

You might remember we floated the idea of the "Snow Dome" earlier this year as the solution to Canberra's ongoing stadium debate.

Yes, we put our hand up and agree we've come up with our fair share of wild stadium ideas (remember City Hill?), but we legitimately thought the Snow Dome was a viable option if billionaire Terry Snow jumped on board.

It seems we're not the only ones who had a similar idea. Locker Room reader Ernie Nicholls reached out to us this week with his idea, which had a similar version of the Snow Dome.

"I just wanted to weigh in on my stadium idea which would solve many infrastructure projects," Nicholls said.

"Has anyone brought up the airport for a 'solution'? Build it there and light rail [to] it plus connect with a train service to Melbourne as the current situation is unacceptable.

"Then have Terry Snow sponsor long term with an attractive naming rights [deal] and between him, the ACT, NSW and Federal governments - what an infrastructure idea.

"It would have to be roofed and then it could be called the Snow Dome. Terry would love that and he'd put investment in for sure.

"You could incorporate another hotel for fans guests and staff and even build some houses and/or create a sports village PLUS a new convention centre and/or entertainment hub with all transport modes there."

Anyone who sat in the cold at the Brumbies last weekend (it was freezing even though it was a 2.30pm kick-off) knows how desperately the stadium needs a roof, or even some built up stands to block the wind.

We might reach out to Snow to gauge his interest. We did float the stadium issue to Canberra Airport boss Stephen Byron a few weeks ago after he signed a sponsorship deal with the Brumbies.

Byron has been a major supporter of the Civic stadium idea in the past, but for now he's preferring to stay out of the debate.

There would have been plenty of empty cups, chip packets and pie wrappers to clean up after a record 149,196 fans filed into the stands for Magic Round in Brisbane last weekend. But the odds on finding a tooth among the rubble?

Raiders centre Matt Timoko lost half of his front tooth during Canberra's win over the Canterbury Bulldogs on Friday night, leading the New Zealand international to issue a plea on Instagram, telling fans: "If anyone finds my tooth, [let me know]."

He's not the first Raiders centre to leave a game missing half a tooth. Seb Kris waited on the bench for 75 minutes before coach Ricky Stuart gave him the nod for his NRL debut back in 2019.

Kris spent five minutes on the park, and when he pulled his mouthguard out, he saw half a front tooth staring back at him.

The Canberra Cavalry have turned to Major League stock for a new bench coach.

Mike Couchee has joined Cavalry manager Jim Bennett's coaching staff ahead of the Australian Baseball League season. Couchee played in the MLB for the San Diego Padres and held coaching roles with the Texas Rangers, Anaheim Angels, Padres and San Jose Giants.

"Bringing Mike on to be our bench coach is a big win for the Cavalry. He's been in professional baseball for over 4 decades and brings a wealth of knowledge. It's going to be great to have him here and the players are going to love him," Bennett said.

Nat Hurst was once the heart and soul of the Canberra Capitals and helped deliver seven WNBL championships to the city, and once she moved into coaching with the Canberra Nationals, it only felt like a matter of time before she would be coaching at the international level.

Most just wouldn't have tipped she would be coaching New Zealand.

Hurst will take the reins during a two-game friendly tour of Japan in July, and a three-game FIBA World Cup pre-qualifier series in Mexico in August - which marks the first step in qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.

"I'm super-honoured to be given this caretaker role, it's a short term role but I'm trying to look long-term as well - so hopefully I can come in, make a good impression on the girls and they feel comfortable with me," Hurst said.

"We've got two big focuses now; the Japan tour and then three games in Mexico, so we want to be prepared as best we can to go out there and put our best foot forward."

So why did the Tall Ferns look across the Tasman?

"She knows what a winning culture looks like - having won seven WNBL championships, playing for the Opals and having a successful career playing in Europe," New Zealand basketball high performance manager Lisa Wallbutton said.

The Australian Olympic Committee and Channel Nine are launching a national push to get sports clubs, governments and pubs to become Olympic Games live sites during the Paris Games.

The timing of the events in Paris make it incredibly difficult to build fan momentum on the ground in Canberra. Some of the medal events will be in the early hours of the morning.

There are no current plans for an outdoor live site in Canberra, similar to the ones for the Matildas' World Cup games last year, which makes sense because who wants to sit on the concrete at 2am to watch a 55 second swimming race in the middle of a Canberra winter?

Maybe it makes sense if Patty Mills and the Australian Boomers play for a medal, or Michelle Heyman and the Matildas can be a contender. But it's still a big if.

But we expect a few pubs and clubs to request some exemptions for events. The Dock in Kingston was a hub for the families and friends of the Australian rowing team in 2021, and they'll likely jump on board again.

There are two major differences this time. The Tokyo Olympics were in the perfect timezone for Australians, many who were stuck at home during COVID-19 lockdowns. The key events in Paris will happen while most of us are sleeping.

The other difference is the return of crowds. Olympic teams are reporting a major spike in interest from families and friends keen to be on the ground in France after being banned from travelling to Japan three years ago.

Speaking of Olympians, have we got a few future stars in our own backyard?

Three under 14 gymnasts have won what we're told is the first team gold for the ACT at the Australian championships.

Beau Gibson, Rory Bayer and Joshua Loh have been training together since they were about seven years old and now form part of Team Futures Australia, a development pathway for elite level gymnasts.

The trio train more than 24 hours per week, including monthly training sessions at the AIS with John Curtin, the men's national team coordinator and junior national development coach.

If team gold wasn't enough, Loh won silver on All-Around (individual score) and Gibson won bronze.