Crocs

Sometimes the difference between regret-disaster-personal sporting shame and glorious shiny lifelong highlight is a few seconds and one fast little friend.


13 years ago I was as tall and athletic as I ever was or will be again. This was very helpful, because I was playing Frisbee at the World Games on the Australian team in Taiwan. I was in a quarter full, brand new stadium with 10,000 moderately confused, yet enthusiastic Taiwanese spectators. It was very hot, very dark beyond the stadium lights and the Japanese national team was very good at Frisbee.

The Australian team was good too though and as a result together we produced the best contest on a frisbee field I’ve been part of. The Japanese team had 2 particularly sensational players that night - Eri Hirai and Masahiro Matsuno. Often a point would start with Australia throwing down to team Japan; Hirai would then run around a bit, she’d get the frisbee and throw it a long way, very fast to Matsuno who would catch a goal. They’d all smile and bow subtly before we’d start the next point.

To deal with this we had a strong plan. We’d try and run after Hirai and Matsuno to stop them - one time in the game this worked for me. On reflection it was probably just a simple plan, rather than a strong one. Anyway it worked this one time and we went ahead 3 to 1. After that the teams took turns scoring goals until at half time the Aussie Crocs led 7 to 5.

The game felt kind of like an exciting summer night adventure of some sort. The air was thick and warm, objects seemed to move quickly and crisply in and out of the light. Have you ever been night skiing? Or do you remember riding a push bike to a friend’s house after sunset on a humid day? It was foreign and exciting and required the very best of your senses to keep up with everything. It was a sharp, rapid game. Highly skilled and vigorous.

Someone must have given a pretty poor speech in our half time huddle because Japan scored the first 3 points after the break. This put us down 7 to 8 and it did not feel good. Games at the World Games finish quickly when 1 team scores 13 points. We tightened up, scored a goal and the 2 teams went back to taking turns scoring goals. Eri, she went back to throwing fast long goals and I went back to diving behind Matsuno while he caught goals.

At 10 to 10 we got lucky and got a block and goal to take the lead back, 2 points from a win. 5 minutes later the score was 12 all and the last point of the game had suddenly arrived to place us all right on the pointy precipice between failure and success. As a quick aside I think this is why sport is so compelling, great and terrible feelings are just so close together sometimes.

I got the frisbee and threw my only turnover of the 6 game tournament. 13 years later on my couch in Sydney I feel queasy thinking about it. The Japanese team picked it up and attempted a pass. Peter Blakeley ran over there using his speediness and got it back. He saved me. Exactly 1 minute after I had thrown the frisbee away, I ran to the end zone and caught the winning goal.

The disaster flipped to glory in a minute. Incredible. It was an amazing game to be a part of. I’ve been saying I needed to pay Pete back for years, still not sure how to do it.


In a couple of days the World Games are on again. Other people from the Australian Crocs and the best players from around the world will find themselves poised precariously between disaster and success. I hope they find it as excruciating and joyful as I did.

Good luck.




You can follow the 2022 Aussie Crocs here: https://www.facebook.com/AussieCrocs/

You can watch me play in the old days here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQgRV5tif3I