Rainy day story

In 2008 at the World Championships in Vancouver, the Australian open team was knocked out in a Quarter Final by Great Britain. 

In 2012 at the World Championships in Sakai, the Australian open team was knocked out in a Quarter Final by Great Britain. 

In 2016 at the World Championships in London, the Australian open team’s Quarter Final against Great Britain was delayed by a very rainy day. 

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The night before the Quarter Final round was marked by constant rain. It was the kind of rain that closed fields and disrupted plans. Placing games down the bracket were cancelled and teams scheduled for knockout top-end games had their time slots changed, postponed then rearranged. Sometimes the hours between breakfast and an elimination game are very uncomfortable. Hours seem to stretch, slow and then suddenly accelerate until you are finally on the field before you are ready. Too much time to think, then too much to do. 

On this day the team waited for a game time that kept changing. The original 11:30am Quarter Final slot came and went. We went to a pub that had been serving groups of people loitering, milling around and waiting for over 500 years. It stopped drizzling and the sky lifted from grey to white. The game was rescheduled again to 5:30pm and we went to the fields. It started to rain again. 

Our team stepped off the bus and trod across heavy grass in groups and clumps to the field. Team GB was already there in full regal blue uniforms. Their players jumped and sprang while throwing and warming up; they exuded confidence, authority and home. The English sky poured rain and cloud down on the teams as we dug out our cleats and stepped on the field two golden shirts at a time. 

The GB players yelled and hooted. They called for more; “Mooooore” was their jubilant chorus. More rain, more wet, more home. We began to move on our half of the field as they whooped and revelled in the home field advantage they felt building and unstoppably rolling for this match - the third consecutive World Championship Quarter Final elimination for our two teams. This was our ultimate rivalry. The Australian mens team, the Dingoes, needed to win this game. 

Lightning snapped. Close and loud. The game was postponed and officials and teams moved inside. We sat inside a tiny brick locker room, 30 people: players, coaches, physiotherapists and manager. Smiles started to emerge around the room. Nervous laughter slid towards joyful laughter. Time moved some more and the pressure of multiple wet hours suddenly felt almost light, fun. Almost. We walked out and warmed up quickly under a misty sky. The Quarter Final began.

GB was good. The Dingoes were better. It was close and they felt like they had the world on their side. 14 minutes into the game the sun came out. We were in front 5 to 3 and the mood had changed. The ‘more’ calls had stopped, a rainbow rose above the field and the Australian team marched up the field. 

An hour later the Dingoes had won through to a Semi Final for the first time since 2004. 

It was the best rainy day I’ve had so far. 

​If you're interested, this is a 3 minute video recap of the day:

If you're really interested, this is an hour and fifteen of soggy/glorious game play: