Fenner Fight Club

Sometimes alcohol may get the better of your judgement, and you do some things that you will regret in the morning...and sometimes those ideas are totally awesome.

Here are some photos of Micheal, Alex and myself duking it out - welcome to the FFC

It started out as wrestling...

Alex and Michael playing at 'Judo'

but when we realised Alex was much stronger than both of us shit got real.

All too easily Alex drops me on my head

Joint locks took the place of grappling...

Micheal tries to dislocate Alex's shoulder

...and grabs turned to punches.

Here I am given the asian a lesson in Aussie Kung Fu!

There was a no holding back policy with punches to the gut

I threw up after this one

punches to the head

as well as kicks and knees to the face
The blows soon started to turn real nasty as the neck became involved...
...and choke slams became the norm

After being hoisted up, I was belted in the face a few times before Alex threw me to the ground like the rag doll I am

Of course, the true martial arts experience shone through.

The final lesson, a fly kick to the head.

Until next time, Fenner Fight Club says good night!

We are sooo much hotter than Charlie's Angels!

Please note; only one Phillip Gatt was injured during the making of this mocumentary

Take that ACTEBA!

Last year, after finishing 2nd in Div 4 in the ACT 8-Ball league the administrators dropped our team to Division 5.

Last night the Southern Cross Gringos (that's us!) give a huge middle finger in return. After finishing a disappointing 3rd place in the league games we systematically moved through finals series losing once and winning three times to claim the major prize. The team we faced in the Grand Final (Dropped from Div 3 - these administrators are weird) were undefeated, often winning matches by more than 8 frames (that's a lot).
We turned the tables on them though; in a race to 13 we were leading 11-4, and then 12-5. A mid-order collapse that would make the English cricket team proud gave the opposition (known as the Defenstrators) a glimpse of victory as they were as close as 12 -10, before we clinched victory.
Not only do I get a trophy for the victory, but we earn a place back in Div 4, and we get to play in the 'Champion or Champions' tournament - a handicapped knockout tournament in which the winners of each division play off against each other.

Interhall Pool

Two weeks ago Fenner held an 8-ball competition in order to select a team for the interhall competition. 10 players turned up and multiple games at the Maram in Wanniassa led to the selection of four elite players from around the world to represent Fenner Hall. The following Friday the four of us went to uni pub in a bid to retain the interhall pool championship, which we had shared with Ursula and UniLodge last year. Each Hall/College ranked their players one to four, and then played one game against their opposite number from the other colleges. Every player played six games, and each college played 24 games, and after the three hours of pool Fenner had proven its utter dominance in this event. Of a possible 24 wins Fenner walked away with 20. The next closest college was Burgmann with 14 wins. Playing in 1sts for my team I was undeafeted, and it inlcuded an epic battle against the Ursies' 1st player that attracted the attention of all participants. A ring of supporters had formed around the table by the 3rd shot that all watched with bated breath.

The photo may be grainy but our playing wasn't - Pete (played 4ths won 4/6), myself (played 1sts won 6/6, Sanchit (Indian import, played 3rds won 5/6), and Declan (English import, played 2nds won 5/6). In the middle the interhall pool trophy!

The Race

I've been super busy, but finally I have been able to update the blog

About month ago four intrepid adventures set off towards Johns XXIII College for Inward Bound.

Div 1 preparing at Fenner, Justin and Tristanm, my scouts, are in the team shirts

A relatively experienced team we had two particapants who had previuosly run Div 1 before, one who had run div 4, and a new recruit. Jaws dropped when the other team saw our greenest member, Sarah, not many females run in the top division, and even fewer are navigate.

Preparing to be met by my adoring fans

At approximately 11pm we removed our blindfolds in the Yaouk valley on Stewartfield Rd (although we didn't know that at the time). We were told the endpoint was a small town called Jerangle. My scouts reported nothing more than a few farmhouses in the area, which indicated we were 10kms from the nearest main road so quickly we packed up our gear and headed south.

The road to the finish, a prophetic sign perhaps.

Our amazing pace allowed us to catch two teams ahead of us, but we lost our position upon arriving at Bobeyan Rd where we stopped to locate out exact position and plot a course. Johns and Burgmann jogged past and that was the last team we saw for over nine hours.

Sharing stories at the end

We headed east along the road, and up around Shannon's flat heading for ford across the Murrumbidgee River just outside Bredbo. There was a moment of panic when 4wd track we were looking for seemed further away than expected, but in reality the first 35km was relativley easy to run and navigate.

The real reason we run - awesome breakfast

The next 10 kms was the downfall of every team. After crossing Povey's Fire trail most were aiming to head east, but regrowth from the fires in 2008 made many of the paths very difficult to spot. Twice we briefly wandered off course and only my experience kept us on track. At one stage we saw head lamps way off in the distance, quite high up and very far south. Whoever they were, they were lost, the endpoint was not in that direction. We giggled.

The endpoint

Next Sarah led us on an epic bushbash but to our dismay the trail we needed could not be found. For 30 mins we searched before giving up and following a dry creekbed to another trail, which also could not be found. Once again we followed creeks until we came across a barely visible trail. Here we decided to follow the trail (all trails lead somewhere) and it took us south through the forest (somewhat in the wrong direction) and ended at a major creek (dry thankully) which bore east, and we followed this to the last trail on the map, fingers crossed this still existed.

Fenner Hall Div 1 coming in to the finish

It was HUGE (the trial I mean)! the sun had risen and we had a road. Invigorated we plowed on north and then east to Bredbo. We took off our shoes and socks to cross the Murrumbidgee and stopped for a chat with the Burgmann Div 2 team who we met. They had bad news - they were with B&G Div 1 previously so they must be ahead of us. Just as we packed up our gear, low and behold, B&G plowed through the river, the sight of us spurring them on to not even protect their feet. So Burgmann were wrong, and we had a race on our hands.

Sarah leads us home

At this stage we assumed we were second last with B&G close behind. We were the second last team to leave drop off and the nav was relatively easy. We powered through Bredbo and to a checkpoint at the Monaro Highway. We were greeted with huge smiles by those manning the checkpoint. "Div 1 - we've been waiting for all night - Ursies passed by about an hour ago, you guys are in 2nd place!"

35km to go, a well used road to follow and B&G not too far behind. We worked hard, checking off the kms and holding a steady 8.5 kms an hour. Every now and then we would spy Burgmann Div 2 ahead, and every now and then a safety car would follow close behind to protect us from any traffic. Vehicles with supporters driving to the finish would go by tooting their horns and cheering us on.

Some people work harder than others...

5kms left, just before our final food break we caught up to Burgmann div 2. With a big grin I tell them we want to beat them to the end. I receive a confused look from their nav as he points behind us, "I'd be more concerned about them." Only 200 m behind, B&G came striding up the hill.

"No break team, we run the next two hills." My team kicks into action as we push up the hill, down the incline and up the next one. Behind us we can hear the B&G team yelling at each other to work harder. We do the same. Sarah and I start to struggle.My thigh muscles start spasming as cramps set in and I am lose my ability to run up the hills. Sarah and I struggled to keep pace with Tristan and Justin, unsure if we can finish with the pace, yet neither of us wanted to be the first to give in. 2 kms on and we can still hear B&G close behind. As we top the rise in the distance we see endpoint. "Dump any water" I advise, as Tristan turns to check on the enemy.

10 minutes later we round the final corner and stumble to the finish, amongst the cheering supporters from all 7 seven halls and colleges.

Parking! you mean people actually drove here?

For 15 kms the support vehicles had been in radio contact with the endpoint detailing the epic battle that finished in a five kilometer sprint to the end after 70 kms if hard running.

A little tired

2nd place was ours!

Fenner Hall Division 1: Sarah (co-navigator), Tristan, (scout), me (navigator), Justin (scout)