Road to a Rammed Rome

It’s been a while since I posted here on my blog. Long while actually!

A year ago yesterday I did something that I never ever imagined I’d ever do. I played my first Rugby Union game. Never have I ever been a sporting person. Avoided phys-ed at school like it was the bloody plague. Never had an interest whatsoever in team sports, or any sports for that matter. Just, never to anything sporting related.

But, somehow, I’m in my 2nd year of playing Rugby Union. I’m a few weeks off heading to another country to play in an actual competition. If you told me any of this 3 or 4 years ago I’d laugh and think you’re an idiot. Yet, here it is. Just moments until hitting the international stage.

A collection of failures…

If you’ve been a reader of this blog for a while, you’d probably know that hobbies aren’t something that last long with me. I’ll invest time and money in to a new hobby, only to get tired of it or inconvenienced by it and then it falls by the wayside, never to get touched again. This is a common part of having ADHD.

Rugby has been interesting. I can’t think of a hobby I’ve put this much effort in to and kept up with consistently for this long. Given prior failures, especially in the realm of sports, I’d have fully expected to have done 2 or 3 games and then gone “yep, had enough”. Adding it to the list of hobbies I tried and just lost interest in. Yet, it isn’t. It hasn’t become that.

In fact, it seems to be the exception.

Get Rammed!

How did I get here? Well, after my 2nd year in Perth, a friend of mine, Hien had been hard at me trying to convince me to join this what is effectively a social club that revolves around a sport. In this case, it was kickball, with Emerald City Kickball. I joined. I enjoyed it. It was fun and a good way to mingle with other people. But for some reason, I was enjoying the sport part more than I ever thought.

Another friend, Nick, had mentioned a few times that I should try rugby. He was a member of a local inclusive rugby union club called Perth Rams. One afternoon just before kickball I sat down with him at the pub and asked for his opinion on whether I should join.

Now, I’m not exactly a sports-built person. Ok, I’m fat. I said it. My fitness was below average (though I did spend a lot of time at the gym trying to improve this) but I always thought of rugby, soccer, AFL, all being sports for small guys. Thought there’s no way my fat ass is gonna make it in a rugby team.

Nick convinced me otherwise.

Nick went and explained to me what forwards were, and what the front row does. And what makes a good front rower.

So as soon as the next year registrations were open, I signed up. According to the president at the time, I was the first registration for that year. Can’t tell that I was eager, hey.

Move forward a few months and training starts. Fuck. Well, that was a shock to the system, the initial fitness program the club started with. I’m not entirely sure my heart has ever had to cope with such things before. But I survived, and kept coming back. Why? Because I wanted to try my hand at tackling.

Got to try tacking, that was fun. Got to try scrummaging, that was brutal. But it was all very new and exciting. I enjoyed every minute of it. Except the cardio, cardio can eat shit.

Thanks to the president at the time, who only purchased a 5XL jersey in #3, I got to start my career in what is considered the hardest position in the forwards, if not the game. Tighthead Prop. To this day, the only full-time tighthead prop on the team. My body aches.

International Stage

Last year was a blast. Got injured, got tackled, got folded, then got to represent the team on a national stage at Purchas Cup. Didn’t do as well as I had hoped but still had an absolute blast out there with a team that I love and respect.

This year I had the opportunity to sign up for the IGR Bingham Cup with Perth Rams. An opportunity that I jumped at.

Just a side note, the cup is a memorial match dedicated to Mark Kendall Bingham who sadly lost his life aboard United Airlines flight 43 on September 11, 2001 whilst trying to take back control from hijackers. I’d highly recommend reading about this and the tournament.

I want to be great this tournament. Outlast myself from last year. Do better than I did last year. Do myself and my team proud.

Honestly I think this is the fittest I’ve been in my adult life. The time spent at the gym, even doing… cardio…

Putting an insane amount of time and effort trying to be my best for this. I’m proud of how far I’ve come already. Only got a few more weeks left to get even better. I’m definitely nervous.

But I’m bloody excited!