With the magnificent Arafura sea in the background and set by the stunning Mindil Beach, recapturing the glory days has never been better. The inaugural Darwin Masters 10s has been a resounding success.
Picture this, a casino and a beach in a tourist town with a dozen of your mates. Friday kicks off with a long lunch, sponsored by Heineken and Joe Roff as guest speaker. Who could ever get enough of hearing about scoring two tries against the British & Irish Lions, ad nauseum? A not too shabby $12,000 was raised for local rugby development as result of this excellent event.
A little hungover and apprehensive, the tournament kicks off at 9am the next day. Two divisions, with first division attracting two teams from Fiji (Nawaka) including a few Fiji Internationals, and a star-studded Country King Browns, lead by a still handy Aussie 7s rep, Tim Atkinson. The second division is somewhat less star-studded, with the best performances having occurred during the previous day at the bar.
The games in division one were of a very high standard, and I don’t think anyone could tire of watching the enterprising Fijian style of rugby. Ultimately, the Country King Browns took out the prize in an exciting grand-final against Nawaka. Special mention also to the third-place Palmerston team, who donated their four-figure sum of prize money to the cyclone recovery in Fiji.
Division two (which this author participated) was a chance to get the feeling back of playing the game we all love with our best mates. The games are played hard and competitively and with a real spirit of enjoyment. For most of us who are past 35 and have hung up the boots, these games recapture your glory days and provide plenty of ammo for exaggerations at the bar afterwards. The Katherine Krocs, with a healthy supply of Port, post-match toasts and long-sleeve jerseys (in searing heat) deservedly took out the coveted “Spirit of Rugby Award”.
Darwin has a thriving rugby community, populated with top blokes who are passionate about the game. Bruce ‘Brutal’ Kennon and his tireless network spearheaded the organisation of the event and pulled out all stops to ensure a travelling team like us were taken care of and had all we need.
We were just 12 mates from Brisbane wanting to have a crack again, sight unseen. A few hundred bucks for flights from Brissie, plus surprisingly cheap hotel accomodation at the Sky City Casino resort made for an easy sell to the missus and a brilliant time off the field. Getting to some of the international 10s tournaments can be a bit tough, but The Darwin Masters 10s delivers everything you could ever want in a boys’ trip. Having a cold beer and watching the grand final whilst the sun set over the Arafura was very very memorable.
Was it hot as fury? Yes. But it was character building and made the tinnie at the end taste better.
Did our first run of rugby for half a decade (or more) hurt like hell? Yes, but having 1000 exaggerated stories told whilst drinking a beer in the casino pool at the end more than paid for it.
Was there any downside? Nil.
From my team, there isn’t a bloke who isn’t already excited for next year and thinking about training.
The tournament and associated events were well supported by sponsors, making for an organised, well run event. A big thanks and shout out to Bruce “Brutal” Kennon, Mic “Potholes” Bellis, Allan “Yorick” Hunt, Mick “Ajax” Caldwell and Kim “Achilles” Healy, The Stray Cats and all the NT Friends of Rugby members who pulled the weekend together.
