There's bit of a back story to how I got to this point, it all goes back to October 2010 when my sister Ness and I went to watch our first roller derby bout which was WSR vs NRDL. We were both cheering for WSR as we were joining them in the next intake and unfortunately they got hammered. Ness wants to be a jammer so she fell in love with Suzy Pow who jammed really well that night. I on the otherhand was completely mesmerised by Godjilla Sold Separately she was a human wrecking ball of a blocker and not only that the woman could jam. All I could think was I want to be as good as her, she's fucking amazing! Here's a bit of trivia my other favourite skater Atomic Cherry was bouting against Godjilla that night, how lucky was I see them coming up against each other on the track :)
That was the last time I saw her bout because up until a month ago my Saturday night's were occupied so it was hard to get time off to go to any bout. Fast forward to the present time and Ness and I were making our way up the F3 to go to the bout. We used to go to Redhead when we were kids which was just down the road from where the bout was being held. My dad said to look for the Charlestown exit but that was supposed to be when I took the scenic route exit, silly me kept looking for the Charlestown exit while I was on the F3. I realised I stuffed up when the F3 finished and I was seeing directions for Brisbane. I looked at the street directory not only did I pass Gateshead, I went past Newcastle too. I worked out if I went on the Pacific Hwy and stayed on it we'd get to the turn off for the venue. Despite staying on the Pacific Hwy I somehow managed to get off it and found myself near the beach. So I figured out another route to the venue as we took the scenic route of Newcastle and hooray we got to the bout with 15 mins to spare.
We caught up with Ivy and Pepa and watched the bout with them. When it came to which team to follow I naturally picked Fort Smashleys because Godjilla played for them, Ness picked Harbour Hellcats because Suzy Pow played for them. Funnily enough both were captains for their respective sides that night. I knew I was screwed when both teams came out for their skateouts I went into fangirl mode, while I might not scream and freak out like Ness does, I'm more like a stunned mullet unable to talk. In what must have been a twist of fate around the third jam Godjilla lined up as blocker with Suzy Pow as jammer. As they were coming around the bend Godjilla completely took out Suzy Pow right in front of us, I was cheering like crazy, Ness wasn't too happy though :D
Godjilla has this really cool technique for the most part she'll look as though she's just skating casually then all of a sudden she'll sprint and land a hit out of nowhere. I lost count of how many bodies she left in her wake. Naturally I compared her blocking style and tactics to Cherry's. Cherry likes to lead from the front and play pivot and carve until the cows come home. Godjilla is almost always the last blocker and organises her side in front of her depending on what's going on with the jammers behind her. She'll often push her own team mates onto a jammer if she can't get to them. The Hellcats got the better of her once when they double teamed her so that she couldn't get to their jammer as she skated passed them. It was just great to be able to watch and learn from her from the sideline. If I ever got the chance to get hitting practise from her you wouldn't be able to wipe the smile off my face for a week :)
That's right there was a bout that night. Fort Smashley started off strongly, the Hellcats couldn't get a look in then all of a sudden they got a 15-0 jam and got right back into the bout. It was such a see-saw affair but then the Hellcats started pulling ahead, the Smashley's tried clawing back but ran out of time with the Hellcats running out the victors that night 101-86. It ended up being the most fun bout I've been to yet. While I analyse the hell out of the SRDL bouts that I've been to with their tactics and formations this bout reminded me of the bouts you see in Whip It. Sure I was distracted when Godjilla was on the track and I was trying to learn from her style of play but both sides looked like they were having a great time. They'd dance before the start of a jam or on the seat if they got sent to the penalty box. During an official time two of them were chasing each other on the track and ended up rolling around on the track. Special mention has to go to The Cramp she had me in stitches, she was the funniest of the lot :D
Once the bout was over Ivy and Ness went outside to chat to Suzy Pow, I followed Pepa to meet Godjilla. Pepa managed to line up an interview with her during half time. Unfortunately I went into fangirl mode, I literally couldn't get the words out of my mouth. Pepa had to introduce me to Godjilla then Godjilla surprised me for the first time that night when she said she knew who I was and that she was waiting to see how long it would take me to come up and talk to her, and yet I still couldn't get a word out of my mouth. Pepa was interviewing her so I kept my mouth shut as I didn't want to interrupt even though I had all these questions but when Pepa asked if I had any questions for Godjilla I went completely blank AGAIN! I couldn't have been more pathetic if I tried but nope I managed to outdo myself a few seconds later when Jilla asked me 'And how are you?' I know I pulled a stupid face, I felt it even Ivy mentioned it later. I just remember thinking has she been following my status updates on Facebook, does she actually read my blog so that she knows about all my injury dramas? I eventually answered her and we sort of got a conversation going but it was an absolute shocker from my end. Then she surprised me again when she remembered the advice request I sent her late last year which I put in my words of wisdom post, I didn't even bring it up. All in all it was a complete train wreck of a first meeting from my end. I'm 28 years old but I acted like a teeny bopper without the screaming, although Ness went one better than me and screamed when she met Suzy Pow :D Jilla is completely down to earth and happy to have a chat with anyone and if I'm lucky enough one day I'll come up against her one day on the track. Hopefully I'll have the whole starstruck feeling out of my system the next time I catch up with her :)
Just to top the night off I took the wrong exit on the F3 and ended up taking the long way home, it summed up my night really haha.
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