Worlds in Review Part 2 - Wombats

I must apologies for the delay on this one, but the audio of this interview required enhancement above that of the old commodore 64 in the BUB basement. Once we found a super computer capable of the enhancement we were met with the sounds of silence that is George "Silent" Salisbury. 

 So Silent thanks for doing the interview and remember to speak up. To start with give our readers an idea of your Ultimate back ground. When did you start playing? When did you start competing at the elite level?

Thanks Jangles. Ok so my first experience of ultimate was on a bit of a working holiday break over in New Zealand in 2006. I was tripping around the South Island in a campervan doing some fruit picking along the way. In Motueaka, one of the bigger apple picking areas with backpackers from all over, including a large contingent from Canada, we started a pickup game a couple of afternoons a week. It was a quite a frantic paced affair with many like me that were new to the game just running around little idea of strategy. I’ve pretty fond memories of that time still, and the pickup games were a highlight. When I moved to Brisbane after that trip I joined the BUML league, would have been mid 2006. In 2008 I started playing BPL with The Moreton Bay Buggers, and went to my first nationals with Firestorm.

The masters seemed to have one of the longest selections processes of all the Worlds teams. What are your thoughts on the selection process and then the overall selection of the Wombats team?

Seems a long time ago now, yeah I guess it was quite a lengthy process, with a couple of spaced out selection camps. I think the brains trust had hoped to select from only the one camp but ended up needing another. I think they did a pretty good job on the selection, and the team in the end was very capable with ah a good vibe both on and off the field.

Obviously there is plenty of talent in the team with a number of ex dingoes players starting to fill out the roster. However the wombats struggled at nationals partially due to the number of games, Gaks injury and any other reason you want to throw out there. Did you think it was a worthwhile for the Wombats to play at nationals?

Nationals was a bit of a let down after we did so well at BCI, though I think it was still worthwhile playing. It was always going to be a tough tournament for us against the open teams, and we just couldn’t quite play at the same level as BCI.

Probably needed the warm weather of Brisbane or more wine and cheese or is it less wine and cheese? Either way there wasn't the right amount of wine and cheese going around. Moving on.

Small number of teams meant a round robin comp and you got to play against all levels of competition. The main surprise in these initial games was your win over the USA and the shock waves that would have sent to the rest of the comp. Talk us through the game and your thoughts on the American team.

That was our first game of the tournament, and not having played any masters teams in the lead-up it was great to finally match up against other masters. I thought we were in control all of that game and we just had to play confidently and consistently to get the win.

After some hard fought games through the pool rounds and then a epic against Japan in the semi saw the wombats into the final, which would have to be a highlight of your playing career. What were you feeling going into the game and how do you think you and the team handled the pressure of the occasion?

I was definitely feeling some nerves before the game and thought we struggled a bit to bring the same level of intensity that we had in our semi against Japan. The Canadians had a quite clinical offense and didn’t give away many opportunities which made it harder to get into the game on defence I thought.

It was a great game to watch and the time zone meant many Aussies were able to watch the game live. Post tournament reflection now. If you had to pick a masters team tomorrow name 3 players (other than Gak) you would pick on your team and why?

I assume Gak is already picked then, so I’d have Buzz to throw to him, Sascha Vidler for his excellent cutting, and Tao Browne, worlds would have been very different without his “GET THE BLOCK!!” and “LAY IT OUT!” calls!

Tao being loud hey? Never heard that before, although at least he probably didn't yell you to layout when you are standing next to him on the sideline. I completely agree with your other choices. Being one of the younger guys on the team will we see you in 4 years’ time?

Definitely, playing on the Wombats was a fantastic experience; I would be very keen to do it again.

This concludes our worlds in review Interviews. Next on the agenda is Mixed nats teams and Uni games.