SRDL Season opener – The Mc Hammers v the Ice Ice Babies.
Kicking off their season in style, the Sydney Roller Derby League’s (SRDL) representative team slip themselves in two to answer the question would the Ice Ice Babies get Mc Hammed?
RDAU’s Pepâ la Pow! Spoke with the Mc Hammer’s Violet Van Slam and Ice Ice Baby, Bacardi Bruiser after the bout.
PLP: So we came away with the…
VVS: win
PLP: Tonight and it came down to the very last jam. How much training did you put in for this particular bout?
VVS: I guess we’ve came back in February and started a bit of fitness, in March started a bit of training and we only really got to skate with our team once but I guess because we’re all within the same league then we’ve all been training together anyway. We all knew each other and how we all skated so there wasn’t much need for a big training
PLP: So for yourself now being a member of the Assassins team and we’ve got TGSS on the horizon that’s a big aim for Sydney?
VVS: Yeah definitely, everyone is really psyched for The Great Southern Slam (TGSS). It’s very competitive as we can only take some skaters so that’s why tonight was such a competitive game because we’re all competing for those spots to get onto that squad. So we’re all really focused at the moment and all really want to become better skaters and all working on our weaknesses and I guess tonight was just a test for that
PLP: So out there tonight you really owned that track yourself, played really defensively and was able to do a lot of the scrum starts which is something we’re seeing a lot of now, how do you think that’s impacting the game?
VVS: I guess it’s making it more controlled and whichever team gets to do that the best is the team that really gets to take control of those jams I guess and really set the speed
PLP: And you most of the time play as a blocker
VVS: Yeah
PLP: So do you find its giving the blockers a lot more control of the game itself or giving the blockers little more share of the lime light?
VVS: Umm, yeah I guess its more maybe for the jammers if you come off and get the rough end of that start then you’re stuffed for most of the jam. If you’ve got four people water falling and their knocking you over so its mostly the jammer thats a jam play.
PLP: You mention the waterfalling, I noticed lots of really beautiful waterfalling going on and recycling back into the pack tonight, is that something you work hard on within the team?
VVS: Yeah definitely, its just one of the basics thats really drilled into you as a derby player. In the first half we didn’t do it and thats why we were losing by about 60 points I think it was. We weren’t water falling, we weren’t keeping those walls all the basics of derby. In the second half we came out there just hoping to do the basics and have some fun and hitting and we pulled it off and came back.

For the record the MC Hammers came away with the win in a very closely fought bout that came right down to the very last jam. MC Hammers 161 to Ice Ice Babies 158. It seems the Ice Ice Babies couldn’t touch them.
Pepâ also caught up with the MVP for the Ice Ice Babies, Bacardi Bruiser.
PLP: Tell us about the bout tonight
BB: We’ve been working on a lot of strategy and some hard hitting and it’s really rough out there at the moment, it’s full on.
PLP: It was the opening bout for the season tonight for the league and it was a not the usual home teams tonight
BB: I was playing for the Ice Ice Babies in red, it was actually my first game as an Assassin. So i was pretty nervous but once i got out there and in the zone
PLP: So this was actually a league training for yourselves as assassins going to TGSS, trying out a few new tactics?
BB: We were kind of treating it as more of a public scrimmage and also just working together with all the new people in the squad as alot of us haven’t worked together before in the home teams
PLP: So it was your debut and there was others out there debuting as you’ve got a bunch of skaters coming from other leagues which other leagues have they come from?
BB: We’ve had some transfers from Western Sydney Rollers (WSR) and also Canberra Roller Derby League (CRDL) so having them gel in with the team. We’ve been training really hard on that cohesion and walls and just working and communicating and that really paid off tonight.
PLP: So with skaters coming in from other leagues to Sydney have they brought new things with them or any real challenges in incorporating them into the way you do things at SRDL?
BB: They’ve come in really well because they’re so established especially with pivoting and communicating they’re just kind of slotted straight in. Sometimes some of them are a little more experienced so they’ve taken some of us newer ones under their wings as well. It’s like having seniors come straight in. Its just amazing how quickly they bonded.
PLP: Excellent, so we’ve got TGSS coming up fast who are some of the teams you really want to come up against?
BB: Of course the big names SSRG, VRDL and to have a tight game against them. Fuck we want to win of course but sometimes that’s not possible but we want to go down there, we want to finish top 4 .
PLP: So who do you think might be the dark horse for TGSS?
BB: Well, she’s not really a dark horse but the old Freyda Cox is going is a bit of a star just the way she pushes through the pack and she’s just always there to calm us down and just and has that strategy brain as well, she’s really strong and course Hater, like who could go past Hater? Team Australia etc
You can see more from the Sydney League at the next bout when the Sydney Assassins take on the best of the rest of NSW on the 12th of May at Sydney Olympic Park.
Words by Pepâ la Pow! Photography by Roaringstorm Photography