Newcastle Roller Derby League (NRDL) hosted their final home bout for 2011 on Saturday with Bout Ready Bout for MOvember which pitted The Rough Rollers against The French Ticklers to determine whose mo would reign supreme! In keeping with the theme both skaters and supporters were encouraged to come along with their best moustache impression with prizes given to the best mo.

After a year which saw NRDL come third in the ERRD, host their first bout at the Newcastle Entertainment Centre by taking on the mighty Adelaide Roller Derby (ADRD), play their first international bout in New Zealand and cap off a successful intra league season this bout was all about thanking their supporters for their support throughout the year while raising money for a good cause. The bout threw a few surprises, both DangeRass and Susy Pow were on Team Zebra for the night, due to the heat and number of players available the bout was broken into 4×15 minute periods and there were guest appearances by some skaters from Central Coast Roller Girls (CCRG).

The first jam saw the Ticklers Luna Shovegood get lead jammer over Thunderslut but quickly called it off before either side could score points. The bout then came to life when the Ticklers Brigand Strong got lead jammer thanks to some excellent defence by Broken Arrow taking out the Rough Riders Schmierer which allowed Brigand Strong to score a 4 point jam before calling it off. The Rough Riders fought back with Hippy Hardarse getting lead jammer over Tootsie Turbo with Belt’er Goodrem stopping Tootsie’s progress with excellent positional blocking.

Due to the heat the jams were mostly slow starts and called off quickly but when De-Bri and Belt’er took on each other jammer against jammer neither got lead jammer status and the jam eventually went the full two minutes which is probably the last thing either side wanted. To their credit they both went at it especially Belt’er who was skating like her life depended on it which resulted in a high scoring jam 11-7 and took the Rough Riders lead to 22-17.

The skaters were playing with smiles on their faces and it was laughs all around when the Ticklers Harms Way fell down and her own player Broken Arrow barrel rolled over her! The laughs stopped though when both Harms Way and Lock Stock Lulu were sent to the penalty box in quick succession which allowed the Rough Rollers to capitalise scoring a 10 point jam and increasing their lead 32-17. The Rough Riders formed a formidable wall at the front of the pack in their next jam and excellent footwork by Hippy allowed her to get lead jammer. The Ticklers Beaver Destruction eventually got through the Riders defensive wall but the damage was done as Hippy scored a 7-1 point jam for her side and further increased their lead to 39-18.

Belt’er was playing like a player possessed, with a determined look on her face she was speeding through the pack and despite falling twice she still managed to get through the pack first before Harms Way but did not get lead jammer. Belt’er battled away and in her second attempt managed to get lead jammer and score a 4-1 jam to bring the first quarter to a close with the score 41-22 for the Rough Riders.

The French Ticklers attempted to claw back the deficit at the beginning of the second quarter by going for a no pack start but Thunderslut surprised them by sneaking past on the inside line to get lead jammer with Tootsie Turbo struggling to get past the Rough Riders defence. Thunderslut then got sent to the penalty box for low blocking and was quickly joined by two of her blockers. Tootsie passed the star to Brigand Strong but by then Thunderslut was back on the track and called off the jam before Brigand could score any points.

The Ticklers Mini Mayhem got lead jammer over Betty Bedlam and after some good work getting through the pack ended up stacking it and calling the jam off from the floor but not before scoring 2 points. Schmierer got lead jammer from finding a gap after some great footwork. Some great defensive work by Brigand stopped Schmierer from scoring more points and kept it to a 4-3 jam for the Rough Riders to make the score 49-36.

Hippy and De-Bri lined up on the jammer line and ended up with Hippy using her favourite tactic of skating and weaving along the outside line to get lead jammer but was stopped by some great Ticklers defence. De-Bri had more joy on the inside line and got lead jammer but was eventually stopped by the Belt’er and Reggie Ramjet’s wall at the front of the pack. De-Bri had the last laugh as she scored a 4 point jam to bring the score to 49-40 with 6:30 left until half time. The intensity went up a notch when Brigand managed to pierce the Rough Riders wall at the front of the pack with Thunderslut struggling to get past the Ticklers defence as Brigand scored another 4 points and made it a 5 point game 49-44.

As soon as the Ticklers had the momentum it was quickly taken away from them as Belt’er who needed Hippy to shield Broken Arrow away from her to get lead jammer. De-Bri was then sent to the penalty box which gave the Rough Riders a power jam and allowed Belt’er to score a 12-3 jam to give the Rough Riders some breathing space again. The first half ended with Hippy going for her favourite outside play but some great Ticklers defence saw her sent to the penalty box. Harms Way eventually made it through the pack thanks to a whip from Broken Arrow but Belt’er saw the play and tried to stop Harms Way only for Broken Arrow to knock Belt’er off the track. The half time score was 66-54 for the Rough Riders.

The third quarter started with a different approach from Hippy as she tried getting through the pack by following the inside line and it worked as she got lead jammer over Broken Arrow who shortly after got sent to the penalty box for cutting the track. Beaver used effective positional blocking on Hippy but it was too late by that stage as Hippy scored a 9 point jam and increased the Riders lead to 75-54. Brigand then went flying off the blocks to get lead jammer over Thunderslut but called the jam off after getting instructions from the bench after scoring a 2-1 jam.

De-Bri was struggling with her balance which allowed Belt’er to go through and get lead jammer over her but she was stopped in her tracks by the amazing duo of Brigand strong and Broken Arrow that it allowed De-Bri to outscore Belt’er 4-3 in that jam once she got her balance back. After finding some joy going on the inside line in her last jam, Hippy tried going the same route again and it worked for her as she got lead jammer but she fell down which allowed Harms Way to get in front of her and taunt in a friendly manner! Beaver Destruction then joined in on the fun when she got lead jammer as she lifted her shirt while skating past the crowd which got a few cheers as went on her way to scoring a 4 point jam and cutting the deficit back to 83-68.

Thunderslut showed some nice footwork as she tiptoed the inside line to get lead jammer over Mini Mayhem but she didn’t get past Broken Arrow who booty blocked her to the ground to make her call the jam off. The third quarter ended with Belt’er once again getting lead jammer thanks to her great agility, this time over De-Bri. The jam ended with 3 points apiece with the total score ending 93-71. There was no need for any extra entertainment to fill the break as Team Zebra provided their own entertainment for the crowd, showing off their skating skills and dance moves on skates.

The fourth and final quarter started with Thunderslut trying the inside line again to get lead jammer but when that didn’t work she tried the outside line and it worked. Harms Way got sent to the penalty box which allowed Thunderslut to rack up the points. Tootsie Turbo eventually stopped her and managed to get her sent to the penalty box for track cutting but the damage was already done as she scored a 13-0 jam. The Ticklers responded with who else but Brigand Strong getting lead jammer thanks to some help from Broken Arrow. Her blockers managed to slow down the pack to allow her to make the most of the power jam with Broken Arrow taking out Thunderslut for good measure as Brigand scored a 14 point jam to make the score 109-85.

Both jammers Thunderslut and Tootsie Turbo were sent to the penalty almost simultaneously in separate incidences. Tootsie came back on as Thunderslut struggled to get past the Ticklers wall of defence and got smashed by Beaver Destruction for her troubles as the jam ended 0-0.

Belt’er managed to outmuscle Brigand and Broken Arrow’s wall at the front of the pack. She then made the most of her opposing jammer Harms Way being sent to the penalty box. Brigand then De-Bri eventually stopped Belt’er who ended up clutching her ribs after a particularly heavy hit but she still scored a 9 point jam to make the score 122-89 with 4:17 left in the game.

Hippy went back to trying to get past on the outside line but was met by Broken Arrow who absolutely smashed her then smashed her again once she regained her balance, but full credit to Hippy she continued on and got lead jammer. The Rough Riders used their wall at the front of the pack to full effect as Hippy scored a 9-3 jam. The final jam went down to Reggie Ramjet getting lead jammer over Beaver Destruction. Tootsie Turbo used positional blocking to hold back Reggie as Beaver tried to capitalise. The bout eventually ended 138-96 for the Rough Riders in what a fun end to a successful season for NRDL.

Some of the NRDL and CCRG skaters will be featuring in the upcoming City vs Coast bouts. This is your last chance to see your favourite skaters in action for the year. Don’t miss out!

Words by Lisbeth Slammed-her & Pictures by Scott Faulkner.