Megahertz Vs Rockdogs: The Community Cup Is On!

Megahertz Co-Captain Cat McGauran Can’t Wait To “Stick It Up” Rockdogs With Back-To-Back Victories 

When Bryget Chrisfield caught up with Megahertz Co-Captain Cat McGauran, she revealed her team can't wait to "stick it up" Rockdogs with back-to-back Reclink Community Cup victories.

It's a Megahertz tradition to have Co-Captains and this year Cat McGauran (PBS) and Chris Gill (RRR) are back after leading their team to victory last year. McGauran started at PBS in 2014, which was the same year she was recruited for Reclink Community Cup. Both Megahertz and Rockdogs boast players who have "played consistently for a long time", which leads McGauran to believe "the rivalry will increase". "No doubt both sides have players that get a bit of white line fever," she laughs.

"Radio is quite good training for football 'cause if you stuff something up on radio — bad luck, you know? You've just gotta keep going, 'cause you're still on air."

Megahertz "hadn't won for about five years" before owning the 2015 Reclink Community Cup, so we imagine the atmosphere in the locker room post-game must have been off tap! "We were obviously really happy, but relieved that we did what we set out to do," McGauran downplays. So what gave Megahertz the edge on the day? "Mentally, radio is quite good training for football 'cause if you stuff something up on radio — bad luck, you know? You've just gotta keep going, 'cause you're still on air."

On this year's Megahertz team, McGauran reveals, "It's very consistent from last year", before stressing that some of the team's newcomers last year are "actually footballers" now. "We don't have any star players," McGauran offers. "That's our strength is that we work together so well as a team. We've been training for months, every Sunday, and, you know, we're regularly getting 20 to 25 people at training... It's the team, it's not the individual."

When asked whether Megahertz have a game plan this year, McGauran teases, "I think we'll be playing pretty similar to last year. We've got our secret weapon and I think it's gonna be the same thing, yep."

Former Megahertz player, Kate Boston Smith, swapped sides and played for Rockdogs for the first time last year. So what does McGauran have to say about that? "She didn't really have anything to do with radio anymore and she played in, I think, two bands at the time so she had to jump ship." On her Rockdogs debut last year, McGauran recalls a "confusing moment" when Boston Smith came out wearing both jerseys before removing one. This year, McGauran observes, "There will be no confusion."

McGauran anticipates Rockdogs will be hungry to reclaim the Cup in 2016. "They'll be hurting after last year because, you know, they'd won so many times before and they're generally a bigger side — physically a bigger side — probably a bit more physical than us as well... I think they'll be pulling out every trick they've got in their bag to win this year."

Rockdogs are typically "much louder and more 'Rah-rah-rah!'" than Megahertz, but McGauran divulges, "We're gonna try and amp that up this year. We've got a theme song as well that's been circulated for everyone to learn the lyrics." According to McGauran, "dirty tactics" don't work on the "pretty zen" Megahertz. "If other people want dirty tactics, or if they wanna heckle or whatever, there's nothing that we can do about that. So that may give you a hint as to our team tactic... We just focus on what we can do and what we can control."

Don't underestimate the fighting spirit of Megahertz, however. McGauran can barely contain her excitement over the potential for back-to-back wins ("It would be spectacular!"). "It would be fun to just kinda get another one under our belts and, I dunno, just stick it up 'em in a way," she cackles.

Photo by Carbie Warbie

Why Everyone Should be very afraid of rockdogs

After comparing Megahertz to "fungus", Rockdogs Captain Nick Cooper tells Bryget Chrisfield his team will wear the "key, tall players" from the opposition "like a skin" to win back the Reclink Community Cup this year. 

This is Rockdogs Captain Nick Cooper's second year as skipper and, when asked why Megahertz have Co-Captains, Cooper replies, "Yeah, they need a bit of extra help.

"We've traditionally only ever had one Captain, but this year we've got a coupla great Vice Captains in Maree Fewster from The Drunken Poachers and Glenn Maynard, formerly of Pollyanna and currently of Kids In Cults and Pelvis and a few other bands around town."

On the healthy rivalry between the two Reclink Community Cup teams, Cooper tells, "One of our Vice Captains sends RRR and PBS a card every year just thanking them for the game, for their input, and just reminding them how long it's been since they had a win, so they didn't get one last year! They might've got a thank you card for pulling their finger out [laughs]."

"Yeah, they're kind of a little bit like fungus, they're used to being in the dark — and somehow they manage to survive in the dark — whereas we're made for the lights."

He's managed to block last year's final score out of his mind, but Cooper offers, "[Megahertz] managed to kick away at the last quarter and took the win, but I think this year they'll be having a run for their money... I think with the new coach, Dan Sultan, this year we're gonna see some new tactics on the field and he'll bring his own sort of spirit to the game." Cooper describes this year's Rockdogs as "a well heeled team". "We've had probably about, you know, at least a dozen training sessions," he enthuses.

During last year's game, Cooper noticed that Megahertz "were very good at sharing the ball around and they very good at also picking out their key players". "They managed to get to their key, tall players and this year they're gonna be well checked," he warns. When asked whether Rockdogs will been keen on taking down said "key, tall players", Cooper counters, "Maybe not 'taking down', that's not the spirit of the game, but maybe taking care of, yes, and keeping a very close eye on and wearing them like a skin."

When McGauran's claim that, "Mentally, radio is quite good training for football," is shared with Cooper, the Rockdogs Captain responds, "Yeah, they're kind of a little bit like fungus, they're used to being in the dark — and somehow they manage to survive in the dark — whereas we're made for the lights. We're made for the spotlight and the excitement. And we feed off excitement and noise and fun — other people's fun."

Another crucial skill that Cooper believes transfers easily from stage to football field is "communication". "There's a lotta cues, so you've gotta try and read the play a little bit," he explains. "I think that's something that maybe we have over the Megas is that ability to sort of jump up on stage with another band or, you know, play in a team of footballers that don't necessarily know each other but have this common understanding, this common ground."

Cooper believes Rockdogs boast "a really strong list this year" and adds, "Everyone should be very afraid and also everyone will be very entertained." Should we keep our eye on any players in particular? "This year my hot tip for Best On Ground is Big Tall Timber, Tim Woodz from Tim Woodz & The Dirty Shoes."  

The Rockdogs theme song was written by Lush Twit (The Twits), and Cooper shares, "We haven't practiced it yet. It's not new this year, but we'll probably have to rip through that at one of the next sessions because I've got a good feeling we're gonna be singing it this year."

Photo by Carbie Warbie

Community Cup captains. Photo by Carbie Warbie