Victoria: Portland
New South Wales: Newcastle
Queensland: Rockhampton
South Australia: Riverland
Referee: Tracy Wickham
Event 1: Jaunty Jallopies
New South Wales (4)
Victoria (2)
Event 2: Pirate Baskets
Joker: Queensland
Heat 1: Queensland vs. South Australia
Heat 2: New South Wales vs. Victoria
Final: New South Wales (2) vs. South Australia (4)
Event 3: Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum
Joker: Victoria (i.e. Portland's Roger Trewavis)
Water Level: South Australia: 35 (4)
Queensland: 15
Victoria: 32 (4)(Joker 2nd place)
New South Wales: 29
In an event in which Victoria and New South Wales
appeared certainties for points, Riverland (Bob Sellars) trounced
the opposition to notch up a victory. Portland captian Ross Murrell nominated this event as their Joker
event. Watching the event, his confidence in his man is justified, since Trewavis put on a supreme
performance.
Event 4: Head Waiter
Time (m:ss):
Victoria: 0:28 (2)
Queensland: 1:12
South Australia: 0:37 New South Wales: 0:25 (4)
Event 5: Pull the Pontoon
Joker: South Australia
Heat 1: New South Wales vs. South Australia
Heat 2: Queensland vs. Victoria
Final: Victoria (4) vs. New South Wales (2)
Event 6: Telephone Call
Joker: New South Wales
Victoria (4)
South Australia (2)
New South Wales (0) -- they finished 3rd BWAHAHAHAHA!!!! ()
Final Score
New South Wales: 12 Victoria: 16
Queensland: 0
South Australia: 10
State points awarded for this heat:
Portland: 6
Newcastle: 4
Riverland: 2
Without a doubt this particular episode of It's a Knockout was the best we have seen. This is not
just because of our home team's victory (Portland). The events
in general were challenging and exciting, and some of the all-time classic personalities of IAK shone
through at their peak. Newcastle (the Rankin-Rankin-Brown combination, aka Rankin-Brown-Rankin (Tommy, 28/2/00))
always appeared strongest (perhaps excessively so in Head Waiter -- hey loosen up guys), being in the lead with their joker in hand going into the final event.
Portland's heroism and determination as the underdog culminated as Ross Murrell held the
receiver up in victory in Telephone Call; he was happy to have won the event, even though there was a
real danger that a New South Wales second placing would cost them victory for the night. (Did we mention
that David Rankin threw his phone in rage at finishing third and thus wasting his joker and losing the
night?). Kathy van Veldhuisen was the inspiration behind Victoria's win in Pull the Pontoon, giving a pep
talk to her team (wink), and had some philosophical words on the ability of a team to, if sufficiently
determined, win at It's a Knockout without scoring eight big points with their joker.
The personal achievements and leadership of Riverland captain Bob
Sellars were also formidable, particularly in the events Pirate Baskets, Tweedle Dum, Teedle Dee and Telephone
Call. At the conclusion of the evening, the competitors and cheerleaders danced around Englefield Stadium
with unusual energy and everyone was happy (what simple ideals we have). Another reason we believe this
episode to be the epitome of IAK is that Rockhampton pulled off a truly
Frankston-esque performance, in not scoring a single point (which they attributed to "the scoreboard not
working"). Viva Portland! Viva IAK!