Asia’s Southernmost team, the Bali Geckos will once again don their Quiksilver board shorts for the Asian Championships and with wet weather expected, the ocean loving Geckos should excel in the conditions. Made up of surfers that kick a ball when the surf is flat, the blue, green and white jumpers that signify the colours of the surf around Bali, will be proudly worn by the salt infested players.
The team has been avidly checking weather maps to ensure they don’t miss a swell whilst on tour but in a masterstroke by team management, Apocalypse Now has been fed to each of the Geckos’ facebook pages. With the choppers checking out the perfect left and right breaks from above, during the film, the Geckos players are now frothing to hit the beaches of ‘Nam.
Assuming that there is not a large swell hitting those beaches on Saturday the 15th, the Geckos should be able to field a decent team of sunburnt warriors, and their acclimatization to the wet conditions both on and off terra firma, should work in their favour.
The similarities between driving a surfboard through a tight barrel and finding your way through tight traffic in the middle of the AFL ground should see the on-ballers feeding the forwards with plenty of opportunity to take to the air. Just like boosting massive airs on their boards, we expect the forwards to sit on their opponents shoulders with serious hang time to bring down some cracking grabs.
And if all that comes together on the day, you can sing along to our song with the lyrics as follows:
Geckos for ever more,
Geckos are we.
Catching waves and drinking beer,
Chicks love being with real winners.
Geckos for ever more,
Geckos are we.
For we are the mighty Geckos,
GECKOS ARE THE GREATEST TEAM OF ALL!
A view from above: Like the surf in Vietnam, the Bali Geckos are perhaps AFL Asia’s most inconsistent of teams. Devastatingly brilliant in one moment inflicting the Bintangs only defeat of the year, woefully lacking in another moment, as their 7-59 scoreline against Cambodia at last year’s Champs read, their form will entirely be placed at the mercy of the Balinese swell gods. Should a big swell hit Kuta, Hinchy could well expect a few no shows at Denpasar International Airport on Friday morning. If its flat, then we could have 25 fit, long-haired guns with serious AFL potential if they ever leave Bali show up for service in the aqua marine. Win or lose, its always great to have the Geckos in town.
