- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
What do you do when you’re in Ipswich, your suburb is surrounded by floodwater and you are unable to go to work? You start Australia’s most ambitious sports tipping contest, that’s what you do.
Rik E Boy, yes it’s an alias (and much better than the name Nathaniel Fatba$@&rd, which he suggested we use) was born in New South Wales and spent time in Adelaide before moving to Queensland and settling in the ‘Swich’, which explains the broad array of footy competitions involved in the massive, almost year-long tipping contest.
REB’s nationwide quaddie involves the AFL, NRL, the new Super XV Rugby competition, which kicks off next month, and the SANFL.
Fortunately, REB’s home has been unaffected by the massive flooding that has devastated South East Queensland,
but his wife has seen firsthand the human cost of the major disaster – spending time at a nearby evacuation centre and then in a call centre, dealing with the massive number of enquiries that have followed the flood of biblical proportions.
It has been an emotional time, but, in its own way, a rewarding one for REB’s wife. “At one stage there they had this kid who kept wanting to run away from the evac centre, but Mrs REB kept talking to him,” he said.
“Last night when she did some shopping, this kid remembered her and came up and gave her a big hug.”
As is the way with upheavals of this kind, even if you are not actively involved, the experience has its way of hitting home.
While his wife was volunteering, REB, who was unable to work due to the flooding in central Brisbane, was home looking after his sons.
By nature, REB’s not a rubbernecker and unlike the many Queenslanders who were out sightseeing as the water washed its way down the river, he stayed home.
Hence the birth of what might well be the nation’s craziest tipping contest.
“Yes, I was bored. That’s what happens when your attention span is akin to Bart Simpson… Homer’s is probably more accurate,” REB laughed.
“I have followed a lot of different types of ‘footy’ – now come on people, soccer doesn’t count!
“January is such a boring sporting month now that teeball (T20) has killed one-day cricket and I can only look wistfully ahead to once again following some real sport.”
As you can see, REB’s a bit of a joker and you’d have to be to setup a tipping contest like this, wouldn’t you?
Even REB admits he’s never seen anything like it and that’s where the challenge comes in.
“Not really, but I don’t scour the funny pages looking for them or anything,” he said.
“For the sporting fan, winning this comp is impossible.
“Whoever wins this will be the person who knows least about sport. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!”
And if you think REB’s set this contest up so he can lord his knowledge of the four competitions over the rest of us, think again.
“My specialities, as in any footy tipping contest, is tipping losers,” he said.
“I am bloody shocking, and the only way I’ll make the top 50 is if there are about 33 entries.
“I don’t have a clue, and as a tipper I make a good comp organiser.”
Which means, if you fancy yourself as a bit of a tipster, you should get on board this very, very tough competition.
What’s up for grabs if you win?
Nothing, just the prestige of winning the toughest tipping competition around.
To join the fun, email REB at rebinippy@yahoo.com.au
What’s your best bet? For great odds on all your favourite sports check out PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.