After early concerns about numbers, The Blue Army assembled quite a strong side for the trip to Macau. Hospitality on arrival really set up the day with the Macau boys fully organized and ready to go.

Playing on a ground the size of a severely demented postage stamp, the Macauians used their muscle power and height to full advantage. Andrew Wino (the prettier Wino) was an early casualty to some kind of rugby style smashing; he now has a bicep so not all was lost.

Gallant ruck efforts from Jaydon “Jaydos” Campbell and Christian Romano, meant Matt “Cookie” Cook and Travis Briggs were well fed in the engine room, which gave the forwards plenty of opportunities. In tight confines, it was the dwarf brigade doing the damage for the Blues, with Justin “Barbs” Barbaro and Shaun “Coops” Cooper putting on a show up forward. Barbs with his Lance Franklin hook foot on show for all to see.

In a see-sawing game, the Blues managed to hold a slender two goals lead going into 3/4 time. This lead was quickly eaten up by the fast finishing home side, which had rotated fresh legs off the bench all day. With the clock running down, it was very fortunate for the travelers a Macau player ran into an open goal and proceeded to kick it right into the post. Blues by 3 points.

Some of the better rivalries were to be had in the post game celebrations, with Dwayne “The Drain” setting an unbelievable precedent… Blues challenged well with Coops the best performer.

Macau took the points in the boat race in a very strong team performance. The less said about the ferry ride the better.

But at the end of the day, the key message from the Macau boys was “the Blues boys are way better blokes than the Reds”. The rivalry continues to develop, bring on the 18th June.