LtoR: Bundaberg Rum representative Ross Peoples, Buddha handy, Bronco Mick Ennis, Me, Bronco Shane Webke, Blackie and Wallaby Tim Horan

LtoR: Me, Wallaby Tim Horan, Chris "Buddha" Handy, Lachie Mclean, Brisbane Bronco Mick Ennis, Brisbane Bronco Shane Webke, Celebrity Auctioneer Blacky standing in front of the plane that was chartered for us to fly to gladstone and back in.

I was recently invited to attend a fundraising dinner being held in Gladstone to raise funds for a leagues club. The fundraiser involved flying to Gladstone for one night along with four other current and ex sport stars. Joining me in Gladstone were Brisbane Broncos players Mick Ennis and Shane Webke, Ex Wallaby rugby union star Tim Horan and Television and radio personality Chris "Buddha" Handy. We met at Archerfield airport where we boarded a chartered plane to fly us the couple of hours to Gladstone. I was in fits of giggles over Shane Webke's fear of small planes and the way he kept glancing out the window with a look of fright on his face each time we hit some clouds. I don't think I helped his fear of flying when we began to fly over some large bushfires in the bushland down below and I suddenly commented that flying so low over big fires with a wooden propeller can not be such a good thing!!! Webby promptly told me to stick a sock in it and keep my terrifying comments to myself!

 The dinner was held at the leagues club that was raising funds and the crowd that turned up to support a local business in trouble was fantastic. I think there were about 300 people which was great and they were all really nice and fun people. Mick Ennis and I sat together and we had not met before so it was great to get to know each other and compare our sports and our lives. He was coming back from an injury and I have been watching him play his matches with the Broncos this year and I am so pleased for him that he is playing so well.

A lot of money was raised on the night through the sale of tickets, raffles and also an auction of some amazing sporting memorabilia. I auctioned off one of my commonwealth games playing skirts which I had signed and it was bought by someone for $3000. We all had an interview with Buddha on stage and as usual Buddha was in fine form and had the crowd on the edge of their seats.

Our charter flight was early the next morning and fortunately we are all athletes so there were no sore heads from too many drinks at the function. It was a quick trip but we had a fantastic time and raised plenty of well needed money for the club.....................

When attending functions or doing interviews with the media I am asked about my career highlights and the majority of them happen on the hockey pitch but there have also been times off the pitch that will stick in my mind for the rest of my life and one of these moments is when I met British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his lovely wife Cherie. It was at the commonwealth games in Melbourne after we had won our gold medal and the press asked me if I would meet and welcome the Blair's into the food hall in the athletes village and I must say they were the nicest people and we had a few laughs about how poorly the English sporting teams had been performing against Australia, although The Prime Minister was fondly remembering the past and one of the greatest moments in English sports history when Johnny kicked the winning goal against the wallabies in the rugby world cup!!!! It was certainly a highlight that I will add to my small list which includes meeting the Queen at the commonwealth games in Manchester and also offering our very own Prime Minister John Howard a Hockeyroos Bodysuit to wear for his morning walks to which his wife Janette quickly responded on his behalf and said that was not such a good idea as it might not be a good sight for the Australian people.........The Prime Minister wearing Lycra for his morning walks.......I'd like to see that!!!!!

A lot is said about the benefits of a good recovery after a hard match or training session and I am a big believer in looking after your body by doing either a pool recovery session or alternatively an ice bath for your legs. I know ice baths are not a very pleasant experience and most people do not enjoy them at all, but like most exercise its not meant to be easy or enjoyable but rather be hard work and uncomfortable!!!! There are quite a lot of articles written up on websites around the world about whether or not ice baths work or if they are just a myth. I think its a personal thing where it works for some but might not for others. I often do ice baths as they clear all the lactic acid out of my legs and really do make my legs feel so much better after a match or hard training session. I do it one of 2 ways, I either sit in the ice bath with the water above my waist for 10 straight minutes or I will do 6 lots of one minute in the ice bath and one minute under the hot water tap. We have started doing ice baths again with the national team after matches and although the girls spend the whole time complaining about how painful they are I think after they finish them they definitely do feel a lot better. The other recovery sessions I do is going for a walk and then either getting in the pool and walking and lunging and kicking or get into the surf and fight the waves whilst you walk along the shore. It makes your legs feel so much better and you are then ready for the next match or training. I think recovery is also good for injury prevention and when you have been playing as long as me you need to do a lot of recovery to keep at the highest possible level. Give the ice baths a go and let me know what you think of them. You can either do them in the bath at home or get a blow up kid's pool to put in the change room at the hockey fields. You need about 5 big bags of ice to get the water cold enough for it to be effective. I look forward to hearing you thoughts on ice baths.......

I was asked to judge the Fashions on The Field for the Prime Ministers cup on the 5th of June. It meant that Jenno and myself and also our good friends Claudio and Kylie Olivirie could have a day lapping up the luxury in the Dome at the racetrack. I really enjoy judging the fashions and this time I definitely felt more comfortable doing it as I had a bit more experience under my belt. I was dressed by "All about Eve" for the day in a nice little black number and luckily the sun was shining brightly and it was a nice day. The most unfortunate part of the day was that I could not even have one glass of champagne as I had to play an important game of hockey at six o'clock that night. Jenno and Claudio had all their racing tips in hand and set about trying to win a few bets on some good tips. Shame on whoever gave them the tips as they lost more then they won. I think they had one good win on the last race of the day which cut their losses by a small amount.

I was judging fashions with Regina King, one of the Gold Coasts leading social butterflies and also regular columnist with the gold coast Bulletin Newspaper, and my other partner in crime was Gold Coast Titans Rugby League player Clint Amos, whom I must say is a lovely guy and certainly one of the Gold Coasts most eligible bachelors!!! I think I was the envy of most of the ladies at the races with being able to sit beside Clint and chat intently about who we thought looked the best in each of the categories. We eventually decided on our winners for best hat and race wear in both men's and women's. Every one of the ladies and guys looked gorgeous and glamorous but unluckily we can only choose one winner and that lucky person wins the title and also 2 return business class tickets to Dubai on Emirates airlines with an accommodation package to attend the race day over there. Some great prizes and some great outfits.
It was then back to the Dome Marquee for some lovely seafood for lunch and to laugh at the boys for having squandered a fortune on the horses.

I then played my match that night and unluckily we lost so did not make it through to the final for premier league although we did play very well and were unlucky in the end.

I was asked to take part in 3 days of team building for Boeing employees in Brisbane, Ipswich and Toowoomba. They had hired a group of past and present athletes to take part in 3 full days of motivational exercises and fun and games. It was a great opportunity for me to catch up with a few of my good friends from other sporting arena's including Star Ex-Brisbane Lions Players Alystair Lynch and Richard Champion, Ice Speed-Skater Gold Medallist Steve Bradbury, Australian Rugby League star Steve 'the Pearl' Renouf and Australian Cricket Champions Michael Kasprowicz and Andrew Symonds to name a few.

What it involved was us meeting and greeting the employees over lunch and drinks in a big Marquee at all three venues and spending a few hours playing some fun games like kicking the football around, throwing Frisbees around a circuit course and catching balls shot out of a slingshot. The whole idea of the exercises was for the staff to get to know each other outside of work which enables them to see a different side of each other and for us to chat to them about our experiences in the world sporting arena compared to their work and how to set goals, motivate yourself and how to best excel in your chosen field. I thought it was very well organised and the staff seemed to really enjoy themselves which is great for Boeing.

I had to do the group exercises with Cricketer Andrew Symonds and this was the first time we had met so it was nice to chat with him and find out a bit about his life and him as a person. I actually play in the same club hockey team as Andrew's Sister Louise so we had a good chat about how much Lou has improved this year and how fit and in good shape she is.  I had a dig at him about not coming to watch her play because she is always saying how he is coming to watch but then he gets too busy!!! He is a really lovely and down to earth guy and I can see why he is so respected and liked in Australian sport. Hopefully he will make an effort to some watch Louie play as she is kicking butt on the hockey field at the moment! What a wonderfully talented family.

My opinion after participating in the Boeing Team Building was that it is something companies should consider for a change for their staff as it is definitely something different from the normal day to day and also many of them felt it was a really nice reward for them from the company management to say thanks for your support and hard work. Definitely something to consider for future endeavours.

Recently I was invited to be a special guest at the dirt and dust festival which was held in Julia Creek which is located nearly 250 kilometres from Mount Isa in Central QLD. It is held over 3 days and includes a professional bull rider's tournament, a Triathlon and many fun and "very Australian" activities for the locals and visitors to get involved in. I was flown into Mt Isa and at the airport met up with the Band that was to entertain the crowd and we began our road trip to Julia Creek which took us a little over 3 hours on a pretty long stretch of highway in a rickety old 4wd. Lots of laughs had along the way and it was also fun getting to know the guys from the band.

After arriving in Julia creek I was whisked away to the races where most people where already pretty intoxicated after a long day in the sun so I was a bit out of sorts being the only sober one. I met some sponsors of the festival and did some mixing and chatting. It was then back to book into my hotel which I might say was interesting as the lady at the front desk informed me that a guy had stayed in my room the night before and was meant to of checked out but had not returned his key so she let me into my room but told me to be alert as he might just let himself into my room at any time. Must admit I was prudish when I took my shower and had my towel close by for a quick emergency!!!!

I was then invited to be special guest at the Bull Riders Rodeo in the evening and it was my very first Rodeo I had ever been to. I was not sure what to expect but can I tell you I have now been converted and I think cowboys are wonderful!!!! I started by watching from the VIP area and then decided I wanted a closer view to how the guys prepared for the ride of their lives so I was taken behind the scenes which I guess is similar to sitting on our bench whilst we play and I was introduced to World and 6 time Australian champion Troy Dunn who is the chief organiser of the rodeo and he told me to make myself at home and he then asked one of the Bull Riders - Grant Wells to be my tour guide in between his rides. He took me right up to stand behind the bull cage as the guys were strapping themselves onto the bull and I could not believe how focused and brave they are, not to mention very handsome and rugged!!!!! I met a few more of the guys and had a chat with some of them. One of my favourite riders was a young guy called Tim Wilson and he was very talented. He impressed me with all of his rides and I can see he will go a long way in the sport. I have been converted into a follower now and will watch the bull rider's tours with interest from now on.
Later on in the evening I had to judge an interesting competition - Julia Creeks Best Butt Competition. I must say it was a bit of a fun and also not such a bad thing to judge. Although I had to laugh because every butt I judged had a pair of wranglers on which is not normally the kind of butt I look at living on the gold coast as they don't tend to wear wranglers on the coast but rather boardies!!!! I chose the winner and although he offered me a touch I had to politely decline.

Sunday morning was spent having breakfast and chatting with the locals at the civic centre followed by some interesting games of which I had to present the prizes to the winners. First up was swim from one end to the other and back in a one metre deep mud pool without using your arms and with the help of a snorkel and goggles. I was asked if I would join in to which I quickly assured the organisers that I was happy and content to just judge and take no part!! I then had to judge a cow pat throwing competition followed by a yabby race. You can not get more Australian games then these ones. Lots of laughs had by everyone.

I had a great weekend and hopefully I will be invited to attend the event yearly. My highlight was definitely the bull riding and meeting some home grown cowboys.

Jenno and I were asked to play in a golf tournament at the Royal Pines Golf course on the Gold Coast to raise some money for Womensport QLD. Jenno was a little apprehensive at first as the day seemed to be mostly made up of females but he was soon enough having a good time. I played in a team with Paul Mcneil the General Manager of Mazda QLD as well as Olympic swimming Gold Medallist Susie O'Neill and also QLD Reds Rugby Union player John Roe and Jenno played with three ladies from the Australian Cricket team. Susie and I shared a golf buggy and it was great to catch up on all our news as we had not seen each other in a long time. I was lucky to have a fun and relaxed team and we initially told ourselves we just wanted to enjoy the day and have some fun but soon enough we realised we were all playing good golf and we would be in with a chance to win the competition. One of the highlights of the day was stopping at the halfway house which had plenty of bottles of nice red and white wine, which I must admit susie and I tasted quite a lot of, and also some home made scones which went down a treat with the wine!!!

I was texting Jenno throughout the day to get his score update and although I wanted him to play well the competitive part of us both shone through and we hoped the others team would bomb out and not get a place!! Its funny with us both at golf days as we often don't play in the same team yet always seem to come a place and win some great prizes which have included a BBQ, Flat screen TV, Golf Bags, lots of Wine and other good bits and pieces. This golf day would turn out to be no different with us coming 2nd and 4th respectively in the team events and me winning the women's Longest Drive competition.

It was a great day had by all and plenty of money was raised for Womensport QLD. Thanks to John, Susie and Paul for making it a very memorable day for me........