The Canberra Roller Derby League’s 2025 Freshies Program saw many skaters join their ranks and continue on to be drafted bouting skaters.
The Surly Griffins in green and white added seven new skaters to their roster this year, while the Red Bellied Black Hearts in red and black added ten.
Canberra derby history
The Canberra Roller Derby League (CRDL) was founded in 2008, with the Surly Griffins and the Black’n’Blue Belles as the two original home teams. The Brindabelters and Red Bellied Black Hearts were added in 2010 to make room for increasing skater numbers.
As of now, only the Surly Griffins (the Griffs) and the Red Bellied Black Hearts (the Hearts) are actively skating. Dani Hell and Mother ToRaceHer captain the Hearts and Dr Brazen Ivy and Fast and Furiosa captain the Griffs.
During Canberra’s home season, the teams play against each other to show off their skaters and figure out which team is the best that year. Canberra also has a representative squad that travels around Australia to represent the nation’s capital: the Vice City Rollers.
Last season was a bit different with the Northern Beaches and Sydney roller derby leagues travelling south to Canberra. They played against the Griffs and Hearts on separate occasions, all coming to an epic conclusion at the double header game at the end of last year. Northern Beaches took home fourth, Sydney came third, the Griffs second, and the Hearts were declared champions of the 2025 season.
The rules
On top of the rules of derby, skaters pick a nickname. This is referred to as a “derby name”. Skaters sometimes have nicknames for their derby names as well.
The game
On the 2nd of May, the Hearts showed off their new bouting skaters, eight of the ten skating while Dr Sharknado and Fräulein Sally Rolls spectated. Of the Griffs seven new skaters, five played in the game, with Maulibu Barbie and Billie Mean (me!) present in the audience to support their team.
My partner and I were set up with fold-out chairs in the 18+ trackside seating, rugged up for the cold weather.
Jam by jam, each team was fielding their best blockers and their best jammers, many being new, with the Griffs leading 77-61 at half-time. A majority of the first period involved both teams stealing back points the other had taken in the last jam.
As a Griffs-biased person, I was on the edge of my seat for the entirety of the game.
Half-time
The half-time entertainment was brought by the Xtreme Stars Dance Troupe, a Canberra-based dance group aiming to break barriers one performance at a time.
The group danced in sparkly outfits themed around CRDL’s original home teams, their performance was accompanied by a medley of songs. The audience clapped and cheered at almost every opportunity, every song being catchier than the last.
Standout skaters
Skaters that stood out during the game included Strider, Dodger Ramjet, Cruella de Wheel and Spring Reaper. These various skaters are great assets to their respective home teams.
Many derby fans are more partial to jammers than blockers, as jammers score points while blockers try to stop them. Both teams fielded lots of new jammers, but blockers that really stood out to me were Splatter on the Hearts, and EvieLoution and EdgeDancer on the Griffs.
These three were rather new to the derby scene, being drafted at the beginning of the year. They did well to show off the skills they learned during their Learn to Skate/derby programs.
A moment of worry
The Griffs anxiety grew during the second period when rising star jammer, Dodger Ramjet, withdrew from the game due to injury. Medics treated her onsite, and paramedics arrived to take her to the hospital once the game had concluded.
Post-game, Hello Hitty recalled the timeout when Dodger Ramjet was being treated on the track:
“We all turned away to give Dodge some privacy, and I remember Gerry (Geralt) gave me and Hex (Kidhexa) a hug. We were discussing whether or not the game would continue. We were all checking in on each other, and I remember at one point Brazen (Dr Brazen Ivy) got us all to take a few deep breaths because of how upsetting it all was.”
The game came to a tie in the second-last jam, with two seconds left on the period timer. In derby, once the period ends, the jam continues until it’s either called off or two minutes pass.
Coming to a close
In the final jam, the Griffs fielded Lemmy Atom as their jammer, with the Hearts putting on Pink Mist. Both teams added their strongest blockers; almost every skater had also been on Canberra’s representative team, the Vice City Rollers. This decision would decide the result of the game.
The final jam was filled with much yelling from the entire audience, including myself. Griffs fans wildly cheering as Lemmy Atom was given lead jammer. Lemmy ended the game with an additional three points and stole her team the win at 152-149.
The finale had both teams skating around to high-five their fans, thanking them for coming with big smiles.
MVP and spirit awards
Final awards were decided after the match. MVP jammer went to Strider on the Hearts and Kidhexa on the Griffs and MVP blocker went to Hot Wheels on the Hearts and Hurt Cobain on the Griffs.
Spirit awards were given to Griffs debut-skater Hello Hitty, and Hearts debut-skater BeaHeaded. Dodger Ramjet was also awarded the Dread Herring Sportspersonship award.
Post-game, I interviewed several skaters and spectators, including Strider. When asked about his feelings on the track, he stated:
“I was quite nervous about jamming for the first time in my home team – I really enjoy jamming and want to be a jammer primarily as much as I can so I was anxious about doing a good job.”
Strider has aspirations to join the Vice City Rollers, and this first game is definitely the start of an amazing derby career.
CRDL’s next game is on the 30th of May. Tickets are available for purchase on Moshtix here or at the door.
Original photos by Azzie de Haviland