Ticker is a lot like love.
Both matters of the heart, both hard to measure.
Difficult to describe.
But both can be displayed through actions.
You know, people show love through buying gifts, giving their loved ones a hug, that sort of stuff.
When it comes to ticker, people know someone has it when they see it, and gee whiz you see it all the time in the sporting world.
Us lads at On the Drift think we have ticker pretty much covered.
Experts on the subject so to speak – despite having absolutely no ticker ourselves.
So rather than trying to explain what it is, we’ve gathered up some examples of ticker being on full display in the sporting world.
Might and Power
With the Might and Power Stakes running this weekend, it would be rude not to mention the champion gelding because he had ticker in spades.
As tough as they come, Might and Power was a front-runner who fended off challengers by just finding an extra gear.
Often in his racing career he looked like he’d be mowed down by backmarkers.
He always found something deep within.
Ticker.
The last gelding to win the Cup Double (Caulfield and Melbourne Cups), he was something special.
Could Incentivise do the same thing this spring carnival?
Geez there are some similarities between them.
Chris “Bucky” Rogers
Opening batsmen MUST have ticker by default. Facing a new rock anywhere in the world is a tough ask.
We reckon lefties have got an extra layer of the stuff though.
A few players come to mind, like Justin Langer and South African Graeme Smith, not the most stylish of players, but both tough as nails.
For us, nobody epitomizes ticker as much as the king of the dancefloor Chris “Bucky” Rogers.
Picked for one test match as a 30-year-old and then subsequently dropped, Bucky had to wait five years to play another game in the whites for Australia.
He went on to play another 24 test matches, averaging above 40 and scoring half a dozen tons. Colour-blind, short-sighted, in the twilight of his career.
The perfect foil for David Warner.
Ticker personified.
Sam Burgess & the South Sydney Rabbitohs
Despite his issues away from the game, Sam Burgess was as tough as they come on the footy field.
He broke his cheekbone on the first hit-up of the 2014 grand final and played out the rest of the game!
Crazy.
We want to give special mention to Souths fans though.
They cop a bit of flack now and then but my word they stick by their club.
Kicked out of the comp, the fans had to take to the streets to march for their cause.
Fast forward to 2021 and they’ve played in two grand finals, winning in 2014.
And their fans have stuck by them the entire journey.
Jessica Fox
Our Olympic champion in the canoe slalom faced a bit of adversity just recently in the Tokyo games.
Missing out on the gold as the hot favourite in the K1 event after being penalised, Fox had to also administer some running repairs on her canoe. Worth a google.
Despite the disappointment, Fox bounced back to smash her rivals in the C1, winning gold for her nation.
That’s ticker.
Plenty more to come for this superstar.
English Fans
Now this may be un-Australian, but English fans are really something else.
Football chants, the Barmy Army, Rugby (sometimes), they really get behind their teams and travel the world to support them.
That takes some level of ticker, let’s be honest.
But how about this guy who is commentating on a Castleford v Wigan game?
Clearly he’s also a HUGE fan of his club and makes no effort whatsoever to hide it.
Worth the watch.
You’ll be seeing a lot more ticker content from us at On the Drift. Check us out on our socials below!
Written by,
Declan Jones & Dan Hutcheon
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