THERE'S something refreshing about taking a small beating from the world's two best wheelchair rugby teams.
Not a beating on the scoreboard; a beating in the sense of being outmuscled. That is what happened during a recent outdoor tri-series competition I was involved in in Sydney - involving New Zealand's Wheel Blacks, Australia and the US.
Losing sucks, let's be honest. No one likes to lose, especially to the United States as we have learnt this week in the America's Cup kerfuffle. However, in the Wheel Blacks' case, we are ranked 10th and were going up against the No1 - US - and No2 - Australia - sides in the world. It was always going to be a tough ask. Having said that, though, Kiwis being Kiwis, we weren't about to be pushed around by our richer more polished opponents. Well, that was the plan.
Going into the tournament - which was a world first as top international teams played the sport on a hardwood floor laid down in St Mary's Cathedral Square in the heart of Sydney - the goal was to test ourselves against the best, and hopefully be able to snare a few turnovers and create pressure. We did that for the most part.
I had never played against the US before so was excited, especially because they are considered the "wow" team of wheelchair rugby. And they certainly delivered on "wowing" me.
As an athlete, I don't often look or play against other athletes and find them inspirational. But, against these hardened professionals I had a genuine sense of admiration. They were so physical, polished and aggressive yet cool, calm and collected.
The US boys strutted their stuff centre-court, like wheelchair assassins taking out their opposition play after play, and I had very little to come back with. I'd like to think that having grown up in a small town, and on a farm, has hardened me into a special sort of athlete who won't back down to physicality or aggression. But, while I did not step down, it was hard. That shock - in regard to the top side's physicality - has been welcomed by our Kiwi coach Peter Martin, who is a sporting legend in his own right. Since returning, Martin has made it clear that we need to harden up and rise to the challenge that Australia and the US have given us. At the end of the day, the objective is to achieve a podium finish at the Rio Paralympics and this was our first taste of top-tier rugby in 18 months.
While the Wheel Blacks went winless throughout the three-day tournament, Martin has given us thumbs up in some areas.
"I think the biggest factor or difference between us and the top players from Australia and US was their speed and strength," Martin explained after the tournament last week. "This allowed them [the opposition] to apply significant pressure on us all the way through the court. There were patches of very encouraging play from our team, although we needed to do this consistently in order to achieve a win."
Next up for the Wheel Blacks is preparing the 2013 Asia Oceania Zonal Championships in South Africa in November, where the goal is to make the final.