EDITION ONE

RISE MAGAZINE

SIMON HEATH

PATMORE DAVIDSON
HOW HE CHANGED WHEN
THE COURSE OF HIS PREPARATION
CAREER AFTER TURNING MEETS
DOWN THE OPPORTUNITY
COMMONWEALTH GAMES
HIGH

WHEELCHAIR ROLLERS
AUSTRALIAN MEN’S
FOOTBALL WHEELCHAIR
MAKES ITS MARK BASKETBALL TEAM
CLAIM BRONZE

WHEELCHAIR SPORT

RUGBY SPOTLIGHT
JAPAN STEALS VISION-IMPARED
GOLD FROM ARCHERY
THE STEELERS

Photo: Simon Patmore Source: Australian Paralympic Committee

 HIGH
ROLLERS
Mitch Gastin
RISE Senior Writer
T he Australian Men’s Wheelchair
Basketball team flew to Hamburg,
Germany in August, hoping to bring home
medallions in the International Wheelchair
Basketball Federation World Championship –
and that’s exactly what they did.
Their campaign first kicked off against a
competitive Argentinian team that kept the scor-
ing neck-and-neck before an offensive onslaught
by the Rollers in the final quarter.
Australian youngster Tom O’Neill-Thorne
wasted no time getting into form, exploding for
17 points, five rebounds, four assists and three
steals in the Rollers’ 19-point victory in game
one.
From this point, the Rollers were feeling
confident. Impressive performances from
Shaun Norris and Bill Latham saw the
national team emerge from the group
stage with a two-to-one record as they
moved on to the Cross-over game
against Brazil.
The Aussies continued the theme of
taking over games in the final
quarter, as they
went on an 18-8
fourth quar-
ter run
to
sting Brazil and move on to the Quarter Finals
against Poland.
The Polish team made the Aussies sweat, but
a 13-point victory was enough for the Rollers
to advance once more, courtesy of high-volume
scoring from Brett Stibners and Tristan Knowles.
For the third-straight time at the IWBF World
Championship, the Rollers found themselves fac-
ing-off against the USA in the Semi-Finals, with
a chance to advance to the gold medal match.
Australia were not so lucky this time, falling
to the USA 59-84 as they watched the Amer-
icans secure their spot in the championship
match against Great Britain to compete for gold.
American player, Jake Williams put the
brakes on the Rollers with his offensive effi-
ciency, posting 29-points and six re-
bounds, while his teammate Steve
Serio joined in on the fun with
17-points of his own.
The Rollers didn’t have the
firepower to punch back, but Nor-
ris tried his best with 14-points
and three assists in the loss.
Fortunately, a chance at bronze
awaited the Aussies, as they
turned their attention to taking
on Iran on the final day of the
competition to fight for the third
spot.
After suffering a jittery
opening quarter, the Rollers
found themselves behind by
Photo: Jannik Blair. Source: The Wire
Photo: Australian Rollers. Source: Bidgee
Photo: Rollers earn bronze. Source: Australian Paralympic Committee
as much as six-points against Iran. It only took a
swing of momentum in the form of a long-range
three-pointer from O’Neill-Thorne (nine points,
seven assists and two steals) to get the Aussies
rolling.
The final game of their campaign saw the
Australians lift their defensive pressure, finish-
ing with five team steals and scored 15-points
from Iran turnovers.
The Rollers were down by two points at half
time, but it seemed to serve as motivation as
they hit the third-quarter with a spark, scoring
21-points in the single quarter while keeping
their opposition to just nine. By this stage the
fourth quarter was a mere formality and besides
some icing on the cake scoring from Norris and
Latham, finishing with six points and 17-points
respectively, the Rollers had claimed a convinc-
ing victory to win the bronze medal.
The Rollers have made a habit of success on
the international stage by earning four consecu-
tive World Championship medals; landing gold
in 2010 and 2014, while securing the bronze
back in 2006 and now in this year’s games.
Darwin native, O’Neill-Thorne was the best
performing player for in the Australian’s cam-
paign, finishing with averages of 15.8 points,
4.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 27 minutes per
game.
 WHEN I
t was the day after
Richmond had defeated
Hawthorn in the AFL
PREPARATION
Qualifying Final to advance
further into the post-season
and understandably, avid Tigers
MEETS supporter, Heath Davidson was
delighted. His excitement could
OPPORTUNITY
be sensed even over a phone
call.
Davidson is not only an
AFL fan, but is also one of the
H E AT H DAV I D S O N world’s best wheelchair tennis
Mitch Gastin players and his reasons to be
overjoyed didn’t stop at his
RISE Senior Writer football team’s success.
The 31-year-old Australian
From painted nails to clean eating, Australian has put together a string of
Wheelchair Tennis star Heath Davidson has found impressive performances at his
two most recent international
great success during international tournaments tournaments; the Belgian
Open and the US Open UTSA
recently by preparing for battle in his own unique Wheelchair Championships ITF
Super Series.
way. “I’ve been playing some
pretty good tennis lately. It’s
always tough playing against
the top guys in the world so it
can go either way at the best of
times,” Davidson told RISE.
Davidson’s outing in the
doubles tournament at the
Belgian Open ended in a
triumphant first-place victory
over the world number one duo
from the USA, David Wagner
and Bryan Barton.
This wasn’t the last
Davidson would see Wagner at
Photo: Heath Davidson. Source: Twitter @ITFWheelchair
the opposite end of the court
this tournament, matching up
against him in the singles final
of the Belgian Open. He was
unlucky to lose in two sets, 6-4,
6-2, securing second place.
“I really respect him [David
Wagner] as a player and makes
me strive to get better and beat
him on a consistent basis and
until I start doing that mate,
I still got a long way to go,”
Davidson explained.
A new chapter of their
rivalry was written just a
month later on the world
number one’s home turf at the
US Open ITF Super Series.
The battle between the
world number one and the
world number four went the
distance as they fought for
the chance to play in the US
Open ITF Super Series final.
For Davidson, a higher singles
ranking and a victory over the
world’s best was on the line, so
he came out strong, winning
the first set 4-6, but it was
Wagner who weathered the
storm and won the final two
sets 6-3, 6-4.
“There’s obviously a bit
of a rivalry there. He’s one of
the guys I really want to beat
and it just seems that every
tournament I play I come up
against him in a final or a semi-
final and this year he’s had the
better of me.”
Davidson approaches every
tournament with a ‘chase
points instead of trying to
defend points’ mentality and
his success on the court as
the aggressor comes as no
accident, thanks to his training-
first agenda.
 “We’ve got it
down to a fine art
I guess, the strict
aspect is more
about the lead-in
to the tournament,
so our training
blocks prior to the
tournament are very
strict with training
and diet and getting
everything set.”
Davidson’s coach, Francois
Vogelsberger told RISE he
has made it his mission to
“channel his energy and
emotion in order to deliver
his best tennis”. He stands by
his preparation routine and
understands the influence it
has on game-day performance.
“We’ve got it down to a fine
art I guess, the strict aspect is
more about the lead-in to the
tournament, so our training
blocks prior to the tournament
are very strict with training
and diet and getting everything
set,” Davidson explained.
He prides himself on having
a relaxed pre-match routine in
the hours and minutes before
an event kicks off. Listening to
music and being laid back in
casual conversation with his
trainer and doubles partner
Dylan Alcott gets him in his
competitive zone, allowing him
the best chance for success.
Confidence in any athlete’s
sporting ability grows with
training and repetition,
and Davidson echoes that
sentiment.
“The last thing I want to
be doing is stressing out about
whether I’ve missed many
forehands in training and
whatnot. So, we get that out
of the way early and by the
time we get to the tournament
it’s all there, we’ve done it all
at training, we know what
to expect, we know what I’m
capable of and hope that we
can perform on the day.”
Pre-match rituals are a
concept as old as sport itself,
with many athletes adopting
some that push the boundaries
of what is considered a ritual
and enters the realm of what
could be known as more of an
obscure superstition.
Melbourne Demons star,
Max Gawn watches a chick flick
in the lead-up to every match
he plays, meanwhile Eagles
defender Jeremy McGovern has
been outed by his teammates to
biting his toenails in the locker
room before every game.
Davidson once approached
each match in a similar way
– not by biting his nails, of
course – but he would make a
conscious effort to play every
match with his fingernails
painted.
“As a junior I used to paint
my nails any colour, it was just
a superstition, I don’t know.
I played my first ever tennis
tournament with my nails
painted and I won that, so ever
since then I continued to do it.”
It was not only an aspect of
his junior playing career, but “As a junior I used
his superstition crept into his
match preparation routine as to paint my nails
a professional player when he
made his return to tennis in any colour, it was
2016.
“I started doing it when
just a superstition, I
I came back to tennis four don’t know. I played
years ago but I stopped one
day and nothing changed so I my first ever tennis
think I broke my superstition,”
Davidson said. tournament with
“The next time I beat David
Wagner – whatever I do before
my nails painted
that will definitely stick I and I won that, so
reckon.”
The idea of dieting has ever since then I
a little more scientific proof
behind it in relation to sporting continued to do it.”
performance and Davidson
didn’t get to be one of the best
and a top-three singles world
ranking in his line of sight
in the world by eating like he
going forward with his career
doesn’t care. He has the luxury
and his current routine will Photo:Heath Davidson and Dylan Alcott all smiles with gold medals. Source: The Advertiser
of letting his diet reflect his
give him the best chance to
relaxed personality, but he
reach those goals.
understands the importance of
The one thing he may not
consuming the right foods to be
be prepared for though, is a
the best at his craft.
Richmond loss.
“I’ve got a nutritionist
through Tennis Australia and
they understand that you can’t
stick to it one hundred percent,
it’s just a little too hard…
everything in moderation.”
Preparation is everything
for an athlete and it can be the
difference between being good
and being great.
“Heath improved his
professionalism on and off
court the past few years. His
commitment to the game is
total. Heath covers all the
aspect of competitive tennis;
mental, physical, tactical and
technical,” Vogelsberger told
RISE.
Davidson has Tokyo 2020 Photo: Davidson celebrating. Source: Australian Paralympic Committee