Once again the cool cyber kids, Nuffnang, have tossed out another challenge to the blogosphere, in honour of the new animated movie, Tangled, released into cinemas nationally from Jan 6, 2011.  You can click here to get a sneak peek of Disney’s next big hit.

Tangled sees the classic girl vs boy theme played out, prompting Nuffnang  to ask its faithful followers to regale them of a personal good vs evil  female vs male encounter.  It didn’t take long for me to think of a similar scenario – you see, this is a contest I have waited 20 years to enter!

Allow me to set the scene as I cast my mind’s eye back two decades (eeek, when did I get so old??!!) to 1991 and the crowded, chaotic Year 7 Maths Classroom of Toormina High.

Although in the midst of my “armadillo phase” (often hiding behind the thick veil of my long jet black hair) I became aware of an enticing conversation swirling around in the row directly before me. Two of my classmates, Terry & Paul, like me, were oblivious to the fractions we were meant to be solving; instead focusing on a frank discussion about rugby league.

You see, I had a secret weapon up my sleeve.  I had no choice but to interject.

Paul scoffed “what would you know about Rugby League anyway?  You’re a girl,” and abruptly turned his back on me.  And with that, I declared a war of ‘anything you can do, I can do better’!

“Go on, ask me anything,” I shot back in defence, “or if you like, let me ask you a question or two.” 

Oh yes, the humiliation ambush had commenced!  Like a semi- automatic machine gun set to ‘Scatter’, I fired off round after round of rugby league trivia questions, often not getting a response, let alone a correct answer.  And each time a counter attack was launched on me, I weathered the assault with all the ease of a highly-trained SAS soldier.

Little could they know my love of league had been fostered long ago as an 18-month-old baby girl perched on her Daddy’s lap reciting all the teams names by heart, into the tomboy-ish 13-year-old who harboured a fervent passion for footy.  It was the oxygen that sustained me, and the subject that defined me.  My bedroom wall, covered from ceiling to floor, was a shrine to all things footy. I could sit for hours and re-watch the 15 odd videos I painstakingly pieced together from hundreds of hours of mesmerised viewing.

Terry, the far kinder of the two, looked at me, this quiet, gap-toothed girl with a new found respect, while Paul reluctantly waved the white flag of surrender and grudgingly turned his back on his footy foe.  Not nice to be upstaged by a 13-year-old girl, I’d imagine! 

To celebrate my impromptu footy quiz frenzy success, I then set about writing to my ultimate league Idol and St George Dragons superstar, Brad Mackay (we’ll be here til breakfast tomorrow if I give you the full version of how I ended up with his address so best just leave it with the fact he was the nephew of my Mum’s childhood friend) filling him in on my girl vs boy glory.  And quite possibly prove to him that I was worthy of his attentions…But I digress!

You can see from the letter attached even he himself had a good giggle at Paul & Terry’s expense –the girl had won out over her time honoured rivals in a field traditionally dominated by boys and ruled Rugby League!

Whilst I have no idea what has become of Paul (not a Rugby League historian, one would imagine) Terry, now a teacher himself, and who regularly crosses paths with my dear Dad, still reflects with amazement on that ground-breaking “girl power” day.

So, dear readers, if you too have waged a similar war against your conventional foe but find it too painful to take a walk down memory lane, why not take yourself off to the flicks to see Tangled?  You can at least revel in a fictional – and highly entertaining – battle of the sexes instead!