At the heart of Love Match is the formation of a women’s rugby sevens team called the Pink Cockatoos. Their corresponding men’s rugby team, the South Star Cockatoos, was established in Five Bush Weddings as the club Johnno played for.
Love Match follows Sarah Childs, who you may remember as Johnno’s neighbour in Five Bush Weddings. Sarah has become a bit socially isolated, happily keeping to herself on her family property until her parents insist that she has to build a support network before she can take over management of Dunromin. Sarah’s folks want her to spend more time in town, join some committees or a team, make more friends and go on some dates. So when Sarah is asked to join a new women’s rugby team, it ticks a few of those boxes and she says yes.
It takes a while for the new team to find their feet, but part of their establishing themselves is settling on their name: the Pink Cockatoos. (Women’s teams in the region where the fictional town of South Star is set often spin off from the men’s clubs – the St George Frillnecks have the Frillies Fillies, the Condamine Cods spawned the Codettes, etc). This gorgeous breed of bird is technically called the Major Mitchell Cockatoo, but that’s not quite as catchy.
You might also remember Mabel Peters (AKA The Bush Telegraph) from Five Bush Weddings, and she’s back in Love Match in a starring role. Mabel is the South Star Cockatoos’ biggest fan and also owns the team’s unofficial mascot, a foul-mouthed sulphur-crested cockatoo called Brian who’s been watching games since the 70s.
There are a few reasons why I love cockatoos and wanted to feature them in this story.
Smart cockies. Cockatoos are ‘comparable to a chimpanzee in intelligence’. They used to be quite popular pets and can pick up quite a bit of language. Growing up, we had family friends who had a grouchy cockatoo in their backyard who would squark and shout and even do a song and dance.
Cockatoos live for a really long time. A sulphur-crested cockatoo called ‘Luv’ lived 54 years as a beloved pet in Bundanoon – she was the unofficial mascot of the Wingello Cricket Club and went to the pub with the team. A Major Mitchell cockatoo called Cookie lived to 83 years old at Brookfield Zoo in Chicago. When he died in 2016, Cookie had been at the zoo since it opened in 1934 and was its oldest resident.
Cockatoos are romantics. They mate for life, are egalitarian parents and form tight social gangs and townships. ‘Socially monogamous birds, such as most Australian cockatoos and parrots, pay meticulous attention to each other. They reaffirm bonds by preening, roosting and flying together in search of food and water.’ (The Conversation: What Australian birds can teach us about choosing a partner and making it last)
I might have got a bit too carried away with this fictional team, but I became obsessed with the idea of creating some Pink Cockatoos merch. The wonderful Queensland artist Mel Baxter (Moonshine Madness) ran with my idea and created this logo for the team, which I love.
Then there’s the running joke in the book about the cockatoo-crested beanies that the team’s young fans crochet. I had to shake a few trees to find someone with the skills to bring this to life – Kate Solly, who’s no stranger to crochet having written a novel about it (the brilliant Tuesday Evenings With The Copeton Craft Resistance) gave me some advice and encouragement; and Angela of Literary Critters recommended the lovely Lucy Ward.
Lucy took my childish sketch and a paragraph of description from the manuscript, and turned it into something magical. She’s even made her pattern available so that anyone who wants to join the ranks of Cockies fans can stitch up their own supporter beanie – in pink or sulphur-crested colourways.
When you’re starting a team from scratch, stories and jokes and songs and images are powerful in establishing team bonds, as well as support from fans and the community. Teams have their own mythology, and cockatoos gave me a rich shorthand for building my new team.
Go the Cockies!
Clare Fletcher 