“Every night has a job”

Most of our members work early, so the week is built to leave room for sleep. Tuesday is for practice and for newcomers. Thursday belongs to the league. Everything else is a free lobby that anyone can use, with no moderator on duty and no fixtures to worry about, which suits the people who like to drop in for half an hour and leave.

Nothing here is compulsory. Members are not expected to come every week, and a squad that misses a night is not scolded, only asked to say so in advance. The people who stay longest in the crew are usually the ones who learned early that it is fine to skip a week and come back. Fixtures are the one exception, since a squad needs its players, and that is why the league asks for notice by Tuesday.

Evenings in the valley can run hot in summer, so on the first Saturday of those weeks the club room keeps its doors open until the heat leaves and the fans run all afternoon. On the online nights people play from their own lounge rooms, spare bedrooms and, occasionally, a garage with a heater, which is part of the charm.

The first Saturday of the month is the exception. The club room opens at 1 pm, the board games come off the shelf and the online squads finally sit at the same table. Nothing is scheduled beyond an opening round and a closing tidy; the rest of the afternoon is whatever the people in the room decide. The day usually runs like this: doors at one o'clock, an opening round at half past, board games from three, a tea break at five, the final on the big screen around six, and a tidy-up by eight.

Times below are for the evening in Maitland, and a note on the announcements channel tells everyone when a night changes. During the storm break the Tuesday and Thursday nights move to a casual footing, and the schedule is posted again as soon as the league is back.