Australian Ninja Warrior 2022: Heat 1

Australian Ninja Warrior is BACK IN 2022

Australian Ninja Warrior 2022 is on and fans are screaming at their TV’s from couches all around Australia.

This year is Season 6 of Australian Ninja Warrior and it’s already set to be a big and exciting series. The new hosts, Leila McKinnon and Jim Courier are causing much debate online already but that’s easily overshadowed by the young Ninjas stepping up and showing they’re more than worthy.

For a heats course, typically an easier set of obstacles, this course looked to be a tough one. Unlike last year, they didn’t have two complete course options, rather a risky speed vs safer endurance decision on a single obstacle, the Anaconda.

ANW 2022: Heat 1 Course

The course this year starts with 8 shrinking steps, 3 more than the previous years. Get through that and Ninjas are onto the Eagle Claw, a two pendulum obstacle with a 1 metre offset. 5 tilting Dominos followed and onto the previously mentioned Anaconda.

On the Anaconda, Ninjas have the option to traverse 27 small door knobs, an extension on a previous Ninja dream crusher, or risk long and narrow laches.

After the Anaconda, Ninjas progressed to the Ring Chaser. Off a mini tramp and onto a set of Monkey Bars that trigger a large metal ring to roll down a track as you swing through the bars, hopefully fast enough to catch the ring. If not, a smaller and far trickier consolation ring was there waiting. Either ring is then used to lache between a series of four Skyhooks.

Then, as always, the final obstacle is the 4.35metre Warped Wall.

Saxon Johnstone with the save of the night?

For those of you who’ve been following the sport of Ninja Warrior in Australia, and subsequently our little website blog, may recall Saxon Johnstone from the Stave vs State competition. Saxon placed 5th overall and was a part of Team AWF who finished in 2nd place.

Back to Australian Ninja Warrior and Saxon is proving his worth again with an almighty great save on the Ring Chaser. Kicking the ring with one foot and catching it with the other, Johnstone with almost no stress on his face grabbed the ring, completed the obstacle and then hit the buzzer at the top of the wall becoming the first of the night to get a complete run.

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No one was expecting that from Sam Goodall.

A couple of falls followed including a fully committed Sophie Stuart on the Eagles Claw but the biggest shock of the night was Sam Goodall. Looking really smooth, fast and comfortable across the eight Shrinking Steps and confident on the Eagles Claw, but it came undone on the Dominos. A slight miss step on the third Domino perhaps caused more misses on the final two and sent his feet into the water. Huge upset but with a time of 27 seconds, hopefully, that’s enough to get him through.

Hitting Buzzers

Chanel Simsic, the youngest female to hit the course, unfortunately bombed out of the 2.8 metre leap to the first Eagles Claw but I definitely feel she’ll be back.

After Chanel, Ben Polson started a bit of a send train by finishing the course in 1:55. Quick glimpses of Le Hua, James Sayers and Daniel Mason and the full run of David Lack showed they all hit buzzers in good time.

In 7 seconds, Ashlin Herbert had finished 2 of the 6 obstacles and in standard FlAshlin style, finished in a blistering 1:27.00.

But the Mini Ashlin threatened to steal the show. Ash Campbell, a young Ninja we’ve spoken to before here at LiveBreatheRide, was the final ninja to take to the 2022 Australian Ninja Warrior Course and with a familiar calmness, finished the course only 7 seconds behind that of Herbert in a time of 1:34.80.

Power Pool

Gone is the Power Tower from last season and introducing the Power Pool. Still a head to head battle but the top four battle it out in knockout rounds.

FlAshlin vs Ash Campbell go first and with a huge surprise, FlAshlin splashes out and hands the win to Campbell.

Up next is Ben Polson vs David Lack. Ben Polson was the favourite heading into this match up but one key thing about competing in Ninja Warrior is that anything can happen. When Polson transferred to the bar, he became tangled in the rope making the shelf grab lache hard to get to and thus, giving David the win.

The final head to head battle in the Power Pool. Ash Campbell vs David Lack. This was a race. Campbell just missed his first reach for the lache bar and Lack edged in front but regaining control, Ash breezed through the Flying Shelf Grab. Rushing to catch Ash forced Lack to make an error that sent him into the water, and Ash Campbell could safely hit the buzzer and take the Heat 1 win. Not bad for a quiet 16 year old.