By Dave Goosselink
Some of the South Island's top women skaters have packed Cowles Stadium in Christchurch for the country's biggest ever roller derby event.
Players have to try and lap their opponents on an oval track, in a sport described as a “mixture of racing and fighting”.
As a sport, roller derby certainly has character, and plenty of them.
Teams of five skaters take the floor – a scorer and four defenders – in games known as "bouts".
And there's at least as much mayhem as your average boxing match.
“Yeah, I actually got a blood nose, a cut lip, and a torn muscle in my leg. So, awesome,” says Skyborg Machina of the Filthy Habits team.
It's strictly a female thing in New Zealand, and rough and tumble's just how they like it.
“I got hit in the head a couple of times but that's okay; it's always brutal, it's always brutal and it's always fantastic,” says Crass & Tart’n Terror of the Cellblock Brawlers.
Cherry blunt / cellblock brawlers captain
“You've got to want to throw your body down on the ground in front of someone, just get your teammate through and to get them extra points,” says Cherry Blunt, captain for the Cellblock Brawlers.
“And you've just got to be tough enough to handle it.”
Roller Derby went mainstream earlier this year, hitting the big screen in the Drew Barrymore-directed film Whip It.
That's helped the sport gain momentum in New Zealand, with a sell-out crowd in Christchurch for the end of season blowout.
Mama shadow / head referee
“Absolutely flying ahead in New Zealand,” says referee Mama Shadow. “After each one of these we get about 40 to 60 girls wanting to join.”
For the record, team Filthy Habits took down the Cellblock Brawlers – but it's not all about winning.
The girls have some time to recover from their bruises and broken bones, with the new season starting back up in the spring.
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