Ninja Warrior: Sam Goodall’s outrageous backyard course

A CONTESTANT from the first season of Ninja Warrior was so determined to do well in season two that he spent more than $7000 on a secret weapon.

A NINJA Warrior contestant was so desperate to do well in the second season of the show that he built his very own Mt Midoriyama in his backyard.

Sam Goodall aka “Tradie Ninja” is one of the many contestants from the debut season who will return for the second season of the Channel 9 show which was filmed last December and will air from July 8 onwards.

Goodall had built some obstacles from the show in his backyard before season one, but after falling short of finishing the grand final course he decided to take things one step further.

“I thought if I’m going to take it seriously I’d better build the big one,” he told news.com.au.

If you’re not familiar with the show, the Ninjas must complete every obstacle in the grand final to earn the right to attempt the toughest challenge of all: scaling Mt Midoriyama.

To successfully defeat Mt Midoriyama, the Ninjas have to pull themselves up a 22m-high rope in less than 30 seconds.

“What’s the point of getting all the way there and not being able to do the last bit?” Goodall said to news.com.au about why he built his own version of the obstacle.

“I spent about $7000 on scaffold [to build it] and it’s got a scaffold tag on it and it’s all approved and everything.

Sam Goodall has built his own Mt Midoriyama.

Now that is dedication.

“I think mine is actually a little bit taller than the real one. I went for as tall as I could go and I think it ended up being about a metre-and-a-half taller than the actual one.”

Goodall finished building his Mt Midoriyama a few months before the second season was filmed and told news.com.au that he still hasn’t mastered his backyard tower in the allotted time limit.

“When I started out I wasn’t even close,” he said. “I was doing 50-second runs to the top.

“Now I’m down towards the 30-second mark. I think I’d definitely need some adrenaline from the crowd to chip off the last couple of seconds.”

Goodall focused on improving his forearm and upper body strength in the lead-up to the second season of Ninja Warrior but he was dealt a major blow when he contracted Ross River virus.

“Some days I was struggling to get out of bed let alone go to work and come home and train,” he told news.com.au.

“I just got really sore joints, stiff hands and if I pushed too hard everything just shuts down. I couldn’t really do much at all.

Sam Goodall training in his backyard with his daughter.

“I remember a few times I was driving home from work and I had to stop just because I was too knackered to drive anymore. I had to get picked up a couple of times.

“At first I just thought it was a bad flu. I didn’t expect Ross River to knock me so hard. But apparently some people get it pretty bad and I must be one of those cases.”

The gutsy Ninja didn’t give up though and still managed to qualify for the second season of the show. He was 5kg lighter this year [weighing 62kg] due to his illness, but his signature tradie outfit didn’t change one bit.

“I stuck with the Volley shoes again,” he told news.com.au. “I used the same pair from last year and they were probably getting a bit stale. I use them at work as well. Maybe I should have upgraded to some new rubber.”

Australian Ninja Warrior season two kicks off on TV on July 8 and will be fairly similar to last year’s first season. The biggest change is that the prize money has doubled to $200,000. Can someone conquer Mt Midoriyama in the grand final to win the show this time around? We’ll have to wait and see.

Australian Ninja Warrior premieres Sunday, July 8, at 7pm on Nine.