In the long negotiation between human ambition and natural landscape, Queensland's Fitzroy River has been formally approved to host rowing and canoe sprint events at the 2032 Brisbane Olympics — a decision that reveals how much of what we call 'concern' is really a contest over fairness, logistics, and regional pride. The river's 500 saltwater crocodiles, despite their mythic presence in public imagination, barely registered in official deliberations; the deeper anxieties were about tidal currents, natural bends, and a venue 600 kilometres from the host city. What emerges is a story not of wil