Banana Kick

by Patrick Loughlin

  About the book

  Junior is the youngest player for the West Hill Ravens. He is also the biggest. Everyone on the team starts to call him Cannonball because, when he makes a bust, he’s virtually unstoppable.

  Even though Junior is helping his team score more tries than ever, no one seems to be able to see past his size. When team mentor Billy Slater sets the Ravens a challenge, Junior’s bad feeling gets even worse.

  Will Billy be able to help Junior prove there is more to him than meets the eye?

  Contents

  Cover

  About the book

  Title

  A Word from Billy

  Chapter 1: A tight fit

  Chapter 2: The magic off-load

  Chapter 3: Billy’s challenge

  Chapter 4: Little card, big trouble

  Chapter 5: Mama always knows best

  Chapter 6: Cannonball runnning

  Chapter 7: The sting

  Chapter 8: The quiet type

  Chapter 9: Blowing off steam

  Chapter 10: All aboard the Junior train

  Chapter 11: Down and out

  Chapter 12: Billy at the beach

  Chapter 13: Samoan pride

  Chapter 14: And the winner is . . .

  Chapter 15: Rap attack

  Chapter 16: Where are the oranges?

  Chapter 17: Banana kick

  Chapter 18: A big future

  The Team

  Player Profiles

  Billy’s Tips

  Also in the series

  Copyright Notice

  Loved the book?

  I was pretty small when I first started playing footy and didn’t have the natural strength or size the other players had. But I knew I loved the game, so I had to find other skills to help me succeed. Even now, I still work on things like my speed and my ball handling. I also try to eat healthy and stay fit in order to perform at the highest level.

  It may take some players a while to work out where their talents lie, so it’s really important to encourage your teammates and to respect your opponents. After all, footy is not very exciting without an opposition! It can also be fun to give people nicknames, but you have to make sure those names don’t hurt their feelings. You’re always going to play your best if you feel confident and relaxed on the field.

  In Banana Kick you will read about how Junior finds a way to help his team succeed, but soon becomes discouraged by other people’s comments. He’s bigger than most players, prompting some to think his size is an unfair advantage. Junior needs a little encouragement from his friends and family to feel comfortable in his own skin and to have fun playing football again.

  I hope you enjoy reading Banana Kick and understand that there is often more to people than meets the eye. Everyone is different, and that’s one of the best things about playing in a team.

  Billy Slater

  It was another beautiful Saturday. The sky was a bright blue and the crowd of spectators at the West Hill Ravens home ground was enjoying the early morning sunshine, which was taking the bite out of the frosty May air.

  The only ones not enjoying the morning were the West Hill Ravens Under 11s. They were huddled glumly behind their goalposts as the goal kicker for the Burnsfield Bears attempted to convert the Bears’ second try in ten minutes.

  ‘This is pathetic!’ whined Corey. ‘You guys need to learn how to tackle. We’re getting creamed!’

  ‘I didn’t see you stop anyone from scoring!’ said the Ravens fullback. His name was Cameron Cotter, but everyone called him C. C. for short.

  ‘Hey, they didn’t score on my side. I had my guy well-covered.’

  ‘We’re not going to win this game by arguing with each other,’ said their captain, Liam McGill. ‘These guys keep pushing us back. We just need to get out of our half.’

  There were a few mumbles of agreement from the team, and some loud grumbling from Corey. But Junior Taafuli stood quietly at the back of the huddle, watching his teammates and saying nothing.

  At ten years of age, Junior was already five foot five. His hefty Samoan build had earned him the nickname Mount Taafuli. While he looked intimidating to the opposition, Junior was actually a quiet kid. He always had been. But that didn’t mean he had nothing on his mind.

  As Junior watched the ball sail over the posts, bringing the score to 18–0, he was busy thinking, I really wish this jersey wasn’t so tight.

  When Coach Steve had handed out the jerseys at the start of the season, Junior had been given the number eight jersey. Last year’s Under 11s prop forward must have been much smaller, because Junior struggled to even get the jersey on. Rather than tell Coach Steve, though, Junior just nodded and smiled. He didn’t want to make a fuss.

  For the first four games of the season, Junior wore a jersey far too small for him. He didn’t complain once, even when it meant he could barely raise his arms to take a pass. It didn’t make running easy, either.

  It was only because Junior was sitting right in front of him at half-time that Coach Steve noticed his awkward slouching. Coach would usually be revving the boys up, but after one win and one draw from four starts and 18–0 at half-time, even Coach was at a loss as to how to get the season back on track. Having a bye the week before hadn’t helped, either. While deep in thought, he glanced down at Junior, who looked like the life was being squeezed out of him.

  ‘Junior, have you grown?’ asked Coach. ‘That jersey looks two sizes too small.’

  Junior tried to shrug, then looked even more uncomfortable. A couple of the other boys glanced over and sniggered.

  Coach Steve turned to the Ravens prop forward. ‘Poppa, swap jerseys with Junior.’

  ‘But I’m number ten!’ protested Poppa.

  ‘That’s okay,’ Junior mumbled. ‘It doesn’t matter.’

  ‘Nonsense, you can hardly breathe in that thing,’ said Coach Steve. ‘Swap jerseys, you two. Quick sticks!’

  The boys reluctantly swapped jerseys.

  ‘This has a rip in the armpit,’ groaned Poppa, dangling Junior’s jersey out in front of him like a rotten fish.

  ‘Sorry, bro,’ Junior said in a soft voice that didn’t quite match his size. But secretly he was glad. Poppa’s jersey was much more comfortable.

  No one, least of all Junior Taafuli, realised the difference that a change of jerseys would make to the outcome of the match – and the rest of the Ravens’ season.

  Suddenly, Junior could breathe.

  When the Ravens received the ball from the kick-off, Junior was the first forward to take a hit-up. He ran five metres before two Bears players moved in from either side. It was a team-tackle sandwich but Junior didn’t go down. He just took the two players with him.

  When a third Bears player tackled low to stop Junior’s legs, Junior still kept going. One step at time, he dragged the player along the ground like an annoying piece of toilet paper.

  Then a fourth Bears player came in over the top. This time, Junior did go down. But the damage was done. The Ravens had made a twenty-metre gain!

  Junior’s success inspired the rest of the team. Suddenly, the forwards were pushing forward and out-muscling the defence. The Miller twins, who didn’t have Junior’s size but were still tall and lanky for their age, took the next two runs and made another twenty metres between them.

  The tryline was in sight.

  On the last tackle, Liam put a rolling grubber through to the in-goal. Corey outraced everyone to the ball, diving on it to score just before the ball rolled dead.

  The Ravens supporters erupted. The Bears st
ood in silence. Coach Steve was running back and forth, flapping his arms and screaming, ‘Ravens, fly!’

  There was a smile on the face of every Ravens player.

  ‘Great run, Junior,’ said Liam, jogging over to high-five the team.

  ‘Must be my jersey,’ added Poppa.

  Azza threw an arm around Junior. ‘You reckon you can do that again?’

  Junior smiled. ‘I think so.’

  But the next time Junior got the ball, he didn’t stop at twenty metres. He just kept on going.

  And going.

  And going.

  Every time another tackler came in, he’d stop for a moment and then slowly start moving forward again. He lumbered over the opposition like a four-stroke lawnmower. It took six players to finally pull him down, and by the time they did Junior had made thirty metres.

  Before the Ravens knew it, they were back in the opposition’s twenty, and it wasn’t long before the Ravens were crossing the line again. A quick-thinking dummy from Liam allowed him to sneak through the defence and score straight under the posts. Liam lined up the kick and easily sailed the ball over the black dot. The score was now locked at 18–18.

  ‘Wow.’ Jackson smiled. ‘We’re totally back –’

  ‘In this, thanks to Junior,’ said Matthew, finishing his twin brother’s sentence. ‘That was awesome, dude!’

  ‘Yeah, you totally tore through them like a bowling ball!’ said Jackson, and everyone cracked up. ‘What’s so funny?’

  ‘Bowling ball?’ said Tai. ‘More like a cannonball. A human cannonball!’

  The others laughed. Junior smiled and got back into position. He wasn’t finished just yet.

  On the next set of six, Azza moved into dummy half and called for a runner.

  ‘Give it to Cannonball!’ yelled Tai.

  Azza fired a long, flat pass to Junior, who came steaming in through the middle of the forward pack like a Spanish bull let loose on a crowd of tourists.

  The Bears’ faces dropped. Junior burst through them at speed. They jumped on his back, they grabbed at his legs, they yanked at his shorts and tugged at his jersey, but Junior didn’t stop. Even with all the Bears focused on stopping Junior, Junior managed to lob a one-handed pass back to Blake ‘the Fake’ Vargas.

  Blake sped off with the ball. With most of the opposition still clinging to Junior, there was only the fullback left to beat. Blake drew the fullback with a sly sidestep and then slipped the ball to C. C., who ran thirty metres to score another try for the Ravens.

  Coach Steve stood on the sidelines grinning from ear to ear. When the final whistle blew, the score was 22–18.

  ‘What a win, boys!’ said Coach. ‘That was probably one of the best comebacks by a Ravens team I’ve ever seen. And I’ve seen a few.’

  ‘How about that off-load by Cannonball to C. C.?’ said Tai.

  ‘That off-load was magic, Junior. Sheer magic,’ said Coach Steve. ‘I’m going to start calling you Merlin, if you keep that up.’

  ‘Who?’ asked the boys.

  ‘Merlin. You kids haven’t heard of Merlin the wizard?’

  ‘I’ve heard of Harry Potter,’ said Azza. ‘He’s magic.’

  ‘Fine. I’ll start calling you Harry Potter, then. Anyway, I have a very good feeling about the rest of our season if we play like that every week,’ said Coach Steve, and he winked at Junior.

  Junior smiled.

  The Ravens walked off the ground to applause from their parents and supporters, and headed towards the change sheds. But just before Junior stepped inside he overheard a Bears supporter say, ‘What’s a kid that size doing in the Under 11s anyway? There should be a rule against kids that big playing. One of our boys could get seriously hurt!’

  Junior didn’t have to stop and ask. He knew straight away they were talking about him. Junior’s smile vanished. His eyes fell to the ground and the magic off-load was as good as forgotten.

  It was a cool May afternoon, and even though the Under 11s had only just begun training, the sun was already sinking behind the hills. Junior and the rest of the team were running warm-up laps around the Ravens field.

  ‘All right, one more lap will do it,’ called Coach Steve.

  ‘Are you kidding, Coach? We’ve already done four,’ panted Jackson.

  ‘That’s right, and one more will make five. Now, less whining and more running!’

  Sometimes Coach Steve seemed to enjoy torturing the boys at training, but Junior didn’t mind. He thought Coach was funny, and he could handle running laps even if he was usually at the back of the pack. After all, what’s the rush? thought Junior. A lap is a lap, no matter how fast you run.

  When Junior finished his final lap, he jogged over to join the rest of the team on the side of the field. He was a little surprised to see Billy Slater standing there spinning a football in one hand.

  ‘We’re very fortunate to have our mentor, the one and only Billy Slater, here today to share his amazing knowledge of the game with us,’ said Coach Steve, and the boys all cheered.

  ‘Billy, are we going to practise taking bombs?’ asked Poppa.

  ‘I thought we were going to run new set plays,’ said Liam.

  ‘But I want to see Billy’s sidestep again,’ said Blake.

  Billy chuckled. ‘Relax, fellas. There’ll be plenty of time for all that in a minute. First, I want to talk to you about nutrition.’

  ‘New what?’ asked Jack Monroe, the Ravens lock, who prided himself on never having finished a book in his six years of school life.

  ‘Nutrition – as in nutrients, commonly found in fresh food,’ said Ravi, the Ravens’ only reserve. He prided himself on reading lots of books at school and at home and even on weekends.

  ‘Why would you want to eat tree ants?’ asked Jack, a puzzled look on his face.

  ‘OMG! It’s NU-TRI-ENTS, not NEW TREE ANTS!’ exclaimed Ravi. ‘Stuff like protein and calcium and vitamins and minerals.’

  ‘Well, why didn’t you just say that?’ said Jack.

  Billy decided it was time to step in. ‘Anyway, since I’ve been attending your training sessions, I’ve noticed some of the snacks you guys eat. Coach Steve and I are a little concerned about all the junk food you consume.’

  Junior looked down at the grass. Here it comes, he thought. Junior had always been bigger than the other kids, and every time food came up at school, everyone seemed to look at him.

  Except no one did this time. They were too busy watching Billy.

  ‘You probably know that a bad diet can make you unhealthy, right?’

  ‘Yeah,’ agreed some of the boys.

  ‘But did you know that eating junk food can affect how you play footy?’ asked Billy.

  ‘Like if you get too fat, like Coach Steve, you won’t be able to run laps,’ said Tai.

  ‘Watch it, Tai!’ grumbled Coach Steve.

  ‘Um, no. Not really,’ said Billy, trying not to laugh. ‘It’s all about fuel. Just like cars, our bodies need the right kind of fuel to function at their best. And guess what, boys? Junk food is not the best fuel. Who can tell me why?’

  Ravi’s hand shot up in the air. ‘Too much sugar and fat and not enough nutrients.’

  ‘Where does he get this stuff?’ Jack asked no one in particular.

  ‘Ravi’s spot on,’ said Billy. ‘It’s about balance. That’s why we’re going to have a little challenge to see if you boys can give junk food the flick for one week.’

  Coach Steve began to hand out yellow cards. ‘Everyone gets ONE, so don’t lose them!’ he instructed.

  Junior looked down at the little yellow card in his hands.

  ‘This looks like homework!’ Jack gasped in horror.

  ‘I guess it is, in a way,’ said Billy.

  ‘Homework for footy? That’s got to be illegal!’ Tai splappe
d his head in disgust.

  Billy laughed. ‘You’re probably right, Tai. Don’t worry, I’m not going to mark you on spelling or anything. The challenge is to eat the right foods – something from all five food groups.’

  ‘That’s easy,’ interrupted Tai. ‘I eat the five food groups every day – pizza, nuggets, chips, chocolate and ice-cream!’

  Everyone laughed.

  Billy smiled. ‘Hmm. Not sure where you’ve been getting your info, Tai, but they are not the five food groups.’

  ‘Are you sure?’ asked Tai, grinning widely.

  ‘Pretty sure. Look, all you need to do is try to replace any unhealthy snacks like chips, chocolate and biscuits, with healthy ones like fruit, nuts or vegetables.’

  ‘So, in other words, we have to eat boring, tasteless food?’ asked Corey.

  ‘It may taste good, Corey, but if food comes wrapped in plastic, it’s probably not very good for you,’ said Billy.

  ‘That’s all right,’ said Tai. ‘Pizza comes in a cardboard box!’

  Coach Steve sighed. ‘What is it with you kids and pizza?’

  The boys laughed again, but Junior just stared blankly at the empty boxes on the card waiting to be filled in. He had a bad feeling about those boxes.

  ‘Junior! Dinnertime!’ called Ramona, Junior’s older sister.

  There was no answer.

  At that exact moment Junior was lying on his bed and watching one of his favourite rappers on YouTube.

  ‘JUNIOR!’

  This time Junior did hear Ramona, along with most of the neighbourhood. ‘Coming!’ he called back.

  He closed the laptop and was about to leave when he noticed the little yellow card lying on the floor. The bold black words on the card jumped out at him.

  HEALTHY SNACK CHALLENGE

  Junior sighed and shoved it in his pocket, then headed into the living room.

  Because Junior’s mum worked at the hospital and his dad worked long hours at the fruit market, it was often Ramona who did the cooking during the week. Sometimes Junior and his other sister, Mele, helped her.