Specky Magee and the Battle of the Young Guns

by Felice Arena

  There was tension in the air, which was to be expected before a Qualifying Final, and there was an added feeling of uncertainty, given that Coach Pate was about to officially hand the reigns over to Mr Rutherford. If Booyong won this game they would go straight into the Grand Final. The stakes were at their highest, but Specky felt strangely detached. He’d normally be pacing around the room at this stage of the pre-match, kicking footballs and offering encouragement to his team-mates. Today, though, he copied Kyle’s approach and sat quietly in a corner.

  ‘What’s up, Specky man?’ asked Johnny as he sat down next to him.

  ‘Nothing, mate, just trying to get in the zone.’

  ‘Yeah, right, Speck,’ said Johnny, a wide grin spreading across his face. ‘Don’t you know I can see right into your soul? You can’t fool me.’

  For the first time that morning, Specky cracked a smile. Alongside Danny and Robbo, Johnny had become one of his closest mates since he had moved to Melbourne from the Northern Territory the year before.

  ‘I dunno, Johnny,’ sighed Specky. ‘Don’t take this the wrong way. It’s just with Coach Pate leaving, and Rutherford giving me such a hard time at training, and with the big National Final coming up, I suppose I wonder if it’s worth it to run out for Booyong. If I don’t pass that stupid Maths test next week I’m off the team anyway.’

  ‘You do what you gotta do, Speck,’ said Johnny. ‘As long as it feels right. Just be sure you don’t go against what your heart tells you to do. My grandfather used to say, “If you go into a game of football with doubts, you’ll come out of it with pain.” It’s true, I reckon.’

  Specky sighed again.

  ‘I’ll back you, whatever you do, man,’ added Johnny. ‘But I sure hope you’re running out beside me in half an hour’s time. Who else am I gonna make look good?’

  Johnny slapped Specky on the back and went to join in the pre-game kick-to-kick.

  Specky thought about what Johnny had said and began to feel a little better about the game. But at the back of his mind was the State match at the MCG. For the first time, he started to feel nervous – what if he was injured today and couldn’t play? He tried to put the thought to the back of his mind as Mr Rutherford called for them to take their seats in front of him.

  ‘Big day today, boys, BIG day!’ he said. ‘You all know the benefits of going straight into the Grand Final. I’m not going to take any credit for where this team finds itself. That belongs to Coach Pate here who has done an outstanding job over the past couple of years.’

  A spontaneous round of applause broke out as Specky and his team turned to look at her, standing in the corner of the room.

  ‘Three cheers for Coach Pate!’ shouted Robbo.

  ‘Hip, Hip, Hooray! Hip, Hip, Hooray! Hip, Hip, Hooray!’ everyone yelled.

  Tears welled in Coach Pate’s eyes as she smiled proudly at the group of boys she had watched over for the past two seasons.

  Mr Rutherford continued. ‘The best way you can show your appreciation is by playing in the manner that your coach has taught you. Just because there’s a different voice up here, doesn’t mean that you have to do anything different. The fundamentals remain the same. I demand a fierce attack on the football …’

  Mr Rutherford’s voice began to rise and his gaze intensified as he looked around the room.

  ‘Run in straight lines, keep your eyes on the football, and when it’s your turn to go, regardless of your personal safety, I expect you to go – no exceptions.’

  Caught up in the emotion of Mr Rutherford’s delivery, everyone leaned forward. Specky had to admit that their new coach gave a great pre-game talk – he was really inspirational.

  ‘Keep it simple, move the ball quickly and let’s play to our strengths,’ added Mr Rutherford. ‘Simon, I want you to start at centre-half forward, and Kyle, you go to full-forward. Those two will give us a target to kick to. Robbo, it starts with you in the middle of the ground. Give Danny and Johnny first use of the ball. Man on man in the back line. Tackle hard when we don’t have the ball and run harder when we do have it. Now get out there and win this one for Coach Pate.’

  The boys roared in unison and nearly crushed each other as they ran out the door. As the team’s captain, Robbo proudly lead the Booyong High Lions onto the ground.

  As he ran out, Specky noticed some familiar faces in the large crowd. To his surprise, TG was there with a group of her friends. She was waving at him with a big smile on her face. He liked that. Actually, he really liked that. He remembered how he used to look for Christina in the crowd and realised that, for the first time, he didn’t miss having her there.

  He waved back. But what about TG? Specky wondered. Was she at the game just to see him?

  ‘GO LITTLE BRO!’ screamed Alice, getting Specky’s attention and breaking his train of thought. She was sitting beside the Great McCarthy and the Magees. He smiled at them, and he caught sight of Grandpa Ken underneath the scoreboard, standing on his own. He waved at Specky and gave him a thumbs-up.

  Specky now felt the nerves kick in. This was it. Game on.

  The Yardley College Magpies were a big team, and as usual Specky’s reputation was well known. The Magpies’ coach had dropped a couple of players back onto him, and during the first ten minutes of the match he had to work hard to get his hands on the football.

  With only minutes before the end of the first quarter, the Bombay Bullet spun out of the pack at half-back and charged towards goal. He hand-passed over the top to a running Johnny Cockatoo, who took a bounce and looked up-field.

  Specky doubled back and made his move towards the square. Kyle hadn’t moved and was standing motionless, with his hands in the air. He wasn’t making any effort to follow the ball. Specky had been able to get a couple of metres on his opponent and Johnny booted the ball in his direction. The ball held up a bit in the wind and started to drift away from Specky.

  Specky quickly summed up that Kyle was in a much better position to mark the ball, but still he hadn’t moved. Specky sprinted back, and with a desperate lunge managed to position himself between Kyle and the Magpies’ full-back. He knew he had to make out as if he was going for the mark, otherwise a free kick would be awarded against him for shepherding. He put both hands in the air and crashed into the full-back, the two of them tumbling to the ground – leaving Kyle all alone to take an easy, uncontested mark in the goal square.

  Kyle spun around and kicked the ball through the big sticks, and took off in one of the wildest goal celebrations ever seen in the history of Booyong High.

  He celebrated with a couple of cartwheels, and some high-five slaps to the crowd as he ran around the edge of the ground. Kyle did everything but thank his team-mates for the role they played. He didn’t even look at Specky, who was slowly picking himself up from the dirt of the goal square and had started limping badly. He had received an accidental knee deep into his backside and it throbbed with a dull ache.

  As the first quarter siren sounded, the Lions were ahead by two points. Specky and his team made their way to the huddle, with Kyle still carrying on as if he had single-handedly beaten six opponents to kick the goal of the year.

  Robbo and Danny ignored Kyle, as he pranced around them fishing for compliments, and the rest of the team congratulated the Bullet, Johnny and Specky for the part they’d played.

  ‘Unbelievable effort, Speck,’ said Robbo. ‘I thought Kyle was going to stuff it up.’

  ‘Yeah, talk about ungrateful,’ added Danny. ‘He still doesn’t know how he got that goal. What a peanut. Did you hear him? He said that’s exactly how he used to play at his old school and that’s why he’s the best. He seems surprised that we’re not all over him, like his old team-mates probably were.’

  ‘Yeah, I can’t work him out,’ said Specky, as he applied an ice pack to his right buttock. ‘One minute he’s acting like some loner, the next he’s showing off. If he loves his old school so much maybe he shouldn’t have left. Anyway, we’ve got our wor
k cut out for us out there. These Yardley College guys mean business today.’

  Mr Rutherford’s quarter-time address was short and to the point. He surprised everyone by not playing favourites when it came to his son.

  ‘Kyle, you’re being lazy out there,’ he grumbled. ‘You have to move, read the play as it’s unfolding. Don’t just stand there expecting the ball to come to you. And cut back on the celebrations, you look foolish.’

  Specky noticed that Kyle tried not to look affected by his father’s comments, but he obviously was. He gave his dad a filthy look, before grabbing a couple of orange pieces and turning the other way.

  The next quarter was equally as challenging. By half-time, the Lions were trailing by five points.

  Specky was again icing his corked buttock, and had found it more difficult to stride out as the game wore on. It was not a serious injury, but he knew it was going to slow him down.

  ‘Well, folks, it’s turning out to be a cracker of a game, especially for the great Specky Magee who’s desperate not to allow his team to fall behind or else he’ll be the butt of all jokes. And with the massive corky he’s got in his derrière, you know it’s just going to be one big pain in the bum!’

  Specky shook his head. Gobba could find a joke in almost any situation. But Specky was a little worried. He kept thinking about how this injury might affect the game at the MCG, even though a ‘corky’ was unlikely to stop him from playing.

  When the Lions took up their places for the start of the third quarter, Specky tried his best to put the National Final to the back of his mind, but without much success. There was a little voice inside his head telling him to save himself for the big game at the MCG, and despite his best efforts, it began to affect the way he played. Ten minutes into the quarter, he had yet to win a possession.

  ‘C’mon, Speck, we need a lift from you, buddy,’ urged Robbo as he ran past him to contest a boundary throw-in.

  Danny managed to get a hurried kick out of the pack, and the ball dribbled along the ground towards Specky. Specky dashed towards it at the same time as the Magpies’ captain, Toby Graham. Toby was shorter than Specky, but almost twice as wide. He was solid as a forklift truck, and had muscles on top of his muscles.

  Both players set their eyes on the ball, with Specky getting there fractionally ahead of Toby. But as Specky bent down to pick up the ball he hesitated, remembering the hit he had taken from Mitch Mahoney in the game against Western Australia. As the huge player barrelled towards him, he took his eyes off the footy and started to flinch, anticipating what was surely going to be a massive collision.

  The ball, however, bounced at right angles, allowing Toby to change direction, scoop it up and charge down the other end of the ground.

  Players from both teams and a large part of the crowd went silent for a moment. They couldn’t believe what they had just seen – Specky Magee, one of the most skilled and courageous players in the competition, had ‘pulled out’. It was known in football circles as putting in a ‘short step’ and it was an accusation that no player ever wanted levelled at them.

  Specky realised instantly what he had done. He wanted the ground to swallow him up. He prided himself on his toughness and courage, and had modeled himself on the likes of Jonathan Brown and Nick Riewoldt, players who never shirked an issue. With so much at stake there was no excuse, and the Yardley College players were not about to let him forget it.

  ‘You packed your dacks, Magee.’

  ‘How embarrassing was that, hero?’

  ‘I suppose your Booyong mates aren’t as important as your Victorian buddies, Magee. I bet you wouldn’t do that if you were playing with them.’

  Specky was never one to get involved in sledging, but this time he simply had no comeback.

  The Booyong High runner sprinted towards him.

  ‘You’re coming off, Speck. Sorry, mate.’

  To add to his humiliation, Specky was being ‘dragged’. With his head down he jogged to the interchange bench, acutely aware that it was Coach Pate’s last game, that all of his family was there, and that TG was watching.

  Specky felt horrible and couldn’t believe he had let them down like that. Even Gobba, who was also on the bench, didn’t look him in the eye or make a comment. There was little doubt that this was one of the low points of Specky’s year.

  At the three-quarter-time huddle, the Yardley College Magpies led the Booyong High Lions by 23 points. Despite the heroic efforts of Robbo in the ruck and Johnny Cockatoo, who was playing a blinder, the Grand Final berth was slipping away.

  The players were quiet as Mr Rutherford made his way over to them from the boundary.

  ‘What do you think ya doin’, Magee?’ shouted Kyle. ‘I’d heard so much about you when I arrived at this school, but you’re nothing but a show-pony wimp, who’s too gutless to put his head over the ball. None of my old team-mates would’ve chickened out like you did.’

  ‘Listen, you big mouth!’ snapped Smashing Sols, coming in to defend Specky. ‘You’ve done nothing but take advantage of everyone else’s hard work all game, so you can keep your opinions to yourself. And shut up about your old school while you’re at it.’

  ‘What are you gonna do about it?’ baited Kyle, stepping up to Sols. ‘Come on, I’ll take you on …’

  ‘Settle down, will ya?’ growled Robbo. ‘Focus on the game!’

  ‘Yeah, we know which game Magee’s focusing on and it’s not this one,’ Kyle said. ‘We wouldn’t have put up with it at my old school side, which is better than this crappy team!’

  ‘You’re really asking for it, weirdo,’ barked Smashing Sols, raising his fist.

  ‘PAUL! Step back now!’

  It was Coach Pate, who had reached the team on the ground only moments before Mr Rutherford. Specky couldn’t believe this was happening – because of him, his team-mates were about to come to blows.

  ‘It’s okay, Sols, he’s not wrong,’ confessed Specky. ‘I pulled out. It was a weak effort. Simple as that.’ He turned to Mr Rutherford who was standing there quietly, watching. ‘Coach, I apologise. I don’t blame you for taking me off, and leaving me there. I deserve it. I can tell you all, though, it will never happen again.’

  Specky expected to hear Mr Rutherford agree with him and bench him for the entire game. To his surprise, he didn’t.

  ‘There is not one player who hasn’t felt the way you do now, Simon,’ he said. ‘Everyone has had a situation on the football field where, if they could have their time again, they would do things differently. It doesn’t matter how courageous or tough you think you are, we’ve all found ourselves in Simon’s position at some stage.’

  ‘He’s right, Simon,’ said Coach Pate. ‘Learn from it, and the embarrassment you feel now will be worth it.’

  Specky remained on the bench for the start of the last quarter and saw his team-mates turn the game on its head. Danny kicked two quick goals. Robbo booted a booming major, from inside the square, followed up by goals to the Bombay Bullet, Kyle and then Danny again.

  The Lions had turned a 23-point deficit into a 13-point lead. Specky watched with mixed feelings. He was rapt that they were going to win the game, but he felt pretty useless not having contributed.

  Just as he was feeling at his worst, Coach Pate came and sat beside him.

  ‘I meant what I said, Simon. Don’t be too hard on yourself, okay?’ she said softly.

  Specky nodded, trying to look as if he were cool and calm about it all.

  ‘And, look, I might not get another chance to say this before I leave,’ she added. ‘But you’re an amazing kid, and you have a massive future ahead of you. I’m sorry I won’t get to see you play the National Final, but I know that someday I’m going to see you play on the MCG – that’s for sure. And when you do, I can proudly say I coached him … which, by the way, was an honour.’

  Specky was taken aback. He didn’t know what to say.

  ‘And just one more thing,’ she said, smiling. ‘Have an
open mind when it comes to Coach Rutherford and his ways, okay?’

  Specky nodded again.

  ‘Now, just in case we don’t get to say goodbye – be good and take care, Simon.’

  Coach Pate put her hand out, but instead of shaking it, Specky threw his arms around her.

  ‘Thanks, Coach. For everything,’ he said, hugging her tightly.

  With three minutes of the game remaining, Mr Rutherford motioned for Specky to warm up. He was going to full-forward for the final moments.

  The crowd cheered and applauded as he ran back on the ground. For a second, Specky thought he could hear TG yelling his name.

  The game was almost over when Kyle took a mark, forty metres from goal. Specky’s opponent ran towards the square, expecting Kyle to have a shot, leaving Specky all alone. All Kyle had to do was chip it over the man on the mark to Specky, who could then take an easy chest mark and kick a certain goal.

  Kyle waited and waited, allowing the Magpies’ full-back to sprint back towards Specky. Only then did Kyle kick the ball, but instead of keeping it low and drilling Specky on the chest, he kicked the footy way over his head.

  Specky started to run backwards. He could hear the full-back charging towards him, but he refused to take his eyes off the ball. No one on the field would have blamed him this time – it was a horrible pass – but still he ran back at top speed. He raised his arms and took the ball in his hands, falling backwards as he did.

  The full-back arrived a split second later and smashed into Specky’s back, catapulting him forward, one knee striking the fleshy part of Specky’s buttocks – the very same spot where he was corked earlier. He was in pain and the whole right side of his leg was numb but he got to his feet as quickly as he could. He was not about to stay down after the day he’d had.

  Specky gingerly went back and slotted through the goal as the siren sounded. The Lions were through to the Grand Final.