by Israel Folau
But Sione wasn’t ready. He hadn’t leant forward to meet them. The other team had somehow slotted their heads and shoulders on either side of Sione’s body and were pushing him back, hard. Sione was pinned, standing up tall with nothing to push against.
‘Put your head down, Sione!’ Izzy’s voice echoed from the sideline. ‘You’ve got to put your head down!’
He didn’t sound cross, but that didn’t stop Sione from feeling embarrassed.
‘I can’t,’ Sione squeaked, after another big push from the Sunshine boys crushed the wind out of him. He could see the referee looking at him, his eyebrows down so low they were almost tickling his nose. The referee’s face seemed to be asking, ‘Don’t you know what you’re doing?’
Sione wanted to shout, ‘It’s not my fault. I’ve never played hooker before!’ but he held back the urge.
The ref blew his whistle and everyone stopped. The forwards all groaned and stood up, knowing that the energy they’d expended had all been a waste. Sione watched the giant tarantula dissolve around him.
‘It was supposed to be a scrum, not a hug,’ the opposing hooker muttered, turning away.
Sione blushed when he saw Harrison standing next to the ref with the ball still in one hand. He hadn’t even had a chance to feed the ball into the scrum.
‘Okay, we’re going to try that again,’ the ref said. He looked straight at Sione. ‘Are you ready, son?’
Sione nodded as his front-row partners linked their bodies with his again.
‘Get ready, lower yourself now!’ Izzy called from the sideline.
The opposing hooker, who was facing Sione, grinned. ‘He’s right. You better get ready for it.’
Sione took a deep breath and bent his knees, leaning against Jake and Benny. The second row engaged behind him and he was soon ducking his head and pushing against the three giant Sunshine forwards.
Being inside the scrum was like being in a cramped tent. A sort of room was created beneath him and the others, their bodies acting like a roof. There was shouting and grunting as the Sunshine boys started pushing Sione and the other Valley boys backward. As the ball was fed to Sione’s feet, football boots from all directions started kicking and scraping his shins, trying to get some purchase on the ball. This was nothing like the scrum machine at training. It never snarled or kicked back!
As the foot fight escalated, Sione tried to push back against the other team, but the frantic activity at grass level was too much. The Sunshine team pushed themselves over the ball until it spat out the back of their end of the scrum. Sione could see glimpses of the ball then being passed between a couple of their players before it was kicked high, over the remains of the scrum, and behind him.
It was a great kick for touch – there would now be a line-out no more than thirty metres from Sunshine’s tryline. The ref blew his whistle and all the players started jogging up to where the line-out would be formed. Sione passed by Izzy and the reserves and was motioned to come off. Zach ran onto the field to take his place. Sione stepped over the sideline and sighed, much louder than he was planning to.
Izzy patted his back. ‘Don’t worry, you’ll be going back out there.’
‘No,’ Sione said miserably, ‘I’m not good enough. I don’t want to do that again.’
‘There’s no way you are going to become the great player that you could be with that attitude,’ Izzy replied. ‘You are good enough.’
Sione sat cross-legged on the grass, his head in his hands. He knew Izzy was trying to cheer him up but he just wanted to be left alone. He thought about Aunty, Dad and Mele back home. He wondered what they were doing. A tear threatened to fall from the corner of his eye but Sione fought it back.
Izzy squatted down next to Sione as the ref’s whistle blew and the grunts and groans recommenced further down the field. ‘You have what it takes; you could be something amazing if you keep trying.’
Sione lifted his head but still couldn’t look Izzy in the eyes.
‘When I was calling out for you to keep your head down I wasn’t just talking about the scrum. Through every game, and outside of the game too, if you focus, push and do your best, I know you can be great.’
Sione’s mouth wanted to smile, just a little, but he fought the urge. ‘Maybe, but I’m never going to be great as a hooker. Put me back on as a winger,’ he replied, astonishing himself as the words came out of his mouth.
Izzy stood up again. ‘We’ll see. I’m going to try out TJ on the wing first.’
The sound of boys cheering and clapping rose up from the other end of the field, and Sione knew it meant that Sunshine High had scored the first try of the half.
‘Look,’ Izzy said, ‘whether or not you become a famous hooker, that’s where I need you to play now. Put your head down, do your best and help your team – that’s what it’s all about, not how you look to the crowds.’
Sione exhaled loudly.
‘When I began to learn how to play Australian football, I not only had to get used to a new position but an entirely new sport,’ Izzy continued. ‘It was hard – really hard. But I stuck it out. I tried, I learnt, I had fun even though it felt strange at first. And then I did it all over again when I came to rugby union.’
Izzy left Sione to process his words. He clapped as he jogged over to the Valley players on the field, yelling words of encouragement to them as the school’s goal kicker missed the conversion.
Sione looked up. He knew Izzy was right, though he was still angry that he’d been moved. He just had to see it as an opportunity now. If he could become a great hooker … well, nothing would be too hard for him.
Izzy returned to the bench and told Sione he was going back on as hooker. ‘Basics – don’t forget your basics. Strong legs, strong arms, run hard, push!’
Sione nodded and stood up tall, pushing out his chest as the whistle blew and the referee called them all back to restart the game. This is it, Sione thought. I’m going to play my best for Izzy and the others.
Daniel set the ball on the halfway line and, once both sides were ready, he kicked it to restart the game. It went much further and higher into the air than Sione was expecting, but he thundered after it anyway. Sione, the tall, fast winger, was now a charging rhino of a front-row forward, steaming towards the far-right corner of the field, where the ball was about to drop into the arms of the opposing fullback.
Just as he was about to make the catch, the fullback caught sight of Sione coming at him and did a double take. Sione had got there way faster than any of the other hookers. Caught off-guard, the fullback fumbled the ball. He dropped it behind him as he grabbed at the air, trying to take control of it.
Sione was exhausted but exhilarated. He was giving it his all and it felt good. When the fullback turned and dived on top of the dropped ball in desperation, Sione gladly tumbled on top of him, a split second before four other Valley players did the same.
‘Yeah, Sione! Brilliant stuff!’ Izzy called.
The ref’s whistle blew and the rumbling jumble of kids’ legs and arms suddenly stopped struggling as, one by one, all the players climbed off Sione and the fullback.
Daniel patted him on the back as he stood up. ‘That was awesome! Now it’s scrum time.’
Sione gulped. He found Jake and Benny and the three of them got ready.
‘Oh, it’s you again.’ The Sunshine High hooker smiled. ‘The other guy was much better.’
Sione ignored him, and when the two packs collided, he made sure to keep his head down and push as hard as he could. He felt the other forwards behind him, and instead of being intimidated by their pushing, he tried to use it to his advantage.
But they still weren’t strong enough. As the scrum started to move the Valley players backwards once again, the ball was fed into its heart. Sione tried using his foot like a hook to scoop the ball behind him, and before he knew it he heard Harrison calling, ‘It’s out! It’s out!’ Quickly, he removed himself from the scrum. They were only five metres o
ut!
Eric received a pass and got a metre closer to scoring before getting tackled. Sione’s instinct was to snatch the ball from Eric’s hands and run to the tryline, but he knew that wasn’t the best option. Eric turned on the ground, placed the ball behind him and Sione came in to ruck, pushing the Sunshine players back before they could steal the ball. Benny and Jake joined in and they formed a bubble around Eric and the ball.
Daniel threw his hands between the legs and bodies, plucked the ball free and passed it to the next back further down the line. The ball kept moving, stretching the school’s defence along the tryline. TJ caught a pass, found a gap and sprawled himself along the ground. He had scored!
Sione jumped into the air, cheering from the other side of the goalposts. They had finally worked as a team – like a well-oiled machine – and it had been awesome.
TJ was getting hugs and high fives. The day before it would have been Sione on the wing, scoring the try. But deep down he knew that without his work in the scrum and the ruck, the try wouldn’t have happened at all. Sione remembered Izzy’s words from that night on their training camp at the conference centre back home: ‘Only one or two players get shown on the video highlights, but none of that great stuff happens without the whole team working together.’
The team ran back to the line for Daniel’s conversion kick, while Izzy continued to call out from the touchline, his fists pumping. ‘That’s it! We did it together!’ They were losing badly on the scoreboard but it didn’t matter.
As the sun shone brightly across the ground, Sione shielded his eyes and smiled while he ran.
After the match, in which Valley suffered a devastating loss, Daniel wasn’t ready to stop and rest just yet. He couldn’t get past the fact that he had missed two goals, even though kicking them wouldn’t have got Valley anywhere close to Sunshine’s score. Those extra points might have mattered in a different match and he didn’t want to miss them again.
Daniel was used to being a reliable goal kicker. His schoolmates back home always expected him to make every conversion and penalty, and he wanted the Valley boys to be the same. He slotted his first practice kick right between the goalposts.
Mary’s words from the day before echoed in Daniel’s mind: ‘Stay between the flags!’
His next kick went between the posts as well. The third was a goal but it didn’t bisect the posts exactly, so Daniel decided to do that one twice more.
Meanwhile, the rest of the team were packed and ready to leave. ‘Come on, Daniel,’ Jake called. ‘Let’s get out of here!’
But Daniel pretended not to hear. This was important. He didn’t want to be the reason for losing a game. He wanted to be the reason for winning games.
‘Stay between the flags … Stay between the flags …’ he repeated to himself.
Izzy jogged up to Daniel after a kick for goal. ‘I’m so proud of you,’ he said, smiling widely.
Daniel looked up at him in surprise. ‘But I missed twice,’ he said.
Izzy shrugged. ‘Yeah, but look at you now. You’re here, straight after the game, working hard to get your basics right. You recognised something you needed to work on without your coach telling you, and here you are practising to make it better.’
Daniel smiled, realising Izzy was right. He was proud of himself, too. ‘Just one more?’ he said. ‘It’s a tough shot and I want to get it between the posts.’
Izzy nodded and stepped back.
Daniel ran up to the ball and slotted it home, as if it were the easiest thing in the world. Izzy and the other boys standing by the gate clapped.
‘See?’ Daniel said. ‘Right between the flags, just like at the beach.’
Izzy chuckled. ‘Speaking of which, that’s where we’re going now,’ he said, pointing at the others. ‘It’s time for a recovery swim. You’ve got to look after your body as well as your goal kicking.’
Reluctantly, Daniel gathered his things and began to follow slowly behind the team, with Izzy walking beside him.
‘You’re showing great captaincy potential,’ Izzy said as they walked.
Daniel gasped. ‘Really? But you were telling me off before for being too bossy.’
‘Well, there’s a way to speak to players that you still have to learn,’ Izzy said, ‘but the boys know you care.’
‘I want to win.’
‘Yes, but you also want to be your best. You want the whole team to play to their potential. Trust me, not all players think like that.’
Daniel was shocked. He assumed all players wanted their teams to do well.
‘Captains have a responsibility to look after their teammates as well as themselves. Most players find looking after themselves is enough work. You seem happy to push and encourage others, not just yourself. Most of all, you are showing the other boys the meaning of dedication and hard work. You put more time into training than any of them. You study the game. You lead by example – by what you do, not just what you say.’
Daniel hadn’t expected Izzy to say anything like this to him. He suddenly felt very proud of himself. ‘It’s like you,’ he said.
‘What is?’
‘You lead by example, too.’
Izzy smiled. ‘We better hurry, or we’ll be late for the beach. Bet you can’t beat me there!’
With that, the two of them raced off after the rest of the team.
By the time the team got to the beach, the water was freezing. The boys lined up along the shore, unwilling to dive in.
‘Come on, don’t be shy,’ Izzy coaxed them. ‘Cold water is good for your muscles after a hard work-out!’
Taking a deep breath, Daniel decided to lead by example. He dashed into the ocean, shivering, until it was up to his waist, then began running through the water, just as Izzy had demonstrated. Soon, the whole team was doing the same, most of them squealing about how cold it was.
They jogged through the waves, pushing their legs against the water’s strength. It was hard work, but Izzy was right – it felt good. After two laps either way, the jogging exercise devolved into a splashing game, with laughter coming from all sides.
Izzy then led the boys out of the water and onto the sand for a long stretching session. Usually, stretches were something the boys wanted to rush through. Today, however, exhausted and enjoying the beach, all of them took their time, ensuring their legs, arms and glutes were loosened. Daniel found it relaxing, stretching as waves crashed on the shore twenty metres away.
Before long, a frisbee was brought out and the boys started throwing, catching and falling all over it.
‘Stay between the flags,’ Mary shouted, more as a joke this time than for safety.
Laughing, Daniel threw a zipping pass across the beach and noticed that Adam was sitting by himself high on a sandhill. He excused himself from the game and jogged up to Adam, his wet feet making squishing sounds as he ran along sand.
‘Hey!’ he called. ‘How’s your ankle?’
Adam shrugged. He had hobbled about in the water with the others and had done almost all of the stretches, but he’d had to sit out of the game of frisbee.
‘You’ll be right in a couple of days,’ Daniel said reassuringly.
Adam looked up at him. ‘I know. I just hate missing out.’
‘Just follow Izzy’s advice and you’ll get better fast.’
Adam smiled. Daniel was the last person he’d have expected to take time out to comfort him. ‘Thanks,’ he said.
There was an awkward pause before Daniel nodded and rejoined the game. He could see that this was the start of something new for him as a player, because now he knew it for sure – he was going to be captain of the Wallabies one day.
The next morning saw Daniel and the others doing some light training on the school oval. Despite it being the site of their first match and first defeat as a team, there was no sign of bitterness as the boys ran, passed the ball and tackled. It was as if the previous day’s loss had only encouraged them to improve and learn to work bette
r as a team.
‘We’re returning to basics today,’ Izzy announced to the Valley boys. ‘The way you will impress me today is by catching the ball, not sidestepping an opponent or trying a backhand pass.’
Daniel usually hated training sessions like this. The drills they were doing reminded him of the boring sessions at the start of every season, where the coach is just interested in seeing what each player can do. Daniel saw himself as match-ready from day one. But, somehow, yesterday’s game had changed this. It had made him realise that staying at the top requires just as much hard work as getting there.
First, Izzy divided the boys into four groups. They stood in single file facing each other, as if turned inward from the four points of a square. Two of the boys at the front of their lines were given balls and directed to run into the centre of the square. Once there, they were to pass their ball to the front boy on the line to their right, avoid the oncoming player as the opposite line did the same thing. Then the passer had to run to the back of the line across from them. It was something Daniel had done many times, but as he watched Sione drop the first pass of the drill, Daniel wondered if Sione had.
Wake up, Sione! Get it together! he thought, swallowing the urge to yell it. He took a deep breath and remembered what Izzy had said to him yesterday. ‘Don’t worry, just get the next one!’ he shouted.
Sione almost did a double take in shock. He took a second to recover, then smiled and nodded at Daniel.
At the end of training, Izzy sat the twenty boys down and congratulated them on bouncing back so quickly from yesterday’s disappointment.
‘Well done,’ he said. ‘A big defeat often leads to a depressing change room and another loss the next week, but I think you guys have shown enough dedication to improve this morning that I am sure we will play better this afternoon.’
Daniel’s eyebrows rose. He’d forgotten they had another practice match today. ‘Who are we playing, again?’ he asked.
