Making the Team

by Scott Prince

  Mr Knutz: Crikey! That boy of mine has really done it now! Did you say the cops have seen this?

  Mr Woolly: No, not yet. But before the Broncos send this to the police, they have requested to speak to you and Jared personally. I think they would rather settle the matter privately.

  Uh oh! Before we can find out what happens next, the playground duty teacher spots us, looking towards Mr Woolly’s window. Mrs Kellogg, the cranky old teacher from grade seven blows her whistle to get our attention. When we see her coming, we freeze. We look like a mob of garden gnomes.

  “And what might you boys be doing?” says Rice Bubble. Everyone calls her “Rice Bubble” ’cause of her last name. She has one hand on her hip and the other holding a green clipboard folder. We look at each other nervously. We’ve been caught eavesdropping. No one is saying anything. We wait for someone else to speak first. It seems like hours, but Justice is the first to reply.

  “Umm, we’re just researching for our project,” says Justice, shrugging his shoulders.

  “Which project is that?” Rice Bubble growls. Justice already has an answer locked and loaded.

  “Our bird project. We’re listening for the call of the speckled bottomed, black-breasted booby bird,” explains Justice. “It’s closest relative is commonly known as the yellow belly, short-beaked nutcracker.”

  I want in on the action. I give my favourite line from the Crocodile Dundee movie. “No, Justice, it’s a Jabajaba Ardedah, which means, bird that walks like a man.” Justice has never seen Crocodile Dundee before, so he gives me a weird look, but it’s not half as bad as the look I get from Rice Bubble.

  She squints, looking at us even more suspiciously. It’s hard not to keep from laughing at the imaginary bird names.

  “Well you won’t hear any birds with your ears against that brick wall. I know what you stickybeaks are up to! Get down to the oval, all of you!” orders Rice Bubble.

  Chapter 32

  Iron My Undies

  The Broncos are doing their weight sessions and it’s a seriously hot day. I am in the gym, training as Deadly D. My weights partner is Sam Thaiday.

  Coach Griffin has R ’n’ B music blaring from the gym’s speakers. The players’ muscles are shiny with sweat as they pump their weights up and down. You can hear them grunt with determination as they complete a set. The weights rattle noisily as they collide with the floor. Sammy spots me as I lift my last bench-press. The sweat stings as it drips into my eyes. I feel it trickle down my back and stop at the elastic of my maroon and yellow training shorts. With the whole team training, the gym is really damp and smelly.

  Remember Chloe who works for the Broncos? Coach Griffin feels sorry for Justice and still believes that he’s an orphan. He has asked Chloe to give him a job over the holidays.

  Justice barges through the gym door, sliding an esky. “Drinks time!” yells Coach Griffin. Justice starts handing out bottles of sports drink. The icy cold liquid is refreshing as it dribbles down my stubbly chin and over my ripped pectoral muscles. I drink as much as I can in one gulp. Justice passes me another full bottle and gives me a wink. He knows I need it. I might have special powers, but it’s still hard keeping up with grown men. Especially when we’re lifting weights.

  “Nice work fellas, big effort today,” Coach Griffin says, clapping at the same time. We’re sitting in pools of our own sweat, our bodies limp from exhaustion. “You can all hit the showers now,” says Coach Griffin. The players high-five each other, proud of our efforts.

  The change room smells so bad, it makes Fluffy’s butt smell like roses. Twenty men have dropped their stinking training gear on the floor. Walking through here is dangerous. The players head for the showers. It’s a bit embarrassing. I think I’ll hold off and have one by myself. They’re all laughing and talking about today’s training session. Clouds of steam fog up the entire change room. I see the shape of a person in the doorway with a trolley. He wheels the trolley in and stops in front of me.

  “H-hi,” he says. He’s nervous. I’m towering over him. His head is only up to my shirt sleeve. “You’re Deadly D,” he says.

  “Yeah.”

  “Can I please have your autograph?” he asks, taking a pen from the basket of the empty trolley.

  “Sorry, gotta shower,” I reply, stepping around the dirty underwear and walking towards the shower. Then I turn and ask, “You’re the new washroom assistant, right?”

  “Y-yes,” he manages to say.

  “Well, just so you know, all the players like their underwear handwashed. Got it?”

  “Got it, Mr Deadly.”

  “Make sure you use fabric softener as well,” I add.

  “Of course, Mr Deadly,” he replies, nodding at me with every word. His head goes up and down like one of those bobble-head characters that people have on their car dash.

  “One more thing,” I say. “When you iron the underwear, we all like a crease down the front. It gives us good luck,” I explain.

  “Yes Mr Deadly, anything you want,” he says, still nodding. I walk over and pat him on the shoulder.

  “Thanks, Jared. And I hope you’re being nice to my pals Dylan Conlan and Justice Jones.” Jared Knutz stands with his mouth wide open, watching me walk away.

  “Hey, Mr Deadly, how do you know my name?” he yells out. But there is no answer. The water gushing from the shower is too loud for me to hear him.

  THE END

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  Firstly, a massive thank you to our awesome editor Sue Abbey and the deadly team at black&write!, including Linda McBride, Ellen Van Neerven and Katie Woods. Much love to all the team at Magabala Books, especially Margaret Whiskin, Nic Murray and Lisa Burton. Big respect to the supportive and inspirational Dr Chris Sarra. To another inspirational elder, Uncle Graham Dillon, thank you always for your stories and guidance. To Shelley Whittaker and Gazza Downing, we appreciate your advice on Maori and New Zealand culture, chur bro. Ten out of ten to Alex at Toscani’s Robina, and Jamie at Lambar Pizza Chirn Park for fuelling our editing sessions with some great food! Of course we would like to thank our respective families and friends for their ongoing support. In writing this book we acknowledge our mob, the Kalkadoon and Barunggam people.

  To the players and the coaches we have mentioned throughout the story, thank you for entertaining, inspiring and being role-models for the greatest game of all.

  A FEW DEADLY NOTES

  aue: Maori slang for “Oh dear!” or “Oh heck!” Pronounced “ah-ooh-e”

  brah: Slang way of saying “mate” or “friend”. Not the type of bra that ladies wear.

  dummy: Attacker pretends to pass the ball but keeps it instead. Also used to describe Dave Hartley. (To the editor: please leave this part in. Scott)

  falcon: Getting hit in the head with the ball during a game of rugby league. Made famous by Mario “The Maltese Falcon” Fenech.

  gammin’: Indigenous slang often used in northern parts of Queensland or Northern Territory. Usually means having a joke or mucking around.

  haka: Traditional dance or war cry performed by the Maori people of New Zealand.

  Jabajaba Ardedah bird: Doesn’t even exist. This is taken from a line in a movie called “Crocodile Dundee”. (We were probably full of sugar and a bit silly when we wrote this bit.)

  Kalkadoon: Indigenous Australians who descend from the Mt Isa region of north Queensland. (Great footballers, too.)

  Kiwi: Refers to a person born in New Zealand. Also a flightless bird. Also a fruit.

  kumara: This is a popular New Zealand vegetable, similar to a sweet potato. (Warning: do not feed it to your pet.)

  Maori: Indigenous people of New Zealand.

  mob: Indigenous Australians that come from a specific part of the country or language group.

  Mt Isa Miners: Mt Isa’s Representative Rugby League Team. Made famous by Bullet Walker (according to his nephew).

  Murri: Indigenous Australians who traditionally come from Queensland.


  pectoral muscles: The main muscles in your chest. Scott Prince has teeny-weeny pectorials. (To the editor: only gammin’ but can you keep this in. Dave)

  yellowbelly: Native freshwater fish to Australia. Also known as the Golden Perch.

  The authors, Dave Hartley (left) and Scott Prince (right)

  Scott Prince

  Scott Prince lives on the Gold Coast with his wife and two daughters and plays for the Brisbane Broncos. Previously captain of the Gold Coast Titans, Scott has represented Australia at an international level and has been part of the Queensland State of Origin side. A Kalkadoon person from Mt Isa, Scott is now an Indigenous ambassador for the ‘Learn, Earn, Legend!’ initiative.

  Dave Hartley

  Dave Hartley is a deputy principal in the city of Logan, south of Brisbane. He lives on the Gold Coast with his wife and two daughters. Employed by Education Queensland for more than a decade, he was awarded “Gold Coast Teacher of the Year” in 2009. Dave’s people are Barunggam, the traditional people of the Darling Downs/Chinchilla region.

  About black&write!

  Launched in 2010, the black&write! project is committed to the development of Indigenous editors and fostering Indigenous writing talent. Based at the State Library of Queensland, the project includes an annual writing competition, training of editors and provides workshops and mentoring for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers. In addition, the project provides training for OnScreen editors based regionally, who work online from their communities. This aspect of the project is made possible through funding from the Literature Board of the Australia Council for the Arts.

  The black&write! Indigenous Writing Fellowship competition is open nationally to both published and new Indigenous authors of fiction including children’s books, short stories and poetry. Two fellowships are awarded each year and the winning authors work with the black&write! editors to develop their manuscripts for publication by Magabala Books. The partnership between the State Library of Queensland and Magabala is central to black&write! and supports the project’s aims of providing long term professional development for writers and editors, and bringing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stories to readers worldwide.

  For further information on the black&write! project please visit the State Library of Queensland website.

  “The competition gave me wings. I would have been too intimidated to push it through other avenues to get published.” Sue McPherson, author of Grace Beside Me, and inaugural winner of the black&write! competition.