by Israel Folau
After a cool-down, sandwiches and then another warm-up, the boys positioned themselves on the two sides of the field for the second practice match. This time Daniel and Sione were on the same team.
‘If the ball is kicked to you,’ Daniel said in Sione’s direction, ‘either catch it or get out of the way so someone else can.’
Sione hung his head and walked over to his side of the field.
There was no pep talk this time. Daniel was sure everyone knew to follow his lead. But before kicking off, he saw Izzy talking to Sione quietly. Daniel grimaced and looked away. I should be the one getting the attention, he thought. Can’t Izzy see all the good things I’m doing?
The game began and the teams were clearly more evenly matched this time. There was no score in the first half, just lots of bumps and bruises as players struggled to gain some kind of advantage. At one point the ball was stuck in a small zone of Daniel’s half for what seemed like forever. In an attempt to break the deadlock after his teammates had regained possession of the ball from a furious rucking contest, Daniel screamed for it and promptly kicked the ball high and down field – about forty metres towards his scoring end – and out of bounds. Even Izzy cheered him after that.
The ball came back into play, was passed down the back line, and when Sione actually managed to receive a pass, it looked certain the team would score. Sione broke expertly through two defenders and was clear, but instead of heading straight for the tryline, he cut back inside towards the goalposts. There, he found Jake waiting for him.
Sione went down and the scoring opportunity disappeared. He placed the ball behind him in the tackle and Daniel picked it up, passing it to Adam, who passed it on to TJ. It was he, with the defence in disarray, who scored in the corner on the other side of the pitch.
‘Look, see that?’ Daniel shouted at Sione in frustration. ‘Next time, just go for the line. Sometimes there’s no room to be fancy.’
Sione clenched his teeth and stared at Daniel. ‘I was trying to help the team, okay? You aren’t the coach! Just leave me alone!’
The other players were stunned speechless. It was the most they’d heard Sione say, and certainly the loudest his voice had ever been these past three days.
Izzy ran over, a concerned look on his face. ‘Hey, guys, calm down! What’s up?’
‘He keeps picking on me,’ Sione said, hating the whine in his voice.
‘No, I don’t. I’m just trying to help,’ Daniel shot back, shaking his head.
‘I’m sure you are just trying to help,’ Izzy said gently, ‘but remember that Sione is trying his best. He wants to play well.’
Daniel knew Izzy was right, but it didn’t stop him from feeling frustrated. He wanted Sione to focus and to play like a rep. He had only been trying to wake him up.
‘Sorry,’ Sione said softly. ‘I’m just stressed out about not playing well.’
‘I’m sorry too,’ Daniel said grudgingly. ‘I need to say things nicer, I guess.’
The ball was thrown from somewhere and bounced at Daniel’s feet. He took it and set up his conversion kick, glad to get out of the awkward conversation. It was a tough kick from all the way out near touch. It got enough height but didn’t move in the air nearly as much as it needed to, sailing well clear of the nearest post.
Daniel kicked his tee in disgust. Arguing with Sione must have put him off. He stared at him in frustration. He wasn’t sorry at all. Why was Sione even on this team?
The second half was as tight as the first, but both teams managed tries. The tie was broken in the eighteenth minute by Sione, who scored a lucky try under the posts. Daniel didn’t watch, but he did kick the conversion so hard it got stuck high in a tree.
‘All right, let’s end the game there,’ Izzy said. ‘You all deserve an early mark. Hit the showers and then we’ll have lunch. We’ll discuss these games as a group after that.’
While most of the boys were revelling in the experience, Daniel felt nothing but anger and frustration.
‘Daniel, Sione,’ Izzy called out before they could leave. Both boys trudged over to him, dreading what was to come. ‘There’s no need to look so down, guys – you both played great, and I’m glad you’re on the Valley team. I think this is going to be a terrific tour.’
‘But?’ Daniel said.
Izzy smiled. ‘There are no buts. I’ve changed sports a few times, and every time I did there were people who weren’t happy. Without meaning to, I upset fans, the media and, worst of all, my teammates. Each time I had to walk into a change room filled with people I didn’t know to play a game I wasn’t too sure about. I found it hard to be happy and relaxed sometimes, but I did my best to make it work. I trained, I was nice to people, I was a good teammate. You know why?’
‘Why?’ Daniel asked.
‘If I didn’t, I might as well have gone home. It’s the same for you guys. If you can’t chill out, have fun and be proud of your achievements, then you might as well think about going home. Though, I’m pretty sure neither of you want to do that.’
Daniel laughed at the idea. ‘No way,’ he said.
Sione exhaled loudly, and Daniel and Izzy both turned to look at him. As frustrated as Daniel had felt with Sione, he didn’t want to hear him say he’d had enough of the tour.
‘I don’t know how to get home from here, anyway,’ Sione said after a long pause, and all three of them burst into laughter.
With that, Daniel and Sione walked back to their cabin side by side, a fresh start in the air.
You might as well go home. The words echoed in Sione’s head as he showered and changed. He could hear the other boys in his room joking around. Part of him wished he was friendly enough with them to join in. The other half of him wished they’d just go away.
He got his mobile out of the bag under his bed, sneakily sliding it into a pocket in his track pants before leaving the room. He knew that if the others saw his beat-up, old pre-paid phone it would just be one more thing for Daniel to put him down about.
Sione walked back to the rugby field. It was five minutes before lunch, so he didn’t have long. Quickly, he dialled the only phone number he knew off by heart.
‘Hi, it’s me,’ he said when his aunty answered.
‘It’s Sione! Mele, Vili, come say hello! You’re okay, right?’ she said.
‘Yes,’ Sione answered. It felt kind of weird talking to her. He hadn’t been gone from home very long, but it felt like his family was in another country. He could imagine Mele hopping down the hallway towards the phone and he felt so homesick he almost cried.
‘Hi, Sione!’ his sister yelled, breathing heavily into the phone.
Sione smiled. ‘Hey.’
‘Guess what? Dad said I can get a puppy! Soon, when I’m ten.’
Sione laughed. ‘But that’s, like, six years away.’
‘It’s soon!’ his little sister insisted.
‘Sione doesn’t want to talk about puppies,’ he could hear his aunt say in the background. ‘Give the phone to your dad.’
‘Bye, Sione!’ Mele called before the slow, familiar voice of his father took over.
‘How’s it going, son? Have you played yet?’ his dad asked.
‘Yeah, just training and practice matches, though.’
‘Going good?’
‘I guess.’
‘Good boy. Make sure you have fun. We’ll be there to see you at the Championships in a couple of weeks, yeah? Terry’s coming, too.’
‘Okay.’
‘Call if you need.’
‘Yep.’
‘We’re very proud of you, Sione,’ his aunt said. ‘Just do your best and remember to have fun – you’ll never forget this experience.’
How did Aunty do that? She always seemed to know what Sione needed to hear. ‘Okay,’ he said before saying goodbye.
Sione returned the phone to his pocket and wiped his eyes. Somehow, that three-minute phone call had given him his strength back. His on-field mistakes seemed miles awa
y. He ran back to his cabin, grabbed his favourite cap and hurried off after his teammates.
That afternoon, after a final chat from Izzy about the team, it was time to pack and head to the airport. Sione couldn’t wait for the next stage of their journey. This weekend had been tough, but Sione could already see it had been worth it. Who knows? he thought. I might even become friends with some of the boys.
While the others took their time packing, Sione decided to make one last visit to the rugby field. As he passed between the last row of cabins, the kookaburras began laughing and, once again, there was a lone figure training on the pitch.
But it wasn’t Izzy this time, it was Daniel. He was practising his goal kicking in his regular clothes and football boots. Sione watched him place the ball on the tee before looking. Their eyes met, and Daniel froze. Sione didn’t know what to do. Should he leave? He certainly didn’t feel like walking a lap of the field now, but something inside told him to walk over instead.
‘You’re a good goal kicker,’ he said. They were the only words he could think of that he knew wouldn’t make Daniel angry.
‘Thanks,’ Daniel replied. ‘You’re a great runner.’
Sione was stunned. He didn’t know what he was expecting, but that definitely wasn’t it. ‘Thanks.’
They both stood there saying nothing for a long time, until Sione surprised himself by being the one who broke the silence. ‘When did you start playing rugby?’ he asked.
‘When I was six, I think,’ Daniel answered. ‘We started doing it for PE at school, and when I was a bit older I started playing on a real team.’
‘Hey, same as me!’ Sione said, perking up. ‘Dad took me to the local club when I was six. It wasn’t proper rugby – it was some kid’s version. But, yeah, been playing ever since.’
‘That was at the Tigers?’
Sione shook his head. ‘We move, like, every year. That was in a whole other town.’
‘Oh,’ Daniel said, kicking the grass. ‘It’s weird. If I didn’t go to Barton, we’d probably be playing on the same team, I reckon.’
‘Maybe.’
‘My dad loves rugby. He’s wanted me to play ever since I was born, so I would be playing somewhere, I know it.’
‘That’s like my dad, too,’ Sione said, breaking into a smile. ‘If it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t be playing.’
‘Maybe I could come watch the Tigers play one day,’ Daniel said.
‘Yeah, and I could come see you play too.’
A heavy footfall sounded behind them, and they both turned to see Izzy approaching.
‘Hey, guys,’ he said, ‘want to practise some passing before we have to go?’
‘Sure!’ the boys said in unison.
They stood in a triangle, passing the ball around, first in one direction and then the other. In the trees behind them, kookaburras called and a plane flew by overhead.
Daniel climbed onto the bus and sat beside Sione. ‘This will be easier than talking across the aisle,’ he said casually.
Sione nodded, a smile curling his lips.
Daniel looked past Sione and out the window as the bus rumbled along the drive way. The trees and buildings of the conference centre that had become so familiar so quickly were soon left behind. He was surprised to find he was sad to leave. The thing was, he realised, this weekend hadn’t just been about rugby. He’d met his new team, he’d had fun on the field for the first time in ages and he’d made new friends.
In a few hours, the team would be on their way to the Gold Coast to continue their training and play exhibition games against local teams. It would provide them with a much tougher opposition than playing intra-team games could ever produce. Plus, Daniel told himself, Izzy probably thinks going on a trip will help us to bond as a team. He remembered what Jake had said about a hundred times that morning – ‘As long as I get to go to a theme park, I’ll be happy’ – and chuckled.
Sione and Daniel talked about everything but rugby on the way to the airport. They told each other about where they lived, what their school uniforms looked like, and their families. They even discovered they had one major thing in common, but it was something neither boy wanted to talk about just yet.
When the bus pulled up at the airport, everyone cheered and clamoured to get off the bus. All except for Sione, who slunk down low in his seat.
‘What’s wrong?’ Daniel asked. ‘Don’t like flying?’
Sione shook his head. ‘I haven’t been on a plane since I was a baby.’
Daniel was slightly taken aback, but he tried to not let his surprise show. ‘Don’t worry, it’s nothing,’ he said. ‘You’ll probably get your own TV. They give you food and we’ll go up even higher than the clouds – it’s heaps of fun!’
‘Really?’ Sione said, sounding un convinced.
‘Yeah. Come on, I’ll sit next to you on the plane, too.’
‘Okay,’ Sione replied, standing up. ‘You can have the window seat this time.’
They walked out of the bus together, and Izzy smiled at them as they walked past. Then, all three said thank you and goodbye to their driver and they walked inside the terminal.
‘My uncle is an air steward,’ Daniel said. ‘He’s been all over the world millions of times. I think it would be a cool job, but Dad says I won’t have much time for a job like that with uni and playing rugby for Australia.’ Daniel could see Sione squirm at this and decided to change tack. ‘Look, here’s where we check in our bags, then we go through the security area over there and then wait at our gate to board the plane. Maybe we could go and look at the shops and stuff first. It’s easy. It’s just like a huge train station.’
And it did go easily. They were soon on the plane, waiting for lift-off.
‘It’s very noisy in here,’ Sione observed, looking around the cabin.
Daniel nodded. ‘It’s normal. You’ll get used to it – it’s the engines or the air systems or something. Try to block it out. That’s a trick we’ll have to get used to if we are going to be playing lots of games in front of huge, unfriendly crowds!’
Sione laughed and tried to settle in, exploring the in-flight entertainment options. He watched the flight crew perform the safety instructions as the plane drove around the tarmac and then … Wow!
The speed of the plane was tremendous as it shot forwards. The rumbling from the engines and wheels along the tarmac was deafening. Just when Daniel wondered how much more of the runway there could be, the plane became noticeably lighter and the vibrations coming up through the floor disappeared. They were in the air!
Daniel turned to Sione and found that he was smiling so wide that Daniel could have counted all of his teeth.
‘Wooooohooooo!’ they both cried as the plane climbed higher. This was as good as any theme-park ride!
Izzy’s familiar voice filled the air. ‘Valley! Valley! Valley!’ he chanted.
‘Oi! Oi! Oi!’ the boys yelled back.
Daniel and Sione turned to each other and grinned. This was it. It was really happening. They were representative rugby players, on their way to unknown adventures with their team.
POSITION: Wing
SCHOOL: Valley North
TEAM: The Tigers
LOVES TO: Watch Izzy Folau play on TV
Picked to play for the Valley team on the wing, Sione has many attributes that good wingers need. He is fast, fit and able to find a gap within any line of defence. At first, Sione wasn’t sure if playing on a rep team was the right fit for him, but since finding his feet with Valley, he has become more comfortable with his selection.
Soft-spoken Sione does all his ‘talking’ on the rugby field, where he strives to play with the enthusiasm and happiness of his hero, Izzy Folau. Sione plays for the Tigers in his local competition. There, he has excelled and become what many rugby fans might call a ‘try-scoring machine’, though those are words he would never use to describe himself.
POSITION: Fly-half
SCHOOL: Barton Grammar
TEAM: Barton Grammar
LOVES TO: Kick a match-winning goal
Daniel plays for Valley at the vital position of fly-half. As he directs the back line on the field, he also tries hard to lead by example off the field. Daniel’s ultimate dream is to captain Australia at the Rugby World Cup. Sometimes his dedication and desire to win get in the way of having a good time, but with Valley, he is learning to do both.
Daniel is also a terrific goal kicker who is never happier than after kicking one hundred per cent of his attempts in a match. His success comes from the extra hard work he puts in after training and on his days off. If there ever was a boy who loved his rugby, it’s Daniel. Possibly the most passionate rugby player in the world after Izzy Folau, Daniel never stops giving his all.
Name: Daniel Masters
Position: Fly-half
Plays for: Barton Grammar
Known for: His accurate goal kicking
Greatest moment: Leading his team to an undefeated season
Name: Sione ‘the Eel’ Taito
Position: Wing
Plays for: The Tigers
Known for: Weaving through defenders
Greatest moment: Being selected for the Valley rep team
Name: Theo ‘TJ’ Jones
Position: Fullback
Plays for: Grantham Boys
Known for: Catching high balls under pressure
Greatest moment: Scoring three tries in a grand final
Name: Steven Hendricks
Position: Wing
Plays for: The Bears
Known for: His courage under pressure
Greatest moment: Scoring a try in his first game
Name: Eric Le
Position: Centre
Plays for: Saxby Prep
Known for: Being selected for Valley in his first year playing rugby
Greatest moment: Scoring a hundred-metre try
Name: Joseph Rosenberg
Position: Centre
Plays for: Saxby Prep