Red vs Blue

by James Tedesco

  ‘Mum said it’s okay for me to play an extra sport. Rugby league it is!’ Alex smiles. ‘I guess I won’t need these.’ He laughs, sliding the shin protectors out from his socks.

  A wave of energy comes over the team as they see Alex in the doorway, shining like an Italian soccer god. Luke, Ben and Gerard get off their seats and wrap their arms around him.

  ‘He’s a Ram!’ says Ben.

  ‘A blue Ram, not a red one!’ Luke laughs. I throw Alex a spare jersey.

  ‘What position do want me in?’ he asks.

  ‘It doesn’t matter,’ I say. ‘Let’s just have some fun.’

  Listen to your body

  It’s important to always rest and recover after a game. If you don’t get enough rest, then you won’t get the best out of your body.

  CHAPTER 19

  ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER

  We’re getting ready to kick off to Camden Red. I can sense the shift in our team’s mood.Everyone feels a bit more upbeat since Alex arrived.

  ‘You heard the coach, actions speak louder than words!’ I say.

  They all nod.

  ‘Play your part!’ I shout, before running forward and kicking the ball downfield.

  Camden Blue runs a solid line of defence and I can hear our players talking, telling each other who they are marking or when they need to slide across to cover the attackers.

  ‘Get ready, Lewis!’ I say. ‘You’ve got this runner – be the pendulum!’ Mohamed, who plays second row for Camden Red, grips the ball and runs like a bull at a matador, except our matador is a 92-kilogram Samoan giant. It’s clear Mohamed thinks that Lewis will be a pushover, but he’s soon to discover that he’s making a big mistake.

  BANG!

  Lewis knocks Mohamed off his feet and crash-tackles him into the dew-capped grass. Mohamed loses the ball on impact, and just like Camden Red’s first try, Michael plucks the ball off the ground and goes into 100-metre sprint mode.

  ‘Go yourself!’ I yell behind him. ‘You’ve got this!’

  Michael is outrunning their fullback and flecks of soil and turf flick up from his Stealth Studs as he crosses the tryline to score under the posts. Everyone down the far end of the field mobs Lewis and congratulates him on such a powerful tackle. Michael’s lungs are screaming for oxygen after his length-of-the-field try. His hands are on his knees as he gasps for air.

  ‘Michael!’ yells Dad. ‘Come and have a breather!’ Michael runs across to the sideline where Alex is eagerly awaiting his Camden Blue debut. ‘Alex, go and make some magic!’ says Dad.

  Knowing that time isn’t on our side, I push to take the conversion as quickly as I can. Shawn and his mates start heckling again, trying to put me off like last game. What they don’t know is that my practice with Matt means I am ready to block them out this time. I kick the two points and look up at Matt in the grandstand, who is giving me the thumbs up. Six points to 22, with 18 minutes to go.

  Our next try is the result of some razzle-dazzle footwork from our newest recruit, Alex. He spins and turns, dodges and steps – no one can lay their hands on him.

  When he’s finally caught around the legs, he offloads a quick ball to Patty, who passes to Connor who gets it to me. I run as fast as I can to the left corner of the field, their outside backs in hot pursuit. From the corner of my eye I see Mikayla in support.

  If I don’t pass it soon, they’ll take me down and we’ll lose momentum.

  I take a chance and throw a long ball to Mikayla, and it lands right on her chest. She continues towards the left-hand corner. Their fullback runs across to take her down, but he overruns and she steps inside him. He tries to correct himself, but slides over awkwardly on the slippery grass. Unmarked, Mikayla loops around to score another try for Camden Blue under the posts, just like Michael did. My legs are screaming for a rest after the last play. I hand the conversion over to Gerard, who is successful. With 15 minutes to go, the score is 12–22.

  Incredibly, that’s only the beginning. The next two tries come about from the hard work of our forward pack. Amiri and Patty make some easy metres until Ben at hooker tells Lewis to get ready for the last run before the ball is given to the backs. Lewis takes his position and I can tell he’s visualising the pendulum again.

  He catches the ball that Luke pops up and moves forward like a steamroller, flattening anyone in his path. As soon as a tackler ricochets off him, they get back up and try tackling him again, only to bounce off once more.

  ‘Go, Lewis!’ screams Dad from the sideline, jumping up and down. I notice he’s holding on to another phone. Weird. Lewis has at least five players holding on to him now, but he keeps moving forward, not taking a backward step. He’s moved 30 metres like this and is only 20 metres out from the tryline. In what seems an eternity for Camden Red, Lewis finally stumbles to the ground. Tawera takes advantage of a beautiful cut-out pass from Ben and scoots over to score in the corner. While Lewis is being congratulated by our team, Shawn is losing his cool with Camden Red.

  ‘Idiots!’ he screams at them.‘ Just tackle him! He’s not even any good!’

  Gerard wants another go at the conversion.

  He lines it up and . . . misses! The score is 16 points to 22. Camden Red is still in the lead.

  As Camden Red kick off to us again, Luke is momentarily distracted by something on the sideline. I spot Breeanna sitting on the bench next to Dad. Beside her is Rocco, who’s lying at her feet and munching happily on the grass. She waves at Luke and he smiles.

  ‘Luke! The ball!’ I scream. Just in time, Luke looks up and catches the ball before it hits him in the face. He stands there and looks back at Breeanna.

  ‘Luke! Now run!’ I say.

  Luke takes it up quickly and is tackled on halfway. Ben gets it to Connor, Connor to Alex. Again, Alex’s speedy footwork leaves the defence bamboozled. Without even being touched, he runs to the right corner and dives over the line. The crowd goes up.

  Even Rocco lets out a

  ‘MAAAAAA.’

  ‘Ladies and gentlemen, this is going to be a close one,’ booms the ground announcer into the microphone. ‘Camden Red continue to lead Camden Blue, 22 points to 20. Five minutes until fulltime!’ Coach Sharpe is on the sideline, screaming out instructions to his team. He’s not happy that we’ve scored again. This time I take the conversion. It’s a pressure kick and if I get this, we’ll level the score at 22 points all. I place the ball on the kicking tee, step forward, look at the posts and then step back. I step forward again and kick . . .

  AND I MISS!

  I could beat myself up like last time, but I know it won’t help. Instead, I visualise what I need to do next, which is lead our team to victory. Camden Red jump and high-five each other. They’re still in the lead.

  The next few minutes are an arm wrestle. The momentum has shifted in our direction and we are letting our actions speak louder than our words. Camden Red complete a full set of six and we run the ball back, desperately trying to score again before fulltime. Two minutes to go. We’re 30 metres out. The ball goes across the field to Alex, who tries to penetrate their line, but he can’t. It comes back the other way, from Ben to Gerard, Gerard to Connor. Then Connor is tackled right in front of the posts. I hear him yelling. ‘My foot! Where is my foot?’ Connor’s prosthetic foot has fallen off in the tackle and he can’t stand up. Shawn sees it lying on the ground and picks it up and flicks it over the dead ball line when he thinks the referee isn’t watching.

  PFFFFT!

  The referee blows his whistle. ‘Unsportsmanlike conduct,’ he says to Shawn. Ten minutes in the bin! Shawn is blowing up and so is his team. Not only has he given us a penalty right in front of the goalposts, Camden Red are now down to 12 players. Gerard runs over.

  ‘Take the two points or go for the try?’ he says. Two points will take us to a draw, but that’s not why we came here tonight.

  ‘Let’s go all out!’ I say. ‘We’re going for the try, Camden Blue!’ I shout.

  Connor h
as been given his foot back and he takes the tap 20 metres out. I don’t need my Spidey senses and game of join-the-dots tonight. I can already see who our match-winning try scorer will be. Connor passes to Ben, who passes to Gerard, who then passes to me. I play with their centre, stepping him, moving forward, stepping back, slowly inching my way to Mikayla’s wing. Once there’s an overlap from a shortage of defenders, I pass the ball to Mikayla and she spots the opening. The rest is history. Mikayla places the ball over the line and the crowd erupts. Camden Blue comes from behind to take the lead, 24 points to 22 with the kick to come. Thirty seconds remain until fulltime –

  I line up the ball. Even though we’ve won the game, I still want to kick this. It’s a tough kick but I’ve kicked plenty of these before. This time there’re no distractions coming from Camden Red, but there’s a voice in the crowd I recognise.

  ‘BUTT RASH!’ he shouts. I kick the ball and it curves in slightly, moving perfectly between the posts. I look up at the grandstand and give Matt a smile. Camden Blue defeat Camden Red 26 points to 22.

  ‘Dad?’ I say from the back seat. Mum is fiddling with the car radio, trying to find a song she likes.

  ‘Yes, mate?’ he says, his fingers tapping away on the steering wheel to the music Mum has just found.

  ‘Which phone did you throw in the water?’ I point at his mobile phone which is sitting in the phone holder on the dash.

  ‘Not that one,’ he says, smiling.

  ‘Which phone was it?’ I ask.

  ‘My old work phone,’ he says. ‘It was already broken. I accidentally ran over it with the car two years ago.’ Matt takes his earphones out and starts laughing.

  ‘Best trick ever,’ he says.

  ‘Did you know Dad was going to do that?’ I asked him.

  ‘Yep. Didn’t know about the zombie stuff though.’ He sticks his earphones back in.

  ‘Well, you were playing Camden Red. I had to try every trick in the book!’ Dad says, glancing at me over his shoulder before returning his gaze to the road. ‘Because it’s true, actions speak louder than words.’

  Mum looks at Dad proudly. ‘He’s full of surprises, your dad,’ she says with a smile.

  ‘He sure is,’ I reply.

  Be patient!

  Good things take time. Stay committed and focused, and don’t give up. Always give whatever you choose to do 110 per cent.

  CHAPTER 20

  SAY HELLO TO MY LITTLE FRIEND

  If we can beat Camden Red, we can do anything, on the field and off.

  After our win, Lewis and I muster the confidence to go and retrieve Miss Warren’s 3D printer from Damir. We decide to try the mall first, hoping he hasn’t taken it home yet. As we’re walking there on Saturday morning, we spot Damir and his trolley boys in their high-vis vests going down a back alley. In a lucky break for us, they actually have the 3D printer with them. It’s loaded inside a shopping trolley.

  ‘Hey!’ I yell. ‘That’s ours!’ Damir and the others spin around to face us.

  ‘Well, look who it is – the mad scientist and his little chihuahua!’ Damir’s mates laugh at his dumb joke. ‘You’re too late. We’re going to hock this at Cash Converters.’

  ‘No way,’ says Lewis. ‘You stole that from us.’ Lewis is nervous but not as much as last time.

  Damir holds on to the handle of the shopping trolley and shoves it towards us to see if we flinch. Unfortunately, we do. They all laugh again.

  ‘Listen, just give us the printer and we won’t talk to you ever again,’ I say as calmly as I can.

  Damir is losing his cool. This time he steps from behind the trolley and raises his fist, ready to punch me again. Then we hear a voice coming from the dark of the alley, behind Damir and the others.

  ‘I wouldn’t do that if I were you,’ they say. ‘Who – who’s that?’ asks Damir, trying to see into the shadows.

  Luke steps out from behind a wheelie bin. ‘Ha!’ Damir laughs. ‘It’s only the little jerk who stole my girlfriend!’

  Damir gets ready to punch Luke as well.

  ‘It’s not me you need to worry about,’ says Luke.

  Damir suddenly looks uncertain. ‘Who else is in there with you?’ he sneers, peering into the shadows again.

  ‘Say hello to my little friend!’ says Luke.

  Rocco springs from behind the wheelie bin on a dog leash like a Rottweiler. Luke releases him from the lead and Rocco charges straight at Damir.

  ‘MAAAA,’ bleats Rocco, running full pelt at Damir. He’s dipping his head low and showing his impressive horns as his hooves clip-clop on the concrete pavement at speed.

  ‘RUN!’ screams Damir. He and his mates run like lightning back down the alleyway with Rocco in hot pursuit. Lewis, Luke and I are crying with laughter at the sight of Breeanna’s billygoat chasing down the so-called tough trolley boys.

  I take the trolley with the 3D printer and wheel it slowly back towards the mall. Lewis walks with me and Luke sits on the front, getting a free ride. ‘You know what this calls for?’ asks Luke.

  ‘No idea,’ says Lewis.

  ‘A celebration?’ I say.

  ‘You got it, Teddy!’ Luke laughs.

  ‘Milkshakes?’ I ask.

  ‘No, even better than milkshakes,’ says Luke. ‘Want to know what’s better than milkshakes?’ he adds.

  ‘What?’ asks Lewis.

  ‘Cheese,’ Luke replies. ‘Let’s go get

  Lean into things

  Life goes on. Don’t hold on to things that you can’t control. Learn the lesson and move on.

  THE END

  James Tedesco is a hugely popular NRL superstar who loves to help and motivate kids whenever and however he can.

  James was born in the northern Sydney suburb of Ryde, New South Wales, and raised on a 100-hectare property in Menangle in Sydney’s south-west, complete with its own football field with goalposts. He began playing rugby league when he was six and always dreamt of playing NRL.

  Red vs Blue is his second book about 12-year-old Teddy. Like Hat-Trick Teddy, it is based on James’s own footy-playing childhood, and it encourages kids to follow their dreams, regardless of the obstacles in their way.

  Pan Macmillan acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today. We honour more than sixty thousand years of storytelling, art and culture.

  First published 2021 in Pan Australia by Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Limited

  1 Market Street, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 2000

  Copyright © James Tedesco 2021

  The moral right of the author to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted.

  All rights reserved. This publication (or any part of it) may not be reproduced or transmitted, copied, stored, distributed or otherwise made available by any person or entity (including Google, Amazon or similar organisations), in any form (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical) or by any means (photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise) without prior written permission from the publisher.

  This ebook may not include illustrations and/or photographs that may have been in the print edition.

  Cataloguing-in-Publication entry is available

  from the National Library of Australia

  http://catalogue.nla.gov.au

  EPUB format: 9781760987114

  Illustrations copyright © Heath McKenzie 2021

  Typeset by Billy Blue Creative

  Cover design by Billy Blue Creative

  Cover images: Heath McKenzie

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