by Felice Arena
But had he done well enough to win? Don’t expect anything and you won’t be disappointed, he told himself. So Specky was determined to keep his cool. But the truth was, there was no way he could ignore the hope he held close to his heart and the nerves he had buzzing about the rest of his body.
‘Hey, did you know Coach Pate has a boyfriend? That’s him in the kitchen,’ said Robbo, pointing him out. ‘So sorry, Speck, your girlfriend’s taken.’
Danny and Robbo chuckled and Specky grinned along with them. He didn’t mind them teasing. He realised he used to have a small crush on Coach Pate, but it was nothing compared to how he felt for Christina.
He imagined that she was probably just as excited as he was about the Great Footy Contest. Right at that very moment she was probably sitting in front of the TV with her friends. He had a sudden urge to phone her, but his thoughts were interrupted by Coach Pate, yelling above everyone’s chatter.
‘Okay, everyone, it’s about to start!’ she yelled. She was standing on a chair and finding it hard to keep her balance. ‘I know it’s a little bit of a squeeze here in my small lounge room, but if you can all sit down, we’ll all be able to see the telly. Before it begins, I just want to say, I know that so many of you entered this great contest and I wish you all the very best. But I also want you to know on behalf of the parents and myself, whatever the results, we’re all very proud of you. So give yourselves a big clap – you deserve it.’
The room broke out into applause. Someone raised the volume on the TV, and now everyone could hear the familiar opening theme of ‘Sensational Stuff’. Teddy McMahon made his entrance and was greeted by deafening cheers from the studio audience.
‘Good evening and welcome to “Sensational Stuff”,’ he announced enthusiastically. ‘What a show we have for you tonight. And as usual, we’ve seen some sensational stuff in footy this week.’
The audience cheered again.
‘And as the promos have said, all week, to cater for the kids at a reasonable hour we’ve put tonight’s show forward because in just a few moments we’re going to announce the winners of the Great Footy Contest.
Teddy introduced his sidekick Johnny Parker, the show’s comedian Kevin Jam and the guest AFL footballers on the panel for that evening, including Ron Barassi – who was now standing by his side.
‘Well, Barass, this is the moment that every footy-loving kid has been waiting for. Before you announce the winners, have you anything to add?’
‘Well, Teddy, the turnout was incredible. We had thousands of entrants, nationwide, and I have to say that the future of Aussie Rules looks more than promising, going by what we saw out there. So without further ado, here are the winners of the Great Footy Contest …’
Coach Pate turned up the volume some more, while Specky and his team-mates nudged each other in nervous anticipation – this was the moment they had all looked forward to for so long.
Ron Barassi read out each winning pair, slowly and clearly, one after the other. By the time he reached the seventh winning pair, winners had come from all over the country.
‘… and from South Australia, congratulations go to André Chang and David Sankey. And also to … Simon Magee and Johnny Cockatoo from Victoria and the Northern Territory, respectively.’
Specky shot a look at Johnny, then at his father not believing what he’d just heard.
‘Did he say us?’
Coach Pate’s lounge room suddenly erupted into cheers, whoops, and whistles. Specky was stunned and elated, as everyone rushed to congratulate him and Johnny. He couldn’t believe it.
‘We did it! We did it!’ he cried, embracing Johnny, trying to lift him off the ground.
‘Woah, Specky, man! This is unreal!’ Johnny cried back, jumping up and down on the spot, then rushing over to hug Cedric.
In the midst of all the spontaneous celebration, Danny leapt onto a chair and shouted at the top of his lungs:
‘Q U I E T! Look! Look who’s on the telly.’
Everyone suddenly stopped dancing about and turned to see a close-up of Screamer’s face, dead smack in the centre of the TV screen. He was there, live at the ‘Sensational Stuff’ studios.
‘And our final winning pair,’ Ron Barassi continued. ‘We have here in the studio with us. They’re a very special pair because one of them happens to be one of only two girls chosen in the contest. They are Derek Johnson and Christina Perry from right here in Melbourne.’
Specky felt his knees buckle.
‘What?’ he mouthed, in shock; Danny and Robbo had already said ‘No way!’ several times.
The camera zoomed in on Christina and Screamer smiling and waving to the studio audience.
‘Screamer lied to us, again!’ blurted Danny, in his not-so-subtle way. ‘He and Christina must have taken their physical test at the Telstra Dome stadium. And I bet he took the exam at Christina’s local library.’
It was the last thing Specky wanted to hear. He had already worked it out for himself.
‘So, Christina and Derek, congratulations! What does it feel like having won, and knowing that you’ll be heading on a trip of a lifetime to either Ireland or America as footy ambassadors?’ asked Teddy.
‘It feels great.’ Christina and Screamer blushed, tightly holding hands. Specky felt overwhelmed and confused, he wasn’t sure what to think. How could Christina do this to him? He had thought they were friends – perhaps more than friends.
Specky felt his legs wobbling beneath him.
‘Three cheers for Specky and Johnny,’ toasted Coach Pate, sensing the mood in the room had shifted from happy to bewildered. She quickly turned down the sound on the TV and everyone yelled, ‘Hip, hip hooray! Hip, hip hooray! Hip, hip hooray!’
Everyone broke out into applause, once again, and crowded around Specky and Johnny.
Torn between celebrating his win and the revelation of Screamer and Christina’s surprise partnership, Specky was in a complete daze. But it wasn’t long before the excitement of winning got the better of him. It seemed as though everyone was talking at once.
‘Congratulations! You and my boy, Johnny – what a team!’ beamed Cedric.
‘Can you believe Screamer? And Christina? What’s that about?’ said Danny, over the top of him.
‘Are you okay, mate?’ asked Robbo, quietly.
‘Proud of you, son,’ added Specky’s father.
‘America or Ireland – how cool!’ cheered Smashing Sols and the Bullet, in unison.
‘Did you see Screamer and that girl? They were only about six point six centimetres apart from each other,’ surmised Einstein.
‘Specky, man, this is the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me,’ smiled Johnny.
‘I know, me too,’ said Specky, smiling back at him.
Finally, it was time to leave, and Specky followed his father, Cedric and Johnny out to their car.
‘Hey, Speck!’ Danny shouted.
‘You’re forgetting one thing,’ Robbo yelled.
‘What?’ Specky hollered back.
‘Who do you barrack for? You said you were going to pick just one AFL team to follow from now on. Remember? On the day of the results …’
With all that had happened, Specky had totally forgotten about his promise to reveal all. It seemed trivial to him now, compared to winning the greatest contest ever. But thankfully, he had given it some thought. He took in a deep breath and shouted:
‘The team I’ll barrack for will be the AFL club I play for one day … hopefully!’
17. play on …
Specky tossed and turned several times before he eventually flicked his bedside light on. His alarm clock read: 12.02am. It had only been a few hours since he had returned home from the party. He struggled to fall asleep, his mind still racing with a million and one thoughts – the contest, the truth about the carved footy, missing out on the captaincy role, Danny and Robbo, Screamer and, of course, Christina. All this, and there was still more than half a footy season to go.
Specky hopped out of bed and tiptoed to the study room and switched on the computer.
‘Maybe surfing the Net will make me sleepy,’ he thought.
The glow from the computer screen dimly lit up Specky’s face, as he clicked on the dial-up icon. When the internet page appeared, Specky received an instant message. Who would be messaging me at this hour? he asked himself.
CHRISkicks: Specky? Is that u? Are u awake 2?
Specky stared at the screen as if he was in a trance.
CHRISkicks: Specky? I know u’re there. I couldn’t sleep either. Congratulations. Isn’t it great, we both won the Great Footy Contest!
CHRISkicks: Specky? Please, say something. I need 2 talk to u about Screamer.
Specky felt his chest get tighter. He sat motionless.
CHRISkicks: Specky? Please? Don’t b mad at me. Specky?
Without typing a single letter, Specky quickly leant forward, switched off the computer and went back to bed.
Specky Magee
Simon Magee plays full-forward on his school’s footy team. His friends call him ‘Specky’ because of his talent at taking SPEC-tacular marks. He’s the biggest footy fan ever, but no one else in his family is footy mad; in fact, they all hate footy …
So when he finds a photo of himself as a baby dressed in footy supporter’s gear he tries to find out why. And what he finds will question everything he thinks he knows about those closest to him.
A moving story with terrific football action, and off-the-field excitement. You don’t have to be a football fan to enjoy Specky Magee.