Specky Magee and the Season of Champions

by Felice Arena

  ‘Not bad,’ Specky replied. ‘Maybe it will bring us luck!’

  For the next half hour, the bus made its way through the city and onto a highway. Inside the bus, there was total silence. Specky and his team-mates had their heads buried in their reports, absorbing the detailed information on the team they were about to play against. Mr Stout turned to Coach Pate.

  ‘I wish I could get them to be this quiet in my class,’ he said, in a loud whisper.

  Flipping through the pages, Specky could see that his likely opponent was a full-back by the name of Craig Hart, who answered to the nickname ‘Whispers’. Coach Pate described him as ‘tall and very skinny, with outstanding athletic ability’.

  Forty-five minutes later, Coach Pate once again called for everyone’s attention.

  ‘I hope you’ve all had a good read of your reports. I have one more thing for you to look at before we arrive. Our own Gus Turner, the statistical wizard of Booyong High, has spent many hours with the Year Eight Media class in the past week, putting together a video package of our last few games. It might be just the extra motivation we need.’

  And, with that, the lights were dimmed in the bus and Coach Pate slipped a cassette into the TV/video positioned just behind the driver. For the next few minutes, Specky and his mates were spellbound, as highlights of the best football they had played were shown – set to a song called ‘Eye of the Tiger’ from the old Rocky movies. The boys erupted into cheers, and excitedly shouted out the name of each player as they appeared on the screen. The footage ended with a freeze frame of one of Specky’s most spectacular marks, perched high on the shoulders of two players. Emblazoned across the bottom of the screen, it read ‘Good luck from everyone at Booyong High!’.

  Once again, the bus filled with an almighty roar. Specky had never felt so pumped for a game.

  The bus pulled into the gates of Gosmore Grammar. The driveway up to the school, which looked about half a kilometre long, was lined on both sides with students from the prestigious school, cheering wildly. Decked out in the official Gosmore Grammar colours of blue, yellow and white, some of them screamed and pulled faces at the bus as the Booyong High Lions drove by. But Specky and his team barely noticed their taunts – they were too distracted by the grandeur of the grounds. They looked in awe at the perfect, lush green sports fields, a massive sports stadium that easily could have been part of the Rod Laver Arena complex and a sign that read ‘Indoor Pool This Way’.

  ‘Whoa! Check it out!’ yelled Robbo. ‘They have an athletics track, an archery range, a bicycle velodrome and, what, no way! I don’t believe it – an equestrian centre!’

  ‘Are you sure we haven’t pulled into the Australian Institute of Sport by mistake?’ asked Gobba, as they all looked around at the incredible facilities.

  When the bus came to a halt in front of the grand entrance of a century-old sandstone building, Specky and his friends charged for the door. They were certainly looking forward to the game, but, right then, it had as much to do with the litre of water they had all drunk on the trip as anything else. They literally sprinted in search of the nearest toilet.

  It wasn’t long before they were all on the field, ready to go into battle against the famous Gosmore Grammar Knights.

  12. knights versus lions

  When the Lions jogged onto the field, they were greeted by an eerie silence from the many Gosmore students perched on a hill on the outer side of the ground.

  Specky and his team walked around the oval, huddled tightly together, looking like lost sheep waiting to be fed to the wolves. They tried to rev each other up – trying not to become too overwhelmed by the larger-than-life surroundings.

  Suddenly, from a tunnel at the far end of the ground, a knight in shining armour emerged riding a magnificent black stallion. The horse came charging down the wing, with the knight waving the Gosmore Grammar school flag. The Grammar fans erupted as their one-hundred-piece band stood as one and played the school song, with trumpets blaring. A huge banner was raised, it was at least as big as the ones the AFL players run through before each game. It featured a knight on the front, standing proudly with one foot on a very sad and badly beaten lion lying on the ground.

  ‘Are we playing a game of footy or are we in a movie?’ asked Robbo, as their opposition ran onto the field.

  ‘Yeah, well, just think how silly they’ll look when we beat them,’ said Specky, trying to sound more confident than he felt.

  The players ran to their positions, with Specky heading to the goal square. He was pleased that Coach Pate had decided to put him up forward for today’s game instead of Screamer – who had kept to himself throughout the bus trip and lead up to the match. As Specky took his place at full-forward, he couldn’t help noticing that the Gosmore cheer squad had set up directly behind the big sticks.

  ‘Oh, great,’ he muttered to himself. ‘I should’ve brought my earplugs along.’

  Seconds later, a tall, skinny and very pale boy came and stood alongside Specky. Going by Coach Pate’s report, Specky guessed it was probably the kid they called ‘Whispers’, and, for a moment, he wondered why he had been given such an unusual nickname.

  ‘Too bad you’re not going to see the ball, loser!’ shouted someone from the cheer squad.

  Specky turned to see that some of the Gosmore fans were getting stuck into him.

  ‘Block it out and just concentrate on the first contest,’ he said to himself.

  Specky had been to plenty of AFL games, and he knew that the crowd always tried to ‘suck in’ the opposition players. He realised he had to ignore them. There was nothing to be gained by letting them get under his skin. Danny, however, couldn’t help himself. ‘Did your butler or your chauffeur tell you to say that?’ he shouted, as he stood next to Specky in the forward pocket. All that did was stir the crowd up even more, and the heckling became even more intense. Specky wandered over to Robbo, patted him on the back, and encouraged him to keep his mind on the game. Thankfully, the ball was bounced and all eyes turned to the action.

  Gosmore were a very well-oiled team. They moved the ball quickly and their skills were excellent. They kicked the first two goals of the game before the ball even came near Booyong’s forward line. Eventually, Smashing Sols burst through the middle of the ground and booted the ball long to the top of the goal square.

  Specky started to lead, but Whispers blocked his run at the ball. Specky quickly doubled back, and, with the ball sailing toward him, he launched himself above the pack of players – momentarily hanging midair before planting his right knee on the shoulder of the Gosmore ruckman. The cheer squad, who, up until now, were in a frenzy, suddenly went dead quiet. Specky started to lose balance and tumbled sideways. But, just as it looked as though he was going to give away a free kick, he thrust out his left hand and the ball stuck to his fingers like they were coated in superglue. He fell to the ground with the footy safely tucked under his arm. Specky walked back and calmly kicked the Lions’ first goal of the game.

  It was just what the Lions needed. They were looking for a sign that they could compete with the mighty Gosmore, and Specky had, once again, given them the confidence to know they could do it.

  The next three quarters saw some of the best football any two school teams could have played. The Lions and the Knights went goal for goal, and, with four minutes to play, Booyong were trailing by just three points. Specky and his opponent, Whispers, were having a titanic battle. Specky had kicked five goals and was in his best form of the season; had he been playing on most other opponents he might have kicked ten. Specky knew that Whispers was a star player. He was able to jump with him, and spoiled a few marks that no other opponent he had played on would have got near. There were occasions when Specky thought that he was a certainty to mark the football. But, at the last moment, a fist would appear from nowhere, and the ball would be punched away.

  ‘No wonder they call him “Whispers”,’ Specky said to the Bombay Bullet at half-time. ‘He appears ou
t of nowhere, and you never even hear him coming.’

  During the second half, Specky was so caught up in the game that he forgot all about the sports coordinator from Gosmore Grammar – that is, until he looked up and caught him sitting among the rows of spectators, eyeing him like a hawk.

  ‘Kick it long!’ yelled Coach Pate, urging Robbo to boot the ball into attack. Time was running out. Robbo looked into the Lions’ forward line, but there were Knights players everywhere. The only space was in the forward pocket. Specky burst away from Whispers on a very fast lead. Robbo fired in a low drop-punt. Specky dived and marked the ball centimetres inside the boundary line. He jumped up quickly, looking to pass the ball back into the middle of the ground where it would be an easier shot at goal. Suddenly, Specky felt a burning sting shoot across his knee. He hobbled back to take his kick, but the pain was getting worse.

  ‘Are you okay, Speck?’ asked Danny, seeing his limp and the look on his face.

  ‘Yeah, should we get Coach Pate? Should we get someone else to take the kick?’ added Einstein.

  Mr Ellis came running out and ‘time on’ was blown as he inspected Specky’s leg. ‘What do you think, Simon? Do you need to come off? It’s pretty swollen. Coach Pate doesn’t want you to hurt yourself.’

  ‘Um, tell her it’s okay – really! It looks worse than it is,’ bluffed Specky. ‘I’ll take the kick.’

  By this time the whole Gosmore team was in the Lions’ forward line. Specky recognised these tactics as ‘the flood’, which AFL coaches often used late in a close game. He knew he was going to have to take a shot. The angle was too tight for a drop-punt, so he decided to try a banana kick. It was a very difficult kick to perfect, and, if you didn’t do everything right, you could look like a real idiot. But he had no choice. For a right-foot banana kick, he held the ball on an angle, as if he was going to kick a left-foot torpedo. The idea was to make contact on the end of the football, and have the ball spin, on an angle, end over end.

  Specky took the kick and, for a split second, it looked as if he had got it all wrong as the ball sailed across the face of goal. But, amazingly, a gust of wind had caught the ball, causing it to curl its way back and through the middle of the goalposts. The Lions camp went berserk. They were now three points ahead, with a couple of minutes to go. In all of the excitement, hardly anyone noticed Specky hobbling off toward the interchange bench. The pain around his knees was so bad that he couldn’t fake it anymore. When his team-mates realised what was going on, their looks of excitement turned to concern. Not just because they were minus one of their star players, but because they all knew that Specky must truly be in agony to take himself off the ground.

  Coach Pate ordered Screamer to move up forward, and Gobba to fill his position. Gobba sprinted onto the field as Mr Ellis applied an icepack to Specky’s knee.

  The Lions won the ball out of the middle and kicked it forward. Screamer ran to the outer flank to try and take Whispers away from the ball, but the Gosmore full-back didn’t follow him. He stayed where he was and took an uncontested mark. In a flash, Whispers took off down the field, bouncing the ball four times before handballing it over the head of Smashing Sols, only to receive it back again. Sitting on the boundary line, Specky winced, not only from his excruciating leg ache, but from the sight of Whispers running all the way to the fifty metre line and, unbelievably, letting go a booming torpedo punt. The Lions watched, stunned, as the ball soared through the goalposts, just as the siren sounded around the ground. The Knights had won by a whisker – or, as Specky mumbled to himself, they had won by a whisper.

  The whole school erupted. The band was playing, the knight on the black stallion was charging around the oval and the Gosmore players were jumping all over each other. While everything was going crazy, the Lions trudged back toward the change rooms. As Specky limped off with a large icepack strapped to his leg, he passed Coach Pate talking with the Gosmore Grammar Coach, Mr Farrell. All the boys knew he was one of the most respected and successful junior coaches in the country.

  ‘That was one of the gutsiest performances I’ve seen at this ground for a long time,’ he was saying to Coach Pate. ‘You should be proud of your side. We’re three times your size, so of course we have an advantage, but you matched us in every area.’ Coach Pate smiled and shook hands with Mr Farrell, then called Specky over, introducing him to the Gosmore coach.

  ‘G’day Simon. We’ve heard a lot about you here,’ said Mr Farrell. ‘I have to say we did a lot of pre-game planning trying to stop you having a big influence on the game. But we weren’t successful, that’s for sure. Your opponent, Craig Hart, is our best defender in the private schools competition and has never had more than four goals kicked on him in a game up until today. Your six goal effort was outstanding. Well done!’

  Specky shook his hand, thrilled with the compliment. ‘Thank you, Coach,’ he said, feeling a bit awed. ‘He was a really tough opponent.’

  ‘I just hope that knee’s all right,’ said Coach Pate, looking at Specky’s leg.

  ‘Well, we’ve got a great medical set up at the school, I can get them to have a look at you if you want,’ offered Mr Farrell.

  ‘Um, nah, it’s fine, thanks anyway,’ replied Specky nervously, hoping Coach Pate wouldn’t say anything about his knee problems. Thankfully she didn’t and with that, Specky made his way, as quickly as he could, to the change rooms, feeling relieved. He couldn’t run the risk of anyone else finding out about his injury.

  Coach Pate made a terrific speech after the game, praising the team’s commitment against a bigger, stronger opponent. While they were now out of the Diadora Cup, she reassured them that they should all feel very pleased with their efforts. As a reward, the school was shouting the boys McDonalds for the long drive back. That cheered everyone up, but not as much as the sight that greeted them as they drove out of the gates. Running free on the front oval was the big black horse, but the silver knight was not in the saddle. In its place was a big, stuffed Lion. There were fifteen Gosmore Grammar kids chasing after the horse, trying, unsuccessfully, to catch him. Everyone exploded into laughter. Specky looked around the bus, and caught the eye of a very sheepish-looking Danny Castelino, who just smiled, and took another bite of his Big Mac.

  13. reunion

  After such an unforgettable day, Specky stumbled off the school bus, said goodbye to his mates, and hobbled all the way home, looking like a wounded soldier returning from battle.

  As he walked up to the front door of his house, he took a deep breath, stood up straight, and prepared to give a Logie-Award-winning performance.

  Luckily, no one was home and he didn’t have to use his acting skills. Specky took that as a stroke of good fortune and used the opportunity to clean himself up and put his footy gear back in his wardrobe as neatly as possible, so his mum wouldn’t suspect anything. He spent ten minutes scrubbing the dirt and grass stains off his beloved number-five guernsey with a clean shoe brush.

  ‘Simon! Sorry I’m late, love. I got caught at the shops, and then in traffic.’ Specky’s mum’s voice echoed from downstairs. ‘I hope you’re dressed and ready. Your dad should be home soon.’

  ‘Ready? Ready for what?’ asked Specky, from the stairs.

  ‘I don’t believe it! I think not playing football for a while has frazzled your brain.’

  Specky was still not sure what his mother was going on about.

  ‘Your Great Footy Contest dinner! It’s on in about an hour,’ she added.

  Specky cursed as he ran downstairs and joined his mother in the kitchen. He had been so caught up worrying about Tiger Girl and the battle against Gosmore Grammar that he had forgotten.

  ‘Hey, Mum! Can I go with Dieter to the movies? His dad will take us,’ asked Alice, barging in with the Great McCarthy a few steps behind.

  Specky’s mum was hastily trying to unpack the groceries into the fridge. The Great McCarthy greeted Specky with a friendly punch on the shoulder.

  ‘Yes, I suppose
so. But only if it’s okay with Dieter’s dad.’

  Before Mrs Magee had finished her sentence, Alice was already halfway up the stairs, rushing to get her jacket. Suddenly, something dawned on Specky; it was like a light bulb being switched on.

  ‘Hey, can I talk to you?’ he asked, pulling the Great McCarthy into the hallway.

  Specky started whispering to Dieter – only to be cut short by Alice.

  ‘What are you telling him?’ she said defensively, running back down the stairs.

  ‘Nothing,’ answered Specky and the Great McCarthy simultaneously, both looking very suspicious.

  Alice dragged Dieter out the front door, brushing past Specky’s dad, who was on his way in. ‘Aren’t you ready?’ Mr Magee asked Specky, surprised to see him standing there in his tracksuit pants and rugby top.

  Specky panicked.

  ‘Yeah, I’m getting ready now,’ he said, darting back up to his room.

  An hour later, Specky and his father were making their way up some steep escalators to a giant dining hall on the first floor of the Hyatt Hotel. There they were escorted by waiters to one of ten round tables, where they joined the other contest winners who had gathered for the special event. Specky nervously scanned the room for Christina. She hadn’t arrived yet.

  ‘Hey, Specky, man!’

  Specky turned to see his partner from the contest, Johnny Cockatoo, and his dad, Cedric.

  They approached the table.

  Specky pulled up a chair for Johnny next to him, while Mr Magee and Cedric headed to the bar to get a drink, talking non-stop.

  ‘So, when did ya get in?’ Specky asked, keen to have a good catch-up with his Aboriginal mate from the Northern Territory.

  ‘We flew in this afternoon. Should see the room they’ve put us up in – it’s huge!’ Johnny replied. ‘So where do you reckon they’re gonna send us? Ireland or America?’