Pushed to the Limit Read online

  The Valley rugby team and coach Israel Folau are off to the Northern Territory. But is the team ready to tackle a new environment?

  Daniel and Sione can’t believe they’re in the Top End. On arrival, the boys realise that everything is different – the weather, the culture, the people – and no one seems to play rugby! The team is faced with the temptation to thrash their inexperienced opponents but soon discover winning that way isn’t as fun.

  Izzy urges the boys to give the newcomers a chance. Will Daniel and Sione be able to surrender the scoreboard for the love of the game?

  Contents

  Cover

  About the Book

  Title Page

  Chapter 1: Sione

  Chapter 2: Daniel

  Chapter 3: Sione

  Chapter 4: Daniel

  Chapter 5: Sione

  Chapter 6: Sione

  Chapter 7: Daniel

  Chapter 8: Daniel

  Chapter 9: Sione

  Chapter 10: Daniel

  Chapter 11: Sione

  Chapter 12: Daniel

  The Valley Team

  Izzy Folau

  Izzy’s Training Tips: Kicking

  Also in the Series

  Copyright Notice

  Thick drops of sweat rolled off Sione’s face and splashed onto the grass. He wiped his face with the back of his hand and sighed. I’m this hot and I haven’t even started running on the field yet, he thought despondently.

  His rugby team, Valley, had just finished up their tour of the Gold Coast and were now spending a few days near Darwin in the hot and humid Northern Territory.

  ‘I’m boiling,’ Daniel groaned. He was Valley’s fly-half and Sione’s closest friend on the tour.

  Adam, their hooker, nodded. ‘It’s like a sauna,’ he agreed. He placed his right leg out in front of him, stretching his hamstring and calves. Adam had hurt his ankle in Queensland and had missed all the games on the Gold Coast trip, but he was now back to his old form.

  Daniel laughed. ‘I bet you’ve never even been to a sauna,’ he teased.

  ‘Yes, I have,’ Adam protested, alternating legs.

  Jeremy Fisk was walking around, handing out bottles of water to the boys. ‘Here,’ he said, giving one each to Sione, Daniel and Adam, ‘Izzy says it’s important to stay hydrated, especially in this heat.’

  The boys gratefully gulped down the cool water, some even pouring it over their heads.

  ‘Okay, everyone,’ Jeremy said, clapping his hands to get their attention. ‘While we wait for Izzy, I’ll remind you of the itinerary for our stay here. Gather round.’

  Daniel groaned loudly.

  Sione smiled at his friend’s impatience, but he had to admit that it felt like Jeremy had already gone over their schedule a million times.

  ‘As today is our first day here, we will have a short training session, followed by time to relax back at the camp site,’ Jeremy said. ‘Tomorrow, we will run a training clinic, and then Monday through to Wednesday we have practice matches against regional teams. On Wednesday night we leave for Sydney to play in the Junior Rugby Championships.’

  While some of the boys cheered at this, Sione noticed Daniel grimacing.

  Tom and Mary Parker, the team’s chaperones, were standing at the back of the group, leaning on the picket fence that surrounded the cricket field the boys would be training on for the next five days.

  ‘I just got a text from Izzy,’ Tom added. ‘He wants us to start stretching, and he’ll join us in five minutes.’

  Where is he? Sione wondered. Izzy’s never late.

  Daniel walked to the front of the group and turned to face his team.

  ‘Let’s start with our arms,’ he said, assuming his role as the stretching leader. He held his right arm close to his chest, stretching his upper body.

  A few minutes into their exercises, the sound of boys yelling and laughing broke the silence. Sione and his teammates looked past Daniel’s shoulder to see another team running onto a nearby field. The boys were wearing blue singlets and were passing red footballs to each other. As Sione and the other Valley boys moved on to leg stretches, their new neighbours began a lap of the field. Sione was impressed at how the other team could kick their footballs without slowing, expertly weaving them between the towering goalposts at that end of the oval.

  ‘Change,’ Daniel said, not giving the other team any notice, and the Valley players switched legs.

  Sione’s eyes swept across the field. The area was dotted with trees that look ed different to those back home. They looked drier, hardier. Even the grass they were stretching on seemed peculiar. It was sparse, spindly and sunburnt. But what was more interesting to Sione was that, since they’d arrived, he hadn’t seen a set of rugby posts in any park or school until they’d set foot on this training ground. Apparently, the posts had been erected and the rugby lines painted by the council specially for the Valley visit.

  A loud, rattling ute pulled up alongside the oval. The flatbed at the back was filled with giant plastic bags of ice and a couple of garbage bins. Izzy jumped out of the driver’s seat and waved at his team. The boys ran over to the picket fence, waving back at their coach. Izzy smiled so widely Sione could see every one of his bright white teeth.

  ‘Where have you been?’ Daniel called.

  ‘Sorry I’m late, guys, I had to pick all this up,’ Izzy replied, gesturing to the ute.

  Jeremy and Tom helped Izzy unload the cargo. They then emptied the bags of ice into the bins.

  ‘What is the ice for?’ Adam asked.

  Izzy chuckled. ‘You’ll see,’ he said, spraying water into each bin with a garden hose. ‘It’s a surprise for after training. Speaking of which, let’s get started!’

  Izzy led the team into a session that began with a warm-up, some scrum and line-out practice and tackling drills. By the time they were halfway through the session, the boys were feeling the heat.

  ‘I’m so hot I want to jump into a swimming pool and never get out,’ Adam moaned.

  ‘I’m so hot I’d drink the water out of those garbage bins,’ Jake said, pointing to the bins Izzy had brought, now filled to the brim with ice and water.

  Daniel pulled a face. ‘Gross.’

  The boys were soon laughing so hard they were doubled over.

  ‘Keep up your water intake, boys,’ Izzy kept reminding them. ‘We can’t have you fainting from heat exhaustion.’

  Sione was absolutely done by the end. He felt proud of his efforts when he walked off the field sweaty and exhausted.

  On their final cool-down lap, Sione noticed Adam and Jake stop to chat with some of the kids from the neighbouring group, who had gathered near the fence to watch Valley train.

  After a moment they jogged up to Izzy. He nodded and called out, ‘Valley! We’ve been invited to join in with the Aussie Rules group. Come with me!’

  The boys, now in single file, followed Izzy through a gate on the far side of the oval. While Izzy joined the other team’s coach, the AFL boys kicked their red balls into the collection of Valley boys. This forced some of them to make a catch and kick them back. The games had begun!

  Soon, white rugby balls and red Aussie footballs were intermingled between the two teams. Each team laughed as they tried to make sense of the variance in weight and dimension between the balls.

  Some of the boys on the other team gathered around Izzy like die-hard fans.

  ‘I guess that’s what comes from having played both games,’ Daniel said to Sione.

  Sione shook his head and smiled. ‘I think it’s more than that,’ he said, watching Izzy dole out high fives to the boys.

  Daniel was supposed to be practising his goal kicking, the way he did after every training session
. Instead, the ball remained on the tee at the 22-yard line as he chatted with a couple of the local boys who had stuck around after training.

  ‘I’m Jason; this is Kev,’ the taller one said.

  ‘I’m Daniel, I think you’d really like rugby union – you should give it a go.’

  ‘We will,’ Jason said. ‘It looks fun. We’ve decided to sign up for the team to play you guys in a couple of days.’

  Daniel frowned. ‘What do you mean? I thought we were playing a real team – a club.’

  ‘No, it’s like an invitational thing,’ Kev said. ‘There’s a skills camp tomorrow and a practice session, then we play you on Monday.’

  ‘What?’ Daniel baulked at the news. He didn’t know whether to be insulted or to laugh at how ridiculous this was. Playing amateurs wasn’t going to help them win the Championships!

  Kev nodded. ‘There are posters up all over town.’

  ‘No offence,’ Daniel said, narrowing his eyes, ‘but you guys won’t exactly give us much opposition.’

  ‘Maybe, but it’s a learning game,’ Jason said amiably. ‘For us anyway.’

  Kev tugged at his shirt. ‘We better get going. Coach is calling us over.’

  ‘It’s great that you’re going to give union a try, but …’ Daniel paused, trying to find the best words. ‘We’re a rep team training for a championship. We need to play battle-hardened squads, not –’

  ‘Not what?’ Jason asked, ignoring Kev.

  Daniel looked down and sighed. ‘Nothing,’ he said. ‘I’ll talk to Izzy about it.’

  Jason shrugged. ‘Do what you want. We’re coming to the training camp tomorrow either way. See you then.’

  Jason and Kev turned and walked away, their body language suggesting they weren’t very impressed with Daniel.

  Just as Daniel collected up his tee and ball, the oval was filled with the sound of high-pitched screams.

  What the? Daniel turned around to see what was going on. All of his teammates were gathered near the entrance to the oval. As Daniel ran over to them, he could also hear splashing.

  TJ’s voice rang out, loud and clear. ‘This … is not … a good surprise!’

  Daniel ran right among the throng and there he saw TJ and Tezza standing in the garbage bins, up to their chests in icy water.

  Izzy laughed. ‘You’ll get used to it if you bob down a bit to get your upper body in as well.’

  TJ squealed. ‘No way!’

  ‘All right, all right,’ Izzy said with a chuckle. He turned to the rest of the boys. ‘Who’s next?’

  To Daniel’s surprise, everyone’s hands shot up.

  ‘What is this?’ he asked, as Benny and Harrison stepped up onto milk crates. They each lowered themselves into a bin, shrieking as they went.

  ‘Ice baths,’ Izzy replied. ‘Cold water helps your muscles to recover after strenuous activity.’

  ‘Like the swims we did at the beach on the Gold Coast?’ Daniel said.

  Izzy nodded. ‘Pretty much!’

  Benny and Harrison climbed out, dripping wet and re-energised. Two more boys took their places in the garbage bins.

  Daniel took the opportunity to raise his concerns about their practice matches on Monday. ‘Izzy,’ he said tentatively, ‘I was just talking to two of the local boys and they said they were going to sign up to play against us on Monday. Did you know they haven’t even played rugby before? Shouldn’t we play against real teams?’

  ‘It is a “real” team,’ Izzy answered patiently. ‘One of the local clubs, the Pythons, are using our visit to promote rugby union in the area. If kids come to our clinic tomorrow and sign up for the Pythons, they’ll probably get a go off the bench, but the starting fifteen will all have match experience.’

  Daniel’s brows knitted together. ‘Pro mote it?’

  ‘Rugby isn’t as well known here as it is back home. The Pythons asked to use our visit to get more players interested in the game and in their team. In a way, you’re a walking advertisement!’ Izzy said, laughing.

  Daniel pursed his lips, letting it all sink in. ‘But why are we playing the Pythons if they need new players?’ he asked. ‘We should play really experienced clubs.’

  Izzy scratched his head. ‘It’s about helping them out and growing the game. Daniel, I know you’re focused on winning the Championships and that’s great, but there is so much we can learn as a team up here besides how to win.’

  Izzy helped Sione out of the ice bath.

  ‘You have to try it!’ Sione said excitedly, slapping a wet hand on Daniel’s back.

  Daniel grinned. I could do with a cooling down, he thought, and plunged himself in. For the first time in his life, Daniel actually squeaked.

  That evening, back at the Jabiru Conference Centre, Daniel pulled his phone out of his bag. He needed to hear what his dad thought about the whole thing. The tour had been great, but something about the NT leg was bothering him.

  Daniel avoided the game of catch that was taking place in front of the cabin.

  ‘Daniel!’ his father answered the phone with a shout.

  Living alone with his dad meant that his voice was the one Daniel heard more than any other, but having hardly heard it for a week it now seemed distant and strange. ‘Hi, Dad.’

  ‘What’s up? How’s it going?’ his dad asked.

  ‘Good,’ Daniel replied. ‘We train all the time and we’ve played a tonne of games.’ He was going to tell his dad about their trip to the theme park on the Gold Coast as well but decided not to. It didn’t feel like something he would approve of.

  ‘Nice! What’s it like training with Israel Folau?’ his dad asked.

  ‘Great, but …’

  ‘What? What’s wrong?’

  ‘I don’t know. It’s just weird, we’re in the Northern Territory now –’

  ‘Gosh, it must be hot there.’

  ‘Yeah, but we are going to play this team on Monday that’s sort of not really a team at all.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ his dad asked, sounding concerned.

  ‘There’ll be kids on the team that haven’t even played rugby before. It’s supposed to get more local kids playing rugby union.’

  ‘I didn’t pay for you to play games or muck around,’ Daniel’s father muttered. ‘I paid for you to go on this trip to get ready for the Championships! Let me speak to Israel.’

  Daniel peered around the corner and saw Izzy laughing with the others. ‘I think he’s busy,’ he said.

  ‘Have you learnt anything on this trip? Have you even improved or has it all just been a waste of time?’

  Daniel thought back over the last week. Have I learnt new rugby skills? No.

  A week ago he would have agreed with his dad and considered the tour a failure because of this. But he also recognised that he had learnt other things – many other things. He had improved his teamwork, his communication, his respect for other players. He had learnt how to run a group and how to keep his emotions in check before they got out of control. But Daniel knew these were lessons his dad didn’t want to hear about.

  ‘I’ve learnt heaps, Dad,’ he replied.

  He ended the phone call and sighed. Laughter filtered through from the front of the cabin.

  Maybe this isn’t a waste of time, Daniel thought. After all, Izzy has been right about everything else so far, especially about the importance of having fun.

  Daniel looked around the corner again to see the boys passing the ball to Izzy and back. Their mentor wasn’t showing them how to win a scrum or lay a tackle, but it sure did look like fun. Daniel put his phone in his pocket and jogged over to join them.

  After a hearty dinner, Izzy led the boys through a series of games they had played together on the first leg of their tour. Sione had been dreading this part of the night after his last experience of playing them with Daniel on his team. They had got so annoyed with each other over their lack of teamwork – which had resulted in them coming last – that Sione had doubted they would ever be
friends.

  Sione groaned inwardly when Izzy asked them to arrange themselves into their original pairings. He stood next to Daniel, hoping the end would be swift.

  They began with an obstacle course. One person from each pair had to navigate the course blindfolded, listening to their partner’s instructions to reach the finish line without hitting any of the obstacles. This was followed by a quiz. Whether the questions were easier than last time or they were just thinking clearer, Sione wasn’t sure, but he and Daniel performed a lot better. Last, there was a two-on-two crab soccer competition on the floor. Teams had to walk on their hands and feet like a crab, trying to kick a small ball between two chairs. Sione and Daniel had a lot of trouble moving the ball towards their goal, and were soon collapsing with laughter.

  After each group had rotated around and had a go at all the games, the points were tallied. To everyone’s surprise, Sione and Daniel came out on top, earning them first place in the dessert queue.

  ‘That was great,’ Daniel said, grinning from ear to ear. ‘I’m still not sure how it will help us play rugby, though.’

  ‘Yeah, it was pretty cool,’ Sione admitted as he was handed a bowl of peach cobbler. He was used to Daniel being so focused on rugby and he knew it came from a good place, even if it was a bit annoying sometimes. He was proud of his friend for trying to put his ego and competitiveness aside.

  As the team gobbled up the dessert, Izzy stood up to address them.

  ‘Tomorrow’s training camp is a big event,’ he began. ‘It will be a great way for you to show off your rugby skills, and it will be an opportunity to improve your communication skills. It is also going to be an important day for the local sporting community. Apparently all the kids in town are talking about it and can’t wait to get started.

  ‘I know it will be a change of pace for you guys, but I hope you’ll all end up having fun, too.’