Pushed to the Limit Read online

  Sione grew uneasy as he imagined what he might be expected to do tomorrow. He’d never coached before and he hated public speaking and being the centre of attention.

  His questions were soon answered by Tom and Mary Parker, who announced what each boy’s job was going to be. Sione and TJ were allocated to run a passing and catching drill.

  ‘Each group of local kids will start at one of the ten activities spread around the oval, while you and your partner will run one of the activities,’ Tom explained. ‘The groups will spend ten minutes at each station. When I blow a whistle, they will rotate around.’

  ‘Halfway through we will break for lunch, then the groups will do the second round of drills with you,’ Mary added. ‘And don’t worry – Izzy, Jeremy, Tom and I will be walking around the teams. You will already be familiar with most of the drills we have planned, but we will go through them with you in the morning before the kids arrive.’

  Sione sank down in his chair. He hadn’t signed up for this. Passing a ball was one thing, but teaching others how to do it was completely different. He had no idea how to begin.

  When Sunday morning dawned, Sione was certain he was the only one dreading the skills camp. What if I don’t teach them right? he wondered. What if they get bored? He thought about all the things that could go wrong as he got changed, as he ate his breakfast and as they headed for the training ground.

  Sione gazed out the window, silent as usual, as the team bus drove through the red landscape. They pulled up at the oval to find that Izzy had already organised the equipment for the day’s activities. The ten stations were each marked with a numbered flag, and witch’s hats, balls, skipping ropes and tackling pads dotted the field.

  The Valley boys gathered around him, just inside the picket fence.

  ‘We don’t know how many kids are coming exactly,’ Izzy began, ‘so we’ll just have to play it by ear. Help each other and sing out if you need a hand. Most importantly – have fun!’

  Izzy then took the team through each one of the activities. Sione and TJ’s drill was simple and they had both done it many times before, though that did little to calm Sione’s nerves. After organising the balls he and TJ would need in their corner of the oval, Sione ran across to speak to Izzy before all the visitors arrived.

  ‘How’s it going, Sione? You ready?’ Izzy asked, keeping an eye on the entrance for the first attendees to appear.

  Sione bit his lip, unsure of what to say.

  Izzy looked at him and placed a hand on his shoulder. ‘What’s wrong, buddy?’

  Sione swallowed and stared at the ground. He reminded himself that there was no reason to be shy, that Izzy was always willing to listen. ‘Um … I’m a bit worried about teaching the drill.’

  Izzy smiled. ‘I know exactly how you feel, but trust me, you’ll be fine. I know you will be. Talk to TJ, maybe he can do all the talking with the first group.’

  Sione nodded, but he didn’t want to ask TJ to do that. The last thing he wanted was to look like a wimp in front of his teammate.

  ‘It’s hard doing things you aren’t used to,’ Izzy said gently, ‘but often it’s good to push your boundaries a little. You’ll never know what you can do if you don’t try.’

  Sione looked up at his hero, thinking about all he had already accomplished in the sport. He could imagine his aunty standing next to him and saying that Izzy’s achievements didn’t just fall into his lap, that he’d had to work hard for them.

  ‘For all you know, you’ve got a top-class coach hiding inside you, waiting to come out,’ Izzy said, giving him a playful nudge.

  Sione smiled and shook his head. ‘Doubt it.’

  ‘Remember when you played hooker?’ Izzy said. ‘You didn’t think you could do it at first and then you ended up acing it! This is a similar situation. I know it’s hard talking to strangers, but give it a go – you might actually like it.’

  Sione nodded, coming around to the idea.

  ‘I’ll let you in on a secret,’ Izzy whispered. ‘That was the very reason I wanted to be on this tour. I didn’t know if I could coach, either. I was really nervous at the start of the trip about whether I could teach you guys.’

  ‘Really?’ Sione said. He couldn’t imagine Izzy being nervous about anything.

  ‘Shh,’ Izzy said, putting a finger to his lips. ‘It’s a secret.’

  Sione pretended to zip his lips, then laughed. ‘But you’re a great coach, Izzy.’

  ‘Thanks, mate,’ Izzy said, breaking into his trademark grin. ‘Look, I may have broken the record for the most tries scored by a rookie in Rugby League, but that doesn’t mean I’m automatically good at teaching others how to do it. I wanted to give coaching a go and, well, tada – here I am! There’s no hard-and-fast rule with coaching, you just have to find your own way – and I think you’ll be great if you give it a try.’

  Slowly, kids started to stream onto the oval. Some of their families stayed to watch, lining the picket fence. Once it appeared that all the boys had arrived, Izzy called everyone to the centre of the field to explain how the rotations would work.

  After the instructions, TJ and Sione showed their first group, made up of eight kids, to their designated area. Izzy then blew the whistle to signal the start of the activities.

  ‘Okay,’ Sione said, ‘we’re going to practise how to pass.’

  ‘Sorry, what?’ asked one of the boys. He looked older than Sione.

  Sione gulped. ‘Uh, a passing activity?’ he said, trying to speak up. ‘We need to stand opposite each other.’

  Obediently, the boys arranged themselves in a line facing TJ and Sione.

  ‘No, I mean you all should stand opposite,’ Sione said, feeling his cheeks grow hot. ‘Uh, you –’

  ‘How about we divide the group into two teams – the A’s and the B’s?’ TJ suggested, stepping in. ‘If you’re an A, you stand in a line over here.’ He pointed to a spot on the grass. ‘If you’re a B, you stand opposite them.’

  They were soon assembled correctly, much to Sione’s relief, then TJ gave a ball to each of the A’s.

  ‘You’re standing about a metre apart now,’ Sione said, trying to sound as confident as TJ. ‘We want the A’s to pass the ball to the B’s and then the B’s will pass it back. If you make both passes, the B’s will take a step back and go again. Let’s see how far you can pass a ball and still hit your target. Go!’

  It had sounded straightforward to Sione as he explained it, but what happened next was bedlam. Balls went everywhere as some boys threw them, others punched them and a few tried to pass them rugby-style but were way off target.

  TJ scratched his head. ‘I think we might need to show them how to pass a ball first,’ he whispered.

  Sione nodded, embarrassed he hadn’t thought of that himself.

  TJ got everyone to stop what t hey were doing and announced that he was going to pass the ball to Sione, who would describe what he was doing as he did it.

  Sione took a deep breath. How do you describe how to pass? he thought, panicking. TJ passed the ball to him. ‘Keep your eyes on your target,’ Sione said, ‘the back hand directs the ball, the front one helps guide it. Follow through with your arms.’

  Sione must have explained it well, because the new players were soon throwing the balls to each other like experts. They seemed to be having fun, too, and when the whistle blew, Sione couldn’t believe how quickly the ten minutes had passed.

  ‘Good work, mate,’ TJ said, putting his arm around Sione’s shoulder. ‘Here come the next group – are you ready?’

  Sione smiled and nodded. Izzy was right; now that he knew what to do, he was actually enjoying it. ‘All over it!’

  Daniel watched as the next group approached. These kids looked just like the last lot – slightly older, tall and athletic. Most of them wore singlets and were barefoot. They had just learnt how to pass with TJ and Sione, and now it was time for them to learn how to kick with Daniel and Tim. Kicking was definitely one of Danie
l’s strengths and, as he was the Valley goal kicker, he had been very happy to share his tips on how to kick well with the newbies. But after the first group, he wanted the whole day to be over – fast.

  ‘Here’s hoping at least one of these guys knows how to kick,’ Tim muttered.

  Daniel snorted. ‘It’s hard to practise your accuracy or strength if you can’t kick a ball properly to begin with,’ he said.

  Once the eight kids were gathered around, Daniel explained what they were going to do. The first exercise was simple: to stand on the touchline and kick the ball with the aim that it landed further down the touchline. If it didn’t land on the line, the kicker would have to retrieve it. If it did land on the line, everyone else except the kicker had to bring the ball back. The idea was to make the kicker want to kick the ball straight in order to avoid running to retrieve it.

  Daniel gave them a demonstration, kicking the ball high and long with his right foot. The ball landed upright on its point, directly on the white line painted in the grass. The eight local boys then ran all the way downfield as they had been directed.

  ‘Wait!’ Tim shouted, waving them back. ‘That was just an example of how to kick. We don’t have long – running for Daniel’s kicks will take us all day.’

  Daniel laughed. ‘Here,’ he said, throwing a ball to the first boy in the line. ‘What’s your name? You go first.’

  ‘Jason,’ the boy said, catching the ball. ‘Don’t you remember me from yesterday?’

  Daniel looked at him and frowned. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘We met yesterday!’ Jason walked briskly forward and dropped the ball onto his right foot as he moved. The ball spun end over end as it was fired long and low above the touchline, before landing directly on it. Jason looked very pleased with himself. The other kids cheered and began to run after the ball.

  ‘Hey, whoa!’ cried Daniel. The local boys groan ed and stopped running. ‘That doesn’t count. Come back.’

  Jason baulked. ‘What do you mean? Why not?’

  ‘You’re doing it wrong,’ Daniel said firmly. ‘You’re supposed to lift your leg up towards the ball, not drop the ball down low.’

  ‘In footy we drop-punt,’ Jason explained, ‘so you can kick on the run and don’t have to stop.’

  ‘Well, in our footy,’ Daniel said, ‘you don’t.’

  Jason threw up his hands. ‘We didn’t know that – you should have told us!’

  ‘Well,’ Daniel said, crossing his arms, ‘I didn’t know there were different ways of kicking. I just assumed you’d know.’

  There was an awkward silence as both boys stared each other down.

  Izzy noticed the tension in the group and quickly jogged over. ‘Everything all right?’ he asked the group.

  ‘Not really,’ Daniel said. ‘They don’t know how to kick properly.’

  ‘Did you teach them how?’ Izzy asked.

  Daniel nodded. ‘I kicked the ball and everything.’

  ‘Remember, people have to learn how to walk before they can run,’ Izzy said. ‘Here, let me try.’

  ‘Sure,’ Daniel said, ‘but there’s only a few minutes left.’

  Izzy picked up a ball. ‘No one will become a superstar kicker in ten minutes. It’s just about having fun.’

  Daniel sighed. He had forgotten that.

  Izzy held up the ball to the group. ‘So, this is a rugby ball. It’s a little different to the type of footballs you’re used to. Can anyone tell me how?’

  ‘It’s bigger,’ said one boy.

  ‘Aussie footballs are lighter,’ said another.

  ‘It’s pointier,’ said a third.

  ‘Right! So, kicking drop-punts with these is a bit trickier. You might hurt your foot and it’s harder to control it kicking that way. In rugby, we lift the leg into the air to meet the ball. Like this.’ Izzy kicked the ball down the line as Daniel had done before. ‘Now you guys give it a go!’

  The kids took their turns playing the kicking game Daniel and Tim had explained. After a while, it was clear they were beginning to have fun with it. Towards the end of the round, every kick was cheered as each boy tried their best to kick the ball like Izzy had shown them. When the whistle blew to rotate, Daniel had to admit they had improved a lot in a short amount of time.

  Working with the third group went really well. Daniel and Tim started slow and showed the boys how to kick the ball. Tim even suggested they practise the kicking motions without balls first and that seemed to help. But Daniel still wasn’t enjoying himself. He could see the point in the training drills, but each time he saw someone kick, catch or pass a ball, he wished it were him.

  Daniel kept thinking of what his dad would say – that every minute Daniel was not training or playing rugby was a wasted minute. Even at night, after homework, Daniel always talked about rugby or watched old games with his dad. Everything was about rugby and how to improve Daniel’s game.

  Despite his discomfort, Daniel saw it through. That was another thing he had learnt from his dad – to never give up. As hard as it was, Daniel was polite and cheery towards all ten groups of kids that came to learn how to kick a rugby ball.

  After the lunch break and the second half of rotations, there was still some time before the day came to an end. Izzy gathered the entire throng of local boys and Valley players together and held up his hand to get everyone’s attention.

  ‘How about we practise these skills everyone has been learning and play a game of touch footy?’ he said, grinning.

  Everyone but Daniel cheered. He was now officially bored and wanted nothing more than a proper hit-out with his teammates on the field.

  ‘There’s almost eighty of us,’ Izzy said, ‘so Jeremy and the Parkers are going around right now, giving everyone a letter. We’ll have two games going on, one in each half of the field. Team A will play Team B at this end, Teams C and D will play at the area marked on the other end.’

  Izzy then went on to explain the basic rules of touch football to the crowd. Daniel turned to Sione, who was standing next to him. ‘We already know this,’ he grumbled.

  ‘But they don’t,’ Sione said patiently.

  ‘Well, maybe they should join a club and learn how,’ Daniel huffed. ‘We’re going to thrash them.’

  ‘I’m pretty sure they’ll split us among all the teams.’

  Jeremy walked up to them. ‘Sione, you’re in Team C. Daniel, you’re in Team D,’ he said before moving on.

  ‘See?’ Sione said.

  ‘Fine. It’s a good thing they did, though,’ Daniel replied.

  ‘Just try to have some fun,’ Sione said. ‘The day’s almost over.’

  They were soon set and ready. When the whistle blew, Daniel tapped the ball to start the game. He ran straight at the opposition. He ducked and weaved between their flailing arms and then took off, all the way to the tryline.

  ‘Yes!’ he shouted, punching the air.

  The game was just ten seconds old, and he had already scored a solo try. Daniel was beginning to feel much better.

  Sione’s jaw dropped. What is Daniel doing?

  Some of the Valley boys on Daniel’s team clapped and cheered, but most of the players on both sides were standing around the field with their hands on their hips. They watched as Daniel ran back from the try area, gleefully looping the ball in the air as he ran.

  Daniel restarted, passing the ball to Tim. The team’s second row ran through Team C’s defenders before passing it to Harrison, who then scored in the corner.

  ‘Give us a chance!’ Sione yelled, kicking the dirt.

  He felt frustrated. Not only were Daniel and the other Valley players not letting the local defenders have a go, but they weren’t passing the ball to the visitors on their team, either.

  He didn’t know what to do. Pulling Daniel up in front of the visiting kids would be embarrassing for both parties, plus Sione usually avoided confrontation at all costs. He decided to let his rugby do the talking instead.

  Dani
el restarted again, passing the ball to Adam, but before he could do anything, Sione was upon him. He touched him on the back, stopping him in his tracks. Players on his side cheered him for making their first touch, while Valley players on Daniel’s side groaned.

  Adam tapped the ball, passing it to Harrison, who passed it to Daniel. Almost immediately, Daniel threw a long, cut-out pass to Tim on the wing, who then sprinted down the side and scored their third try. Sione hadn’t been able to get over to him in time, and the local players on his team – clearly starting to lose interest in the game – had not put in any real effort to stop Tim at all. Their loss was a foregone conclusion.

  Sione looked up to see some of the visitors on Daniel’s team walk to the edge of the oval and sit down. That isn’t right, he thought. These kids aren’t supposed to prefer sitting down to playing the game!

  Sione knew exactly how they felt. There had been countless times he had played games where he never saw the ball out on the wing. He learnt over time to put himself into situations where the ball carrier would want to use him instead of look past him. This had been particularly difficult for Sione because he disliked being the centre of attention.

  ‘Woo! We’re going to win twenty to nil!’ Daniel cried from upfield.

  Sione sighed and shook his head.

  The game dragged on with Daniel’s team scoring point after point, especially once so many opposition players dropped out. There were holes in the defensive line all across the field. Meanwhile Sione and a couple of his Valley teammates tried to demonstrate perseverance by running hard to stop as many tries as they could. It was exhausting.

  Eventually, Izzy blew the half-time whistle and directed the teams in each game to swap sides. As Sione trudged to the other side of the field, he thought about what Izzy had said. I’m not having fun, he thought to himself. He had a sudden urge to sit down and watch with the newcomers who had given up playing. What was the point of continuing?

  Sione took a deep breath and waited for Daniel to walk past him. ‘Hey …’

  Daniel looked up at him, grinning from ear to ear. ‘What’s up?’