15

THE TRAINING SESSION

JUSTICE AND MR JONES VISIT THE BRONCOS

You could cut the tension inside the car with a knife. Mr Jones is wearing his best suit. The last time he wore it was over ten years ago, for his cousin’s wedding in Auckland.

Today, Justice and Mr Jones will meet Coach Bennett for the first time. Mr Jones is nervous. He has respected the man known as the ‘Supercoach’ nearly all his life. Justice was just getting used to the Broncos’ previous coach before Wayne Bennett came along.

When Justice sees that his dad is gripping the steering wheel way too tightly, he tries to lighten the mood. ‘Tell me about Coach Bennett,’ he asks. ‘Just how good is he?’

Mr Jones watches the road as he talks. ‘Son, Wayne Bennett is a man who everyone respects.’

‘Why?’

‘When I was a boy, Wayne Bennett coached the Broncos to victory in two Grand Finals in a row. Later on, he coached them to another four,’ explains Mr Jones.

‘Wow! How many did they lose?’ asks Justice.

‘None.’

‘Has he coached anyone else, Dad?’

‘He’s coached Australia, Queensland, the NRL All Stars, Canberra, St George and Newcastle,’ says Mr Jones.

Justice is impressed. It takes a few seconds for this information to sink in.

‘What else has he done?’ he asks excitedly.

‘He was the co-coach for New Zealand when we beat the Aussies in the 2008 World Cup,’ grins Mr Jones.

‘No way! Anything else?’ asks Justice.

‘Well, there is one more thing.’

‘What is it?’ asks Justice.

‘He looks after injured wildlife, like kangaroos, bats, bandicoots and lizards, when they get hit by cars. If there’s an orphaned joey, he’ll put it in a pouch down his jumper, just to keep it warm. If there’s a starving baby koala, he’ll nurse it and feed it milk from a baby’s bottle.’

‘Really, Dad?’

‘Actually, no, that’s not true,’ admits Mr Jones. ‘I just made that last bit up.’

Justice and Mr Jones arrive at the Broncos training ground. Justice has been here many times before and he checks out the drills as they walk. Mr Jones is excited to be watching the training for the first time.

Coach Bennett is studying his players. He doesn’t shout instructions — he doesn’t need to. Everyone on the team knows their job. If a player drops the ball, Coach Bennett encourages him to improve next time. If players are exhausted, he pushes them to do their best.

As Justice and his dad walk along the sideline, Ben Hunt is putting up the bomb. The backs are running through and catching the high ball right on the try line. The first bomb goes high into the air and spirals towards the try line. Daniel Vidot concentrates as he positions himself. He catches it and places the ball on the line. The rest of the backs clap him and cheer.

Vidot passes the ball back to Ben Hunt and he kicks the second bomb towards the clouds. This time Lachlan Maranta has called for it. It seems like minutes until the football starts to fall from the sky. Maranta doesn’t take his eye off it; he knows that this is a ball he must catch. Even though it’s only practice, he treats it like a real game. The ball spirals towards him. He is running as fast as he can to get under it in time. As Maranta runs towards the ball and the try line, Corey Parker shouts, ‘Hey, everyone! Justice is here!’

The team runs towards Justice, and Maranta crashes straight into the Powerade station. Drink bottles and trays fly everywhere and he ends up with his bum stuck inside the drink cooler. His legs dangle over the edge as he tries to pull himself out, but no one takes any notice. The players crowd around Justice. Mr Jones’s eyes are as wide as dinner plates. He can’t believe they know his son’s name. Everyone is patting Justice on the back and giving him high fives — they haven’t seen him for a couple of weeks.

‘Hey, Justice, where’s Deadly D?’ asks Ben Hunt.

‘Yeah, any sign of the D-Man, brah?’ asks Sammy Thaiday.

‘When you see him, can you give him this?’ asks Alex Glenn. He pulls out a photo frame made of ice-cream sticks. He’s written ‘Deadly and Alex’ in red texta on the frame. Yellow and blue macaroni shells are glued unevenly around the edge. Inside is a photo of Alex and Deadly D hugging after a game. Awkward!

‘Um, yeah, he’ll love this,’ says Justice. ‘Not.’ He puts the picture behind his back when he sees Coach Bennett approaching.

‘That’s enough for today, boys. You’ve trained hard, now go and take a shower. And Sammy, can you get Maranta out of the Powerade bucket?’