By Steve Jancetic AAP Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:32:34
Cost of a pair of Kangaroos shorts: $39.99. An Australian training singlet: $49.99.
But for a lucky bunch of Parisian school kids, the mementos were priceless and they hounded the Australian rugby league team like they were The Beatles back together again, desperate for a piece of green and gold.
As the Kangaroos held their final training session in Paris on Friday afternoon ahead of the Four Nations clash against France on Saturday, hundreds of local school kids cheered their every move.
Australi! Australi! came the chants, with miniature Australian flags and even a boxing Kangaroos making an appearance in the stands as the team went through their paces.
They oohed and aahed at every Greg Inglis bomb and Johnathan Thurston kick, but it was only after a photo and signing session that things really heated up.
It started with backrower Luke Lewis, who, wearing a 'Movember' training singlet to cover the alcohol sponsor which normally adorns the team's training gear, removed the item and handed it to a lucky fan.
The young boy ran clutching the singlet to a teacher nearby, and soon there were a hundred kids by the bus begging for gear.
By now all but a few of the players were on the warm bus safe from the crisp air outside, but one by one they came out handed out souvenirs.
Then the kids hit the jackpot, team manager Craig Young opening up a bag full of Australian gear and throwing it into the air like confetti.
These are the scenes that rarely get reported.
The last man onto the bus was Thurston.
They swarmed around him, pleading for the shirt off his back as they jammed him up against the bus.
Thurston duly obliged, but instead of throwing his shirt out into the crowd, he pinpointed a little boy off to the side and handed it straight to him.
For those in charge of French rugby league, there's no price on that exercise in public relations.
