Why is the Ponte Preta brain trust in Wagga Wagga for the FFBRL draft? And Mu'a Saints' as well?
Well, Peter Sterling has the details...but if you're neither Blue nor Maroon, you might want to watch Donald Malcolm Clinton and Hillary Abbott Trump on PPNN (Peeing Plutocratic News Network) now...
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It's at the end of a lovely evening here at Robertson Oval, where a Blues-Maroons rugby league battle has just concluded...
...but no, it's not the standard VB-intoxicated men's league...no, it was the second match of the State of Origin under 19 ladies' rugby league championship...
...the first match, in Cairns, saw the Blues tie the Maroons 22-22, in an exciting and scrappy game, in which, despite the best efforts of the coaches, Mu'a's Drew for the Blues and Ponte Preta's Theo for the Maroons, four sinbinnings and multiple chewing-out of players took place...
...so it was all up for grabs here in Wagga Wagga, where I met a man named Thomas Campbell of Townsville, who's daughter, Yuzuki, was playing at seven for the Maroons...and he was openly weeping after the final horn sounded...
...of course, you need to know the rest of the story...
...why his wife, and Yuzuki's mother, wasn't there...three years ago, there was a fatal automobile accident near the 1300 Smiles, in which her employers' minivan was broadsided by a lorry that violated a red signal, killing her and two of her colleagues, both of whom were friends of the Campbells...
...needless to say, Thomas lost a huge piece of his heart that day, and he began spiralling into depression and hopelessness...to the point where he had to ask for help from his daughter...
...she may have been fourteen years old at the time, but like many girls her age, Yuzuki was wise beyond her years...and they both received some counseling...
...but his life really changed when he saw Yuzuki was really good at rugby...and unlike a lot of dads, Thomas didn't quail at the thought of his daughter playing rough-and-tumble...as he had played a little league in his youth, in the Cowboy's system, until an injury ended his dreams, he encouraged her, but also taught her...
...how well he did, though, wasn't apparent until a pair of older girls in her school tried bullying Yuzuki...until they played rugby in class one day, and they were both helped off the field after Yuzuki cleanly tackled them both so hard, they couldn't stand up for a few moments...after that, nobody bothered Yuzuki, except some of the boys, who wanted her to play on their rugby teams...
...then she brought home a permission slip from school, to attend a rugby weekend at 1300 Smiles, and the promise of two tickets to the Ponte Preta - Brisbane game the next weekend...and the slip had a checkmark for "if you can volunteer to help, check here", so Thomas signed, and checked...
...and was shocked when Jamie Rooney selected her at seven for his side in the senior girls' exhibition match, immediately before the Billy Goats - Bulls game...and even more shocked when Maroons' and Ponte Preta coach Theo selected her for the senior girls' Maroons side for State of Origin...
...since she was barely 150 cm tall, and just over 50 kilos' mass...
...but when she made older and bigger girls miss, and when they didn't, popped straight back up off the floor and went back to work, it was clear that Theo saw something...
...which everyone at Robertson Oval saw all game long...the beautiful passing...the ability to play grinding defence...the tactical kicking...the selflessness that a seven must have...
...and a blistering toss across the pitch to her hooker, Heather Macallan, for the try to put the Maroons over the Blues by six, 28-22, with seven minutes left, that drove Daly Cherry-Evans completely berzerk on the sideline, how-in-the-hell-did-she-do-THAT?!?!
With four minutes left to go, Blues knocked on thirty-five metres from the Maroon line, induced by a crunching hit by Yuzuki...and the Blues' defence stiffened...
...Macallan offloaded to Yuzuki...
...who had an open-looking sideline to her short side, her right...
...but instead lofted a kick toward the left side...
...which went out of play at the seventeen metre line...40/20!
Play recommenced, and again, Macallan offloaded to Yuzuki...
...who took two steps forward, then...
...DROP GOOD!!!
Who would have thought she would try that?! Angle right, fifteen metres from the right sideline, fifteen metres out, and bent it 'round the right post?!
There was, of course, pandemonium everywhere, even I was screaming, except three people on the Maroons' sideline, and one on the Blues'...
...Drew was smiling, shaking his head, silently saying "Oh, shit!"...
...Jamie Rooney and Daly Cherry-Evans soundlessly screamed "WOW!"...
...and Theo looked on, arms crossed, smiling like a Cheshire cat...
...yeah, Heather got the Dally M of the game, and the series, but she didn't hoist the trophy...she grabbed Yuzuki, gave her the trophy, and hoisted them both high into the air...and since Heather is about 190 cm, 80 kilos, that was quite the lift...
...then a second trophy was lifted to Yuzuki...the FFBRL Grand Final trophy...
...and Lady Gaga started singing, as the tote boards rolled onward and upward on behalf of the Never Alone Foundation, and the fireworks split the nighttime sky over Wagga Wagga, the Foundation's purpose being to help people who are alone and need help...
...the motto of the foundation: "This time, I'm not leaving without you!"
...and Yuzuki didn't leave her father alone...
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