i do miss playing junior footy, considering i wasnt a very popular kid and kept to myself alot and didnt have many friends the few i did have was because of footy. Having the feeling of being seen and thought of higher then other people around me and hearing the cheers after i just belted somone or ran over the top of them was always the highlight of my week.
One of the greatest memories i have is winning the U/18's GF for runaway bay, would have been one of the best games ive ever played and just left path of destruction behind me. Managed to barge over for the first try from a tap 30m out dragging half the team with me and when we were down by 2 with only a few minutes left and a bomb went up from us that we had all planned to sprint after when there was a stoppage half way through the set.
Everyone most likely remembers the shot crocker put on stewert when he caught the bomb in the GF a few years ago (well brett probably doesnt lol). Picture that but with darius boyd catching it for burleigh. Dead set nailed him and dislodged the ball that got scooped up and after a few passes and ducking and weaving from our 5/8 we scored in the corner and won. Being carred around on the boys shoulders and what was a home GF for us a decent sized crowd cheering me on was just a surreal feeling and the most accepted i'd ever felt. Something that i had and have since always struggled with.
While this was happening they blasted U2s "A beautiful day" on the speaker system and i always smile when i hear it, the next night the cowboys did the impossible and hammered the dogs in their first ever semi final and i recieved a letter to go trial for South Sydneys Sg Ball team. Was a pretty surreal couple of days
Yeah - footy is awesome.
I remember doing a Joel Clinton and chucking a giddy got at half time because we were down 30-2. I said I was sick of going out there and giving my all when the other 11 twats (I specifically said 11, because my front row partner busted a but like me every time, too) couldn't be arsed to pull their fingers out and play some football.
We ended up going on a winning streak, but still missing the finals. But from that point on, I felt I could walk into a room and everyone would shut up and give me their respect. Shortly after I was made captain. I felt fantastic.
And because I'd played soccer for many years, my coach asked me to kick goals. That has some excellent memories, too - such as the time I hyperextended my knee kicking a conversion. Ah...Memories.
Sadly, I never tasted success as a player. We never made the finals.
