JT chapter sampler

Another step, again a left. Now I was running circles around the gigantic trunk and, more importantly, around my brother. ‘Sissy,’ I yelled, the tree safely between him and me. ‘You big girl.’ He suddenly stopped before changing direction. Whoops! I was now running straight towards him. ‘Yeah?’ he said, pinning me to the ground, knees buried in my chest. ‘Let’s see how hard a sissy can punch.’ For the record, it was hard . And that is where the Johnathan Thurston sidestep was born, the big left and the leaping right. My famous footballing footwork was developed out of necessity. Honed by a privacy screen and practised around a hulking tree as a means of avoiding a belting. Before evading defensive lines, I was evading my big brother. I had my own agility course in my backyard. And it was as good as any I have seen in the NRL. We didn’t need cones or hurdles; we had a clothesline, a gumtree and a privacy screen. The threat of being belted if caught was better than even the most demanding coach. I was always being chased, and sometimes I got caught.

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