JT chapter sampler

time to earn my buck. My little legs pumped as I ran down the field. I moved as fast as I could. Oh no. That’s going to end up on the highway. But then, all of a sudden, it pulled up. The thick, wet grass – only the playing field had been mowed – stopped the ball dead. Pheeewwww! I didn’t want to chase it over the fence. I picked it up and booted it back onto the field. And I reckon that was my very first rugby league kick. I can’t say I fell in love with rugby league right away – that didn’t happen until I was about six. Until then it was all about spending the dollar Dad would give me, without fail after every match, at the canteen. One ground had a Space Invaders machine, the old coffee-table type with the wooden base and glass top. Oh, how I loved that thing. I would be on Dad as soon as the whistle went, my father exhausted, battered and bruised after his 80-minute war. ‘Can you give the dollar to me in 20-cent coins?’ I would ask. He soon learned to keep small change.

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