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gives Justice the evil eye. “Only joking Princey!” he laughs. In awhisper he adds, “Take a chill pill, brother!”
    â€œDeadly, if you’re late again, you won’t train again. Got it?” he says sternly.
    â€œYes, Coach. Sorry,” I reply in my deep man-creature voice. Everyone goes back to their stretches. Justice walks off, sounding important and pretending to talk into a mobile. It’s really his wallet.
    Justin Hodges, one of the Broncos centres, walks up to me.
    â€œHi, I’m Hodgo,” he says, shaking my hand. “How long you been playing for?”
    â€œMaybe t-ten y-years,” I say nervously. It’s not the whole truth but it’s close enough – add about five years. Justin Hodges is one of my heroes. He’s also in the Indigenous All Stars team.
    â€œIf you don’t stretch properly, you could injure yourself,” he says. I take his advice and Justin and I stretch for ten minutes until we’re ready for training. He joins the backs and I join the forwards. Coach Griffin starts some hit-up practice. They give me the ball.
    â€œRun at Ben!” calls Coach. Ben Hannant is looking atme fiercely. His blond hair is dripping with sweat. He’s huge and scary.
    â€œBut I don’t want to,” I say. Coach Griffin takes his hat off and rubs his head in frustration.
    â€œRUN AT HIM!” he yells. My monster legs take off. I hold the ball tight and slam into Ben Hannant at full speed.
    â€œOoof !” grunts Hannant as my concrete shoulder hits his chest. He sails through the air and goes over the crossbar and between the posts. If he was a ball I would’ve scored two points. Everyone stops what they are doing. The backs stop passing. The forwards stop running. The trainers stop filling their water bottles. All eyes are on me.
    â€œHOOOOORAY!” everyone yells. They’re jumping up and down in celebration. Coach Griffin is smiling. They can’t believe the new guy has sent Ben Hannant flying over the goal posts. People are patting me on the back. Justin Hodges scruffs up my hair. Corey Parker and Corey Norman give me high fives. I run up to Ben Hannant who is standing now. He’s rubbing his backside.
    â€œSorry, Ben,” I say.
    â€œNo worries D, good hit mate,” he replies. “Welcome to the team.”

Chapter 23
    Sharing Cultures
    After school, Justice and I are at the park again. Justice traded Mr Barwick one of the player’s sweaty old Broncos hats for an early mark. He’s practising his haka for Waitangi Day. I practise my chip kicks. I’ve been chosen to play in the trial match against the Penrith Panthers on the weekend.
    â€œWhat’s Waitangi Day anyway?” I ask.
    â€œIt’s when we celebrate the agreement that brought peace between the Maori people and the European people in New Zealand.” Justice tells me there are heaps of hakas with singing and eating on Waitangi Day. It sounds likefun. His dad is performing the haka, too.
    â€œWhat’s your mob’s story?” Justice asks.
    Justice’s question makes me stop and think about the stories Nanna and Mum have told me. There are so many, so I tell him the most important. “Mum told me that the Prime Minister said sorry to our people.” I explain, “Back in the day there were a lot of wrong doings and some of the wounds had almost healed. Mum says we can try to forgive but never forget.”
    Justice senses that I’m a little bit down talking about it, so he pulls a rugby league magazine out of his schoolbag. We sit in the shade of a gumtree and talk about this weekend’s Panthers game. Coach Griffin has put me on the bench. Justice opens the magazine to the Panthers page. He’s showing me their danger players. As my personal assistant, he wants me to play my best. If it weren’t for Justice, I wouldn’t be on the team. Lucky I can repay him by getting him into the