Free Making the Team by Scott Prince Page A

man opposite him is huge. He’s a bigger version of the boy sitting next to him and the boy has no tattoos. Well, none that I can see, anyway. The man is covered in them, down his neck and all over his muscled arms. A black leather vest covers the top half of his body and he wears grey jeans with heavy black boots that stick out from the bottom of his jeans. I wouldn’t want him to step on my toe with those things. His dark red hair is pulled back in a long ponytail, he has a beard and the gold chains around his wrist jangle as he thumps his fist on Mr Woolly’s desk.
    The man is starting to go red in the face. I don’t know which is redder, his face or his beard. As the man gets upflecks of spit go flying across the desk. I bet poor Mr Woolly wishes he had windscreen wipers right now. The man’s son doesn’t say anything. He sits there next to his dad with a nasty smirk on his face.
    â€œAnd if you get me up here again for such a stupid thing, I’ll be reporting you to the Education Department!” screams the father.
    â€œMr Knutz, Jared threw rocks at a teacher’s car. I don’t think it is a stupid thing ,” replies Mr Woolly, his voice trembling.
    Mr Knutz and his son Jared prance out of the office as if they own it. I hear Mr Knutz saying something about punching someone’s head in as they pass.
    In the mirror, I can see Mr Woolly straightening his tie and taking a gulp of water from the glass on his desk. He looks flustered. I reckon he’s lucky it’s only the tie he’s fixing. If it was me I’d be changing my jocks. Shame job!

Chapter 6
    My Mob
    â€œWelcome to Flatwater State School,” smiles Mr Woolly, walking over to me. He’s a short man in a smart grey suit. He has bushy grey hair and dark eyebrows that look like tufts of steel wool. He doesn’t know I’ve seen the incident with Mr Knutz and his son. He shakes my hand and pulls me into his office. Mr Woolly makes me feel comfortable straight away.
    â€œNice to meet you Dylan, your uniform looks good,” he smiles. “Before I take you to class, I need to ask you some questions. It says here that you’re from Mount Isa,” he says, studying the enrolment form that Mum filled out.
    â€œYep,” I answer.
    â€œIt also says that you are Aboriginal,” he states. I nodmy head. Mr Woolly continues, “Is your mob Kalkadoon?”
    I can’t believe he knows about my mob!
    â€œYes,” I smile. Mr Woolly smiles too.
    â€œI used to work in Mount Isa you know,” Mr Woolly says, laughing. “I bet you’re related to old Bullet Conlan.” He knows my family as well!
    â€œBullet Conlan is one of my uncles!” I say. “He’s my nanna’s brother.”
    â€œI used to play football with him at the Mount Isa Miners,” explains Mr Woolly. “They called him Bullet because he was so fast.”
    â€œI played for the Miners as well,” I tell him. But I don’t tell him how I lost the grand final.
    The interview finishes and Mr Woolly says, “If you like footy, then you’re going to like your new teacher. He’s football mad!”

Chapter 7
    The New Teacher
    When Mr Woolly knocks on the door, the class is watching a YouTube video on the whiteboard. There is a monkey smelling its own butt. It gets such a fright from the smell that it falls out of the tree. The class cracks up. The class teacher sees Mr Woolly at the door and quickly turns off the video.
    â€œMr Barwick, this is Dylan Conlan, your new student,” says Mr Woolly. The whole class turns and stares. Shame! Before Mr Barwick can say anything, Mr Woolly gets a call on his mobile and leaves.
    â€œCome in Dylan,” says Mr Barwick. He’s about thirtyyears old and he’s wearing a Brisbane Broncos polo shirt tucked into a pair of jeans. He has a small brown moustache and I can smell his aftershave. Mr Barwick puts me at the front of