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the
    first time ever.
    ‘ Repeat after me,’ said Mr
Marlow.
    ‘ This is
a noteworthy day ,’ we
repeated.
    ‘ It’s the Grand Final of
the Junior Home World Cup.’
    ‘ It’s
the Grand Final of the Junior Home World Cup. ’
    ‘ And furthermore . . .
’
    Mr Marlow paused for a second or two, then
went on.
    ‘ . . . it’s Wings’ last
match with the Greens.’
    I felt really weird when Mr Marlow said
that. It made it seem more real than ever.
    When Mum and Dad had first announced that we
were going to live in the capital I had felt:
    like a stunned mullet
    angry
    sad
    more angry
    a little bit excited.
    All of those things, all at once.
    But I knew we didn’t
really have much choice. My
     
    parents were from there
originally and they’d always said they’d go back when they got the
chance. Now
    the chance had come.
Besides, both sets of grandies and most of my aunts, uncles and
cousins lived there, too.
    ‘ You’ll find another team
to play in,’ said Mum.
    ‘ Maybe.’ I said. ‘But
they’ll be nothing nearly as good as the Greens.’
    ‘ Wings’
last match with the Green s.’
    Everyone turned to look at me as they
repeated Mr Marlow’s words. I turned away and gazed at the muddy
ground. We’d played together for so long, it was going to be tough
to quit. That’s why we had to win today. Mr Marlow had called this
game my swansong, my final appearance.
    ‘ We can do it,’ Mr Marlow
said.
    ‘ We can
do it, ’ we repeated as
one.
    ‘ We can win.’
    ‘ We can
win. ’
    ‘ All it takes . .
.’
    ‘ All it
takes . . . ’
    ‘ Is applying the skills
we’ve learnt and practised...’
    ‘ The
skills we’ve learnt and practised . . . ’
    ‘ Our determination . .
.’
    ‘ Our
determination . . . ’
    ‘ And consideration . .
.’
    ‘ And
consideration . . . ’
    ‘ For each other . .
.’
    ‘ For
each other . . . ’
    ‘ And . . .’
    ‘ And . .
. ’
    ‘ The
opposition.’
    Silence.
    ‘ I’m waiting
guys.’
    ‘ The
opposition, ’ we said, knowing that
consideration was the last thing the Reds would show
us.
    ‘ Great stuff,’ said Mr
Marlow.
    Then we chanted the Green Team’s slogan. It
was short but sweet.
     
    Three cheers
    for the Cauliflower Ears!
     
    ‘ Remember,’ said Mr
Marlow, ‘you’ve come this far by fair play and by following the
rules, so don’t let
    yourselves down.’
    Then Grubber said the thing we’d all be
thinking.
    ‘ But the Reds give me the
jitters Mr Marlow. They’re thuggish. That’s why everyone calls them
the Devils.’
    ‘ And that’s why you’re
proud if they call you the Cauliflower Ears,’ said Mr
Marlow.
    ‘ Why?’ asked
Sprigs.
    ‘ Because you know how to
play the game,’ said Mr Marlow. ‘And a good game played by
Cauliflower Ears will always beat a bad game played by
Devils.’
    ‘ They foul all the time,’
I said, ‘and they always try to make sure the Ref doesn’t see what
they’re up to.’
    ‘ Then they’ll be the
losers, whether they win or not,’ said Mr Marlow, which sounded
strange but true at the same time. Not that we wanted the Reds to
win, of course.
    ‘ I’ve got to go to the
toilet,’ said Grubber, his jitters back again.

Chapter 6
     
    Countdown
      
    Five minutes to kick-off.
    I checked the sidelines as we got into our
positions. Yep, I could see Dad, and Mum had arrived as well.
Choice! I’d been worried her plane would be delayed by bad
weather.
    They’ve both always come to watch me play
and I was glad, and relieved, that today wasn’t going to be any
different.
    Sprigs checked his
bootlaces one last time. The new one looked much too clean compared
with the old, so Sprigs poked his fingers into the soggy grass and
dirtied the fresh lace until he couldn’t tell the difference
between the old and the new. Now he felt a lot more confident,
except his fingers were wet and dirty and slippery and it was too
late to clean them.
    Grubber tested his stomach by cautiously
poking it.
    Butterflies