Tweet
The Real Story Behind the Story.
There was a meeting that took place on Wednesday, 27 April 2016 at the office of John Longmire and the conversation went something like this:
Sinclair: Hi, coach. Got a sec.
Longmire: Hi Cal, come in, take a seat. What can I do for you?
Sinclair: Coach, I want to be the travelling emergency.
Longmire: Hmm. The travelling emergency. I?ll have to take that up with the match committee, but I?m not sure you?ve done enough to earn that spot. I?m just being honest with you, Cal.
Sinclair: Why can?t Toby be the 2nd ruckman? He was great in the Adelaide game.
Longmire: Yeh, he was okay, but we lost. Even when you?re crap, we still win. To be a travelling emergency you?ve got to be a game changer.
Sinclair: I want to be a game changer, coach. What can I do to improve?
Longmire: A couple of years when we wanted to make Lewis Jetta more of a hard running player, we had him train with Kieran Jack. You see what the best do and try to learn. If you want to be a travelling emergency you have to train with the best, and that?s Tom Derickx. So get out there and just copy what he does. That?s where you start.
Sinclair: Tom is injured.
Longmire: No he?s not.
Sinclair: Well, I haven?t seen him at training for a while.
Longmire: Well, here?s the injury list, and he?s not on it, so he?s not injured.
Sinclair: All I can say coach is that he?s not out there training.
Longmire: HEY HARLEY. COME HERE MATE. I?ve got a question for you.
Tom Harley: You can call me Tom.
Longmire: We?ve got too many Toms around here. It?s so confusing. I hate calling out TOM and every Tom, Tom and Harry comes rushing into the office. It?s driving me nuts. And talking about Toms, how are we going with Tom Derickx? new contract.
Harley: His manager knocked back our $4 mil over 5 years offer, so we?re still negotiating.
Longmire: Jesus! They?re really playing hardball with us. What are we going to do? We really don?t have a good backup travelling emergency.
Sinclair: What about me, coach?
Longmire: You're just not ready son.
Harley: Eddie?s offered Tom 5 mil to go to Collingwood.
Longmire: We?re really in a bind. That slug McGuire go our COLA taken away to squeeze our salary cap so he could lure Tom to Collingwood. Sneaky bastard. I called you in here Harley because Cal over here thinks he can be a travelling emergency ruckman. He?s a long way off I know, but considering our situation it?s worth a go. So my plan is to have him train with Tommy Derickx and learn the little nuances of the role. But Cal thinks he?s injured. Is he around?
Harley: He?s not at the grounds at the moment.
Longmire: Is he injured?
Harley: Not really.
Longmire: Then where is he? It?s a training day.
Harley: He?s at the hairdresser, John.
Longmire: Jesus! I know he?s an important player, but we can?t keep making exceptions for him. It doesn?t look good for the other boys. I want Cal to start training with him this afternoon. Let?s get him on the phone and make sure he?s here when he?s done at the hairdresser.
Harley: I think he?s going for a pedicure after the hairdresser.
Longmire: You?re too easy on him. Give me his phone number. I?m going to call him right now.
Harley: We don?t have his number.
Longmire: Well how can we contact him?
Harley: Jesinta?s got his number.
Longmire: Well, give me her number then.
Harley: I don?t have it.
Longmire: Now what?
Harley: I think we?ve got to call in Laids to ask his girlfriend to contact Jesinta and ask her to call Tom and tell him to come to the SCG after his pedicure. He's not going to be happy, John. He hates training after a cut and blow dry.
Longmire: Well too bad, and snap to it Harley. I want him here this afternoon. No excuses. I don't know why he can't get a man bun like Nat Fyfe. All the top players have them these days. You had a man bun Harley when you were playing, didn't you?
Harley: I think you've got me confused with someone else.
Sinclair: What can I do before Tom gets here. I really want to prove I?m up to it, coach.
Longmire: Let me see now. You know Cal, I used to be a really good player. I kicked a hundred goals in a season back in 1990.
Sinclair: 98.
Longmire: Yeh a hundred, give or take a couple. Anyway Cal, I know a thing or two about making the big play at critical times. That was the point I was trying to make. I think I can come up with something for the Brisbane game. Something you can practice with Tom once he gets here.
Sinclair: So what?s the plan coach?
Longmire: Let me tell you a story about Socrates, may he rest in peace.
Sinclair: Are we going to have a philosophy lesson, coach.
Longmire: No. I'm talking about Socrates, Ludwig?s cat.
Luffrum Sydney.jpg
Back in 2001 Socrates was having a mid-life crisis. He wanted to be famous, like Schrodinger?s Cat. So he enlisted in the US Military special secret operations division of the Navy Seals called the Navy Pussies. He took a big risk and went undercover and managed to endear himself to the highest echelons of the Iraqi government. And I mean the very top.
Saddam and Luf.JPG
After passing on critical information to the American about Saddam?s weapons of mass destruction, the war started and Socrates was in real danger.
Sinclair: But there were no weapons of mass destruction, coach.
Longmire: Who cares? The point is that he set out to do something important for our side at great risk to himself and he succeeded. Let me continue. Saddam escaped and Socrates found himself on the wrong side of the ground, you might say. So what do you do when you find yourself in bad situation at a critical moment?
Sinclair: What, coach?
Longmire: You call for the stretcher.
Luffy wounded.JPG
Now listen Cal. It?s hard to say when the moment will come in the heat of battle. You?ve got to have good judgment to be the travelling emergency. We?ve got a big game coming up this weekend. Who knows what will happen. But if that key moment arises and the game is on the line, the greats of our game know what to do.
Sinclair: Okay coach. I?m ready.
Longmire: And I?ll leave you with one last thing, Cal. You know what Ludwig says about great players?
Sinclair: What?s that coach?
Longmire: ?When the game?s on the line good players know when to stand up, but great players know when to lie down.?
There was a meeting that took place on Wednesday, 27 April 2016 at the office of John Longmire and the conversation went something like this:
Sinclair: Hi, coach. Got a sec.
Longmire: Hi Cal, come in, take a seat. What can I do for you?
Sinclair: Coach, I want to be the travelling emergency.
Longmire: Hmm. The travelling emergency. I?ll have to take that up with the match committee, but I?m not sure you?ve done enough to earn that spot. I?m just being honest with you, Cal.
Sinclair: Why can?t Toby be the 2nd ruckman? He was great in the Adelaide game.
Longmire: Yeh, he was okay, but we lost. Even when you?re crap, we still win. To be a travelling emergency you?ve got to be a game changer.
Sinclair: I want to be a game changer, coach. What can I do to improve?
Longmire: A couple of years when we wanted to make Lewis Jetta more of a hard running player, we had him train with Kieran Jack. You see what the best do and try to learn. If you want to be a travelling emergency you have to train with the best, and that?s Tom Derickx. So get out there and just copy what he does. That?s where you start.
Sinclair: Tom is injured.
Longmire: No he?s not.
Sinclair: Well, I haven?t seen him at training for a while.
Longmire: Well, here?s the injury list, and he?s not on it, so he?s not injured.
Sinclair: All I can say coach is that he?s not out there training.
Longmire: HEY HARLEY. COME HERE MATE. I?ve got a question for you.
Tom Harley: You can call me Tom.
Longmire: We?ve got too many Toms around here. It?s so confusing. I hate calling out TOM and every Tom, Tom and Harry comes rushing into the office. It?s driving me nuts. And talking about Toms, how are we going with Tom Derickx? new contract.
Harley: His manager knocked back our $4 mil over 5 years offer, so we?re still negotiating.
Longmire: Jesus! They?re really playing hardball with us. What are we going to do? We really don?t have a good backup travelling emergency.
Sinclair: What about me, coach?
Longmire: You're just not ready son.
Harley: Eddie?s offered Tom 5 mil to go to Collingwood.
Longmire: We?re really in a bind. That slug McGuire go our COLA taken away to squeeze our salary cap so he could lure Tom to Collingwood. Sneaky bastard. I called you in here Harley because Cal over here thinks he can be a travelling emergency ruckman. He?s a long way off I know, but considering our situation it?s worth a go. So my plan is to have him train with Tommy Derickx and learn the little nuances of the role. But Cal thinks he?s injured. Is he around?
Harley: He?s not at the grounds at the moment.
Longmire: Is he injured?
Harley: Not really.
Longmire: Then where is he? It?s a training day.
Harley: He?s at the hairdresser, John.
Longmire: Jesus! I know he?s an important player, but we can?t keep making exceptions for him. It doesn?t look good for the other boys. I want Cal to start training with him this afternoon. Let?s get him on the phone and make sure he?s here when he?s done at the hairdresser.
Harley: I think he?s going for a pedicure after the hairdresser.
Longmire: You?re too easy on him. Give me his phone number. I?m going to call him right now.
Harley: We don?t have his number.
Longmire: Well how can we contact him?
Harley: Jesinta?s got his number.
Longmire: Well, give me her number then.
Harley: I don?t have it.
Longmire: Now what?
Harley: I think we?ve got to call in Laids to ask his girlfriend to contact Jesinta and ask her to call Tom and tell him to come to the SCG after his pedicure. He's not going to be happy, John. He hates training after a cut and blow dry.
Longmire: Well too bad, and snap to it Harley. I want him here this afternoon. No excuses. I don't know why he can't get a man bun like Nat Fyfe. All the top players have them these days. You had a man bun Harley when you were playing, didn't you?
Harley: I think you've got me confused with someone else.
Sinclair: What can I do before Tom gets here. I really want to prove I?m up to it, coach.
Longmire: Let me see now. You know Cal, I used to be a really good player. I kicked a hundred goals in a season back in 1990.
Sinclair: 98.
Longmire: Yeh a hundred, give or take a couple. Anyway Cal, I know a thing or two about making the big play at critical times. That was the point I was trying to make. I think I can come up with something for the Brisbane game. Something you can practice with Tom once he gets here.
Sinclair: So what?s the plan coach?
Longmire: Let me tell you a story about Socrates, may he rest in peace.
Sinclair: Are we going to have a philosophy lesson, coach.
Longmire: No. I'm talking about Socrates, Ludwig?s cat.
Luffrum Sydney.jpg
Back in 2001 Socrates was having a mid-life crisis. He wanted to be famous, like Schrodinger?s Cat. So he enlisted in the US Military special secret operations division of the Navy Seals called the Navy Pussies. He took a big risk and went undercover and managed to endear himself to the highest echelons of the Iraqi government. And I mean the very top.
Saddam and Luf.JPG
After passing on critical information to the American about Saddam?s weapons of mass destruction, the war started and Socrates was in real danger.
Sinclair: But there were no weapons of mass destruction, coach.
Longmire: Who cares? The point is that he set out to do something important for our side at great risk to himself and he succeeded. Let me continue. Saddam escaped and Socrates found himself on the wrong side of the ground, you might say. So what do you do when you find yourself in bad situation at a critical moment?
Sinclair: What, coach?
Longmire: You call for the stretcher.
Luffy wounded.JPG
Now listen Cal. It?s hard to say when the moment will come in the heat of battle. You?ve got to have good judgment to be the travelling emergency. We?ve got a big game coming up this weekend. Who knows what will happen. But if that key moment arises and the game is on the line, the greats of our game know what to do.
Sinclair: Okay coach. I?m ready.
Longmire: And I?ll leave you with one last thing, Cal. You know what Ludwig says about great players?
Sinclair: What?s that coach?
Longmire: ?When the game?s on the line good players know when to stand up, but great players know when to lie down.?
Comment