Poetry In Motion (2009)

The last throw of the dice, all or nothing,
“Coyne at the seventy ninth minute is tackled,”
Everyone on the edge of their seat,
All are hopeful, all crossing fingers,
But for two different outcomes,
Coyne plays the ball,
Twelve to ten,
The scoreline,
Now….
Meninga
Dummy half,
Players scattered everywhere
He passes to Langer
Everyone’s eyes fixated on him,
“Langer, pushing it wide, Walters onward,”
Each pass filled with trepidation and hope,
Half the crowd are overcome with looming concern,
While the other half start to get very excited.

The heart begins to race, normality is pushed aside,
“Carne joins in, floats the pass to Renouf,”
He swiftly turns to catch the pass,
In one motion, he sets off,
The crowd sensing something ominous,
Some cover their eyes,
Others stand up,
To see,
Renouf.
Looking
For opportunity,
Any small chance,
As does the crowd,
They begin to make noise,
Adrenaline begins pumping even more now,
They know Renouf can score from anywhere,
He spots an opportunity, he wastes no time,
“Renouf down the touchline, beats one, gets it infield.”

Renouf’s speed eluded him from David Barnhill's desperate clutches,
He passes back inside as Wishart tackles him,
Hancock is heavily tackled just after receiving,
As he gets driven backwards ruthlessly,
He manages to find support,
“Hancock gets it on,”
They aren’t quitting,
Not yet,
No!
Smith
Backs up,
Keeps it alive,
“Queensland are coming back!”
Blues fans fearing the worst,
Maroons fans confidence continues to build,
As Darren Smith saunters across the field,
Keeping his options open while looking for support,
Blue faces begin frowning, they can’t believe their eyes.

Blue panic begins running wild, this can’t be happening,
Maroon faces grow more excited, they smell victory,
The Blues players tired, exhausted and sore,
Never giving up, continue to defend,
The Maroons continue pressing on,
“Darren Smith for Langer,”
Langer in space,
He’s through,
Langer!
Caught!
Falling forward,
He looks around,
“Langer gets it away,”
He passes to his right,
Blues defence come swarming down field,
Finally realising the game is still alive,
The play has travelled from left to right,
And now the Maroons are only twenty metres out.

Every player exhausted, desperate, hopeful yet trying damn hard,
To ensure victory for their team and themselves,
They are all oblivious to the scoreboard,
It’s now or never for all,
Langer’s pass floats to Meninga,
“Here’s the big fella!”
Running with purpose,
With power,
Intent.
Tackled
By Mackay,
Looks for support,
“Gets the pass on,”
They have come forty metres,
There is only five more left,
Every person is on their feet now,
Despair, hope, glory, tragedy, excitement, suspense, victory, failure,
All running wild through every single fan and player.

No one has taken a breath for a minute,
Not one single person has blinked an eyelid,
The Maroons are near the left sideline,
There are no more options left,
Down to one last man,
On this last play,
To seal fate,
That man?
“COYNE!”
“COYNE!”
Did he?
No one knows
There is no way,
Not a chance in hell,
Coyne is grabbed around the waist,
Fittler hanging on, Coyne steps back infield,
Ricky Stuart is there to defend his line,
Coyne is falling forward, Stuart haunches down as well.

Preparing himself as much as possible against the attack,
Coyne is almost on the ground, no hope,
Ben Elias comes running over to assist,
Blues players have appeared from nowhere,
Coyne reaches out for glory,
“Goes for the corner,”
His arm free
Finds freedom,
Victory!
Unbelievable!
Tiny gap,
Grounds the ball,
“And gets the try,”
“Queensland, it’s a miracle performance,”
The try is awarded, Queensland wins!
The patient siren sounds in the background,
Blues fans are aghast at what just happened,
For seventy nine minutes they were never in doubt.

The mighty Queensland spirit never waned for a second,
Disappointment wasn’t going to be wearing Maroon today,
Blues fans and players are quiet, unbelieving,
While the Maroon fans jump emphatically,
Their players embrace one another
Proud of the feat,
Of their heroes,
These men,
Legends.
Tension,
It subsides,
Euphoria reigns supreme,
“That’s not a try…”
The immortal words of Ray,
“That’s a miracle!” He excitedly proclaims,
The never say die spirit grew stronger,
All those years of beatings from the Blues,
Making this emphatic and miraculous victory even more sweeter!