Eleven-year-old Toby is always chosen last. When a new coach arrives at the club and refuses to pick teams by size, Toby - small, fast, and terrified of being tackled - discovers he has the makings of a brilliant halfback. The story follows him through one season as he learns that courage isn't the absence of fear, and that the smallest player on the paddock can shape the game. Climaxes with a semi-final against the team of bullies from his old school.
Themes: belonging, self-belief, the joy of the basics.