THE STORY OF PROJECT +90 NEW SIDEBURN - Part Four
"Anyway," says Pallister, "after I got promotion with the lads and lasses I had, it was time to expand the group available to me. Me and my scouts already had our eyes out on some young talents, and we wanted them to have good chemistry with the team well before the Project Cup."
Elsa Layland and Paul Bismarck were both locals, and Pallister had grown to know both personally. "They came to watch all the games together - little teenage sweethearts, they were." Pallister chuckles - clearly the weathered veteran still has some room for sentimentality. "They were both talented, but neither was contracted - Layland was going to be picked up by the Chatswood academy, but an injury had put paid to that. Still, anyone who went to see them play could tell they could do a job, and Elsa had recovered a month ago. We picked them both up off the street five weeks before the season ended, even if we weren't allowed to sign them for the 'senior' team yet."
Steed Corren was the third local they signed, and his performances in the Project +90 Cup would go on to establish him as the Project's No. 1. "He was a Chatswood academy player, but frustrated at the lack of chances he was getting. They were okay with letting him go, and their loss was our gain."
But perhaps the brightest talent was the one they swept out from under South Laithland's nose - Auburn Tarrant, a farmer's daughter on the Laith, and a fierce attacking midfielder or right winger with an eye for goal. South Laithland and the Extreme Hills both wanted her, but her head was turned at the last second when she found out she could get consistent first-team football in the Second Division. "Auburn was special," said Pallister firmly, "anyone could see that from the start. She's got the ability, and more than that the personality to make it at a high level. The girl's got national team potential in her, I'll tell you and I'll tell anyone else the same."
More bargains followed - Brinemouth expected an overflowing crop of youths, and generously offered Pallister the chance to attend personally. "That's where Mike [Arrowsmith] and Kieran [Ritter] showed up - Brinemouth didn't sign either of them to longer contracts, and decided to give us the second option, because they believed in the Project." Tanith Sutcliff? "Slipped between the cracks of the two big Cranequin clubs - Rook [Given, a scout] saw her representing her school in the state championships, would you believe, when he was seeing his own lad play. Most of the time you have to go to the big clubs - but we came in there first. Sometimes you just need a bit of luck." And that left Michael Kellard, perhaps the most intriguing story of them all.
The 18-year old centreforward had been a bustling centreforward and a promising product of the Rhagant Schadenfreude academy. But he became disillusioned with the game after a few setbacks, and quit to become a carpenter. "So I hear this story from a local in the pub, would you believe, of how this kid was going to be great for Rhagant. Three-month thigh injury, the club stops respecting him, they think he'll be a failed product. But he comes back and keeps firing, but he's disillusioned, and he quits to focus on his apprenticeship full-time. So I tracked the guy down and spoke to him personally, one-on-one. Wanted him in the squad. Free ride to the Sunrise Islands, eh? He said he'd give it a shot."
When the team touched down in the Northern Sunrise Islands to contest the very first Project +90 Cup, they knew they were in with a shot. Still - the undeniable favourites were the home team, +90 NSI itself. Asked how he pulled out the victory against them, and five other teams that tournament, Pallister just laughs. "Don't you think we're running out of time for that, lad?"
We are. So I keep it simple. A closing statement; where do you see the Project in five years?
"Better appreciated, more prestigious and a Second Division mainstay." Pallister allowed himself a grin. "And, of course, still with me at the helm here."
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