Welcome to the

Bush Babe Calendar order page.

Thanks so much for dropping by...

The inaugural (2010) The Beauty of the Bush calendar is now OFFICIALLY on sale.

It is filled with images of the Australian countryside (known locally as 'the Bush'), it's freaky animals, hard-workin' people and gorgeous landscapes. And I have thrown a bit of Aussie horse action into the mix too.

It's a limited edition so it's first in, first served.

And I will sign each calendar personally (indicate if you'd rather an unsigned copy)

Whether you'd like one (or ten) it's easy-peasy!
Here's how....

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TO ORDER:

1. Send me an email at bushbabeaustralia@gmail.com with:
- your NAME
- FULL POSTAL ADDRESS (where you'd like the calendar to go)
- HOW MANY COPIES of the calendar you would like to purchase.

(I will reply with the total cost - the calendar price itself doesn't vary but the postage does, depending on where you are and how heavy the parcel ends up.)

2. I will send you an invoice from my PayPal account (for all y'all overseas) and it will send an email to you with details for payment. I can also arrange for direct deposit with Aussie customers if necessary.

COST: Each calendar is $29 plus postage*

*varies but within Australia: from $5; overseas from $10 for regular mail. Multiple copies to a single address will of course cost less per item.

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DON'T WAIT TOO LONG!

Be sure to get in early (cut-off for orders will be December 4 - but keep in mind that to get your calendars there before the New Year (or Christmas if it's a gift) I need to have lots of postage time. I will do my very best to get everything in the mail as soon as your funds clear, but don't forget that I live at whoop-whoop and our mail run takes place only twice a week!

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Thanks so much for your interest in this little project. I'd love to hear back from you when your calendar arrives ... and I hope you enjoy a taste of my world throughout 2010.

Cheers!
BB

If anyone is mad enough to wish to put a button up on their blog to link to this page here is the image to copy into your sidebar:

(this version is 300 px wide) and the appropriate link is http://bushbabe.blogspot.com/2009/10/bush-babe-calendar.html

The Journey of the Calendars (and my Sweet Readers)

Disclaimer: I promise this will be the last calendar post for ... well... a while.

Pinky promise.

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My calendar project has been a lot of fun - a lot of fiddling and addressing and mailing out, but a lot of fun and joy also. The batch I got printed up seemed to fly out the door almost as soon as they arrived (I have clung onto one for me and a couple for Christmas gifts, but otherwise, they are GONE baby!).

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Among the amazing things about this project has been tracing the journeys of each calendar. I said originally how much it would tickle me to know where they end up - and some people (my wonderful readers mostly) have come up with the goods. Not only do I know where they are going (having addressed each one by hand) but I am getting to see where they landed!

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It's something I really didn't anticipate or expect... that people would take the time to let me know how they felt when they opened the package, or even take photos of the calendar in their home and with the person for whom they had bought it.

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This is where they (sort of) began ...

...pictured arriving at Granite Glen mailbox after printing, and thoroughly investigated by Violet. I don't have pictures of the chaos that ensued as I addressed each one. It was big and it was glittery and silver hearty. Messy. No-one needs to see that. Heh.

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The first image to land in my inbox was of our sweet Melbourne gent with his BB planner for 2010, given to him by his lovely daughter.

He won the contest for the first posted calendar to reach its destination. No prize I'm afraid... just a second run with your smiling mug in this blog!

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Then the fabulous Kate of Utah Zen shared shots of her copy in... well... Utah, USA.

(I kinda get goosebumps when I realise how far some of these things are travelling!)

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Apparently Kate liked it!

And she really liked her birthday month too...

Kate's a long-time reader and all-round nice chick. We need to find her a hot Aussie horseman to settle down with. (She hasn't asked me to do this, but she's a mad Jim-the-Man-From-Snowy-River fan and I thought I'd just put some feelers out in case any of you have a brother who needs a sweet girl!). She will possibly consider hot Utah horsemen at a pinch. Sorry Kate, I'll shut up now!

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Kate shares the month of birth with Mr Incredible. Which is why I used this shot of him mustering in the rain for June - it's an image that brings back nice (wet weather) memories. Cause boy do we need the rain now! But this is not a weather post, so I'll leave that stream of consciousness right there, okay? (Man, I'm rambling today, no?)

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A little closer to home, Wendy from Southern Queensland felt the urge to share also.

Here is her calendar posed gorgeously with some amazing roses.

Her own blooms, I assume? I can almost smell them from here... mmmmmm.

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I know the calendars have also made it to Paradise, Canada and Alaska and Arizona and Switzerland too. If you have one and are happy to share, send me a pic. Your smiling face would be nice, but if you want to be incognito that's fine - maybe a backdrop of snow or desert for contrast?

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Of course I have had a failure - two calendars were returned by Australia Post with a 'not known at this address' note. Email me please Accidental Housewife!! And Bill, it's in the mail I PROMISE... that dastardly hairy, smiling ears pony held me up. Naughty thing.

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So that's it folks.

The Calendar report for 2009.

They're all gone.

But I suspect there could be a 2011 version in the pipelines.

I'll leave you with the Christmas image for 2010...

Thanks again y'all. You make my day, daily.

I have the best darned readers in the universe!

It's a goer...

OK. It's done.

The calendar has been wrested and wrangled and sorted, and is off to the printers this week. While I had a little bit of an idea of the fininicky work behind this kind of endeavor (thanks to my fundraising efforts for Heartkids when Dash was a littlie) it was still kinda painful working out my apostrophe's in holidays for three different countries. '

Gads.

Here is a sample date page (requested by Gemisht)... please note it is unedited (apostrophe disaster) and I have fiddled with fonts since this version. But it gives you a feel for the layout.

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Orders are now being officially being taken - some earlybirds are in already (thanks guys and gals) and will be first cabs off the rank. (Wonder how many more metaphors can I jam into one sentence? Heh.) The order instructions are here (its easy) for those keen on a enjoying some bush magic on their walls over the next year. (Mr Incredible wants to know how many loo doors it'll end up on. I have promised to run a poll once they are all out!)

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GOOD NEWS: I have managed to keep the price below $30 per calendar which I am kind of excited about. If I was ordering 10 000 of the them I could make it a tad cheaper, but I have to say, I am NOT mailing out 10 000 envelopes before Christmas. Even if 10 000 people wanted them. (Which is a crazy idea anyway!) But the mailing...the addressing, the checking, the sticking down of hundreds and hundreds of parcels... oi! I would have to call in reinforcements and Mr Incredible has made it clear he's not licking piles of envelope flaps. *pouts*

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So instead of cheap, you get limited edition, personally signed calendars.

For just $29 on some really great heavy paper (no curling down, mid-year!).

And you can know it will have been carefully guided into an envelope by my own 'delicate' hands, and handed to my fabulous mail-lady at the red cream can mailbox.

Which I kinda hope looks a little more like this...

Sing with me: I'm dreaming of a WET Christmas...
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To be serious for a nanosecond, I wanted to share the note I penned for the back the 2010 calendar. To share how passionate I am about the images it contains...

This calendar is a reflection of my enduring love of the Australian bush - its unique landscapes, its amazing animals, its action-packed sport and its resilient fun-loving people.
I grew up in the bush, and wherever I travelled, wherever I worked or lived, it has always called to me. I hope you get a sense of this incredible place- even if you cannot experience it first-hand - through this calendar, in 2010.
(Bush Babe)
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I must've had a chardy* before writing that!!

Leaving you with a couple of images that didn't quite make the calendar cut.

Maybe the 2011 could be the Love Licks edition?

*furrows brows in deliberation*

BB

*Chardy = Chardonnay in Oz speak

Calendar Girl...

I have been a wee bit distracted with a little project over the past week or so...

my folding basket is erupting like Vesuvius

and my garden is crispy at the corners

and my patio is ankle-deep in leaves

to prove my level of distraction.

Sometimes my life just like totally gets in the way of my 'art'...

or, as my hubby likes to call it:

'are you still on that computer?'
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I asked a little while ago if readers thought I should put together a calendar of Bush Babe shots - images of some of the strange characters, amazing outlooks and breath-taking action from my life here in rural Australia. And apparently you thought I should.

All 25 of you... heh!
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Now I am not expecting to do a Pioneer Woman here, and hit the New York Times best-seller list (*applause, applause*) but it would tickle me to know that someone, somewhere, is enjoying a 'Bush Babe moment'.

Perhaps they might find themselves smiling at a cheeky goanna, as I did when I shot this fellow (with a Nikon) on a drive through the paddock one day.

Or gazing in awe at a massive wedge tail eagle slowly lifted

from the burnt-orange dirt road,

as I did when travelling with my family late one afternoon.

Or even admiring the saturated hues of a red-fruited cactus

against a vivid blue sky,

as I did while exploring with Mr Incredible one day.

In my (overactive) imagination, this calendar might infiltrate

some corners of my home state (Alpha or Redcliffe or Atherton),

trickle through some mailbox elsewhere in my country (Adelaide or Perth or Tassie),

and maybe even find its way into some far-flung wall of a home

in Pennsylvania or Paris or Tulsa or Montreal.

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How utterly COOL would that be?

(Heck, I'll be stoked if Dash's teacher comes good on a order for one!)
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I admit that I have been a little obsessed with this project (those around me here will testify to this unreservedly) and I managed to chose most of the month's images based on those you suggested here and here.

(Thanks so much! What the heck would I do without you?)
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The front page has caused a little more pain -

and a whole lotta earache for my long-suffering hubby,

and random family members and hapless visitors to Granite Glen -

having morphed from this:

to this:

to this:

And then ...

Mr Incredible (who bills himself as the 'concept man')

came up with this cracker idea:

He suggested I take a snap of my trusty battered Nikon

and add one of the favourite images from this blog.

It took some fiddlin...

but here 'tis:

You like-ee?

I reckon I married a keeper.

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It's being sent to the printers this week...

Any more advice peoples?

Lord knows I cannot make a decision on my own!

The great CALENDAR question...

OK - am working on a bush calendar...

using some of these photos cleverly selected by y'all (and here too).

But I need some advice - AGAIN!!

(How did I ever make a decision before blogging?)

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The calendars would cost between $37 - $45 (Australian) plus postage

(for a really nicely-printed product on heavy paper).

Is that a reasonable price to pay?

I don't want to compromise quality for cost...

but... if no-one buys any?

Thoughts people?

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To help, here is what it might look like...

This is the large version 11x 17" (centre-bound)

And what a month inside the large version might look like:

And this is the smaller version (8 x 11"or about A4 size) :

And a view of a month:

HELP...

Am taking a poll on the sidebar too to help me decide Yay or Nay..

Perhaps if people go crazy, I can order more and the price will come down for a bulk order?

Hmmmm....

Oh, and another thing...

Does an Aussie Bush calendar HAVE to have a kangaroo photo?

Or two?

I wait patiently for your input, with worms on my tongue...

(that's 'bated breath', apparently)

Weekend Updates

Well, it's been quite a week.

Random updates to follow.

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Update #1 - The Ongoing Poddy Saga

As you may already know if you have read the comments from yesterday's post, we lost our little redhead poddy last night. We think pneumonia may have claimed her - whatever it was, antibiotics and sugared-up, egged-up milk weren't helping her.

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It was a bit heart-breaking, as she was a lovely little heifer and seemed so strong when she first arrived here on Thursday. Violet seems to have taken her passing reasonably well (lots of lead-up warning may have helped) while Dash was just very curious about the carcase this morning after he and I discovered the still, stiff body early this morning.

Lots of poking and furrowed brow action.

I took no photos of her at any stage.

I still struggle a little with this side of things.

I'm such a sook sometimes.

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The fact is that we hardly ever have poddies here -

our cows are pretty good mothers and rarely have calving problems.

So that, combined with about two decades of city life,

means I have a lot to learn about caring for them.

It's a learning curve that darned near gives me whiplash sometimes.

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I still have the little black bull calf here - he is gradually gaining strength after his shaky start in life and is quite a cuddler. Of course he gets pretty overwhelming attention from two little humans so he has no fear...

He is very keen on drinking from an (unwilling) milk donor rather than from the bottle. I am trying not to feel rejected - honestly, the look on this kid's face when I hold the teat in his mouth to tip the formula in is pretty unmistakable.

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It's a little bit: "Are you completely serious woman?"

It's a tad: "Ugh. Brussel sprouts AGAIN?"

and it's all Crocodile Dundee:

"Well you can DRINK it, but it tastes like sh**!"

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Update #2... The Sheeky Shetland on Probation

Rob Roy has just come out of the naughty corner.

After raiding silos and behaving very badly at Pony Club,

our resident Bad Boy did penance in the yards for a few days.

Animal activists should remain calm.

He got far more attention there than when he is in paddock.

I hope he remembered a few manners, and I suspect he

MAY have lost a couple of centimetres round his ample middle

but is not up for any Jenny Craig awards just yet.

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Update #3... The Amazing Mates Department

Let's talk calendars.

The first run is *deep breath* pretty much sold out.

I know. I am gobsmacked.

If you have not ordered and wanted to, drop me a line via email

and I will see what I can do.

I doubt I will do a second run (unless someone orders 40!).

I am more than happy to attempt to get the orders I have correctly into the post.

(If you know me at all, you will understand that paperwork is not my strong point).

I would REALLY like to thank everyone who has supported my

by buying the Beauty of the Bush calendar

and/or placing a button on their blog for me*.

I am speechless at your generosity.

A shot that didn't make the calendar - much to my chagrin - I needed a 13th month!

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Another one that ALMOST made it.

This fabulous pony - chosen as a favourite subject by many -

survived a bad case of colic recently.

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I am not making much financially from the calendar venture,

but I am shamelessly revelling in the satisfaction of knowing people

actually like my stuff enough to look at it year-round.

It's very humbling really.

So thankyou.

I know I am a very lucky girl.

Signing off in heartfelt gratitude,

BB

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*HONORABLE MENTIONS

My wonderful blog buddies who buttoned up for me:

Debby from Life's Funny Like That

Jayne from Our Great Southern Land

Kate from Utah Zen

Tracey from Trace Elements

and thanks to

Rhu from Rhubarb Whine

Kate from Chronicles of a Country Girl

for the mentions.

Pre-change CONTEST...

CONTEST CLOSED!!!

~

So here is the deal...

I'm not exactly BORED with blogging

And I'm not exactly SHORT of bloggable material...

And I'm by no means disheartened by my commenters' input here...

In fact those three things couldn't be further from the truth.

Each gives me a buzz that's hard to describe.

You need to know these things.

But something needs to change...

And I have decided that it will.

Soon.

VERY soon.
~

But in the meantime, I want to try something...

you remember my last calendar?

The one I thought no-one would buy

and instead went within a couple of weeks?

Well, I have decided to do another.

And this time I intend to offer them a little earlier in the year

(realising that late November was not an optimum time

for you lot to get your Christmas preps completed!)

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But I need your help...

I find it impossible to select shots from my massive archive.

If you were to hang something of mine on your wall,

any (horizontal) image from my archives that says:

Australian bush or

Action or

Fun or

Amazing to you,

WHAT WOULD IT BE?

Would it be something along these lines?

(Hello darling Yvette)

Or this?

Maybe something colourful and rainy-day?

Or perhaps THIS?

Heh.

~

Enter your suggestion in comments

- make as many suggestions as you like

remember that each entry gives you a seperate chance to win!

If possible, leave links in your suggestion

to either the post containing the photo you like

or the flickr address of the image itself.

(Note, if you click on my photos in the blog,

it should take you to my Flickr site -

except very old images which are Blogger-based).

~

I will do a random integer selection at MIDNIGHT Wednesday (GG time)from the resulting list of comments. The winner will get TWO 2011 Bush Babe calendars (including postage) - that's almost $100 worth of prize!

~

So what are you waiting for, my friends...

suggest away!

That was amazing guys - thanks for taking the time to trawl and find your faves...

I will do the Random Integer thing and have it up (as soon as the kids are on the schoolbus!)

Having a Heart (and a cuppa)...

As many of you know, our Dash is a heartkid.

This means he was born with heart defects - just like another six babies born today in Australia. And as you may already have learned, he needed two heart surgeries (and many months of tube-feeding) to help him survive.

If you haven't already read his story, you can find it here and here.

Please, take a cuppa with you before you dive into the saga.

Trust me on this!

...

There are hundreds and thousands of kids just like Dash - who suffer from heart conditions and need serious surgery and treatment. The stastics are pretty frightening - with heart issues killing more kids under five than any other condition. But Dash is not just a statistic - not just the "one in a hundred" babies whose parents will be devestated by the news that their infant is not 'perfect'.
...

He is now a seven-year-old dynamo:

handsome as hell,

a rough-and-tumble kid who adores his little sister

(although the odd pulversising does take place),

who desperately wants to ride a horse as well Daddy,

is as sweet and thoughtful a son as any mother could dream of.

He is very real and very present -

a fact which was NOT always a foregone conclusion,

and one for which I give thanks on a daily basis.

And in honour of this energetic miracle,

I will be holding a Cuppa For Kids at Granite Glen soon.

Friends will share smoko with me and put a gold coin towards HeartKids.

I can vouch for the group - they helped keep me sane in the darker hours of our heart journey, and I have done fundraising with them on numerous occasions.
One of these efforts was a HeartKids calendar I began six years ago.

This was the pic of Dash we used in that first edition...

And this is Dash with his amazing paediatric cardiologist, Dr J...

...and the incredible Alan Langer (rugby league legend) as we handed over the cheque from that first calendar. The calendar was started to try and get some action into researching WHY kids get heart defects. And despite raising many thousands of dollars for research, we still don't really know.
...

I have put a link in the sidebar to share the message about our heartkids and how you can help. Cuppa for Kids runs throughout July and August - please click the link to explore the activity or check out the Heartkids Queensland site - there are stories there that will stop you in your tracks. Maybe, if you are so inclined, you could have your own Cuppa for Kids?

And if you live overseas, consider helping out your local heartkids support group.

They are worth your effort, however big or small.

I shall climb down off my soapbox now.

And put the kettle on!

...

(PS More city adventures coming up soon...)

Holy Moly - and Calendar Contest extension

I am astonished.

Astounded.

Gobsmacked.

Like.. Wow!

You lot have been FABULOUS.

I think you should all be editors, actually.

~

Your choice of shots has greatly helped me narrow down the array for my little annual project - the Bush Babe calendar. In case you are new and the comments in the last post look like a lot of gobbledegook I asked readers to share the images they would most like to see on their walls. They copied the links from the explorer bar for me. Basically saving me about a thousand hours of time and headaches trying to decide myself.

Cause I am lazy like that. (Newsflash there!).

~

And because it's such hard work, trawling through my mountain of photos. and because I love your work, and because I need a TAD more time to finish my latest little blog-project, I am extending the deadline for comment entries by 12 hours.

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I will set my random thingy up to choose the winner of the BB Calendar Contest after midnight tonight (Wednesday Oz time).

~

And I will post up the winner Thursday morning, soon as I wipe the sleep from my eyes.

Thought I'd share another landscapey shot (which some of you seem to love so much) which I will be blogging about next week...

Purty hey?

Don't forget to enter the contest... click here!

Winner of the Calendar Contest...

And the winner of the Calendar contest is....

Comment number 5 - Jenni!!
Congrats, my friend - Jenni is actually one of my longest-term readers.
She is an American from somewhere in the vicinity of PW's place
(but not Oklahoma, right Jen? Something about Kansas?)...
and she came up with no less that 19 suggestions for my calendar images.
Gads Jen - how long did THAT take you?
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I really appreciate everyone's input in this challenge - and each and every suggestion has been taken on board. A theme has definitely emerged. I will keep you posted on developments and shall share some of the most popular images in a post very soon.
~
I was actually dreading doing this draw in case Random Integer turned up one of MY comments, in which case I would have had a re-draw. But luckily it threw out a 'proper' comment number... yay!
~
Jenni will have to be patient for this prize as I haven't even designed it yet. But there will be two calendars with your name on them when the printers do their thing, I promise!
~
Thanks so much for taking part - I cannot tell you how blown away I am that you all took precious time to help me out.
Hugs
BB

Football - a tribute on the side

Tonight, just quickly, I will veer from bulls and bush stories, to our TV screens. The footy is on tonight - rugby league. Featuring Queensland's own Broncos and Victoria's Melbourne Storm. To many of you this possibly means little... if you have been reading Jeanie's blog lately, you'll have a clue what I am talking about and possibly be less than impressed with our 'local' team.

...

I can totally see where my sister is coming from, but I need to add my own little addendum. I am watching this particular game, not because I am a mad Broncos fan (I like 'em well enough, but am hardly devoted) but because of their coach.

Many moons ago, in my previous life, I was a news photographer. And on occasions, I was a journo. And among my assorted chores, as a shooter on a regional newspaper, was to interview and photograph visiting footy teams. Among them were the Wallabies (Aussie rugby union team - I was definitely an energetic volunteer to cover these boys!) and the Brisbane Broncos. I was mildly intrigued by the Broncs... they had burst onto the national scene and were mixing it up with the best of them. And in charge, a poker-faced maestro who led them like the pied piper. Tall, lanky, inscrutable. Maroon cap pulled hard and low over a beaky nose, blue eyes unblinking and piercing... Wayne Bennett.

...

My job was to take photos of him in action. "For Christ's sake, get a pic of him smiling, or something!" our chief of staff had barked. Right. Sure. Wayne Bennett smiling. No worries, I muttered. I'll just grab a shot of the Loch Ness monster while I'm at it! But off I went anyway. Battered Nikon in hand and courage wound up tight in my chest.

...

He was exactly as expected. Monosyllabic. Not quite rude, but brief, to the point, no chatter. So I left him be and concentrated on his "troops" doing their drills. And I asked for his advice. Best angles for photos, who I needed to focus on. He warmed very slightly. Then thawed a little more as we discussed skills and new players who might be best featured. He was in his element, not subject anymore, but coach. I can't recall if I actually captured the half-smile on film that day. But I caught it in my mind. It was a little victory. It was enough.

...

Many years later, when I was no longer a news hound but a mum, I met him again. In a very different circumstance. I was attending a calendar launch to promote awareness of heartkids (after our own harrowing heart journey with Dash) - I was the photographer of 12 very special little battlers and the calendar was to be launched by the Broncos. Wayne Bennett was there, silently directing his players as they warmed up for a training session. He didn't remember me (I didn't expect him to - the man sees dozens of journos a week!) but was happy to help. He called two players aside - Petero Civonoceva and Darren Lockyer - and told me to be gentle with them. Ex-captain and star player Allan Langer was also sent our way to give us the best chance of getting some headlines for our little cause. He told me quietly he thought it might do his boys a little good too. He gave me that half-smile as he turned back to his team.

...

If you dig a little deeper, you will find this man, this ex-cop and coach extraordinaire, is a whole lot more than a footy identity. He is father to two disabled kids, a strict non-drinker (he had an alcoholic father) and non-gambler. (See Wikipedia background here). He also co-wrote a wonderful, inspiring book: Don't Die with the Music in You. That excellent TV show (a rare thing!) Australian Story did an amazing depiction of his life, showcasing the qualities and circumstances that have made him the Super Coach. He has spent 21 years as coach of one team in an age when players and coaches skip from club to club and country to country, led by a paycheck. To me, he is a man of substance in a world of saccharine 'players'.

...

So tonight I watch the Broncos, not because I think one team is any better or worth following than another. But because tonight the Broncos (even their silly, silly boys who went astray last week) play for their coach, as he prepares to stand down from the helm.

A truly great man

Go Broncos!

Do him proud!

...

Post script: The Broncos lost. In the very last minute of the game. And every Broncos players' heart broke.

I look forward to the movie.

Adieu, Mr Bennett.