Petrie Gives Me A History Lesson

Anthony Petrie made my All-Surprise Team, then he surprised me with a classic e-mail.

I was surprised today when I opened my e-mail and had a current player drop me a line about something I had written a few weeks back. Wollongong Hawk Anthony Petrie left me this little gem of a letter. He is either really bored to have looked up so much stuff on Toowoomba, or a very proud member of the Tenterfield community?

Here is what he said.

"now john i first must admit i am not one for reading up about the game that often. i have other hobbies like boggle and connect four to keep me interested but i have been informed by a close friend that i have made your all surprise team. Thank you very much for this honour i appreciate it. I must however move on to more pressing issues surrounding this selection. I must use one of your quotes "anyone from Tenterfield has done well to get this far." This was hugely crippling for my close friend to read and he struggled at large to tell me what had been said about a town which is widely known as the "Bithplace of our nation." he then moved on and said well where is rillie from? i was nearly too embarrassed to tell him but i finally gave in a said he was from the town that was home of the mountaineers. He said "wasnt that who old POP (Dickerson) used to play for in the tenterfield basketball carnival." i said " poor old POP was the only good thing in the town at that time and felt he needed to come and play in the tenterfield basketball carnival to prove his worth as a ball player." He then said "wasnt that rillie playing in stanthorpe when we were about 6 or 7 years old and everyone said if he played for the tenterfiled rollers he would make it for sure but would struggle to get out of all the pitfalls in toowoomba if he kept going." i replied "thats him." So i also must extend my congratulations to you john for achieveing everything you have in the game. I think you and steven price are the only people ever to make it out of the garden city. When i think about toowoomba i think about the cobb & co museum. i think about the farmers markets the first sunday of every month. i think about abbots antiques and second hand furniture. also who could ever forget there first visit to the danish flower art complex. Also it was hugely disappointing to find out that your slot car centre had finally closed down. Anyway i am sure you are aware of all the great things toowoomba has to offer so i dont need to go any further. But john please take your time to read up about tenterfields rich and proud history and i am sure it will even change your opinion. If nothing else it will educate you further on the history of australia. you are even more than welcome to come and stay a night in tenterfield. But i do suggest that you dont stay at the peter allen inn as you will surely get a bad name for yourself. Anyway John all the best with finally digesting the fact that tenterfield is clearly a more interesting place than toowoomba and anytime the mountaineers want to roll down the highway for a game against the mighty tenterfield rollers it would be a pleasure to show you how a real carnival zone is played during a game and how to best use the amount of fouls you get given at the start of the game."

Yours in tenterfield
Anthony Petrie

I just felt this was too good to let go through to the keeper. I love it, especially when a current player is reading what I'm writing about them.

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