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Palmyra has a potential new Rugby phenomenon on its hands.
Twentytwo year old Possum Prakesh arrived at the club last Tuesday week and gained the immediate respect of his new clubmates. Standing at 6'4', weighing in at 127 kilos, and with the body shape of a boxer, he was always likely to be a useful player, but on the training field and in the club gym he stood out as a class of his own.
This kid can run 100 metre in under 11 seconds (unofficially timed), can bench press 220 kilos, and has a deadly accurate 35 metre handpass.
He played for one of our fourth grades last weekend, (club policy for new players) and scored 27 points in one 30 minute half of rugby, including four tries, two conversions and a penalty (from 55 metres out).
Possum was dragged off by the coach at half time out of fairness to the opposition, not because of his high scoring ability, but because of the ferocity of his big hits and tackles, which while strickly within the rules, were likely to injure the less than robust competition in that grade.
Possum was born in Ethiopia, where his father was an Indian diplomat, and arrived in Australia in February with his mother and three brothers, to start a five year degree in medicine. He played much of his early rugby at college in the UK, and played a season of club rugby in South Africa before coming to Australia to study.
This lad is awesome, and I predict he will be wearing a Pally no. 15 second grade jumper this weekend. Look out for him.