At lunchtime today members of the Brumbies team were signing copies of Michael McKernan’s history of their Super 12 years. I arrived half an hour after it was all supposed to start and found a table set up outside Dymocks in Belconnen Mall and a long queue of fans. Apparently they were waiting for George Gregan to arrive before they could start.
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Once they got started, I was surprised at the variety of people who were lining up for autographs on a variety of things — not just the book advertised but other books, magazines, jerseys and footballs of various sizes.
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Mr McKernan, a local author, was also at the signing and was in charge of writing the dedications in each of the books.
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The mother of these two boys took them through with a book and then, when she got to George Gregan at the end, produced a Wallabies jersey that I think may have been a special present for the older boy. Most of the kids I saw there seemed to be in awe of the players but still excited.
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The guys were kind enough to give me a grin just before I left. I’m reliably informed these are (L-R) Adam Ashley-Cooper, Patrick Phibbs, Mark Gerard, Stephen Larkham, Clyde Rathbone, Bill Young and George Gregan (and for the record, I knew three of them).
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