MATTHEW GRAY was straight on the phone to his wife Kathy in Port
Stephens as soon as the teams archery event had finished in
Beijing yesterday.  Kathy is a teacher at St Michael's Primary
School in Nelson Bay.  Unfortunately, the news was not great.
The Australians went down by four points to a red-hot Poland in
the first elimination round.  Not that it mattered a great deal
to Kathy and her students, who make up Gray's own special
supporters group.  "The kids at school have come along for the
ride," he said. "I spoke at St Michael's before I left and the
kids were great. They like to know what is happening and like to
stay in touch."  Australia, comprising Gray, Sky Kim and Michael
Naray, entered the knockout stage ranked ninth, one spot above
the Poles.  Each team fires 24 arrows in total, split into eight
ends of three arrows.  The competition was held in a purpose-
built stadium filled close to its 5000 capacity.  Each shot is
shown on a big screen and rock music is boomed out between ends.
It is quite un