To me the off-season period between the last draft and first practice match is like attending a one-year-old’s birthday party, every day for about eight weeks.
These mind numbing days seem to bleed into the next, and you constantly check your phone for any news even remotely associated with our great game of Aussie rules.
You find yourself discussing with anyone who is unfortunate enough to be around you, Instagram pictures of AFL players on holiday or hypothetical footy trips away while hunched over the fold-out draw for the 2015 season like an army general surveying a map.
It’s an uncomfortable feeling, like arriving to a party before your friends and not knowing anyone, or when a random dog sniffs at your crotch and there’s eye contact between the two of you.
Well, that time is finished for the year, the pre-season has started and although the games have about as much relevance as Matthew Lloyd condemning a player staging for a free kick in front of goal, all true footy fans are more excited than a greyhound trainer at a pet store’s closing down sale.
But this time of the year brings hope to all teams and supporters.
For the contenders it’s a chance to play a few promising youngsters while easing veteran champs into the long season ahead. For teams who occupy the middle rungs of the ladder it’s an opportunity to build momentum to hopefully launch an assault for a spot in the finals.
Clubs that find themselves at the bottom of the table, this time of the year provides a crucial opportunity to generate excitement which can spark optimism for long lost fans to join up as members. For Essendon it’s another chance to put themselves above the game, line the pockets of lawyers and give false hope to state-based players and recently discarded AFL list cloggers.
Things to look out for
Players who finished last year on a less than satisfactory note. I’m thinking of two Tigers players Tyrone ‘Round House’ Vickery and Reece ‘Scull Punch’ Conca, as well as a former Blue turned Lion Mitch Robinson. These players need to prove to their teammates that they won’t cause amnesia to an opposition player if they dare turn their back on them and that they don’t act all Mitch Robinson.
How will some teams deal with the loss of players
The Gold Coast Suns said goodbye to high profile league convert Karmichael Hunt, and his move to rugby union mustn’t have been as lucrative as his AFL contract as I have heard he is running a Coke distribution business. Although Coke vending machines are profitable, selling carbonated beverages in an already crowded market will be tough. So good luck Karmichael.
Who will make decisions they will regret?
Even the most rational people occasionally do things that in hindsight they wish they could erase, a few years ago I went hunting with former Test fast bowler Glenn McGrath. Sure I have a plethora of ivory and a stuffed baboon that holds my TV remote now, but mistakes were made.
Clubs can set standards, both good and bad, early on in a season and an error like not deflating Lewis Jetta’s head shortly after the 2012 triumph has cost the Swans dearly in the last two years.
So bring in the footy, it may just be pre-season but it’s better than watching a group of socially disabled toss bags cook, renovate or groom Merv Hughes’ back hair.
Who’s in your ultimate team? Pick the best team and compete with other fans for daily prizes on Draftstars. For the best odds on the game try out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Think. Is this a bet you really want to place? Set a deposit limit.
A bit of spice between the Pies veteran and young Don Ben Hobbs!
A wonderful show of emotion from the Magpies coach on a sacred day.
West Coast's tribunal appeal for Tom Barrass' dangerous tackle failed, with the club arguing similar "exceptional and compelling circumstances" that got Brisbane's Charlie Cameron…
North star Nick Larkey tried his impression of AFL journo Damian Barrett on the '200 PLUS' podcast and left Bomber Sam Draper in stitches.
The AFL has confirmed the right decision was made after a ball ricocheted off a boundary umpire's leg during the third quarter of Melbourne's…
Daniel Turner kicked three goals in his first game for 2024, just his fourth game for the club in his career. Even though he's…
