?Tuesday?
With a game on Friday night against Geelong we only had the opportunity for one solid training session at Visy Park this week and that was yesterday. Today it was travel day with the game being played on Thursday night. Our travel routine, no matter where we play, is to travel two days prior to the game. This ensures we get settled and have a full day prior to the game for a training session, team meetings, treatment, massage etc. It does give us more down time but we are used to that now and everyone has their routines while on the road to ensure time is not wasted.
On Tuesday we arrived at Melbourne Airport by noon. Normally, a player fronts the media before we take off but this week "Ratts" (Brett Ratten) did the honours in front of the Virgin check-in counter. This was pretty much the only opportunity for the Melbourne media to speak with Ratts for the week. We all relaxed in the Virgin Lounge prior to the flight and then board which was all good until there was an hour delay, sitting on the tarmac waiting to take off, making the four hour flight just over five hours.
The other disappointment of the day was the weather in Perth. The weather in the west is usually fantastic; warmer than in Melbourne and usually sunny for much for the day. In fact, on our early trip this year, the boys were out enjoying the sun getting after we arrived. Not this time; it was cold and wet so I grabbed a muffin and had a quick kip before dinner. One of our other traditions when interstate is to eat away from the team hotel on our first night and in Perth the venue is Bar One on St Georges Terrace, a short walk from our hotel. As usual, the crew at Bar One didn’t disappoint. A big thanks to everyone there - 40 individual lasagnas for us and they went down a treat! A short walk back to the hotel just before the rain bucketed down and I spent some time catching up with a few of the boys in Kade ‘Vegemite’ Simpson’s room before calling it a night around 9pm. This trip I have my own room which is a bit of a change as my usual interstate room-mate is Murph (Marc Murphy), but obviously being out injured he is not over here in Perth with the team.
??Wednesday
I enjoyed a good night’s sleep and woke about 8am to find out there had been a pretty crazy thunderstorm with strong winds and heavy rain during the night (I must have been tired). I headed down for breakfast in our meeting/meals room at the hotel and read the paper and talked to a few boys sitting at my table while enjoying some pancakes and four slices of toast with vegemite. Breakfast is available for a couple of hours to cater for the different times people wake up and want to get moving.
After breakfast I headed to see our physio for some quick treatment before we all walked up to the WACA for training (a short 10-minute stroll on the edge of the city). Unfortunately, training coincided with Game 1 of the NBA finals, and being an Oklahoma City Thunder fan I was obviously pretty keen to keep a close eye on the score. Getting ready for training and after a quick meeting before heading onto the ground I was able to get an update on the NBA scores from Mark Homewood, our rehabilitation physio, who was watching the game live on his iPhone while we were in the meeting.
We had about 40 minutes out on the track, which was just enough to get the body moving and tinker a few final things in preparation for our match against West Coast. There was a positive mood during the session and afterward knowing that ‘Carrats’ (Andrew Carrazzo) and ‘Scotto’ (Heath Scotland) were right to play. Both are really important, not only the way they play but also their leadership and experience. It is fantastic to see ‘Carrats’ return after being out for so long and knowing how hard he has worked to get back as soon as he possible. As for ‘Scotto’, he is amazing! ‘The old man’ is so tough and durable, as well as a great player. Originally it was thought he may miss up to 3 weeks but he has missed just one game!
The other thing that makes a training session in Perth so positive is the supporters. Once again there were hundreds of fans at the WACA to watch the session, and remember this was a Wednesday morning. I am sure there were a number of children who were given special permission to miss a couple of hours of school to attend the session with their parents. Thanks so much for the support and we hope it helps keep the great Carlton support alive and well in WA.
After a few final shots at goal we all spent time chatting to the fans, (who informed me that the Thunder got up!) before heading in for our team meeting where we ran through our final game instructions and were each given our roles. Once that was done we walked back to the hotel for lunch, lasagna and a chicken sandwich before hitting the pool for some recovery.
Everyone kind of goes their own way on the day before a game, it is important to try and get out of the hotel and get your mind off the footy and relax. As usual a number of players were able to catch up with family and friends. My aunty and uncle live in Perth, so they swung past the hotel and took me out for coffee before I joined some of the boys for an afternoon bite to eat with one of the Carlton greats, Anthony Koutoufides, who is over in Perth to speak at one of Carlton's official supporter functions.
We were back at the hotel by about 4pm as I had a massage and treatment scheduled before another quick nap then it was dinner time. Standard meal the night before a game - Spaghetti Bolognese and salad. After two bowls of this and a bowl of fruit salad I was well and truly ready to put my feet up and watch the State of Origin match and lucky for me my adopted team, NSW got up!??
Thursday
Always feel excited on game day, after all, this is what we do, play football, and it was no different this morning in Perth, waking up early and heading down for breakfast in the team meeting/meals room. Everyone was in great spirits with guys coming in to eat at different times. On game day the breakfast is available for even longer than the day before as guys have different match day routines and it is designed to ensure breakfast is available to fit in with everyone’s routine.
My breakfast consisted of scrambled eggs, toast and yogurt and sitting around chatting with players and some of the staff that were also down for breakfast at the same time. Following breakfast we had our line meetings and naturally I was in the line meeting with the defenders and the defensive line coach Gavin Brown. This ensure we all know our roles and responsibilities for the game and for me it was confirming my role to play on Luke Shuey who was returning to the side after a week’s suspension. After the line meeting, forwards and midfielders also had their line meetings, we had a full team meeting. This reinforces what is expected of the team and individuals.
At 11am we headed out as a team for a brisk 20-minutes walk along the Swan River, thankfully the rain held off and the sun was shining during the walk. This is about getting moving and making sure we don’t just sit around the hotel all day waiting for the game. Looking at the sky during the walk I was not sure we would be missing the rain at Patersons Stadium during the game later in the afternoon/evening, the forecast was not great and the sky certainly looked threatening during our walk.
Back at the hotel I had a small bowl of rice and some chicken before heading upstairs to my room to begin my game preparations. We were due in the lobby at 3.15pm so just before 3pm I nipped up to the Subway store near the hotel to get my standard pre-game meal; a grilled chicken foot-long subway. I have one of these before every match and have been doing so since I first arrived at the club. As is usual the mood was quiet on the bus, like a number of boys, I like to put the headphones on and try and keep my focus while travelling to the ground. I was certainly right about one thing and that was the rain. On the way to the ground it was pouring. Thankfully the walk from the bus to the rooms is very short as otherwise we would have been very wet arriving at Patersons Stadium.
The usual pre-game routines for everyone with some interest in what the weather was like outside prior to our on-ground warm-up. There was one change to the selected side with Shaun Hampson having to withdraw due to tightness in his back. He was replaced in the side by Aaron Joseph. The ground was certainly wet for the on-ground warm up and there was a little rain as we prepared for the game. Inside after the on-field warm up we have our final preparations including a brief meeting with the coach in the coaches room and then more warm up work inside before heading out onto the ground.?
As for the game the only thing I can really say is that disappointing is not a strong enough word, it was another gut-wrenching result after working so hard. The rooms were naturally very quiet it is such a contrast to the last time we were at Patersons Stadium and enjoyed a victory.
After the game we were back to the hotel for post-game meal - steak and vegetables, before heading out to the airport to catch the ‘red-eye’ flight back to Melbourne. As we now have a couple of days off the majority were keen to get back to Melbourne as soon as possible. A few guys took the opportunity to stay in Perth to catch up with family and friends but most of us arrived back in Melbourne this morning (Friday) at 5.30am.
Now that this is finished I am heading off for some sleep.
