The key moment of Friday night’s grinding win against the Roos for me was the bravery of a few of the players. I’ve probably written enough about Nick Duigan for three seasons, but his bravery was astounding. It was only narrowly topped by Kade Simpson. He backed in to certain harm and held the mark, as his head was basically taken off.

After that mark, I would very much like to borrow Kade.

You see, he’s not ‘my’ player. Kade belongs to my mate Bill. To be honest, I wasn’t on the Kade bandwagon early on. A few of us weren’t. He was too scrawny, surely. He’d never bulk up (well, he hasn’t). It took two seasons for Kade to break into the senior side. And it’s hard to believe now, but he didn’t get a touch in his first three senior games. So you can hardly blame me for not jumping on Kade early. But Bill did. He ‘rated’ him.

So now, whenever Kade drops into a hole, or takes off on a run, or gets onto a roost, or lays a devastating tackle, Bill smiles that smug smile and says ‘my man Kade’. Even from another city, every now and again a text message comes through during a game. Usually it just says, ‘My man Kade’.

A few months ago, my mate from a café in Brunswick mentioned casually that Kade often frequented the establishment. My eyes lit up, betraying my tragic Blue side. He said, ‘leave it with me’ and within a week, I was the proud owner of a disposable coffee cup with ‘Kade Simpson #6’ scrawled on it.

Even then, he isn’t mine. They’re the rules. You’ve gotta get on them first.

Who is ‘your’ Carlton player?