Oh, what joy!

We were switched on, hard at it and polished – and that was just the crowd at Bells Hotel in Melbourne watching the match on Saturday night. Put simply, we stuck to our game plan. We played for each other. It was a complete team effort. There were a couple of standout performances, but I’m not in the business of singling out individuals.

On the field, the Crows set up their 31-point win over the Lions with an early third-quarter blitz: Perrie, Thompson, Bock and Griffin all getting amongst it. There were some humorous moments in the game as well. A couple of Brisbane players had clearly just completed their first semester at the Gavin Wanganeen School of Acting, passing with flying colours. In fact I may even enrol myself and see if I can learn how to jerk my neck when someone steps on my toe in my Monday night Pilates class.

If he were around today Joseph Pilates would have been pleased with the strength, flexibility and mental awareness of the Crows on Saturday night. Goody was everywhere, the ever-reliable Tyson Edwards marked his 250th with 33 disposals and Welshy booted three in his 150th game. (And Nathan Bassett gave us his best impersonation of Odette, the cursed Queen of the Swan maidens, in the final two minutes of the match).

Most of the Mother’s Day round went according to plan – the Kangaroos won their fourth-straight match, the Pies were too good for the Blues, Port brushed aside Richmond and Ross Lyon scored a win against his old club. In the second-best result of the round the Cats gave the Eagles a rare taste of defeat, the Bulldogs inflicted more pain on Neale Daniher’s men and Fremantle skipped away from the Hawks.

Later on Sunday night the 24-hour rule kicked in and I started my preparation for this week’s match against Richmond at Football Park. A wave of terror went through my body. Didn’t we play the Tigers in round eight last year? I suddenly felt the need to yell “man up” which I later had to explain to my new neighbours from France. I’m sure they’ll get used to my random cries in the middle of the night as the season unfolds. I can recall after our three-point loss to Richmond last year I had to go straight to Melbourne’s Lonsdale Street to officially welcome the Greek National Soccer Team to Australia. Normally the prospect of discussing the off-side rule with fifteen or so smooth-skinned European men excites me but not on that particular occasion. I had a bad case of post-match blues.

That’s enough reminiscing for now. Bring it in close, team. I want the same sort of commitment from each and every one of you that we showed against the Lions. See you at the pub on Friday night.

The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the club.