IT'S FRAUGHTwith danger but every season I do it (surreptitiously, of course). I don’t tellanyone what I’m up to and I certainly don’t reveal its contents. It’s a pact strictlybetween me and the AFL fixture stuck on my fridge. It’s no one else’s businessunless I choose to disclose it. (And this has been known to happen after a fewtoo many crushed grapes.)

It’s a yearly ritual. A few days out from round one I pencilin where our 12-plus wins are going to come from. I go about my taskmethodically with a studious eye, avoiding the temptation to circleuncontrollably. And for some reason this year I circled round 14 againstHawthorn so vigorously that I punctured the cardboard. Was this just anexplosion of pre-season nerves or something more profound?

On Saturday night I knocked back a rhetorical invitation tojoin the tarot-reading girlfriends for an evening of meaningful conversation inbetween drooling over Marcello in Underthe Tuscan Sun. The girls know I’m unreliable, at best, between the monthsof March and September when the footy’s on. They also know I’m rather partialto the amorous Italian antique dealer, but even he was relegated to second-billingstatus on the weekend. It was a no-brainer. Marcello had to wait. Instead Ijoined the usual suspects at the pub for our season-defining game againstHawthorn.

From the opening bounce I found myself breathing easily. I’mnot sure if this had more to do with the way we started or the new non-smokinglaws in Victoria.Whatever the case, it felt good. Make that sensational. The most uplifting partof it all was seeing Roo lead with conviction, mark strongly and convert to finishwith four goals. It’s what we’ve all been waiting for. It would also be remissnot to highlight Tyson Edwards’ 41 possessions and Kris Massie’s superb job onBuddy Franklin. I could go on, but there’s not enough space. The commentatorsdeclared the Crows were “too big and too strong” at three-quarter time. Theyforgot to mention too good, too fast and too skilful. The end result was a71-point win. Percentage: one of my all-time favourite “p” words, right upthere with pappadams, pesto and pinot.

But none of Adelaide’sheroics could compare with Adam Ramanauskas’ feat on Friday night. His firstmatch in two-and-a-half years after two bouts of cancer and a kneereconstruction didn’t produce a win for the Bombers, but his personal victorywas assured the moment he was selected.

Most of Saturday went according to plan, with Collingwoodand the Bulldogs getting up, but later that night at Subiaco the football godsintervened in a monumental way. Were the Eagles punished for treating the gameagainst the Lions as a practice match? Only the gods can answer this question,and it’s going to take a harder-nosed journo than me to track them down. Sydney, Melbourneand the Kangaroos were the other winners in the “flares and big hair” round.

This week we’re back on the Friday-night stage, taking on StKilda in Melbourneunder the roof. In case you haven’t noticed, it’ll be Friday the 13th– an inauspicious day for saints.

The views in this story are those of the author and notnecessarily those of the club.