The page refreshes, and the Bombers have slotted a goal. It’s the Crows by six. The internet connection breaks. The airport is crowded and smoky, and I’m sweating like a tropical pig. I’d rather be at AAMI, whatever the temperature and whatever the outcome.
The plane is delayed, and I get online again. The Bombers have booted another, and scores are tied. Soon it’s the Bombers by a goal, and then by two, and then it’s over. The internet takes another dive, and so do my spirits.
It’s going to be a long flight home. (I hope there will be no more diving.)
Earlier in the week, on Thursday, I had gone to the AFC website to check the ins and outs. It struck me then how much the team has changed in the last couple of years. I reckon a dozen names - half the team - were not there two years ago. Little wonder, perhaps, that we’re in this trough.
Back home on Saturday afternoon, I watch a replay of the game.
Well, only the first half. I couldn’t face the second.
From the start the energy is good, the system is good. The Crows are winning the hard ball; they’re running; they’re taking contested marks. They look great.
Johncock is particularly brilliant. A few weeks ago I heard Brian Taylor scoff at the suggestion that he was in All-Australian form. “Give me a break,” he said. Taylor is a good commentator and apparently an intelligent man, but it was an ignorant attitude. No one should scoff at Stiffy Johncock; he saves goal after goal, he launches attack after attack; he shows no fear; he has extraordinary closing speed; he makes excellent decisions. He is a ripper. I hope he is fit to play his 200th game on Friday night; I plan to be there for it.
I don’t know what went wrong in the second half, apart from the loss of Johncock (and Jaensch, who had also been playing great footy). It must have been immensely disappointing. I can imagine the agony - in the crowd and in the change-room - of squandering all that good first-half work.
But being away allows me to take a relatively detached view. From what I saw in the first-half replay, I believe that when this bunch starts offering a four-quarter effort, when its leaders emerge more fully and when it learns the art of winning, it will be formidable. Only Doughty is likely to retire in the short to medium term; the oldest player after him is Johncock, who surely has at least four good seasons left. Assuming no theft by Greater Western Sydney, no defections and no catastrophic injury, this group has time to develop an extraordinary cohesion. Plenty of talented players aren’t even getting a game at the moment, and most of the group have huge potential for improvement. They need to get stronger and fitter and improve their skills. I recommend high-altitude training; if the Crows can’t afford Arizona I’ve got a bit of land in the Hills they would be free to use. The bottom line is, this squad has ability. I could even see that from Lombok.
