Students from Torquay and St Therese primary schools who joined in the Cats' Telstra Community Camp relished the chance to probe their idols.
Some were off playing beach cricket with the Cats, but at the autograph station, after having grabbed a few signatures the youngsters – all aged 10 or younger – sat patiently with their hands up, awaiting the nod from captain Tom Harley to ask a question to any of the Cats lined up before them.
When Harley gave the okay they were free to shoot. And when they did, it was usually straight from the hip.
While there was the odd easy one such as, "Who's the easiest team to beat?", but most queries revolved around the bigger subjects.
"What did it feel like to lose the grand final?" one inquisitive young lad wanted to know.
Harley explained that it wasn't much fun.
"Why was Gary Ablett crying after the grand final?" another youngster inquired.
Harley again tried to convey his teammate's post-match emotions.
"Did you see Roger Federer the other night after the tennis?"
A chorus of "yes" came back, at which point Andrew Mackie intervened.
"You did not. That was at 1 o'clock in the morning! You all should have been in bed!" Mackie retorted playfully.
Harley continued, "Well, it was just like that; he was really disappointed."
The subject of Ablett led to the next question from one astute child.
"Where is Gary Ablett?"
Gazza was one of a few absentees on the day. He, along with Jimmy Bartel, Matthew Scarlett and Darren Milburn, was on a plane returning from the Superbowl in the US after watching former teammate Ben Graham in action.
"Why didn't you go?" the kids asked the captain, who thought for a moment, before looking up the table at his teammates, stumped.
"That's a good question."
It was a searching few minutes for the Cats players. But if they can get through question time from a curious bunch of grade twos and threes, they'll be able to handle anything the AFL media scrum can throw at them in 2009.
