But Geelong champion Jimmy Bartel confirmed this week that his emotions simply got the better of him last Friday night against Hawthorn.
After drilling a long bomb from 55m early in the final quarter of last week’s blockbuster at the MCG to put the Cats back in front, the reigning Brownlow medallist pulled his jumper to his mouth and kissed it.
“I gave it [the jumper] a little kiss on the emblem actually,” Bartel told afl.com.au.
“The emotion and the adrenalin of the game; you sort of get so pumped up.
“If you can’t get a bit passionate about your team and your club on Friday night in front of 88,000 when there’s only three or four points in it, I don’t know when you can.”
The post-goal celebration was the sort of stuff more frequently seen on soccer fields on the other side of the world – which is somewhat ironic given the rate at which top-flight players in that code change clubs in the pursuit of cash and trophies.
But Bartel said his act was one of spontaneous joy and enthusiasm for the contest.
“I just did it,” he said.
“It wasn’t planned … It wasn’t like I’ve gone through the week with any of the boys ‘oh, if this happens …’.
“I think it was maybe just the moment of the game got to me. I was pumped, I guess.”
He said last week’s match had been built up so much that all players were hell-bent on getting the four points.
“For them to come over the top of us and then for us to dig deep and fight back … it was pretty special for us,” Bartel said.
“People think just because we’ve won a few this year we don’t get excited about winning, [but] you know, it means everything to us.”
