Because it’s such a big trip, we flew a day earlier than usual to help our pre-game preparations.
On Thursday morning I hopped in a taxi with Jack Redden and Michael Rischitelli and we went to the airport. The plane was scheduled to leave at around 11am so we made sure we were there at least one hour prior so that we could check ourselves in with Team Manager Barry Lowe.
The flight itself lasted just under six hours so the boys had to try and amuse themselves on the way over. Fortunately the good people at Qantas put on a couple of movies for us to watch - Iron Man 2 and Shrek 4. They helped pass the time a little.
We arrived in Perth around 3pm (although it was really 5pm Brisbane time) and headed straight to the Crowne Plaza where we were staying.
We had a quick snack on arrival and then checked in to our rooms. People often ask me who’s the worst person to room with at the Club? But these days all players get their own rooms so there's no worrying about who you might get stuck with while you’re away.
We proceeded to go for a walk and a stretch out the front of the hotel, which was overlooking the beautiful Swan River.
That night we all got together and had dinner at a restaurant just down the road which was recommended to us by former WA ‘local’ Matthew Leuenberger before heading back to the hotel for some physio and massage if we needed it.
On Friday morning, we got up and some breakfast before heading out to Subiaco Oval for a light run. There were a fair few of our WA fans out there which was good to see and some kids from Toddy Banfield’s junior club Upper Swan. Todd’s apparently one of only three players from upper Swan juniors to have made it in the AFL. Our ruck coach Beau McDonald is another - so I guess they have a pretty strong connection with the Lions.
After training we went to City Beach in Perth for a quick swim. A few of the boys got smashed by some big waves, but the water was pretty fresh so we only spent about 5-6 minutes in there.
Then it was back to the hotel for a spot of lunch followed by an hour-long team meeting.
That evening we had some time to kill, so we just had a bit of dinner and mucked around the hotel. None of the boys really get up to too much the night before a game.
On the morning of the game, I had some brekkie and then caught with some of the people I know from Perth including good family friend Ken Judge and the Ormond family.
After that, Jack Redden and I decided to borrow a couple of bikes from the hotel and go for a bit of a ride up the river for about 25 minutes. Then it was time to get ready for the game and head back to Subi.
Luckily we were able to scrape home with a win after Browny’s goal in the dying seconds. It might not have been the prettiest game, but the boys were really excited afterwards because it had been a long time between drinks. It was the first win that Aaron Cornelius and Ryan Harwood had been part of, so we made sure they were in the middle of our post-game huddle when we belted out the song.
We got back to the hotel in time to watch a bit of the replay of the Collingwood v Geelong game at the MCG while getting stuck into some dinner.
Rather than flying home first thing on Sunday morning, we instead had our post-game review meeting and went down to Cottesloe Beach. The water was freezing but did the job in terms of our recovery.
We took our time, chilled out and had some lunch at the Cottesloe Beach Hotel before jumping back on the bus and going back to the airport.
The flight back only took around four hours, but we still didn’t get back to Brisbane until around 11pm. It was pretty much four full days away and I can only imagine how much harder the trip would have been had we not gotten over the line in the end.
It was our third trip in four weeks so we’re all looking forward to playing back at home this Sunday against the Crows. Hopefully we can back up last week’s win with another!
