While Nathan Thompson went into the game boasting 164 senior AFL matches, younger teammate Scott had the butterflies zooming around as he lined up for his first game in the big time.
Yet one could understand if Nathan Thompson, the key forward who spent all of 2007 watching from the sidelines, felt as if he was a youngster playing his first game against the big boys.
Playing his first AFL match since undergoing a knee reconstruction early in 2007, Thompson impressed with four goals to clearly be among the Kangaroos’ best players.
“I didn’t feel any nerves whatsoever until this morning,” Thompson said after the match.
“Once I got to the ground I really was quite nervous and once I walked out for that first warm-up, gee whiz, I felt what I’d been missing out on for the last year.
“I’m pretty excited to actually get through and the knee held up and to touch the ball a couple of times, that’s a big positive.”
North Melbourne coach, Dean Laidley, was also ecstatic with the star forward’s return.
“I thought his work rate was terrific for the whole game, just the way he attacked the footy I thought was first-class,” Laidley said.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the ground, Scott Thompson continued his pre-season promise and showed he has made the transition from the VFL with Geelong to the AFL with aplomb.
Playing on far more experienced opposition, the 21-year-old impressed with his poise across half-back despite acknowledging a faster-paced game.
“It was a lot quicker today and even from the practice games it was a lot quicker,” he said after the match.
“I was very excited during the week.
“I got the nod [that I was playing] on Friday, so I was pretty excited and it was just a lot of hard work to get here.
“It was good to get my first kick out of the way and hit a target.”
Thompson said he and his teammates were looking forward to putting their heads down and working hard at training this week ahead of a big clash against Richmond at the MCG on Sunday.
