Photo Gallery: Rd 8 2010 v Port Adelaide
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After lunch back at the hotel on Saturday afternoon the former Adelaide locals decided it was too good a day to sit around inside so we headed off to Glenelg and I saw my first game of SANFL football. I was joined by ‘Jordo’ (Jordan Russell), ‘Big Sauce’ (Sam Jacobs) and of course the former Glenelg man himself, ‘Gibbsy’ (Bryce Gibbs).

I am not sure how many games Gibbsy actually played for Glenelg but honestly you would think he was a long-time superstar for ‘The Bays’. He is treated like a legend of the club while the rest of us just tagged along. As for the game the Glenelg boys were too good for the Woodville-West Torrens Eagles and that gave bragging rights to Gibbsy over the Big Sauce who was recruited to Carlton from the Eagles.

After an afternoon of enjoying the SANFL we headed back into the city to the hotel where we had dinner and meetings to prepare for the game. The night before the game is always quiet with guys relaxing and many watched the matches being televised from Brisbane and Melbourne.

Sunday was game day and we all get our game faces on at various times during the morning. Breakfast was on from 7:30am with guys eating when it best suited them. Most of us have a routine on game day, even when we are interstate with some enjoying an early start to the day while others prefer a later start, trying to sleep in a little longer. Some of the guys even had a swim in the hotel pool - well more of a walk in the water really.

The bus left the hotel at noon headed for AAMI Stadium, giving us plenty of time to get ready for the game. A few of us took a look at the Under 16 match being played as a curtain raiser between Glenelg and North Adelaide (North Adelaide won) and I am sure we all thought back to when we were playing in that age group and how some of the boys playing would have dreams of playing AFL.

Being umpire appreciation round we all shook hands with any of the umpires in our vicinity before the game commenced. It is a great initiative because umpires are so important for our game, particularly at local football level and while all supporters may get upset with decisions every now and then, we cannot afford to be upset with the umpires. Like the players at every level of the game, they are doing their best and we need to support them and ensure we keep them involved in the game. Without the umpires there would be no game.

As for our game we were very happy with the win, especially as we only had three players on the bench from early in the first quarter. To run over top of Port Adelaide in the final term was a read credit to our resolve and was an important step forward for the group. We know we have a long way to go but it really was an important victory.

A win always makes for a happier bus trip to the airport and flight home. Not that there is any time to celebrate. We arrived back in Melbourne around 9:40pm and then once we had our bags it was home for as much sleep as possible before we were back at Visy Park at 8:00am today for our recovery session. The remainder of today will be spent resting at home. Then it will be back into the Club tomorrow to start preparing for Sunday’s game against Hawthorn.

Marc Murphy
#3

Marc Murphy Diary - Part 1