This is without doubt one of the toughest diary pieces I’ve written . . . more of that later.

Saturday night was pretty quiet. The guys had been kept updated regarding the Bullants game on Saturday afternoon at Port Melbourne, and their gutsy win was the topic of plenty of conversation at dinner. It was heartening to hear that a number of our younger boys played good games, in particular Joey Dare and the Irishman Zach Tuohy.

The Pies versus Dogs game was also screened on delay into Sydney, so we had to wait until 8.30pm to catch some of the game.

Sydney was hit with severe winds on Saturday night and they were just as fierce on Sunday, as all the players took off on a post-brekky walk through Sydney’s Royal Botanical Gardens, before I caught up with my Dad and brother for a quick chat back at the team hotel. As it happened, all of the boys got strapped at the hotel before boarding the bus for ANZ Stadium.

Pre-game the guys seemed pretty good and we went in with an air of confidence. We knew we needed to match them in contested ball and tackling, but unfortunately they got the jump on us and the home crowd got involved early.

To our boys’ credit we worked extremely hard to get back into the game during the third quarter. We then slugged it out in what was a tough final term contest, but we just weren’t able to get over the line.

Right now, it hurts. It’s a really disappointing way to end the season and over the next couple of days, like all Carlton supporters, we will reflect on the game and the season.

But now we must start again. We have a good group of players who will build on this season as we look forward to 2011.

Finally, thanks to everyone for their support this season . . . and may it continue into next season and beyond.

Murph

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