We left a very cold and rainy Melbourne at lunchtime on Anzac Day en route to Perth for our match against Fremantle. Although it is always difficult to leave the family for a couple of nights, road trips are a great way to spend some time with the boys away from the footy club.
The four hour flight out west is always a killer, but we were lucky this time because just after taking off, the Anzac Day clash between Essendon and Collingwood was being played on our Virgin Australia flight. This certainly helped pass the time and having played both sides in the last two rounds there was probably an added interest. I know I was also interested to see how the players were after having just a four-day break.
Having played in an ANZAC Day match in my ‘previous life’ at Collingwood, I appreciate how big the day is and how much the crowd is involved. The close match also kept everyone interested for the entire game.
We arrived in Perth about 4pm and after tucking into some snacks at the hotel most of the boys were pretty keen to get outside and enjoy the amazing weather. I went up to our hotel pool with a few of the boys and kicked back for a bit before heading back to my room for a quick nap before dinner. There is no way any of us were thinking of a swim in Melbourne earlier today, it was cold and wet but in Perth sunny and around 30 degrees! The weather alone is a great reason for being here two days before the game as it helps prepare for the match.
Some of the players spent the evening catching up with family and friends in Perth, but after some lasagna, chicken and vegetables I headed to my room to call home and say goodnight to my two young boys then watched the start of a movie before deciding to call it a night.
Day 2 - Thursday
I slept pretty well and headed down to breakfast at about 8am. My breakfast routine is always the same when I am in season, wheetbix, toast with honey and a banana. I also had a coffee to make sure I was up and about for our morning training session.
We are incredibly lucky to be able to train at the WACA whenever we play in Perth. The ground is always amazing and the guys down there are very good to put up goal posts for us, even though we are only out on the track for about an hour.
It was also great to see so many of our WA supporters come out and see us train. That is one thing we are guaranteed of, a great crowd to watch us train (and play) whenever we are here in Perth. The Carlton following is fantastic here in WA and it is a great reminder of how big the Carlton Football Club is and how positive and supportive our fans are. Thank you.
After signing a few autographs and chatting with the supporters we headed in for a team meeting in the rooms at the WACA. The final line-up for the game was confirmed during the meeting. With the WACA being close to the city, we then walked back to the hotel after our meeting.
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Training at the WACA with "T-Bird" (Bret Thornton)
The rest of the day was ours to do whatever we want. Some of the younger boys headed down to Cottesloe Beach, but I was pretty keen to just kick back and watch some TV for a couple of hours, before joining some of the other boys for some bare-feet lawn bowls.
The bare-feet lawn bowls has become quite a tradition whenever we are in Perth and is always very competitive. Lachie Henderson was a standout, as was Ratts and our fitness guru Justin Cordy. Ratts is a bit of a sports freak and seems to excel in whatever he puts his hand to, having won the club table tennis championship a couple of years ago. I laugh when I think of some of the photos I have seen of a young Ratts at a club function, obviously in his very early years at Carlton. A shy looking young lad with the glasses, he just didn’t look like an AFL star or indeed a sports freak.
Dinner was back at the hotel at 6.30pm, tonight it was spaghetti bolognaise and chicken with rice. After dinner I had an appointment with our club physio to get some light treatment ahead of the game and was lucky enough to get a massage appointment at 9pm which meant by the time I got back to my room at 10pm I was well and truly ready for bed.
Being away with the players and coaches is fantastic as it really brings the team together and the other bonus is having the medical team here as well. Physio and massage are available all the time and this all helps prepare for the game.
Day 3 - Friday
I had a great night sleep and was up early, my usual game day routine. I called home to see how the family was going then headed down to breakfast before having my first of a few coffees for the day.
I had another appointment with the physio to make sure the body was in top shape before we had a midfielders meeting with Assistant Coaches Mark ‘Bomber’ Riley and Paul Williams. The meeting gives us the opportunity to run through the plans for the match and ensure everyone is on the same page knowing each other’s responsibilities.
While there are some things about playing interstate which we don’t like, being together for a couple of days provides plenty of time to discuss the match and prepare, both as individuals and as a team.
At 11am we had a team walk down by the Swan River to get the legs moving on match day morning. After this we had around four hours for our own pre-game preparations. Some of the boys like to get an afternoon nap in, but I can never sleep before a game. I like to just kick back and watch a movie and make sure I am drinking lots of water so I am well hydrated before the bounce.
We had our pre-game meal of pasta and rice then were on the bus by 4pm on our way to Patersons Stadium (Subiaco). Some of the guys pre-game routines are really chilled out and relaxed, I am probably a lot more intense than others. I am one of the first to be ready and like to have the headphones on so I can just go through my own plans in my head and get my focus right. I always spend some time on the bike and do a quick boxing session with our boxing coach before joining my teammates for our official warm-ups inside and on the ground.
I am sure you have read plenty about the game without me going over any more details. All I can add is that it was very satisfying to travel to Perth and have a win against Fremantle. There is no doubt a victory in Perth in 2012 will be difficult for any team that travels there, no matter if they are playing Fremantle or West Coast.
It was great to be able to celebrate the victory with so many Carlton supporters in the stands at the game. We enjoy getting down to the end where the majority of our supporters watch the game from as they provide so much vocal support during the game, something we all love when playing away from Melbourne.
After singing the song there was a bit of media to be done by some of the players and the coach was off to his media conference with Eddie Betts as soon as he could after the game. Ratts and the assistant coaches were heading back to Melbourne on the ‘red eye’ so they were keen to get out of the ground as quickly as possible once their commitments were completed.
For the players we had our usual stretching and warm down before showering, changing and enjoying some snacks and then heading back to the hotel on the bus. Back at the hotel it we were looking forward to a post-game meal but before that we had a quick session in the pool and it was freezing! Thankfully it was only a short session as part of our recovery and then we were able to enjoy a post-game meal and sit around and talk before heading off to bed. Being a night game it was difficult to get any sleep so I rested, watched tv and tried to get some sleep. I was able to reply to a number of messages left for me after the game so that helped pass some time away as well.
Day 4 - Saturday
Saturday morning started at 6am with another session in the pool at the hotel before breakfast and packing up and heading to the airport for the Virgin flight back to Melbourne. There were a lot of tired Carlton players in the Virgin Australia Lounge in Perth before we flew out.
Back in Melbourne it was great to get back home and see the family and have a couple of days rest before it will all start again.
