We have all heard the saying “You are only as good as your last game”. It is never more so than in AFL when as soon as one game finishes the preparations commence for the next match. There is very little time to celebrate the victories or sulk about the losses, it is a review of what took place and then look forward to what lies ahead.

A loss on the Saturday in round six was disappointing for Carlton but with a six-day break and a trip to Perth for the next match there was certainly no time to worry about what might have been. The preparations for the round seven match against West Coast commenced immediately after the match against Adelaide with the cool down and stretch in the change rooms. A recovery session the next morning and then on the Monday it was back into training to prepare for the Friday night match on the other side of the country.

Not only was this a short week (six day break between games) we also had the travel factor and as such there would be no day off this week. Our usual Thursday rest day would be spent travelling to Perth with a short training session when we arrived.  Our main training session for the week was on Wednesday at Princes Park, this was a closed session that allowed us to work on some key ideas for the match. This was a very positive session with former Carlton champion Greg Williams on hand to assist with some of the training drills.

Of course this match was not just another game against the West Coast Eagles; this was the first time Chris Judd would play against his former team. We were treating as another game but we knew this was a game the football world had been waiting six months for. It was in October last year that Chris announced that he was leaving the Eagles to return home to Victoria and of course that he wanted to join Carlton. The Eagles premiership captain of 2006 was returning to Perth as the new Carlton captain and the anticipation was something the media just loved.

While there had been plenty of talk about Judd’s return to Perth in the media in Melbourne it as incredible just how big it was in Perth. When we arrived at the Perth airport there was a media frenzy, all wanting to get vision of Chris Judd and it is amazing just how much footage the television cameras wanted, even of Chris waiting to get his bag off the carousel. I spoke with the media at the airport and the majority of questions were about ‘Juddy’ although I did suggest we were pleased to see so many media come out to welcome David Ellard home for his first AFL game.

The media frenzy continued in the afternoon in Perth at our short training run at Hale College. Some of our officials noticed that one network actually had one cameraman filming ‘Juddy’ the whole time, from when he got off the bus to when training had finished and he was getting back on the bus to leave. Aside from the media there were hundreds of students from the school watching us train as well as plenty of Carlton supporters.

After the short training session at Hale College we went to city beach for a refreshing dip in the ocean. While the sun was shining and it was warm it is fair to say that not everyone was looking forward to this post-training swim. However the beach was great, the water was good the there were some great waves and everyone really enjoyed the opportunity. Jarrad Waite was voted ‘best in the surf’ while Eddie Betts was first out suggesting he was worried he might drown in such surf. Swimming is not one of Eddie’s best pursuits.

Thursday evening was very quiet after a team dinner at the hotel. Being match day Friday was also very quiet and it was pleasing to hear that a number of the staff went on the infamous ‘bridge to bridge’ run along the Swan River; about 10km. Breakfast and lunch were available in the function room over a couple of hours to give individuals an option on the time to eat depending on what suited. We also had a couple of meetings during the day before the bus departed for Subiaco around 4.00pm.

The game has certainly been covered in detail and all that can be added is that we were all delighted to win (naturally) but the real pleasure was ensuring ‘Juddy’ had a successful return to Perth. The manner in which he carried himself leading into the game, during the game and then again after the match, was unbelievable. Most would not have realised that he was nervous about the game but he admitted he was and said so to the media following the game.

Friday night was a great feeling back at the team hotel with players and officials enjoying a meal and then celebrating for a short time before heading to bed. The next morning it was the usual recovery session and then for Cameron Cloke, David Ellard and I it was off to Gloucester Park to attend the WA Member Network function. Over 250 members and guests were on hand to enjoy the morning and the victory the night before ensured there was a great feeling in the room.

A quick dash from the function to Perth airport and it was Melbourne here we come and with no game this week, a few days off. Thanks to Hyundai I was a guest at the Logies last Sunday night so it was a great way to start a few days. I was fortunate to attend with Leisel Jones and John Aloise and have a very enjoyable evening.