IT WAS a great win on Sunday. Collingwoodis playing some really good football, and we were exposed to some fiercepressure that we handled a lot better than we did against the Swans.
The pressure was terrific from both sides,and the query we had going into the game, after having 16 days off, was how wewere going to be mentally.
I think we weren't quite as sharp as we hadbeen prior to the break, but we were certainly happy with the way we stuck itout. As the game wore on, we got better and better.
We had a bit of a setback with Tim Boyleinjuring his hamstring. He's been in really good form, and he's been kickinggoals and has really stood up. He's made our forward line pretty hard to readbecause we've got multiple options down there, so that will be a bit of a lossfor us.
On a positive note, Clinton Young wasterrific. He was in good form early in the year, and then he hurt his shoulderand had a couple of quiet weeks. We started him on the bench for a couple ofweeks and he hadn't had the same impact he had earlier in the year.
We decided this week to play him on thewing from the start, and I think that helped him. It was probably his best gamefor the year.
We're looking forward to our trip to Adelaide to meet theCrows. There was an article in the paper on Monday that said of all the eightteams in the top eight, the Crows are the only side we haven't beaten to date.
We really respect the Crows and the waythey've gone about their footy in the last couple of years. They've been hitpretty hard with injuries this year, but we're really looking forward to thatchallenge this weekend.
This week, the AFL will celebrate HeritageRound and football in the 1970s. I was an Adelaideboy, so I didn't know too much about the VFL in the 1970s, but I was followingthe Blues at that stage and I do remember guys like Wayne Harmes and Greg Wellsand Mike Fitzpatrick playing back then.
I also remember coming out from Adelaide at one stage to play a tennis tournament in themid 1970s, and luckily enough the people I stayed with barracked for Carlton. We went and sawthe Carlton boys take on Geelongdown at Kardinia Park.
That was my first taste of a VFL footballgame, and the Blues won that day, so it was a good start.
The game has obviously changed since then.There is a lot more running involved in today's game. The positions are a lotmore fluid. Back then, if you played in the forward pocket, you stayed in theforward line. Today, you could end up playing all the way up the ground.
The skill level is also a lot greater. Iwatched a replay of a 1960s grand final, and it was just about getting the balland kicking it long.
They say today's footy is boring – I'd hateto have been watching too many games like those in the earlier years. Footy ispretty exciting with the way it's played today.