Launceston, last Sunday.
We’re on the tarmac ready to depart for Perth. The mood is gloomy, in sync with what had occurred on a dark afternoon at UTAS Stadium a couple of hours earlier.
Players and staff on the Virgin charter flight were feeling as low as a snake’s belly.
That’s only natural after an emotionally draining 116-point loss to a team that going into battle was sitting one rung under the West Coast Eagles on the bottom of the table. The performance was harrowing.
Even allowing for the dearth of seniority in the team it was a tough watch. Just Liam Duggan and Dom Sheed representing the cohort of the 2018 premiership, and a younger team in both average age and games compared against Hawthorn.
The expectation was much higher. A sense that if everything went well, the Eagles could pinch it. If things didn’t fall, they could be competitive.
Since the final siren had echoed around the stadium, the players had reflected on their own games and that of the collective. Their minds would not shut down.
After the club’s official travel party had taken their seats, a number of fans who had availed themselves of the opportunity to travel with the team to the Apple Isle filed through. Some verbalised consoling support as they passed.
Minutes ahead of departure, they broke into song. The club anthem, no less. Then, one of the gravelly voiced supporters, yelled ‘we’ve got your backs.’
Without canvassing the opinion of players individually it would be surprising if that did not provide just a momentary lift. Personally, I choked back the emotion of the moment.
Considering they had sat through the demolition – and a particularly devasting second half – it was a remarkable show of support. Critics will say that it’s part of the problem right now, that some fans are too forgiving.
But this was a display of unconditional love. The sort that binds a family. And when everyone is getting whacked a metaphorical cuddle can do wonders.
It didn’t change the outcome or what needs to happen next, with a response from the group starting tonight in the match against Essendon. Of course the clash with the Bombers will be challenging, even considering the return of premiership stars Shannon Hurn, Tom Barrass and Elliot Yeo.
But at least there is some seniority coming into the team and they will provide some guidance for the youngsters around them.
Youngsters of whom so much has been asked this year.
Given the injury crisis at the club, we saw Noah Long, Campbell Chesser and Rhett Bazzo earn immediate recalls for the game against Hawthorn.
First-year forward Long was coming off a four-week hamstring. Straight in. He’s going to be a very good player for the club, but that was a big ask.
Chesser, returning from a seven-week lay-off with a knee injury, had played one WAFL game on return. Ideally, he would have played a handful of second trier games to build his base and confidence.
There was no such option for him.
Bazzo missed two matches after a head knock, again an immediate recall. Like Chesser and Long he has a bright future, but this season has been more than a little challenging. He had a limited pre-season, was elevated in round six and then recalled immediately last week.
Those are just three examples of players underdone and thrust into the cauldron of elite football.
Perhaps those fans who burst into a rendition of the club song had some understanding of those circumstances.