‘Breathe, fellas’: The big fears facing each AFL team as the season begins

Roller coasters. Only ever rode one once. That was enough; terrifying stuff. Curiously, the part of the ride that left the most indelible mark on me was not when we were upside-down at high speed, nor was it the hairpin corners that lurched our stomachs side to side.

No, the most terrifying moments were slower, drawn out, whisper-quiet and foreboding. The slow climb into the clouds, creeping one rung at a time so that you could hear the mechanics fall into line underneath you, click, click-tick, click, click-tick. Alone with my thoughts for a handful of agonising seconds, with one question swirling all around: “Do I really want to do this?”

The Hawks and Swans will begin the roller-coaster ride that is the AFL season on Friday.Credit: Marija Ercegovac

Some fears are innate, inescapable. Like falling. You could skydive 10,000 times and get the adrenaline rush every single time. Others, maybe more akin to phobias, like the number 13 or the validity of our Matildas soccer team, are learnt, so they can also be unlearnt.

It is through the kaleidoscope of fear that I find myself drifting when looking at the opening round of the men’s AFL season, or AFLM as it is known in some parts. Breathe fellas, breathe … this fear of “M” is learnt, not innate.

A major fear that affects us all, but more specifically, AFL teams, is of an opposing predator. Both the Cats and the Lions have reasonable claims at being the real big cat of the competition. But the cyclone bearing down on the Queensland coast, and postponement of their clash, means they will have more time to let the doubts creep in.

Superstar big Cat, Jeremy Cameron.Credit: AFL Photos

For the Cats, it might be as simple as, “Are we still the apex predator? What if we’re not?” The great fear for all ageing teams is not just the fall, but how brutal it could be. You can go from predator to prey very quickly in this league.

And what of the Lions? Last year was probable in one way and seemingly improbable in another. Starting the season off a flag has proven to be tough for a lot of clubs. Appetites come and go, even for a Lion’s belly on the open plains of Africa. Why would a group of young men be any less vulnerable to these ebbs and flows?

But the most intriguing match of the round, to my eye at least, is the Hawks-Swans match up.

No two teams better fit into the innate-fears framework.

The Hawks of 2024 were exuberant, defiant and had an appetite for risk that stands in direct contrast to the rest of the competition. If you didn’t love them for it last year, you hated them for it (and then secretly loved them for giving you someone to hate). The thing about an innate fear of heights, and the Hawks did soar so very high, is that if you look down … you’ll feel it. The danger, the risk, all of it. Can the Hawks keep their eyes up?

Can Chad Warner and the Swans bounce back from last year’s grand final?Credit: Rhett Wyman

The Swans, for the first time in a very long time, are being questioned about their mettle. For a player of my generation, it seems almost unfathomable. They were the envy of me and my peers for the consistency of effort, performance and heart. The Bloods. Well, after another dismal grand final, there’s blood on the tracks. Watching last year’s capitulation on the big day had me wondering about the fear within those Swans players. Their great fear? To fail on the big day. Again. When the Lions ran away with it so early, the freefall would’ve felt real. Unlike the skydiver though, there’s no parachute on grand final day.

That’s the thing about this time of year for players and coaches in the AFL. Despite all the planning, all the work, all the storytelling within, you actually have to put yourself into the arena and risk having your heart broken.

Your fears, which we all have, being exposed and picked at by us – the masses. Or guessed at. Same-same. It’s why I now think all of them to be brave – to varying degrees, but still brave.

One of the silliest words in sports journalism is “fearless” – in the way it’s often used, anyway. If we stop to think, really stop, slow down, we know to be fearless removes any bravery. Courage is to feel the fear, acknowledge its presence, and take your seat on the roller coaster.

Click, click-tick, click, click-tick.

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