It’s a weekend, I’ve time on my hands and it strikes me that I haven’t checked in with a few friends for a while. But before I text, I need to look up the footy fixture.

I’ll work through a mental checklist. Has their team played yet? Did they win? Did they get thrashed? Where are they on the ladder? Are they out of finals’ contention? Does it fit with pre-season predictions?

Credit: Matt Davdison

Whether they’re Carlton supporters with the blues, Saints mates having a hellish season or Bomber besties nosediving, footy fandom comes with great highs and the lowest of lows.

If they’re hardcore card carrying, scarf waving, form-following fans their moods are delicately connected to the win/loss ratio of their teams.

If there’s a game coming up, I’ll usually put off my text for another day. If their team has been thrashed, I will give it a miss. Don’t poke the bear. If they’ve had a win I might text a congratulatory message.

My sporting fix is AFL, but it could apply to any other code. The season starts with great promise, and before long teams and the hopes and dreams of their supporters are cruelled by injuries, long-awaited premiership windows vanish and suddenly September is looking free. Anyone for a weekend away?

Friendly rivalry: fans of Collingwood and Fremantle show their colours.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images

Others are on tenterhooks, madly calculating if their team can make the cut, and praying for unlikely upsets in hope that other teams will make way for them.

A friend and I bristled after a Collingwood-barracking........

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