A WEEK ago we were standing at the edge of history, confident that we were within 180 minutes of glory.

The team we love had taken every hurdle in its stride and had managed to make it where no Australian team had gone before. Just like an Indiana Jones film, our heroes had made it past innumerable booby-traps, dodged arrows, swung across canyons, defied the odds – until we encountered the snake pit of doom. Gamba Osaka.

Lethal, quick, sharp – and there seemed to be more of them than there should have been. All of a sudden the team from Hindmarsh froze. “Gamba Snakes!” they hissed, “I hate Gamba snakes”.

The guts of the team (read: midfield) started to freeze, the legs (read: defence) went wobbly, the rock-hard fists (read: attack) started to shake – and the brain (read: Viddie) just refused to respond. We’d met our match and the great Reds fans started to despair. It’s horrible when a hero dies - and your dreams go with them.

But...it’s only the interval folks. The lights have come up and the sinking feeling may linger but it’s not over. Even rumours of the great Cornflake playing keeper for us, a bench devoid of subs and Ange ‘The Ponytail with a Grudge’ Costanzo sitting the game out don’t add up to a loss. Not yet.

We’ve seen Indiana Jones rise from the snake pit. We’ve seen him crawl under trucks going at full speed, defeat hordes of better armed foes and get the girl in the end. Or the treasure. Or the Grail. We’ll settle for the Grail.

I think we can still win (even if that means I agree with Kossie the Throttler). I may be one-eyed. I may be deluded. I may be writing this just to stick it up all those nay-sayers who crept out of the woodwork to kick our fallen heroes the moment Adelaide lost. I may be. But I’m happy to have a thousand people point out to me that I was wrong come Wednesday. If I am.

I’m willing to look stupid for the chance that all out faith and effort might be rewarded by another one of those football miracles. If we walk away winners on Wednesday night, holding the ACL Grail (oops – Cup), then the real fans won’t need to say a word about those who doubted. It just won’t matter.

And if we lose? Then we’ll give credit to the winner and be back next week to support our team, walking just a little bit taller thanks to the journey we’ve been on together.

This is a fan’s blog. It’s not some analytical, mind-your-manners piece of investigative journalism. We can still win it. Until the last whistle blows we’ll believe that. And maybe – just maybe – we’ll be right.

C’mon you reds! C’mon you reds! C’mon you reds! C’mon you reds! C’mon you reds! C’mon you reds!