I SPOKE to my son at about 9am on Monday from Ethiopia and he told me that we'd beaten Roar. It was a moment of pure pleasure in the midst of a confusing week here in Africa.
When Adelaide put Roar to bed on Saturday night I was probably crossing a river near the Sudanese border in a dugout canoe, having left my room keys with a hotel guard carrying a machine gun. But I was at Hindmarsh in spirit and I'm absolutely stoked that we have another chance at glory and I'll be back in Australia to watch it.
Having had a little time to read about the game and watch the goal and highlights while waiting for a plane home from Addis airport, all I can say is that there's a certain feeling of satisfaction and anticipation rising within. Adelaide deserve the chance at the Toilet Seat. They have been amazing this year and, with Victory, make up the best two football sides in the league.
Credit to Qld for getting so far but they'll have to wait. This is the final that the year has promised - and won't it be fascinating?
Will it be redemption for the Reds or more wreckage to remember in the bitter early hours of the morning?
Will Jonas Salley inspire us again with his 'brains and brawn' partnership with Paul Reid? Will Travis remind Kemp who can run faster - and score? Will Og and Cornflakes keep their heads and shut down the most potent forward pairing in the league?
And the big one - will we work out how to score at the dome and finally put the hoodoo to bed?
There will be some who don't care. We've qualified for Asia again and after the year we've had maybe that's enough. Maybe a decent showing and a narrow loss would be acceptable. Maybe escaping from the devil's lair with dignity intact would help us build for next year.
Maybe John Howard was really a compassionate and wise leader who believed all people deserved equal treatment. In other words - bullshit.
This week we have another crack at more than redemption. We have a chance to be Champions - and in the best possible romantic tradition of Australia. As outright underdogs.
You know I'm going to say we can do it. I do believe it. We have nothing to lose - not even dignity anymore. Viddy has smashed the fake walls of silence, the players have been told, the club is on notice. And best of all, Victory are rested, confident and already have the trophy halfway into the air.
These are the moments that make sport irisistable. The moments when the fans of the underdog stack up the beers next to the TV and refuse to move from the game. The time when it MATTERS more than anything else what a group of men who we may never have met manage to do with a round ball over 90 mins.
When that whistle blows to end the game this weekend the season will be over and for Adelaide and Melbourne it will have been another in a string of successful years. But one of us will be happier than the other.
It'll be us this time.
