I love this time of year. My passions for music and footy collide and expectations abound. I’m currently one leg into a three leg music festival road trip taking in Port Fairy, Yackandandah and Byron Bay. Of course this road trip clashes with the opening games of the AFL season. If I had known what was to unfold in the fixture, I may well have opted for the trip west for the first men’s AFL game at the new Perth Stadium between my Swans and the Eagles this Sunday. Nevertheless my expectations of seeing (and hearing) both familiar and new displays of brilliance over coming weeks, has this aging soul excited.

These pre-season weeks, and now days, are akin to the tuning up and rehearsal period before the first gig of a long tour, waiting for the music to explode. The glimpses so far are promising. Buddy Franklin has been out on the field after some routine ankle and knee maintenance, and while we are yet to see any outright brilliance he looks good and ready to go. Let’s let rip Buddy!

An unexpected delight of the trial games has been the speedy forward thrusts off the wing from young draftee Ryley Stoddart. Picked at No.53, I expected he would be an understudy this year. But these early signs suggest an elevation into the main band very early in the tour, and maybe as soon as this week.

One of the highlights of the Port Fairy Folk Festival was the unusual pairing of blues rock stalwarts The Black Sorrows with young virtuoso bluegrass players the Davidson Brothers. It worked and provided great entertainment for all. One suspects that the opening of the footy season will see some unexpected or unusual moves as well. All in the name of art – footy art.

With the retirement of Kurt Tippett and the unexpected loss of big Naismith to a season-ending knee injury, we will need to get funky with some alternatives, with maybe Aliir Aliir in to the ruck? Whatever the move I’d imagine our new line coaches Steve Johnson, Dean Cox and Rhys Shaw will be challenging The Horse with some left field ideas. Stevie J has a history of it, or should that be a repertoire of it. The aim of course with footy teams, as with musical bands is to find the best mix of talents that provides the desired outcomes. So who else is ready to step up on to the big stage … Florent, Hayward, or perhaps Dawson?

This weekend I head to Yackandandah Folk Festival in north east Victoria. I’ve not been there for the festival before, and perhaps it may be considered a second tier event without the big headline acts of some of the larger festivals. However you only need to look at the Swans backline to understand that great quality comes from austere beginnings. I’m predicting Robbie Fox will join past rookies Rampe, Smith, Grundy, Lloyd, Newman and Melican as a stalwart of our defence, freeing up young Mills to move up the ground on to the wing or on ball.

Of course, I’m likely to find a gap in this week’s musical program, and a TV screen in the Yack Hotel to take in the footy. What do I expect? Well for a starter I’m hoping for a win to avoid the chance of a 0-6 start like last year. Though a trip West is never easy. However we have a good record over there in recent years. The new venue will be unfamiliar to all, so I don’t perceive a home ground advantage for the Eagles. We may be without Hannebery and McVeigh for this game, though we still have great depth and I expect young talent such as Heeney, Hewett, Jones, Papley and Florent along with Mills to provide midfield grunt and class. I’m expecting to hear some great music at Yack too.

The usual suspects of Kennedy, Parker and Jack along with that mean-lean backline can starve the Eagles of the ball and strangle them when it does go forward. We can win this one and start the season well.

Next week we continue on to the Byron Bay BluesFest, with some big acts on show, none bigger than former Led Zeppelin front man Robert Plant. I’m looking forward to some brilliant performances, though I’ll also be waiting in anticipation of our game’s biggest name Buddy Franklin delivering virtuoso performances on the field throughout 2018.