“You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone”… Joni Mitchell classic and a sentiment not lost on this Swans supporter over the last few months. 

It was mid-March when the COVID curse beset the AFL season and left us wondering whether or not the Swans undefeated march into 2020 would ever resume.

During this intermission of isolation, we have tried to fill the significant void footy’s hault has left in our weekly rhythm.

We have tried baking, home schooling, Zoom calls, tik tok videos and hoarding toilet paper. All noble endeavours but nothing that stirs the soul like footy can.

But nearly three months on and here we are. Footy is finally back.

If we could, we would welcome the game back with the warmest, most excited of embraces. A big hug, or a friendly version of a Luke Parker tackle. But that is not how we roll these days. Instead, we will mark the return from a safe 1.5 metre distance, we will dip our members cap or beanie and nod politely. It is the sort of the greeting I’d usually reserve for a Collingwood fan. It may not be how we wanted this reunion to be, but it still feels bloody good.

How we’ve missed you, footy. How we’ve missed the SCG nights lit up by the brilliance of Heeney and Papley. How we’ve missed the flashes of Rowbottom and Blakey, the left foot of Jordan Dawson and the right of Jake Llloyd. Kennedy’s strength, the rise of Hewett, the return of Naismith and Buddy’s hamstring. It’s back.

But it will be different.

It is undeniable that the best way to experience the Swans is from the stands. Some of footy’s finest feels come from being part of a 30,000 strong red and white family. So while we will need to wait patiently for that opportunity to return – and it will when the time is right – the question is how will footy feel in this strange new world?

Call me an optimist, but I hold great hope that this bizarre season can be a great season. I’m confident that this unprecedented year can further prove how in tough times football can bring us all together, even if for the time being it can’t actually bring us together.

From the comfort of my reserved seat in The Couch Stand, I am a 2020 Blood and united with all the Bloods in reserved seats in living rooms all around Sydney, South Melbourne and the rest of the country. Old Bloods. New Bloods. Young Bloods.

If ever there has been a year that suits Bloods footy, you’d think it was 2020. Resilient, tough, uncompromising…if these are prerequisites to win an unprecedented premiership, then our Bloods are in good shape.

Forget the talk that 2020 means anything less than an ordinary season. This will be an extraordinary season.

Forget talk of an asterix beside the premiers’ name. It will take something special to triumph this year. The premier deserves an exclamation mark beside their name.

It’s June, and the Bloods are undefeated.

So bring on the Bombers on Sunday. And bring on 2020 take-two - the season like no other.

Go Bloods!

Johnny Noble