A local Carlton supporter says he’ll cherish this weekend as it will be the last one for a while that won’t be ruined by the poor performance of his football team. Patrick McIntyre said he’d enjoy one last weekend of freedom before the next six months become dominated by the continued frustration of watching his team attempt to play football.

While McIntyre said he didn’t have any concrete plans for today and tomorrow, he told The Watsonia Bugle that he intended to “just be”, and cherish the calm before the storm. He said, “It’s the same every year. We have the build up of expectation and hope before Round 1, and then we fall down that rabbit warren of despair. Week after week of middling to deplorable performances, each slowly eroding any remaining speck of joy.”

McIntyre insisted that he wasn’t always this pessimistic on the eve of a new footy season, but that almost two decades of disappointment had worn him down. He said, “I keep a brave face in front of most people. And I can still remember the glory days of the 90s, and that keeps me warm in the depths of winter, but I’m pretty much beaten now. Not even the false dawn of Chris Judd resonates with me these days.”

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