Showdown - staying mentally fresh is the best

Showdown – the game that stops a state.

As a player it’s both brilliant and suffocating.

A week of media and fan focus close to home like no other.

It also provides our teams with a very unique atmosphere – two sets of fans sitting side by side – unlike the unbalanced parochial home crowds they’re used to experiencing.

But the game is so different for many other reasons.

As a player your preparation gets thrown out of whack, the odd favour for a free ticket or two turns into an avalanche of friends looking to secure their way into the Showdown pressure cooker – many of whom you haven’t heard from in years.

The home team treats the opposition like the enemy. Instead of the players, officials & wives/partners sitting in prime-position seating, they’re often dispatched to far inferior seating locations – the clubs are as bad as one another.

But the mental side of the game is where a player can do the most damage to their game preparations in the build-up to the game.

There are always extra media appearances and press conferences where reporters hang off every word. Not to mention the sponsors functions and luncheons.

Showdown rookies must beware - the game is one thing, but the week is highly emotional and can mentally fatigue you more than the physicality of playing game itself.

I didn't like showdown week, As a player it was just another game worth four points - albeit against your fiercest rival.

For everyone else, it was so much more than that. Bragging rights, friendly wagers, us against them, it’s more than a game.

But as a player, a simple visit to the shops to get milk, dropping the kids off to kindy or a quick coffee at Henley Square would quickly turn into a footy chat with an avid fan about the upcoming match – either wishing you well or praying for your demise.

Don't get me wrong, playing AFL is a privilege given to too few, but staying mentally fresh is a must in SA footy’s week of weeks.

Getting caught talking shop too often can wear you down – that's why twice a year (Showdown week) I turned into a recluse.

As a player you cant afford to enter the game mentally flat – something I did in my first showdown outing in 1998 and I suffered the overthinking affects – feeling flat and not performing on the ground – I’d played the game in my head all week long, By the time the game came around on Sunday afternoon I was mentally exhausted.

Football is as much a game played between your ears as it is on the field – every player will tell you staying mentally fresh allows you to perform your best.

The older and wiser you got, you soon realised your best chance of success was keeping your emotions in check and that meant keeping Showdown week as normal as possible.

And that meant playing the game on gameday and not during the week.

Showdowns are the best days of the football calendar, and this one shapes as a beauty, with both Adelaide and Port keen to atone for last weekends’ poor performances.

But as the week slowly builds, the players can’t forget the game is worth only four points, but for the fans it’s so much more than that and Saturday night’s game is still a long way away, Rest up.