Ah, it’s good to be home. We landed in Perth at about 4.00pm after another quality flight with Virgin Blue, although some enjoyed it more than others.

A lot has been written about the airline and the upgrading of players to Premium Economy or a Business Class equivalent for the extra leg room because that’s what our former carrier used to do.

Well, on this particular flight, there was Premium Economy and for some reason the chief of football Donald McDonald found himself in one of those more comfortable seats.

Those of us up the back of the plane expected him to offer his spot up once we took off but were a little surprised when he refused to budge. On more than one occasion, Brad actually used his frequent flyer points to purchase upgrades for the taller guys into Business Class - so the bar was set pretty high.

Donald, it’s safe to say, didn’t quite live up to expectations.

On the flight our sponsorship manager Kerrie Brewer was sharing some chocolate Clinkers around…you know the ones with the green, yellow or red, sugary, hard filling inside? The rule is that you have to guess what the colour is inside before you bite them in half. It got me thinking; why did they stop at three flavours? And; if they were to add another flavour what would it be? With that in mind, I’m throwing the question out there to you…if you had to pick a new Clinker, what would the flavour be? Tweet me @andrewswallow with your suggestions and I’ll give you the feedback when we travel back to Perth in round four. I reckon maroon would be the best option with plum as the flavour.

Anyway, getting back on track…after we landed and entered the terminal, we were hit with a wall of heat when the automatic doors opened to the outside from the baggage claim area. I know Brad has been saying it will be sweet weather-wise for us tomorrow, but this is the same guy who wears the club hooded jumper in 30-plus degree heat at training. I’m not sure he feels the sun like the rest of us.

I can’t wait for tomorrow…it’s been five months since we started our pre-season in Utah. From the snow to the scorching sun - here we come round one.

The boys are all pretty pumped up…it’s kind of like the night before Christmas; a few nerves and a lot of excitement. We play the Eagles tomorrow and all reports are that they are treating it as a final after finishing bottom of the ladder last year.

It’s a new season and we won’t be taking them lightly, or any team for that matter.

More than ever, there are no easy games in the AFL.

Last time we were here it was Boomer’s 300th and tomorrow we have the chance to celebrate Michael Firrito and Daniel Wells’ 150th games.

For me, Spud typifies what this club is all about. He is hard, uncompromising and you can rely on him to deliver week in week out.

And Wellsy is all class and looks set to take his game to a new level.

Dinner tonight was the traditional buffet style and without fail, on all our interstate trips, there is lasagna…there is ALWAYS lasagna. Other selections included chicken risotto, beef stir-fry and spaghetti bolognese. For dessert there was some raspberry jelly and those little Bulla ice-cream cups that you scoop with a little plastic shovel-spoon. Apparently the club’s old interchange steward knocked off a record 15 cups in one sitting…amazing. I reckon I would puke after 8.

Donald was heading out to have dinner with a few of the boys’ parents; Aaron Black, Liam Anthony and some others but I could’ve sworn that I saw him with a plate full in our dining area. His reason was that it was ‘just an entrée’. The man can eat…he’d definitely give the Bulla ice-cream cup record a fair shake I reckon. Now I see why he was so poor during one of the first hikes in Utah…we seriously thought he was going to die.

I saw Mum and Dad for a little bit in the foyer of our hotel earlier tonight which was great. Dad was in his element at one stage and Daniel Pratt gave him the slip in the elevator.

Ben McKinley has been a bit nervous over here being a first gamer at the club because at West Coast, they always prank the debutants on their first interstate trip. Key swapping and luggage relocation are among the favourites apparently. We don’t actually have anything at North - perhaps we should. The only prank that I know about today was when one of the boys got into the media manager’s office and duct taped a Sherrin football to his laptop screen back at Aegis Park. He immediately suspected Scott McMahon but Scotty has denied, denied, denied.

Shaun Atley though has copped it a bit. He’s rooming with Boomer and the boys have been trying to stitch him up. Pratty started a rumour that when Atts was told he had to attend a VFL function, he responded ‘I only play AFL mate.’ Of course this is not true but Atts has been forced to deny it anyway. Good one Pratty!

Some of the players have also been on the Gumtree website posting sale items on behalf of people at the club - the only thing is that the people at the club don’t know they’re actually selling anything.

They put our dietician Jona Segal’s horses up for sale without him knowing and he received about 40 calls. Michael Firrito was selling some homemade salami and his phone was running hot. Scotty Thompson was selling a car and Sam Wright a television.

The prime suspects are the bored players in rehab - Levi Greenwood, Ed Lower, Ryan Bastinac and Matty Campbell.

Division 2 of the players’ Dream Team comp is up and running. I’m going back-to-back this year, after a stunning win from 8th position last season. It’s all about peaking at the right time of the year, and I managed to work with my players to get up and about during the finals series. ‘Socks Up’ is going back to back baby. Daniel Harris is my smokey.

And finally, today was Darren Crocker’s birthday…so Happy Birthday Crock! If you ever see him around, ask him about the island he recently visited up North with his family. He seriously won’t shut up about it because he reckons it’s one of the biggest sand islands in the world and it feels like you’ve just been in the bath when you come out of the water - it’s not like normal sea-water.