Have your hearts returned to normal yet?

Let’s put the devastating one-point loss aside for just a minute.

The 73,189 people who filled the MCG were treated to a spectacle. A tough, skilful and fast game of football with both sides topping triple figures.

2017 was the first year since 2010 the Easter Monday crowd fell below 68,000. Stop and think about that for a minute. For nearly a decade Cats, Hawks and neutral fans have been coming in their droves to watch what is now without a doubt the game's greatest rivalry.

But there is a reason for these crowds. Taking out the two outliers from 2015 and 2017 where the Cats and Hawks won by 86 points and 62 points respectively, all the other games have been decided by under 30 points including four by single digits. 

Yesterday’s Cats side was very different to our 2010 side especially in age. The team that ran out yesterday was the sixth youngest of all sides to play on the weekend. The Hawks had the oldest team playing on the weekend, an average of two years older than their Cats opponents. 

So whilst the loss was hard to swallow yesterday, what it did was expose players such as Lachie Fogarty, Jack Henry, Zach Guthrie, Mark O’Connor, Brandan Parfitt and Tim Kelly to big crowds at the MCG in finals like conditions.

Whilst we’re on Kelly, isn’t he something special.

Fast, skilful and tough, he is everything you could want in a modern-day midfielder. But it is not just his physical attributes that shine through.

Kelly is one of the most mature and level-headed 23-year-old footballers you will meet. Missing out on six drafts and having three young boys will do that to you!

So whilst the result didn’t go the way we wanted, it is round two and with a lot of development and learning ahead for the team we are in for one hell of a ride this year.