Port Adelaide club champion Darcy Byrne-Jones has packed for a two-week stay in Melbourne and the most-important item in his luggage is an upbeat spirit amid all the COVID-created uncertainty in AFL football today.
"We have come over here with a positive mindset for however long we are here," said the 25-year-old defender before Port Adelaide's first training session at Tullamarine, the training base of the Essendon Football Club.
"We are ready."
Port Adelaide was one of the best AFL teams in adjusting to hub life on the Gold Coast last season. The same attitude taken to south-east Queensland is being repeated in Melbourne today.
"The club has been pretty clear to make sure we are ready to be here for two weeks - and anything less than that is probably a bonus," Byrne-Jones said, "particularly for the guys who have families and want to get home.
"I am in the mindset that we are going to be here for two weeks and anything less than that is a bonus."
Port Adelaide effectively moved as a touring squad two days earlier than planned for the away clash with Hawthorn at the Melbourne Docklands on Saturday night.
"We got an email (Wednesday morning) saying the possibility of us flying to Melbourne was going to happen," Byrne-Jones recalled of the events that were triggered by new COVID cases being confirmed in Adelaide.
"As the day wore on, it became more and more clear that we were going to have to come to Melbourne. So you had to drop a bag off (to the property team packing equipment at Alberton) and work on potentially staying here for two weeks.
"We flew out (Wednesday night) with the Crows, obviously. It all happened reasonably quick. That is just the way things are at the minute with the landscape of the AFL world."
While the location has changed - from Alberton to Essendon in suburban Melbourne - the routine for an away clash is to stay as true to usual script for the Port Adelaide players.
"Not a whole lot (changes)," Byrne-Jones said. "We have tried to keep things reasonably similar to what they would be like if we were in Adelaide. (Wednesday) was a little bit different, but (Thursday) is reasonably similar in terms of scheduling and training wise.
"We have most of the group (minus the players with long-term injuries) here with us, so we will have a good group at training and I'm sure we will get a good session in."
Port Adelaide's selection of a 23-man line-up - to hold a top-four position - hinges on fitness tests of forward/midfielder Connor Rozee (knee), key defender Trent McKenzie (shoulder) and half-back Hamish Hartlett (hip).
"We will see if they can get through the main session today," Byrne-Jones said. "They will have fitness tests and we are hopeful that Connor can play on the weekend.
"Trent is in a similar boat to Connor. Hopefully, he gets through training and comes up for the weekend. He has played some really important roles for us," added Byrne-Jones of McKenzie who was lost to the match-up with Sydney power forward Lance Franklin during the last term on Saturday after being crunched in a collision with Will Hayward at Adelaide Oval.
"We are really hopeful Trent will play."
Port Adelaide faces 17th-ranked Hawthorn seeking back-to-back wins to honour Shaun Burgoyne in his 400th AFL game, 157 of which were crafted from Alberton.
"It’s Shaun Burgoyne's 400th, so they are going to come with a fierce intensity and a will to win," said Byrne-Jones who was starting school in 2000 when Burgoyne began his SANFL league career at Port Adelaide.
"That is what we are preparing for.
"But we are prepared for a fierce contest.
"Shaun played some rally good footy at Port Adelaide for an extended period of time and is a premiership player with Port Adelaide.
“He is a player a lot of Port Adelaide fans will remember fondly, so it is a nice coincidence for him to play against us. But we are firmly focussed on getting the four points and then congratulating him on his achievements afterwards."
Byrne-Jones admits following up his All-Australian and John Cahill Medal standards of 2020 is challenging the reliable game defender.
"I am probably not playing as well as I'd like to think I can," the 2013 draftee said. "Or at the form I was at last year.
"But I am still working away as hard as I can and trying to play my role as best as I can. I am sure things will turn around and, hopefully, I can play towards my best going into - hopefully - some finals.
"It is just the ups and downs of AFL footy," added Byrne-Jones of the circumstances around his form change. "Things are not going to go your way 100 per-cent of the time. The coaches and I are working on (changing that); everyone is trying to stay at the top of their game. Nothing has really changed. It is just the way things go."
Port Adelaide is to host - open borders permitting - league leader Melbourne at Adelaide Oval next week.
"We are firmly focused on Saturday night (v Hawthorn), but what next week looks like I have no idea - and I doubt anyone has any idea yet," Byrne-Jones said. "We will just wait to see how that pans out and hopefully we are playing at Adelaide Oval in front of a big crowd."
Port Adelaide shared a charter flight with the Adelaide playing squad while the AFL put all 18 national league clubs in safe keeping in Victoria.
"It is a big rivalry between us, but it was a very friendly and very normal flight," Byrne-Jones said. "I just jumped on the flight and watched a movie."
