Lukey Ryan loves to operate with time and space, but even he never thought he’d get to take a leisurely stroll in the park and stop for a cup of tea during a game! Time to Restump Podcast the tiptoeing through the tulips win over the Kangas. 

The Kangaroos just absolutely skedaddled. It was as if Luke Ryan was on the back of 4X4, armed with a spotlight and a Winchester! Was there divine intervention? Not since Moses parted the Red Sea has a safe and spacious passage to the promised land inexplicably appeared!

It was a remarkable record tumbling day down at Bunbury, brought about by the contributions of both teams. You don’t win 12 straight if you’re not a serious outfit, but you don’t destroy any opponent by 120+ points, hold them to just 3 behinds in a second half and put on 19 goals on the bounce without their deficiency assistance. 

However, at the same time, you can’t manage such a feat if you’re not rolling out an airtight functioning system and combining it with a relentless worth ethic and an insatiable hunger. 

Is there another ruckman in the league whose teammates willingly handball to? Maybe Brody Grundy but it’d still be due to a lack of comparable options. Hayden Young’s first thought is ‘get the ball to Luke Jackson!’ Even Luke Jackson’s first thought when he gets his own ball is to handball to Luke Jackson! He is the AFL player prototype and unless there’s a relaxing of the ethics and laws around cloning, he’s going to remain a one-of-a-kind collector’s item. 

We gotta talk Sammy Switkowski. JL’s Einstein, the sharpest man in the west and I’m pretty sure a former Sale of the Century showcase winner! He’s taken 9 injury plagued seasons to get to 117 games and he’s potentially in his career best form. His work rate is unquestionable and on Saturday he saw personal reward with an equal career high three goal feat, something he has now managed three times. With two of those occasions coming this year, he’s a vital piece of the September puzzle.

I know we’ve won twelve on the bounce, we’re twelve and one for the year, we’re top of the tree, a game clear of Syndey in second, three and a half games and thirty percent ahead of the Hawks in third and 3/1 favourites for the flag…. but, for mine, the hype from all corners of the industry is a little uncomfortable. There is an unwanted element of forgone conclusion commentary about us and it’s just a little bit unnerving. 

Yes, the ship has to leave the safety of the harbour at some stage but that means navigating unchartered waters! Give me back our comfortable underdog status, remove the intense magnified focus and let us return to our familiar footing of flying under the radar! 

Oh, who am I kidding, it’s like a Tupperware container…. even if you could find the lid, there is no putting the lid on it. The lid is so far off, we can’t even see the lid! The lid is in outer space! So, we live now, we throw cautious  optimism to the wind and go mental enjoying the thrilling journey and we worry about any possible unwanted consequences if or when  they arrive.

We’ll all take a breather over the bye, but before then, there is still plenty of purple praise to promulgate. So, put on your pants, pour yourself a piccolo, pitch in, park yourself on a plush perch, press play and partake in the purple prattle on the pod. 

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