TRUE BLUEY ... AFL with Guy McKenna. Courtesy of Gold Coast Bulletin
THE wait is almost over.
On Thursday night the Gold Coast Football Club will finally unveil the three things everyone is waiting for -- our name, our jumper and our team song.
We have had 18 months to make some very logical and sound decisions but they are huge decisions when you think about it.
Like every club, these were things we did not want to rush. If you look at clubs like Collingwood, they haven't changed their jumper in more than 100 years and the way GCFC has done it by involving the community, our sponsors, players and staff has ensured this is a real team effort.
It's really the birth of the football club in an AFL sense.
We will have a jersey which belongs to us and a name we hope will make us well known but one of the exciting things will be having a song to sing after our wins.
Singing that song is one of those things you want to do after playing. It will be bold and fresh but how we deliver it will be up to the public.
After our three wins the dressing rooms have been quiet but we want to chalk up a few more so we can get everyone singing.
But I can't stress to our group enough that Thursday night is just the beginning.
It will mark another momentous day for the club but the party will be short-lived.
We obviously can't change our focus.
We are all very comfortable and excited about the night but once the dust settles I have stressed to the guys the importance of preparing for Sandringham, who will be a tough opponent for us on Saturday.
The easy way out is to say we've travelled for two weeks and the boys are going to be tired.
But it's a great mental challenge to get up again like they will have to for the rest of this year and for the many AFL seasons to come.
It will be particularly important after the big effort the group delivered in Cairns last weekend.
It was a great result and a great kick after the siren for local boy Zac Smith but the important thing from the trip, while a success on the field, was the work we achieved off it.
AFL Cairns did a wonderful job promoting the game and I was also impressed with the work of Karmichael Hunt.
While 99 per cent of what we want out of Karmichael is on the field, he was terrific with his time off it.
He would have had a blister on his thumb and fingers from signing autographs. He was certainly a favourite among the kids.
And he's doing a great job, particularly in deflecting some of the attention from the younger guys and making it easier for them before they are exposed to the attention next year.
