“We are so accustomed in football to being able to put a poor performance behind you, come out the next week and change the tone. But now you don’t have that opportunity, and from a mental point of view we don’t know when or if we will get it. “As a team we had a group message after the game. We will get into a full-on review when we get back together - but we had a group discussion with [coach] Bevo outlining a few things. “In a sense the game took a back seat to everything happening, which is understandable, we have to prioritise people’s health.” Bontempelli was uncharacteristically quiet in the season-opener, with 15 touches for the match and only a handful to half time. “Sometimes you are just not in a rhythm or in sync with the game and it’s hard to break that when a team is so dominant in so many facets,” he said.

“I put it down as a one-off. I think a lot of the boys, if they could have it back they’d take that game back. Loading “The main thing is that it's not a theme. We have played one game – and the Marsh series was positive. So we have some confidence we can get back to some good footy when we can get back out there.” Bontempelli stressed that football was rightly a secondary concern to people’s health with the decision to suspend the season, but said players were desperate to play again this year. He said whether it was his team playing or not, any AFL player would welcome the chance to play finals on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day or New Year's Eve if that was what ended up happening in this extraordinary year.

“It could be a Chrissy Day special,” Bontempelli said “Someone else mentioned New Year's Eve. I think whenever it is, players would just love to get out there and be part of it and play. As players we are keen for action, no matter when. We would all be willing to spend the festive season playing in a grand final. “We are keen to play and we feel like we have got potentially an opportunity and a responsibility to bring some positive energy. People enjoy watching footy and we enjoy playing.” Bontempelli lives in a house with a large enough yard to allow outside exercise, and a room he has set aside as a gym for a weights program. He can still go for runs but kicking poses a problem. He can go to the park, but only with one teammate or other person.