I have never been more homesick than last Friday when my AFL football team, Carlton, made it back into the September Finals race for the first time in 10 years.

As I was walking my 7 year old to school, in my Carlton jumper (the one I wore to every match, final, and ultimately winning Grand Final, in 1995) all I kept thinking was I wanted to be wearing this top and walking into the MCG with the other 92,026 – including many of my friends and family.

There is nothing like walking into the “G” in September. That electricity in the air as everyone walks through the turnstiles to get to their seats.

The excitement and hope building as the banners are raised and the teams run onto the field and through those banners, as all of the Carlton supporters start singing/screaming our club song in unison – “Da Da ra da da; da da ra da da; da da ra da da da ra ra, We are the navy blues … “

Singing the national anthem and screaming out that “Go Blues” as soon as the last word of the song has been sung. The power and emotion behind all of that singing and shouting always brings shivers to my spine.

There’s the thrill of the opening siren and that first bounce of the ball. At this stage, the game is still anyone’s. We could actually win this!

I miss experiencing all of that with my friends and family. For a few hours, last Friday morning (Irish time),  I had never felt both so far away and yet so one with everyone back home.

I couldn’t get a video stream of the match but the Triple M radio feed was incredible (Triple M really does Rock Football). The crowd’s emotion was bursting through those speakers and I felt one with them. I felt the joy of getting in the lead; the anxiousness of staying in front; the desperation of wanting that final siren to sound so that Sydney wouldn’t kick another goal and possibly walk away with the win; and then, that deafening roar of the crowd when the siren went off and the realisation that the Baggers managed to do it, and we all live to fight another week in the hope of being there on that one day in September!

As soon as the match was over, my phone was hopping. Friends and family, all of us texting each other about how we managed our nerves – which were now shot; the ecstasy we were all feeling; our takes on the game; videos of packed trains with happy Carlton supporters still singing at the top of their lungs; and talk turned to how to get tickets next week.

As I said, I have never felt further away from home and yet so close and that’s all because of footy. I forgot the power of it. Carlton’s motto this finals season is “Stronger Together”. I know I am gushing, and it sounds mad, because at the end of the day it’s just a sport – but you see, it’s not. It’s about feeling a sense of community, passion, love and connection. And it’s more than just that collective love and emotion you feel with the fellow supporters. It’s that shared elation and joy that I had with my loved ones back home. For a few hours, we were all having the same emotions, even if we were thousands of kilometres apart.

I can’t wait to put my jumper back on and feel this all over again in the morning (or if you’re reading this in Australia, tonight) – Go Blues!

• – Sarina Bellissimo