You also learn that perceptions are contagious – they spread quickly like the flu and people don’t quite know where they got it from. 

It’s certainly something we’ve learned over the opening two rounds of our season.

Prior to our first game, the perception widely held was that we would struggle to compete with Melbourne.

We couldn’t score, we didn’t have the talent, people had tipped us to finish last or second-last. 

Then we produced one of the best games in the league’s history, four overtimes, an hour on court, 245 points scored.

People were lining up to pat us on the back. The perception was that we did well to get so close.

Our belief was that it was a home game we expected to win that we let slip, as outstanding as our effort was.

Just 48 hours later, we get toweled up by Perth and we were back where people had us in the preseason. 

We were staring down the barrel of an 0-3 start and supposedly playing for our season two weeks in.

To the boys credit, they took that loss on the chin, went to Cairns and produced a really gritty, impressive win. Now we’re 1-2. There’s a single game in it but, for whatever reason, in the eyes of many, it seems a world away from 0-3.

In reality it’s not. We’re literally one possession away from being 2-1. If we’d won the Melbourne game we’d be second on the ladder and everyone would be saying ‘how good are the Hawks’. 

That’s when you need to look at the facts. We’ve had two exceptional efforts and one poor one. 

We’ve played the defending champions then Perth and Cairns on the road. If you told most coaches they’d split that away double they’d take it in a heartbeat.

More important than the wins and losses, we’re feeling very confident as a group.

Last week we went to a hostile environment, with two key guys missing, and battled hard for the win.

The boys were obviously very happy but straight after the game Dave Andersen stood up and said ‘we’ve got the monkey off our back but now it’s time to go to work’.

It’s what you expect from a veteran of his stature and says plenty about why he’s won championships everywhere he’s gone in the world. 

We feel pretty good about ourselves at the moment but the focus is 100 per cent on Brisbane. We have to back up our performance against Cairns and we have to win and protect our home court.

That’s our mentality. If we can do that we’ll earn ourselves a free shot at Melbourne on Monday because no one expects us to beat them on their floor.

That’s the perception – but perception doesn’t always equal reality.