Normally, I eagerly await the start of the rugby league season.
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I'm not much of a fan of cricket - aside from Big Bash (though the endless number of games in this last competition did wear me out) - so when the footy ends in September I tend to be at a loose end until the following March.
I would try to pass the time by watching Dragons games on DVD or checking out old matches on the Fox Footy channel but they would never quite feel the same.
But this year feels different - and not in a good way.
Yes, the season kicks off on Thursday and the Dragons play on Saturday night but the enthusiasm's not there this season.
I'll be out on Saturday night and so won't get to see the game live - and, for the first time ever, that doesn't really bother me.
Usually I try and arrange things so that I'm free to watch the footy. And if I'm not I'll record it and make every effort to avoid finding out the result until I see the game.
However, this Saturday I don't mind that I don't mind at all that I won't be near a TV when the Dragons kick off against the Cowboys.
Sure, I'll probably record it. And maybe I'll watch it on Sunday.
But maybe I won't. And if someone I'm out with on Saturday night happens to tell me whether the Dragons won or lost, I don't think it'll bother me like it once would have.
The reason for the apathetic feeling this year is surely down to the terrible off-season rugby league has had.
Given the seemingly endless coverage the game has had on the back pages over the last few months, it really doesn't seem like there even was an off-season.
That coverage has been all bad news - from incidents of domestic violence, several rape allegations and a stream of sex tapes.
It's made me view the game in a different light.
It's all created an image that is surely not going to attract any new fans to the game. And, if my own feelings are any indication, it might even push away a few older ones.
Yes, maybe once the games start and the news about what happens on-field begins to replace what happens off it, I might change my tune.
But there's also the real chance that I won't.