AN HOUR and a bit before last night's game, the Victorian rooms could have been any team's rooms. The sights and sounds were the same as you'd see on any footy weekend at the MCG: balls thudding heavily against a solid brick wall, players in elaborate stretching poses and a coach lingering at his team board.

The difference last night was who it was doing all those things. Chris Judd was the last to duck inside the meeting room, hitching a T-shirt over his head, while Mark Thompson was the coach, checking over his match-ups.

Luke Power jogged up and down by one wall, bouncing the ball. Matthew Scarlett stood before the opposite wall, flinging his ball against it. Nathan Foley lying down, testing his reflexes.

Judd came along, laughing as Brendan Fevola stretched out alongside him. Earlier, Robert Murphy and Scott Pendlebury had sat with their backs to the same wall, alongside each other leafing through the Footy Record.

Everyone seemed to know what they as a group wanted to do and none of the new teammates seemed to get in each other's way. As the players huddled together an hour later, wearing the same big white V and preparing to run on the ground, their common goal was even more clear.

Trent Croad handballed to Heath Shaw in the warm-up, who fell in line behind Judd and patted him on the back. Troy Simmonds bounced on his toes beside Brent Harvey, who was a 21-year-old the last time he wore the state jumper. Joel Selwood clapped his hands and Power looked serious, perhaps even a little nervous.

"C'mon boys," said Jonathan Brown from the back of the group, as they headed out, they still did not know if they could play like a team when on the ground.

It took a while: the best first-quarter moments were some of the last of the term — starting with Scarlett keeping his feet to mark at half-back as Daniel Motlop collapsed to one side of him and the ball making it to Fevola in just three sharp movements.

Later, either Josh Fraser pulled off the perfect ruck tap, or Harvey performed a perfectly timed piece of roving. Whatever the case, the ball landed on Harvey, who grabbed it, took a couple of speedy steps and snapped a goal.

Harvey was there again at the start of the second term, snapping a second goal, and then there was more: Judd's give-and-go to Shaw on the half-back line; Brown's one-handed mark. Then there was Fevola sneaking to the front of a pack, marking and pushing Victoria eight points clear.

A Foley pass was so pinpoint Daniel Bradshaw had time to wipe his sweaty hands on his shorts before holding them out to take the mark. Croad, having realised exactly how much trouble Buddy Franklin has been for teams other than Hawthorn, conceded three goals and then backed-back into an incoming Dream Teamer, eyes up, and marked. Earlier, Goodes saw the ball coming in high, spotted Matthew Richardson in the Dream Team goal square steadied, jumped off a short run up, and snaffled the ball high on Richo's back.

Goodes was strong and powerful; Foley was smaller but just as strong-willed. Where Croad learned new things about Franklin, Cam Mooney played on Matthew Scarlett and was reminded that he has one of the most relentless full-backs playing with him at Geelong.

It took only a couple of minutes for teammates to be teammates again — that was as long as it took for the players to trade guernseys in the centre square at the end; Murphy trading with Ryan Griffen, Croad grabbing Franklin's and the Geelong players keeping their mementoes in-house.

It was a few minutes that brought the old loyalties, although there were a few final reminders that players will keep this night in mind for a while. As the siren sounded, and the benched Victorians jogged back on, guess who was beside Judd? Magpie Shaw, who made sure he got in for one last tap on the back before the pair go back to playing for clubs that hate each other.