Homework, of all things, was the ice breaker for a teenaged and terrified Michael Voss.
It is 1992 and Brisbane are the Bad New Bears of the AFL.
At 17, Voss is the youngest senior player in Brisbane history. He is still at school.
For those many long, barren flights home after yet another loss, the curse of the alphabet meant Voss would be in the same row as coach Robert Walls and teammate Darryl White.
Of course, as the senior teammate, White bagged the window seat. That meant Voss sat next to Walls.
"I've copped the greatest sprays of all time from Robert," Voss noted.
But Voss managed to find common ground with the former school teacher.
"Because I was in Year 11 at school, I used to have my maths and because he was a teacher I used to just try and break the ice by asking him for some advice about how I solved the maths problem," Voss remembered on Thursday.
"I didn't want to ask him about football because we weren't very good back then, so we lost a lot, but yeah, that's probably one of my more fond memories."
The Carlton coach and three-time Brisbane premiership captain, remembered Walls, who died on Thursday, as a massive influence.
"As hard as it was for that two and a half hours to sit beside him, it was also a great opportunity to be able to know him, the man, not just the coach," Voss said.
"He's been an incredible mentor for me over a very, very long period of time.
"He's a genuine hard arse and really taught about professionalism and work ethic and didn't accept another standard except the best ... he also drew the best out of you.
"As far as what he means for Carlton, he's taken legend status for us so it probably shows just how much, how high a regard he's held, He'll be dearly missed."
