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I married a footballer. Pre meeting him, I had no experience with football. Zero. I had not attended one game. 20 years later, I have attended maybe 10.

With my limited football knowledge, what I knew was that my dad was a mad Norwood fan, and my husband played for Sturt. Apparently, that is not ideal.

I knew who Tony Modra was. I had seen pictures of Scotty Thompson's hair. I knew there were four quarters to a game. I did not know they went for so long.

I sat through a BBQ with Brett Burton asking what he did for a job other than football, only to find out on the drive home that football was his job.

And when Sturt won the flag in 2002, I found out just what the Premiership Quarter was.

I equate our life, and our four schools terms to the four football quarters. And so team, we are now in the all important, Term 3, Quarter 3  - aka Premiership Quarter.

Term One

This is where we start off slow. The start of the year begins like the start of a game. Full of energy, motivation and a clean slate. There are no scores so far. No-one has made their big break. Everyone comes together to begin a new year, a new game.

It is all about the children, teachers and families finding their feet. Getting to know their classmates, laying the foundations for the year.

Its like the first bounce, find your players, settle into the game, get good first quarter under your belt.

No one needs to get injured.

Term Two

We have our base. We can make changes if we need to.

We started well. We know what needs to get done to win the game.

But we still have alot of work to do to get there. There are still many minutes (or hours it feels like…) before the final siren.

Term 2 is about putting in the hard work, ticking off the tasks in the process to get to the end goal. You may get a little bump or two coming into halftime which may set you back and make you stronger,

Until the last 4 minutes of Quarter 2. They (I hear ) are crucial to set yourself up to lead into a big Premiership Quarter.

Term Three

Here we are. The Premiership Quarter.

It was David Parkin, Carlton Coach, who coined the phrase Premiership Quarter in 1982. His theory was for his team to outplay the opponents in Quarter 3, to guarantee victory before the final quarter.

If we follow this theory, Term 3 is where we do the hard yards to set ourselves up to achieve our best in Term 4 and to complete the year.

We have had a term to settle in, a term to get the work done and tick off the task in the process. Now we have a Term to cement the hard work. 

The 3^rd Quarter, aka Term 3, will see tired children. Tired parents. Tired staff. But all putting the hard work in. Because, if you haven’t done the work by Term 3, trying to catch up in Term 4 will be a hard race.

It is the Premiership Quarter. It's the Term to work hard, even when you are exhausted. As you will appreciate the results at the end.

Term Four

We made it. The work has been done, the final quarter is a celebration of the year.

A celebration by completing the Year 12 exams, primary and high school graduations, and Christmas concerts. A celebration of all the people that got you to the end of the game.

Term 4 is a good one. It's an exciting one. The celebrations are important to recognise, as it took three hard Terms to get there.

So friends, here we are. In the Premiership Quarter. Time to dig deep. Time to get the job done. Time to keep going even if exhaustion kicks in.

I tried to research whether the Premiership Quarter actually is just a theory, or if it sees some consistent results. I got quite lost in the research, with all the football terminology, so i turned on an old marathon to watch - which I understood more.

But the theory of the Premiership Quarter can be related to life. And to our schooling years. Don’t wait until the last minute to make a difference. Make use of whatever chance you get, and at halftime if you need to, make the adjustments you need.

Then, sit back and enjoy the fourth quarter, as the hard work has been done.

*As a disclaimer, whilst I am an ex WAG, my football terminology  will reflect my football experience – even 20 years on.