Hot Wheels were a big part of my childhood.

My brothers and I grew up playing with them. We used to play with the old school tracks — the oranges ones which you could build from one room to the next.

As a kid I had really special memories of Hot Wheels so the opportunity to be part of the AFL Players’ Garage with Patrick Dangerfield provided me the chance to give back to something from my childhood and that reminded me of being a kid.

The Players’ Garage was incredible!

The set was actually a great big working garage with a roller door and oil stain still on the concrete floor.

There was a big ol’ car parked to the side decked out in the Hot Wheels decal on the side of it.

Danger was revving it, I was revving it. The engine was crazy loud!

It was almost as though it was the full size of one of the toys!

Home Base was set up with a Sherrin couch and beanbags to hang out in where they had all the different types of cars set up, loop de loops and track set ups for the kids to play with.

Race Central had the Daytona racing machines with the full seat and steering wheel set up.

Danger Zone was without doubt the most exciting part of the studio but I’ll get to that later! Let’s just say I stitched up Danger very well.

It was a really cool set up filled with plenty of things for everyone to play with and have a bit of fun with.

There definitely wasn’t a dull moment in that garage, I’ll tell you that!

On the day I helped out Danger run a footy clinic with a specky competition.

It was a great opportunity to show the kids a bit of character and everything else that comes with taking a huge mark, or the strut as Danger called it.

The most enjoyable part of the day for me was the opportunity get Paddy back after he threw me under the bus with the kids mocking my strut.

It was hilarious to see all the kids show their character with their own strut but I was ready to get him back in the Danger Zone.

I tested his knowledge on my family and my history and for each incorrect answer I would pour something disgusting on him.

Dirty socks, feathers, slime… you name it!

Paddy only answered five of the 10 questions correctly so he probably didn’t have much fun in the Danger Zone but the kids and I had a great time chucking slime on him.

He gave me a fair bit of crap during the day so it was definitely my highlight getting Danger a bit dirty in the Danger Zone.

The biggest challenge of the day was definitely trying to manage the kid’s energy.

Most kids are pretty hype at that age and were excited to see all the players including Paddy and myself.

When you chuck a bunch of footballs, cars and video games in front of young kids everyone wants to go every which way.

The whole production was really well run and everyone involved knew exactly what had to be happening so it wasn’t too hard to manage.

All in all it was a well put together event and a really enjoyable experience.