Lots of Jeffy & Jesse moments but for me it was Big Max announcing himself at Geelong

Prior to that he'd largely been a bit of a loveable figure of fun. One that we'd thought / hoped might have had a bit of ability

That game & those clunking contested marks were like a statement. "Look at me muthas - I CAN SERIOUSLY F#$%NG PLAY"

If his body holds up he could be anything. The vision, awareness & the handball to release (I think) Viney into space yesterday were sublime

Let's not forget Round 1. Thank God Prince Harry slotted that goal!!

After that game we were in the 8 legitimately!

Win down in Geelong is number one for me, I went down there fearful of another massive hiding and resigned myself to a day of drinking beers and copping abuse from the cats fans. What we did that day was the best I have seen us play in a very long time, the shock on the cats fans faces was awesome!

Number two is Hogan in general, way exceeded my expectations for his first year of going up against AFL defenders. Not only was he matching it with them, he was beating them! His game on Rance, with everyone saying how Rance will give him a lesson, was poetry!

Number three is Brayshaw. Although all reports were he was a ready made gun I try to hold myself back from getting too excited. He'll finish top 5 in the rising star for sure.

Four would be beating Collingwood. Wish I was there but I was working. It's a good one to knock off. Next year we've got to get them on QB.

Finally, and this is a strange one, but I will always remember the way the Melbourne faithful received Cross in the final game. He really deserved a bigger crowd but every single one at the game gave him so much love and respect as he was coming off the ground and when he came off the ground. Glad his final game was a win.

Gotta say that I loved the win against the doggies. Giving it to the WB cheer squad as they were leaving half way through the last was a personal highlight, despite Biffen and BBO fleecing me of most of my beer money.

Easy for me. The Cats game.

I had downgraded to a 3 game membership this year as the chances of me living overseas were pretty high (and that has turned out to be the case). Therefore, I was delighted that my brother was able to get me a seat in a corporate box at Skilled (or so I thought). It turned out his boss misunderstood and got me general admission. Therefore I thought I was in for a dog of a day. I even had to put my scarf back in the car as I was told in no uncertain terms that it was a Geelong corporate box so I had to modify my behavior thusly.

Sitting on my own, no free beers and thinking we were going to get pantsed in freezing Geelong weather. How's that for a trifecta?

It turned out to be the second best Melbourne victory I have witnessed live (the best was when we embarrassed Adelaide in the 1998 Qualifying Final). Shame I was the designated driver for the trip back to Ballarat as we stopped at the pub in Meredith for a few frothies.

Ah, my hometown. Solid country pub.

Get the flathead tails next time you are there. Great meal.

Might be a while till I get the chance Gogoroth. I moved back to Japan last month. However, I will keep that in mind if I ever venture out that way again!

Jesse's game against Richmond in the wet

Viney's progression in the midfield

Brayshaw's rookie season has been memorable

Vandemon showed plenty off the rookie list

Bernie's year

Salem's move to half back

Individual highlights are the improvement of Gaw, Viney, Vince, tMac and first year presence of Hogan, Brayshaw, Stretch, ANB.

If only Jones, Jetta, Dunn etc didn't regress it could have been a decent season.

The highlight for me is being genuinely excited about our future. For the first time in a very long time, I can now see:

• a strong 'core' of young players who could form the 'bedrock' for sustained success: Hogan, Brayshaw, Viney, Vanders, Gawn, TMac, Salem, Tyson
• other player prospects who might easily become part of the 'core' in 2016: Stretch, Neal-Bullen, Harmes, Petracca, Frost
• a good and improving culture, and players who seem to genuinely 'care' and want to play for each other;
• a good coaching and development team, who are likely to get the best out of our player stocks; and
• stability on and off the field.

Add another pre-season or two, the departure (hopefully) of the last of our chronic NQRs and mentally 'fragile' players, and some more astute drafting and trading along the way, and it's not hard to envisage September action in the next year or so. That's a huge step-up from where we have been.

I'm probably being naive, but it just has a 1987 feel about it.

Edited September 7, 20159 yr by Deeoldfart

Winning round 1 for the first time in 10 years.Casey was playing across the road before the game,good crowd at the G,it was a nice sunny day and we won.I remember soaking in the great atmosphere with other Melbourne supporters making our way to Richmond station after the game.

You've got to be pretty rapt with the 8 debutants: Hogan, Brayshaw, Vandenberg, Stretch, ANB, Harmes, O-Mac and White.

The other important thing to note is that Petracca, Trengove, Frost, Salem and Kent missed all, or the majority of, the year. They will make a very fine group of inclusions next year.

And for something a bit different, I loved our R3 loss to Adelaide, where Bernie Vince just gave it to his old side. We stood up that day and it was a lot closer than the 25 pt margin suggests.

The season is over,looking forward to 2016