1 hour ago, praha said:

Melbourne is a good story atm. Neutrals are behind us (so long as their team still isn't in it), and we've come a long way to earn respect.

I think MFCSS is fueling this post's particular narrative. We've turned a massive corner and you can't underestimate this team's potential.

I heard rumblings last year that in a few matches throughout the year, Melbourne players were cocky and trash talking when they were in front. Then they would lose and among the football fraternity, there was this opinion that Melbourne was an immature team that couldn't handle a bit of pressure. They thought they were better than they are.

It has propelled this team and put them in a position where, really, their biggest threat is themselves.

The media coverage probably isn't where we want it to be. It's more a "Crap Club Is Now Good Again" narrative rather than "Great Club Is Still Great". It took Richmond a while to break that, and let's not forget a decade ago Hawthorn was the media's darling after Franklin's goal against Adelaide in the 2007 Elimination.

We may well lose to Hawthorn this week but it won't be because of the media coverage. I was reading comments on an article in Perth Today about how the Eagles would rather play Hawthorn than Melbourne. The Eagles supporters were mostly in agreeance (aside from the typical "NO ONE CAN BEAT THE EAGLES" post) saying that Melbourne is building a tsunami and you probably don't want to play them atm.

You need to dig through the trash and hyperbole and look for the genuine commentary. Where it exists, people like David King, Mark Robbo, people who have generally been very harsh on Melbourne, they are absolutely convinced we will smash anyway in our way this season. I don't believe they're buying into it. They're simply going om facts and the current standard of play.

I am confident this team can handle the pressure. This is a team of schoolboy winners and hardnuts, with amazing team chemistry.

This sort of team, imo the media coverage propels them even higher.

Gee I hope you are right - the last game I managed to attend was the St Kilda debacle - looked anything but world beaters that day in fact the score flattered us in the end. The team is going well atm but it could all unravel very quickly if they start getting ahead of themselves. I have a very very healthy respect for Hawthorn and Clarkson they are an opposition not to treat lightly

9 minutes ago, Sydee said:

Gee I hope you are right - the last game I managed to attend was the St Kilda debacle - looked anything but world beaters that day in fact the score flattered us in the end. The team is going well atm but it could all unravel very quickly if they start getting ahead of themselves. I have a very very healthy respect for Hawthorn and Clarkson they are an opposition not to treat lightly

Hawthorn lost to Brisbane twice and almost crumbled against St Kilda. It happens. Essendon smashed West Coast in Perth. 

If the dees win a flag each player should have a bath. The water from said baths should be bottled. And sold to diehhard dees fans. Who can choose to drink should they so desire.

 

One thing that does reassure me is that the old MFC guard have been mostly weeded out of official roles in the club. PJ was very big on getting the best in the industry in the club so most of the people we have got in haven't been weighed down by what has come before.

In my defense, I have felt a bit like Charlie Brown with Lucy and the football since I started following Melbourne 30 years ago so some apprehension is understandable. The 1990 and 2002 Qualifying Finals, the whole 1998 to 2003 era and losing to the Swans in 93/94 among other 'incidents' which I won't provide an exhaustive list of here have made me circumspect at times.

I'm not Robinson Crusoe on this front either. I remember a Geelong supporting mate in 2007 who would not even entertain the season as a highlight till the siren sounded on a Cats' flag (even though it was patently obvious that they were always going to win from round 15 onwards).

But anyway, I thought it deserved some discussion.

9 hours ago, Little Goffy said:

Nothing wrong with bathwater as long as you don't drink it.

..... or drown in it ?

3 hours ago, Rogue said:

Great post.

I'm also really worried about that camp we didn't go on back in January.

Perhaps we haven’t been told the truth about that.

Maybe the reigning runners up outbid or outmuscled us for the camp? ? (thanks Tex)

I’m certainly not drinking at the last chance bathwater saloon. 

win the flag this year and i'm buying a new bath.....a king size one

Ethan knows how to mess up the bathwater 

I say this every time we play them now, but I have been with my now wife for 12 years. She is Hawthorn. We have beaten them once in that time. Despite this being the worst top 4 team Clarkson has coached, I don't expect us to win this weekend and I'm surprised by the confidence in these parts. I hope you're all right though.

Massive test this week in terms of our maturity. Going in on the back of a big win, overwhelming favourites and big expectations.

Clarko and the Hawks will be sitting back licking their lips ready to ambush us.

Boys need to go in with the same intensity and pressure as last week. Make statements from the first bounce

13 hours ago, Little Goffy said:

Nothing wrong with bathwater as long as you don't drink it.

Some try to snort it in,,, only end up with bathwater on the brain...  and that's a real concern.

3 hours ago, daisycutter said:

win the flag this year and i'm buying a new bath.....a king size one

parte` everyone...  ac DC's,,,  in Roctober, after the win.

cheers, DC.

55 minutes ago, Pennant St Dee said:

Massive test this week in terms of our maturity. Going in on the back of a big win, overwhelming favourites and big expectations.

Clarko and the Hawks will be sitting back licking their lips ready to ambush us.

Boys need to go in with the same intensity and pressure as last week. Make statements from the first bounce

The Hawks played poor last week, they don't do that 2 weeks in a row.

We will have to be 'on' this week, to do any good.

Sorry I wasn’t listening..

 

bring me me the next jug ???

5 hours ago, DV8 said:

Some try to snort it in,,, only end up with bathwater on the brain...  and that's a real concern.

Are you sure that you aren't confusing 'bath water' with 'bath salts'?

5 hours ago, DV8 said:

parte` everyone...  ac DC's,,,  in Roctober, after the win.

cheers, DC.

What we did well against Geelong was to control the centre .

We did this through defensive action(Strong tackling) .

Funnily enough I made a chess analogy during the first quarter last week.

Strong tackles are key against any opposition.

 

Boy, being in the finals - particularly after such a long absence- has led to more fluff and fugazi than I can remember.  Any angle is a good angle for the journos.

whilst I love reading about my club, most of it tells me nothing new, and is really just fluff.  If we win, it will probably go up another notch.  If we lose, the experts will tell us how they knew beforehand.  Just hope it is fugazi for the players.

my MFCSS struggles a bit in this new world....

This bath water term needs to die. No one at the club has thought of themselves as better than they're all year. Infact our coach has been finding new words to use every week to say that the boys are focused on the task. 

 

 

2 hours ago, Biffen said:

What we did well against Geelong was to control the centre .

We did this through defensive action(Strong tackling) .

Funnily enough I made a chess analogy during the first quarter last week.

Strong tackles are key against any opposition.

 

I don't normally do this as to do so is to ( in the past ) invite the "gods of nasty' to smite me but right now I think I will.  What is that yo might ask ?? I'm buying in !! Ive been severely critical of this team and the coaches and much with good reason but just as it was obvious at one point we were doing a lot wrong..or not properly  it would seem we are clicking to some degree.

For those that are at least inclined to keep reading  I've found it incredibly fortuitous to be currently reading  The Red Fox. ( highly recommended to any who havent ) This very well researched tome not only brings the man ( Smith to life ) but is a wondrous journey through the halcyon days of this club. You want to understand what sort of culture we once had, what sort of club and team win premierships then here it all is  spelt out and described in black and white ( sic ).  Maybe its a willingness on my part to see it , or it might just be "what is "  but I see many parallels  , of a fashion , in Melbournes resurgence  in 54 to our present situation  . ( Numeroligist might have fun with 54 and 64...lol ) 

The essence of this emergence of the most successful Demon era was , as is mentioned elsewhere , the creation and nurturing of our Esprit de Corps. A One for all and All for One club. Team Team Team.  It's here again. Weve had some very good players...and some very good teams over the past 50 or so years and even made a few finals and cup tilts. At each juncture where we have the TEAM has been paramount to the cause. The lads bought in and played for each other, played for the jumper , played to excel for themselves to aid the cause. And they revelled in this. Just didnt quite get the choccies ( 87 being the big one that got away imho .....and @!$# Hawthorn !! )

Smith was incredible at getting his charges to do their utmost. The Demon game was not that which every club managed to play. A characteristic of all Smith teams was you played your part, you did it to the best of your ability and you did it unselfishly. Smith didnt care about personal glories, he thought that a team shared one was infinitely more satisfying and lasting. Teams win premierships. Players might win games but finals require team efforts. They need players to rally and support each other.

Smith was not a fan of shirkers. You were encouraged to NEVER take a backward step.....or the door out the club was shown. Norm understood it was often the little things that made the difference because if you add them all up it's often the difference between winning and losing. He wasnt much a fan of losing.

Smith understood synergy even if he never gave it that name. We as a team are still maturing, just like that team of 54, which also had a lot of youth, but Smithy knew that that one possibly element which might undo a young team, that devil may care attitude , the natural instinct to take risk, to disregard personal safety  can actually be directed into a very powerful asset;  blind determination.

We may or may not go beyond friday. I think we will. Is it all bathwater ? or is it the gurgling of a tide, a Tsunami building. Are the media just creating a beat up or are they just writing about what they observe ? Probably both, but who can deny there's something in the air.

To drink the bathwater is to indulge in false prophecy. It would be fair to say we are witnessing , not faux bravado, but BELIEF. The army that BELIEVES in its cause will always beat the one that doesnt, or is mercenary, because they will fight for each other, they will fight for the their cause, indeed they will fight for their flag !! They are willing to sacrifice to the greater end. This is how Im seeing us play now. Much is made of the idiom a Champion team will beat a team of champions.

Im wary of Clarkson, only a fool isnt . Much as Richmond denied the Hawks their game so do I believe will we. 

If it takes a little bathwater in the drink bottles to keep us going, I'm all for that. If we indulge ourselves with a little between beers and such...well....why not.

Self belief is not a bad thing. It's how it's harnessed.  Im really not fussed by all the media attention. For years we craved it. But just like the sun..too much and your burnt, just enough and all is well.

One thing for sure, you invariably will fail if you dont believe you can succeed. Speaking to a family member last night who plays footy  and quite well,understands the nuances  and the unmeasurables he thought, as a Weagle supporter ( hes ex WA ...poor lad )  that hed much rather face Hawthorn in a prelim than us.

His own words :" you guys are a bit scary at the moment"

in the immortal words of Alice Cooper:

We're the Department of Youth
The new Department of Youth
We're the Department of Youth
We've got the power

Go Dees

Edited September 12, 20186 yr by beelzebub

4 hours ago, Biffen said:

What we did well against Geelong was to control the centre .

We did this through defensive action(Strong tackling) .

Funnily enough I made a chess analogy during the first quarter last week.

Strong tackles are key against any opposition.

 

... so it was you Biff, and DC and his brains-trust,,, that got us up... well played sires.

2 hours ago, MurDoc516 said:

This bath water term needs to die. No one at the club has thought of themselves as better than they're all year. Infact our coach has been finding new words to use every week to say that the boys are focused on the task. 

 

 

The bathwater angle is helping us, Murdoc...  Harden up princess, the lack of star.tus keeps us on-track.

Media attention or not, we have the luxury of being the big winners of the season regardless of whether we win or lose this week. Already we made and won a final. We are young, we have years of success ahead of us.

If we lose, the story will be about us just not having the experience to match the Hawks, and how bright our future is. Hawks lose, and it's about "false dawns", "ageing stars", "flawed recruiting", "out in straight sets". 

Win or lose, the pressure is not on us. Everyone would love us to win the flag, but nobody expects us to. It's a great position to be in. 

2 hours ago, beelzebub said:

I don't normally do this as to do so is to ( in the past ) invite the "gods of nasty' to smite me but right now I think I will.  What is that yo might ask ?? I'm buying in !! Ive been severely critical of this team and the coaches and much with good reason but just as it was obvious at one point we were doing a lot wrong..or not properly  it would seem we are clicking to some degree.

.

The darkest Hour, is right before the Dawning. Ours was just prior to Roos's arrival.

But there's another.

Here is another dawning for us, right now... our new dawning of self-belief.  

 

Everyone knows that Dawn brings with it, the danger of Micro-Sleeps. 

Be rested Melbourne, and be Ready.

 

Our road to the big-dance,,,  starts THIS WEEK_

 

Keep your eyes on the road, & your hands upon the wheel. 

 There is a 'feathered menace', between US, and our journey's destination. !

 

.

Edited September 13, 20186 yr by DV8

1 hour ago, DV8 said:

The bathwater angle is helping us, Murdoc...  Harden up princess, the lack of star.tus keeps us on-track.

It's not helping anyone. It's just used as an excuse for when we lose. Everytime we lost a game this season Bathwater became the word of the day.

15 minutes ago, MurDoc516 said:

It's not helping anyone. It's just used as an excuse for when we lose. Everytime we lost a game this season Bathwater became the word of the day.

rubbish, that just your take on something your uncomfortable with.

It's helping us, keeping our heads down and focused, and aware of the dangers of being self indulgent... everything has It's pros and its cons.

Depending on how it is, the person wants to perceive of it.

Edited September 13, 20186 yr by DV8