The 10 positives from 2018

1/ Demons broke the 12-year finals drought. Finish 5th with 14 wins 

2/ Demons win two finals. Beat the Cats and Hawks to finish 4th

3/ Brayshaw and Harmes improve to make our midfield one of the leagues best. Gus finishes 3rd in Brownlow

4/ highest scoring team in the AFL. Big scores and big wins. 

5/ Two All Australians. Max Gawn has another standout year to be the premier ruckman. Clayton Oliver at 21yo shows he is now an A grade midfielder 

6/ Tom McDonald has a great year as a key forward. 53 goals. 20 games

7/ Nev Jetta. Most courageous Demons player in the last 3 decades. Never gives up. 

8/ Finally we beat the Kangas. The last hoodoo team. 

9/ Six wins interstate. Two losses incl a loss v power when we dominated the game. 

10/ the optimism and promise of a better 2019. The demon army is on the march. Our finals crowds of over 90000 showed our power. 

Carlton wooden spoon

Drug cheats missed finals

James Harmes emergence as a quality mid-fielder and Salem across half back was impressive 

Salem, Weideman, Petracca ALL have big potential still to fulfill. You saw it in 2018 but I think these 3 can go up a level or two in 2019

The new look midfield.  Seeing Oliver, Brayshaw, Harmes and Viney step up to become the first choice mids ahead of Jones, Vince and Lewis gave us a real glimpse of the future.  Viney is the oldest of the group.  They'll be dominating for the best part of the next decade. 

I think point 9 is the most important. Good sides will win away from home. Not beaten at Etihad as well helps.

11 hours ago, spirit of norm smith said:

The 10 positives from 2018

1/ Demons broke the 12-year finals drought. Finish 5th with 14 wins 

2/ Demons win two finals. Beat the Cats and Hawks to finish 4th

3/ Brayshaw and Harmes improve to make our midfield one of the leagues best. Gus finishes 3rd in Brownlow

4/ highest scoring team in the AFL. Big scores and big wins. 

5/ Two All Australians. Max Gawn has another standout year to be the premier ruckman. Clayton Oliver at 21yo shows he is now an A grade midfielder 

6/ Tom McDonald has a great year as a key forward. 53 goals. 20 games

7/ Nev Jetta. Most courageous Demons player in the last 3 decades. Never gives up. 

8/ Finally we beat the Kangas. The last hoodoo team. 

9/ Six wins interstate. Two losses incl a loss v power when we dominated the game. 

10/ the optimism and promise of a better 2019. The demon army is on the march. Our finals crowds of over 90000 showed our power. 

Agree with the above, as it has overall been a very positive year. Let me add one further thing,                       “Increased club membership”. To have over 44,000 members was great and looking at those crowds supporting Melbourne at the Geelong and Hawthorn finals (your point 10) it’s not unreasonable to aim for 50K + within the next few years. 

I reckon Charlie Spargo is a star of the future.

Gawn and Clarry All Australian

The 10 positives from 2018

1/ Filth choke in granny

2/ Filth choke in granny

3/ Filth choke in granny

4/ Filth choke in granny

5/ Filth choke in granny

6/ Filth choke in granny

7/ Filth choke in granny

8/ Filth choke in granny

9/ Filth choke in granny

10/ Filth choke in granny

I agree but two things also need to be remembered. 

The Melbourne Football was provided with an opportunity to reach the Grand Final and play off for a premiership. They blew it and didn't even turn up for the first half.

The team that beat them were eventual premiers and that loss in Perth showed us we have some way to go to take home a premiership.

That doesn't mean we discount the progress made this year. We yet again improved and produced three genuine A graders this year (Max, Clarry and Gus). We don't have to throw the baby out with the bath water in reaction to this loss. However, we need to keep improving. Players need to be brought in, hard but logical decisions need to be made that don't upset the equilibrium of the club and the players need to dig very deep and ask themselves if they are happy with being humiliated and having their reputations systematically trashed on national TV.

The positives only mean something if we come out next year wanting to rectify that situation.

 

Edited September 30, 20187 yr by Colin B. Flaubert

Winning Interstate 

The Weid

I agree with Colin above. 

We still need to improve a lot on top of what we have already done. 

Between the ears ? 

We are a top 4 side.

If you had have told me that in 2013 we'd be up there with the big boys in 5 years, I would have laughed in your face.

Years of expectation and hope have finally translated into something very tangible and meaningful. For a lot of people. Far more in fact than I had thought supported this club.

This year confirmed to me how dark and disappointing the last 11 years have been. Hats off to all of us.

Thank you Paul Roos.