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Is this the best Demons side of the last 57 years?

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1 hour ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

If Port have an emphatic prelim win and we fall over the line, I get the feeling Port will almost be favourites to beat us.

They’d be on an 8 game winning streak including beating the Dogs at Marvel and are full strength and playing brilliant footy.

Like us, I get the feeling Port are on a mission this year and have well and truly bought in after blowing it last year.

Kind of like how they pantsed North in 2007 while the Cats just got over the Pies. Port had a great run leading into that GF beating the Cats at Kardinia Park in round 21.

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    1 hour ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

    If Port have an emphatic prelim win and we fall over the line, I get the feeling Port will almost be favourites to beat us.

    They’d be on an 8 game winning streak including beating the Dogs at Marvel and are full strength and playing brilliant footy.

    Like us, I get the feeling Port are on a mission this year and have well and truly bought in after blowing it last year.

    I’m not sure what it is, but I really don’t rate Port. They barely beat a top 8 side all year, we made them look like pretenders, and then they went and beat an out of form WBD to clinch 2nd spot on the ladder. Geelong played one of the worst games I’ve seen them play on Friday night. Port were good, but Geelong had a horrible night. 
     

    What Port do have on their side is a home ground full with their supporters - something Melbourne won’t have in the PF


     

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    1 minute ago, At the break of Gawn said:

    I’m not sure what it is, but I really don’t rate Port. They barely beat a top 8 side all year, we made them look like pretenders, and then they went and beat an out of form WBD to clinch 2nd spot on the ladder. Geelong played one of the worst games I’ve seen them play on Friday night. Port were good, but Geelong had a horrible night. 
     

    What Port do have on their side is a home ground full with their supporters - something Melbourne won’t have in the PF


     

    Agreed, of the 5 teams left GWS and the Dogs are the two who I feel could give us trouble.

    Having said that Port are playing to make amends for last year and also had 4 or 5 players out last time we played them.

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    15 hours ago, Sir Why You Little said:

    Potentially Yes…Got to keep going, nobody remembers 2nd Place…

    2 more games, then ask

    Only if it is the Pies...

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    15 hours ago, At the break of Gawn said:

    I’m not sure what it is, but I really don’t rate Port. They barely beat a top 8 side all year, we made them look like pretenders, and then they went and beat an out of form WBD to clinch 2nd spot on the ladder. Geelong played one of the worst games I’ve seen them play on Friday night. Port were good, but Geelong had a horrible night. 
     

    What Port do have on their side is a home ground full with their supporters - something Melbourne won’t have in the PF


     

    If the West Australians can match the South Australians of last weekend (and I think they might actually do better) then we'll do all right, I reckon. Particularly if GWS is the away team.

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    22 hours ago, COVID Dan said:

    From my op I'm not saying we are guaranteed to win the flag. 

    Im asking if there has been a better MFC side in our more recent history? Flags excluded.

    I am too young (not that young) but i reckon in our history we wouldn't have had a side with so many well credentialed players and have had such an amazing season. 

    I don't think we are guaranteed a flag and I think this team has a lot of development but wow what a great season so far.....

    Has any MFC team in 57 years had a better year?

     

    A subset question to your OP one, Dan: Has a club - MFC particularly but indeed any club - ever put together a better, larger group of 'foreign legionnaires' than our club has? Five 'starting 22' in May, Lever, Tomlinson, Langdon and Brown plus door-knockers Hibberd and Melksham. Throw in Majak Daw and Mitch Brown if depth is needed for a tie-break.

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    1 hour ago, Timothy Reddan-A'Blew said:

    A subset question to your OP one, Dan: Has a club - MFC particularly but indeed any club - ever put together a better, larger group of 'foreign legionnaires' than our club has? Five 'starting 22' in May, Lever, Tomlinson, Langdon and Brown plus door-knockers Hibberd and Melksham. Throw in Majak Daw and Mitch Brown if depth is needed for a tie-break.

    Nought Melbourne in the 70’s…

    full of Foriegn Legionaires

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    Talent wise, yes it is.

    But we should remember Ron Barassi’s rather crude pronouncement about where talent came from, and why it’s nothing to be proud of.

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    4 hours ago, Timothy Reddan-A'Blew said:

    A subset question to your OP one, Dan: Has a club - MFC particularly but indeed any club - ever put together a better, larger group of 'foreign legionnaires' than our club has? Five 'starting 22' in May, Lever, Tomlinson, Langdon and Brown plus door-knockers Hibberd and Melksham. Throw in Majak Daw and Mitch Brown if depth is needed for a tie-break.

    Without looking, im pretty confident the Tigers of 2019 and Hawks and Cats teams would be up there.

    It is very exciting and interesting to see how the next few weeks go. 

    Everyone has different measures of success, but i would think this year (up to now) would be one of the MFCs most successful club performances for a long long time.

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    3 hours ago, Sir Why You Little said:

    Nought Melbourne in the 70’s…

    full of Foriegn Legionaires

    Ah, yes, of course! But 'twas a product of a unique, exploitable and fleeting perversity of rules. Our legion arises from a settled and competitive rules regime.

    But, with Stan Alves involved, underdog-ness, premiership virginity, victories over disliked teams (I never hate), quirky stars, etc, North's exploits then (but definitely not since) provided me some engagement and thrill when my team's weren't, so much!

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    21 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

     

    21 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

    Having said that Port are playing to make amends for last year and also had 4 or 5 players out last time we played them.

    Exactly.

    Port seem to have nursed Robbie Gray through to the business end of the season and he makes a huge difference.

    Fantasia is always dangerous but injury prone.

    Boak and Wines aside, our midfield is where we can get them.

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    I think the only time we played to this level was at the end of 1987.

    Suddenly that team believed and they were doing everything for Robbie and the side had so many guns - Flower, Wilson, Sean Wight, Brett Lovett, Stretch, Danny Hughes plus some amazing youngsters - Lyon, Viney, Stynes - and our best back pocket ever Alan Johnson was out injured for most of the season.

    Guys like Yeats, Spalding, Dean, Jackson, Campbell stepped up come finals.

    But the argument would be that they weren't a gun side for much of the year - only hitting form in early August.

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    • Like 1
    On 8/30/2021 at 3:42 PM, jnrmac said:

    Our 2000 Season (Check out some of the scores!)

     

    rd 1  Richmond 14.10 (94) Melbourne  13.14 (92) MCG

    rd 2 Melbourne 23.7 (145) Kangaroos 17.18 (120)

    rd 3 Sydney 19.12 (126) Melbourne 17.12 (114)

    rd 4 Melbourne 25.15 (165) St Kilda 11.9 (75)

    rd 5 Fremantle 10.15 (75) Melbourne 14.22 (106)

    rd 6 Geelong 15.19 (109) Melbourne 12.12 (84)

    rd 7 Melbourne 20.18 (138) West Coast 12.5 (77)

    rd 8 Port Adelaide 10.10 (70) Melbourne 20.10 (130)

    rd 9 Melbourne 13.15 (93) Essendon 15.16 (106)

    rd 10 Melbourne 15.12 (102) Brisbane Lions 11.18 (84)

    rd 11Adelaide 15.15 (105) Melbourne 8.22 (70)

    rd 12 Western Bulldogs 16.12 (108) Melbourne 13.5 (83)

    rd 13 Melbourne 9.7 (61) Carlton 25.9 (159)

    rd 14 Melbourne 22.11 (143) Collingwood 12.6 (78)

     rd 15 Hawthorn 10.12 (72) Melbourne 22.9 (141)

    rd 16 Melbourne 16.14 (110) Richmond 14.16 (100)

    rd 17 Kangaroos 14.19 (103) Melbourne 14.18 (102)

    rd 18 Melbourne 19.11 (125) Sydney 15.9 (99)

    rd 19 St Kilda 14.14 (98) Melbourne 17.14 (116)

    rd 20 Melbourne 25.10 (160) Fremantle 11.11 (77)

    rd 21 Melbourne 18.18 (126) Geelong 17.6 (108)

    rd 22 West Coast 15.10 (100) Melbourne 26.14 (170)

     

    QF   Carlton 12.15 (87)  Melbourne 15.6 (96)

    PF Melbourne 23.18 (156) Kangaroos 17.4 (106)

    GF Essendon  19.21 (135) Melbourne 11.9 (75)

     

     

    That’s convinced me more than ever this is a better team. We got done by nearly 100 points then. Haven’t been beaten by 30 once this year

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    On 8/28/2021 at 10:54 PM, COVID Dan said:

    5 AA

    1 rising star

    Best player in the competition.

    Most wins in a season since 1956. 

    Defeated every side in the league (except the pies)

    Can we keep it up?

    Discuss

     

     

    Undoubtedly it is CD!

    While I agree 100% with what you've posted, there are a few other ingredients which make the 2021 version of the Demons the stand-out.  In particular:

    • 'role players' understanding and playing their role, and in some cases sacrificing their preferred playing position for the good of the team;
    • a selfless 'team-first' attitude by everyone who takes the field;
    • improved leadership, and for the most part, the ability to change things around 'in-game', when things are not be going as as planned;
    • a team that is 'hungry, single minded and driven' to succeed;
    • 'next level' fitness to run other teams off their legs; 
    • a spread of talent across all lines;
    • a game plan that is built around hard, contested, team football;
    • seemingly, a TEAM both on and off the field;
    • solid depth across all lines, aided by a comparatively good run with injuries in 2021 (touch wood!).

    I'm sure there are others, but that'll do for now.

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    19 hours ago, Deeoldfart said:

    Undoubtedly it is CD!

    While I agree 100% with what you've posted, there are a few other ingredients which make the 2021 version of the Demons the stand-out.  In particular:

    • 'role players' understanding and playing their role, and in some cases sacrificing their preferred playing position for the good of the team;
    • a selfless 'team-first' attitude by everyone who takes the field;
    • improved leadership, and for the most part, the ability to change things around 'in-game', when things are not be going as as planned;
    • a team that is 'hungry, single minded and driven' to succeed;
    • 'next level' fitness to run other teams off their legs; 
    • a spread of talent across all lines;
    • a game plan that is built around hard, contested, team football;
    • seemingly, a TEAM both on and off the field;
    • solid depth across all lines, aided by a comparatively good run with injuries in 2021 (touch wood!).

    I'm sure there are others, but that'll do for now.

    Excellent post. I'd just like to add that the team appears to have no off-field troublemakers, either. No De Goey, Toby Greene or Jayden Stephenson. The worst I can recall was Clayton Oliver having a blood alcohol level below 0.05 but above zero while on P-plates. Hardly problematic behaviour in itself, but more relevantly, a single instance and not a pattern of poor behaviour. 

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    57 minutes ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

    Excellent post. I'd just like to add that the team appears to have no off-field troublemakers, either. No De Goey, Toby Greene or Jayden Stephenson. The worst I can recall was Clayton Oliver having a blood alcohol level below 0.05 but above zero while on P-plates. Hardly problematic behaviour in itself, but more relevantly, a single instance and not a pattern of poor behaviour. 

    Was 4 seasons ago now Clarry was 19 !!!!

    How  long can anyone be retrospectively condemned? 

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    On 8/31/2021 at 7:42 PM, Timothy Reddan-A'Blew said:

    Ah, yes, of course! But 'twas a product of a unique, exploitable and fleeting perversity of rules. Our legion arises from a settled and competitive rules regime.

    But, with Stan Alves involved, underdog-ness, premiership virginity, victories over disliked teams (I never hate), quirky stars, etc, North's exploits then (but definitely not since) provided me some engagement and thrill when my team's weren't, so much!

    They didn't perform like these 2021 warriors!! 

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    1 hour ago, 58er said:

    Was 4 seasons ago now Clarry was 19 !!!!

    How  long can anyone be retrospectively condemned? 

    I was trying to do the reverse by making the point that it was a single instance and NOT a pattern of poor behaviour.

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    2 hours ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

    Excellent post. I'd just like to add that the team appears to have no off-field troublemakers, either. No De Goey, Toby Greene or Jayden Stephenson. The worst I can recall was Clayton Oliver having a blood alcohol level below 0.05 but above zero while on P-plates. Hardly problematic behaviour in itself, but more relevantly, a single instance and not a pattern of poor behaviour. 

     

    18 minutes ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

    I was trying to do the reverse by making the point that it was a single instance and NOT a pattern of poor behaviour.

    Exactly LDvC. Not dissimilar to the media response to our AA full-back having an ale in public view, very shortly after he arrived at the Club.  Critically, both Clarry and Maysie totally embraced the culture of the MFC very quickly, and now seem to be leaders in driving standards, both on and off the field. 

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    • 4 weeks later...
    • Author

    I think this has finally been answered.

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    • Love 1
    On 9/1/2021 at 2:08 PM, Deeoldfart said:

    Undoubtedly it is CD!

    While I agree 100% with what you've posted, there are a few other ingredients which make the 2021 version of the Demons the stand-out.  In particular:

    • 'role players' understanding and playing their role, and in some cases sacrificing their preferred playing position for the good of the team;
    • a selfless 'team-first' attitude by everyone who takes the field;
    • improved leadership, and for the most part, the ability to change things around 'in-game', when things are not be going as as planned;
    • a team that is 'hungry, single minded and driven' to succeed;
    • 'next level' fitness to run other teams off their legs; 
    • a spread of talent across all lines;
    • a game plan that is built around hard, contested, team football;
    • seemingly, a TEAM both on and off the field;
    • solid depth across all lines, aided by a comparatively good run with injuries in 2021 (touch wood!).

    I'm sure there are others, but that'll do for now.

    Excellent post

    agree mostly and any difference is up for debate.

    but it is the “team first” approach

    on field and off.  The inclusion of the team list, past players, in the win is fantastic. But also the management of the club and the emails to supporters that makes those who only watch each week , or other week.  Feel part of the deal. It is great to see people young and old walking around in their colours. 
     

    I will smile forever when ever I think of that second half burst. Harmed grabbing it with one hand running through a pack .the full speed transfer of ball from player to player   Just brilliant.

    bring on 2022 !    Why not ?

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    On 8/29/2021 at 7:16 AM, Waltham33 said:

    2000 we had a brilliant team - gets lost because of how good Essendon was. I know footy was more open back then however we destroyed teams that year on the scoreboard. This is the most complete Dees team I've seen however it needs to make the GF first to be considered the best IMHO

    Quoting myself with an update - yes confirmed - best team for 57 years.  

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    This team is the best since the 1956 team which was a great team and lost Denis Cordner, Stuart Spencer, Clyde Laidlaw and Ken Melville in the 1957 team who were very good to great players.

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