16 minutes ago, Demonland said:

 

Andy Lovell hit the nail on the head

“Your brand stacks up boys, you just need to trust in the brand, trust in each other and you may as well go and win it, hunt ‘em to death lads. Good luck”

Who do the dogs see as our most dangerous fwd?

Fritta.....hes our highest scorer.

Kozzie...the wow factor.

Bbb.....a previous star of the comp and building nicely.

Tmac...has been quiet but capable of smashing it.

Max...kicked a record five.

Jackson..a quiet achiever.

Spargo...lively crumber.

The prelim demonstrated how settled and potent we now are up fwd which took a while to sort out.

Im tipping Bbb to have a big day and maybe Trac to hit the goals several times.

I am exhausted, have a pain in the gut and there is still 8 hours to go. Cannot think straight  

Edited September 25, 20214 yr by old dee

26 minutes ago, Demonland said:

Inspirational!  Just look at the steely determination in the eyes of our players!

 

[censored] the bulldogs fairytale.

Don't be nervous people.

This team is the real deal.

My partner's six-year-old daughter just sent me a drawing of the "Demon robot crushing the other team". Her dad is Collingwood, but the rest of her family on that side are Melbourne. I think that's Bontempelli in the bottom-right, and Macrae on the left. 

Edited September 25, 20214 yr by Skuit

Have a feeling Max has gone to another level. The couple of 2week breaks have given him a new lease of life. Chased down Gary Rohan FFS most of our side couldn't chase down Rohan

16 minutes ago, old dee said:

I am exhausted, have a pain in the gut and there is still 8 hours to go. Cannot think straight  

Hang in there old Dee. Crank up the pacemaker, charge the defibrillator and enjoy the ride

I found a golf ball on the course with number 31 on it.  A sign

Edited September 25, 20214 yr by ucanchoose

3 minutes ago, chook fowler said:

Hang in there old Dee. Crank up the pacemaker, charge the defibrillator and enjoy the ride

Sage advice chook!  

I'd also suggest that od opens one his famous single malts and partakes of an early libation - for medicinal purposes of course.

The two big Melbourne newspapers’ headlines are indicative of the huge chasm between them…

The Age: “A GRAND NEW FLAG?”

The HS: “WEST SIDE GLORY”

53 minutes ago, Demonland said:

 

I am surprised how meaningful that was for me. Steve Smith and Peter Giles - players I have forgotten about for too long. Today means so much for so many. Bring it home Dees. 

1 hour ago, Neil Crompton said:

We got this. 

I can't relax though

Walking around the streets of Perth this morning, lots about wearing Dees colours, not nearly as many bulldogs

I reckon I’ve run through every scenario of the game in my head this week. 
 

Especially this first 10 minutes… ‘what happens if this player goes down early?’… ‘how good would it be if this happened?’… what if they score the opening 5 goals??’…. ‘WHAT IF WE SCORE THE OPENING 5 GOALS????’

Even against Geelong, I wasn’t relaxed until about 10 minutes from the end of the game. This is going to be a whole other level!!

We have a much better backline and as a team, more options overall. I truly believe we’ve got this. Just need to be ready to take it. 
 

 

8 minutes ago, Maldonboy38 said:

I am surprised how meaningful that was for me. Steve Smith and Peter Giles - players I have forgotten about for too long. Today means so much for so many. Bring it home Dees. 

Giles career was never the same after matthews  gutless punch to the jaw.

peter tossol was blast from the past

by coincidence I got a text from a long time friend  last night who works with the wife of an ex player shown . The eX player is pumped

Cross-post from the Class of 2000 thread:

Guy Rigoni:

“We went over to Todd’s place for a midfield meeting one day and Jack Viney got his teeth knocked out on the trampoline out the back. He came inside and Todd said ‘don’t you cry!’”

Andrew Leoncelli:

“Jack Viney has always been heart and soul. He was a wild kid. Todd was an unusual dad, so Jack would just be tearing around, kicking the footy, and Todd would grab him and say ‘shut up!’ Olden day parenting, you know.”

Brent Grgic:

“Todd played when I was playing. He used to drag Jack around and his brother Max. He was a very tough two-year-old! He played the same as his Dad.”

Travis Johnstone:

“I remember Jack Viney annoying the crap out of us when he came into the rooms. He would go mad, crashing into walls. He grew up with us and now he’s playing.”

Jeepers. We know that Jack is special, and I don’t agree with the parental approach (although I grew up in the world of high-level tennis and often regret that I didn’t have overbearing parents – pretty much the only way you can succeed in the sport) – but Jack was reared as a hardened football robot. A flag and Norm Smith medal is the only reasonable outcome.

David Neitz:

“I had a shot early and I will never forget missing it. It was a left foot snap and you do it in training which makes it sort of gettable. I slammed it into the post. I never forget that.”

I’ll never forget that either. On a day where you felt everything had to go right, this was a serious early blow to the confidence (thankfully today feels completely different, and that we can overcome any early set-backs). I still remember my muck-ups in regular under-15 games ffs. I feel sorry that Neita has to live with this. Let's change the story. 

Anthony Ingerson:

“On the ground, I smashed heads with a teammate in the first few minutes. I went to the bench and Neale Daniher was screaming: ‘Get him on the ground!’ The doctor stapled across my forehead and I was back out on the ground within two minutes, with my entire head sideways.”

We did get bullied in 2000, but the general carnage was insane. The game feels different today (though last year’s grand final was pretty hectic), and our team feels different. I'm sure that we will stand up to any physical onslaught, even if a couple key players go down.

David Schwarz:

“Running out onto the ground was [censored]ing phenomenal. The roar was like 25 steam-trains going at once. You couldn’t even hear yourself think.”

Troy Simmonds:

“I’ve seen the vision of Long’s bump on me numerous times. When I finished up at Richmond they put it on the highlights video! I went to hospital. I do remember coming in the changerooms. I saw my parents there and I was asking ‘where am I’ and ‘what’s going on?”

Fire! All of the old boys are tipping us to win, with Oliver, Petracca and Gawn splitting allegiances as to favourite current player and Norm Smith tip. Go the mighty Dees!

 

 

As exciting as today is, Im sure there are lots of us missing those dads who put us on to this mob. A footy bond of just something to talk about even if  a lot of the times laughing at our misfortune.

And like me at the age of just losing them and never sharing the joy of seeing a flag won.

I for one will have a framed photo of my dad sitting next to me tonight and hear him bagging the maggots {in white}  ...father like son.

And taking back at all the times I said why did you make me barrick for this team.

Edited September 25, 20214 yr by leave it to deever

I’m still chuckling at this.

Guy Rigoni:

“We went over to Todd’s place for a midfield meeting one day and Jack Viney got his teeth knocked out on the trampoline out the back. He came inside and Todd said ‘don’t you cry!’”

One message for all demons fans lucky enough to go to the grand final. 

All your job is, is to barrack loudly & get our boys over the line. You are barracking & representing us Melbourne fans stuck here in Melbourne. 

Enjoy the game

1 hour ago, Demonland said:

 

I cried all the way through this. Today is going to be super emotional.

Key today

1 Hard tag on Liberarore= Harmes

2 Harder tag on Daniels = ANB

THE REST SORT THEMSELVES OUT

Result = DEMON PREMIERSHIP

43 minutes ago, Bitter but optimistic said:

Sage advice chook!  

I'd also suggest that od opens one his famous single malts and partakes of an early libation - for medicinal purposes of course.

No horlicks for Old Dee tonight - he has to stay awake until the end.

Just sitting here thinking about big games. And generally, your stars will perform when it matters. So it's more about the other guys, the younger guys. And I think LJ and Kozi particularly are made for big games. They were clean and smart in the prelim, could have some really defining moments.

Also, met a bloke who from SA at the pub last night who's mates with ANB, said he's definitely on for first goal. Throw a 10er on lads.

15 minutes ago, P-man said:

 

I’m still chuckling at this.

Guy Rigoni:

“We went over to Todd’s place for a midfield meeting one day and Jack Viney got his teeth knocked out on the trampoline out the back. He came inside and Todd said ‘don’t you cry!’”

So intense! He has been built for this day