Melbourne Football Club 2021 season redux

[binman 43,185]

Almost six months until the 2022 men's season. I'm really looking forward to the AFLW season, but the next men's season seems an age away.

And i really want to savor what was the best season of football i have ever seen the dees play by the length of a Darren Bennet bomb.

And i think history will show one of the best seasons of football by any team in the modern era  (i don't think we have got credit enough for our season, yet).  

So I plan to watch one game game a week, starting this weekend with the hell and back video series and then the preseason practice match against the dogs.

Then next weekend the round one game against the dockers. 

I'll post some reflections about each game but it would be great to have some fellow travelers on the same journey to share the weekly injection of joy. 

Edited October 12, 2021 by binman

[Webber 10,476]

7 minutes ago, binman said:

I'm really looking forward tot the AFLW season

Likewise. Can only hope they get a clear run at it without Covid interruptions. Have been to a few, and the atmosphere is truly wonderful…..family centred with young girls kicking footies, wholly invested like only boys used to be seen/allowed. A brilliant testament to the health and future of the game. 
 

A game a week it is then…..

[Little Goffy 14,584]

14 minutes ago, binman said:

Almost six months until the 2022 men's season. I'm really looking forward tot the AFLW season, but the next men's season seems an age away.

And i really want to savor what was the best season of football i have ever seen the dees play by the length of a Darren Bennet bomb.

And i think history will show one of the best seasons of football by any team in the modern era  (i don't think we have got credit enough for our season, yet).  

So I plan to watch one game game a week, starting this weekend with the hell and back video series and then the preseason practice match against the dogs.

Then next weekend the round one game against the dockers. 

I'll post some reflections about each game but it would be great to have some fellow travelers on the same journey to share the weekly injection of joy. 

I'll be looking forward to your musings. I imagine a lot of the details of those games will feel very different now - particularly the mid-season wobble and scoring problems which now just looks like a process of getting our proverbial together but was a bit alarming at the time.

[whatwhat say what 22,783]

i watched q1 vs freo and then q4 premiership - it's chalk and cheese (roquefort?) from a comparative standpoint

the quality of our improvement in football was extraordinary over the course of the season

[sue 9,107]

I've started at round 1 and watched the entire Freo match. Pretty scrappy and only the occasional glimpse of what the team became.  As WWSW says, the difference between the Freo match and late in the year is amazing.  

(I usually only watch the games we won over the summer and spread them out to last until Feb/March. This summer I'll have trouble fitting them all in.)

[Demonland 72,464]

@binman

Perhaps we can turn this into a side podcast.

2021 THE GREATEST SEASON THAT EVER WAS

[Wrecker46 2,997]

The greatest season I have ever seen

Mainly before the finals we just seemed to strangle teams over the course of the match.

Then in the finals we just destroyed everyone.

Bang - bang, bang, bang

[Satan 2,872]

22 minutes ago, Wrecker46 said:

The greatest season I have ever seen

Mainly before the finals we just seemed to strangle teams over the course of the match.

Then in the finals we just destroyed everyone.

Bang - bang, bang, bang

Agree 

Other than the Gc and the adelaide  wins near the end  , we never smashed offensively . Our Defence won the games . We also kicked badly  in some games . Doubt  our average winning margin was more than 3-4 goals Come finals . We smashed offensively .

[Wrecker46 2,997]

28 minutes ago, Satan said:

Agree 

Other than the Gc and the adelaide  wins near the end  , we never smashed offensively . Our Defence won the games . We also kicked badly  in some games . Doubt  our average winning margin was more than 3-4 goals Come finals . We smashed offensively .

I think Goodwin left it until the finals to show our cards. He is a gambler and didn't want to give our hand away early.

Then when he did we came up with a Royal Flush.

[Satan 2,872]

1 minute ago, Wrecker46 said:

I think Goodwin left it until the finals to show our cards. He is a gambler and didn't want to give our hand away early.

Then when he did we came up with a Royal Flush.

Rather say risk taker

[Dees_In_October 3,392]

7 hours ago, binman said:

Almost six months until the 2022 men's season. I'm really looking forward to the AFLW season, but the next men's season seems an age away.

And i really want to savor what was the best season of football i have ever seen the dees play by the length of a Darren Bennet bomb.

And i think history will show one of the best seasons of football by any team in the modern era  (i don't think we have got credit enough for our season, yet).  

So I plan to watch one game game a week, starting this weekend with the hell and back video series and then the preseason practice match against the dogs.

Then next weekend the round one game against the dockers. 

I'll post some reflections about each game but it would be great to have some fellow travelers on the same journey to share the weekly injection of joy. 

I've had an AFLW 2021 re-watch planned for a while, seems like ages ago and was a mostly enjoyable season. Was going to be a way to re-focus if things went awry for the men, ha!

Of course, it only takes about an hour to watch an AFLW game, so I'm sure I can squeeze in a premiership-winning season game each week as well. What a time to be alive!

[binman 43,185]

On 10/13/2021 at 9:32 AM, binman said:

Almost six months until the 2022 men's season. I'm really looking forward to the AFLW season, but the next men's season seems an age away.

And i really want to savor what was the best season of football i have ever seen the dees play by the length of a Darren Bennet bomb.

And i think history will show one of the best seasons of football by any team in the modern era  (i don't think we have got credit enough for our season, yet).  

So I plan to watch one game game a week, starting this weekend with the hell and back video series and then the preseason practice match against the dogs.

Then next weekend the round one game against the dockers. 

I'll post some reflections about each game but it would be great to have some fellow travelers on the same journey to share the weekly injection of joy. 

To Hell and Back - 5 part video series 

Random thoughts:

• I highly recommended re-watching it - it gives this season a really interesting context
• High production values - love the use of drones
• The last episode was filmed near the end feb, at which point there was sense we would be going into covid chaos - crazy to think  month an bit later the season was postponed
• We lost out comparative fitness advantage with the reduction in quarter length and no doubt the 6 week break had an impact
• The impact of surgery and injury on 2019 was extreme
• Did more kms in the first two weeks of training (37) then they did in any session in 2019/20
• Started with ball use use straight off the bat - 80% with footies, 20% running  (and no running if they got enough clicks using with the footy in hand)
• Were using Choco stripped ball from the get go
• Went super hard from the get go
• Nibbler won the 3km time trial
• To be honest i gave Harley Bennell no thought this year - he featured prominently in the series. A wasted opportunity for him
• I reckon Goody looks better with longer hair
• Loved the bit where they were discussing who to draft - the qualities Taylor and Lamb pushed about Jacko and Kozzie have been features of their game in their two seasons 
• Sliding door moment - we could have gone green and weightman instead
• Goody asked Richo when he would take LJ or Greene - richo (paraphrasing) - 'do we need another inside contested mid, no - i'd take Jackson' 
• All agreed small forward was our 'greatest need', with Richo saying the role ha become really, really important 
• Love the smile on Goody's face when they showed the Kozzie highlights and the huge shepherd he put on some poor bloke
• Taylor emphasized competitiveness as a key attribute for draftees  
• They showed draft night  - LJ, Kozzie and Rivers with our first three picks - bang, bang, bang!
• Loved the footage of the review of the North dees practice game - focus on what you do without the ball
• On the above, post game Goody emphasized the roos had a lot more possessions, yet we won - and they players enjoyed themselves. Message - you don't a need to get a ton of the pill to enjoy your footy
• Burgo loves training i the heat
• Really tough watch Goody announcing Maxy was voted the skipper - Vin (as goody called him) looked totally shattered 

Key takeaways:

• A wrestling and all round crazy session (post a full on aerobic running session) at Port Melbourne beach showed footage of players crab crawling, with Kozzie cramping super badly and struggling to finish. Players rotated (may, Nibbler, chandler, one more) getting down and crawling with him and the others yelling their support to help him get to the line. 
• Once the got to the line the whole team went bananas - great team first actions 
• The team first, selfless ethos that was such a factor in our success this year did not magically arrive this year - it has been building
• Burgo when talking about how hard they would be training (paraphrasing) - 'i promise you round one when you line up on your opponent you will know you have him coved for fitness'

Edited October 17, 2021 by binman