A relevant football club

Interesting after following this club for over 25 years how different it feels to be a Melbourne supporter right now. It's great to have success, but the success has also given rise to a new feeling - relevance.

In the weeks after the Grand Final when I overheard footy conversations, I was struck that people not only knew the names of our players - but to hear the WAY they spoke about our players. To hear them speak about Petracca, Oliver and Gawn with that same reverence usually reserved for the likes of Judd, Ablett and Dangerfield, is not something I was used to. We've had many great players in my time supporting Melbourne, but I felt I always had to make a case for them and whatever I said about Yze, Robertson or Neitz would always be met with dubious eye rolls.

Increasingly, Melbourne players are front and centre of newspapers, referenced in commercials and random media snippets, celebrities who never seemed to be footy fans are suddenly loud and proud Melbourne supporters.

Obviously, this can't go on forever. And these stars will eventually retire, but I sincerely hope that something from this period can be captured and embedded into the fabric of the Club for a long time to come - so even when we do fall down the ladder, we know what it takes to climb up again and know we will. There is no real blueprint to attaining this level of success - it's really that mysterious thing we loosely refer to as 'culture'. It instructs people what to do and what to expect without having to say it. It's probably one of the most important thing there is.

Edited April 8, 20224 yr by wisedog