It is a great question but I’m like a few others in saying that I haven’t enjoyed it as much as last year.  The expectation each week and not always delivering has made it more difficult.  In saying that I think we are still the best team in it and I can’t wait for the spring air and finals to come along.   Just hoping we hang on to our top 4 spot 

Sort of/not really..

It was great to win the 10 games in the row but I suppose they weren't exciting games to watch to be honest. Maybe the St Kilda and Brisbane game were the two I enjoyed the most. Doggies round 1 was food also. I suppose after we won the granny I thought we would be like Hawthorn, Geelong and Richmond in their heydays where they played such exciting brand of footy but also high scoring as well. Yeah I'm picky, I know...

So many night games. Hate them. Cold miserable weather means supporters less incline to go.  Living in the country 4 hours away has made attending games extremely difficult. Saturday or Sunday afternoon is the ideal slot imo. Nothing better then traditional time slot.

Rolling team selection has been the biggest frustration. Goody's fascination for sticking with the same group of players over and over again when they haven't proven at AFL level when given the opportunity. VFL team is 15-0 and yet we've barely rewarded blokes who are performing week in week out especially with our young talent. Disappointing. 

It's such a mixed bag... if offered 13 wins and second spot entering round 20 at the start of the season I would have taken it. 

The COVID challenges in Melbourne galvanised the players and took them somewhere extraordinary, and we got to come along for the ride. Our players have since realised that winning is hard work and the hunger is not there. 

We need a few that missed out to be driving the hunger but they are not. Only Jordon has played like he has a point to prove...   

  On 26/07/2022 at 08:14, Demons11 said:

It is a great question but I’m like a few others in saying that I haven’t enjoyed it as much as last year.  The expectation each week and not always delivering has made it more difficult.  In saying that I think we are still the best team in it and I can’t wait for the spring air and finals to come along.   Just hoping we hang on to our top 4 spot 

Simple answer is no. What frustrates me no end is our lack of a cohesive forward line.

The Season Yes, Demonland No, 

I have loved the season, we are still considered benchmark, we will play finals, we have superstars, every promo ad on Fox finishes with Melbourne holding the cup, we get features like 'this is me' on 360. We play some beautiful footy, our rebound and heart are a joy to watch.

Demonland on the other hand feels like a time machine, the posting about trainwrecks, sniping the integrity of the players and other banalities makes me think Neeld is still coaching. 

We are a great club, show a bit of spine...fair dinkum...

Yeah I have...we have a team that wins more often than not with generational players Gawn, Petracca, Oliver....how could you not enjoy it?

We're a tough crowd to please

Should go onto the enjoyed season thread and read the bumped thread from round 19 2021, Amazingly word for word (well almost ) exact same criticisms being made as last year.

Edited July 26, 20222 yr by loges
wrong wording

It’s been a struggle. Other than the Brisbane game and first half against St Kilda. Losing games after being 4 or 5 goals up is hard to swallow, especially if you are the reigning premiers. Would not have happened to Richmond in their prime. There is a level of frustration amongst supporters I sit with. I think we just expected to win this year so we could see it for real, not on a TV watching a game 4000 kms away. I don’t buy into the loading, or think we can just flick a switch. I think the issues are much deeper than that, something is going on internally.

This is the greatest period of football in my life by so far it’s impossible to measure. We have three of the best players in the league. We have stars across the ground. We are in every game. We expect to win against everyone, I can’t remember ever experiencing that. We get to discuss why we are losing in a very different way to the way we used to, and the theories are magnificent. I’ve had to learn how to watch and understand a top football side. The Daniher years are the closest I’ve been and it was nothing like this. We were never the best side in it. I think we get 5 or so years of competitive football starting last year and one flag or three is perfectly fine. I’ll remember this group of players and tell people about them many years from now. Losing still sucks as much as it always did.
Go dees

  On 26/07/2022 at 10:19, bobby1554 said:

It’s been a struggle. Other than the Brisbane game and first half against St Kilda. Losing games after being 4 or 5 goals up is hard to swallow, especially if you are the reigning premiers. Would not have happened to Richmond in their prime. There is a level of frustration amongst supporters I sit with. I think we just expected to win this year so we could see it for real, not on a TV watching a game 4000 kms away. I don’t buy into the loading, or think we can just flick a switch. I think the issues are much deeper than that, something is going on internally.

There’s a psychological term called ‘euphoric recall’ which is being gleefully applied to how other sides have performed during their periods of success. Geelong spanked Richmond by 70 points in the middle of 3 bad loses in 2019.

I don’t see that being bandied about in discussions of how dominant they were. 

  On 26/07/2022 at 10:19, bobby1554 said:

It’s been a struggle. Other than the Brisbane game and first half against St Kilda. Losing games after being 4 or 5 goals up is hard to swallow, especially if you are the reigning premiers. Would not have happened to Richmond in their prime. There is a level of frustration amongst supporters I sit with. I think we just expected to win this year so we could see it for real, not on a TV watching a game 4000 kms away. I don’t buy into the loading, or think we can just flick a switch. I think the issues are much deeper than that, something is going on internally.

Absolute myth. It’s very easy to go onto the AFL website to see that Richmond had some ugly loses in their premiership years.  Bigger margins than us and also gave up leads.  

If you're not loving this time then you need to think about your expectations and why you follow the club and the game.

We won the flag, something many of us thought we'd never see.  Clarrie, Trac and Max have signed on for football eternity, and we're right in the hunt again this year.

Who knows, we could be in the midst of 5  in a row. Worst case we'll be a real chance in all of them.

These are the great times! If they can't spark enjoyment then seriously consider a different path.

It’s really hard for me to read posts from lifelong Melbourne supporters, who I’ve shared the misery of 2007–17 with on here, say they’re not enjoying a season in which:

1. We’re 13-5 with a percentage of 128% and sit 2nd on the ladder

2. We play regular prime time games

3. We’re a key focus in the weekly TV shows and podcasts

4. We’re watching three of our greatest ever players play elite football on a near-weekly basis

It’s crazy what one brilliant season can do for expectations. After years of being irrelevant, losing most weeks (sometimes in dispiritingly non-competitive fashion), and with few stars on our list, I relish watching us every week this year, even if I’m concerned we’re not going to win the flag because we’re not in good enough form. 

I really worry that those who aren’t enjoying it right now will look back on 2022 in the future when we’re tripe again some day and regret not relaxing slightly, accepting back-to-back flags are [censored] hard, and enjoying us being so good that even when we’re pedestrian we’re the competition’s 2nd best side. 

  On 26/07/2022 at 09:38, DEE fence said:

The Season Yes, Demonland No, 

I have loved the season, we are still considered benchmark, we will play finals, we have superstars, every promo ad on Fox finishes with Melbourne holding the cup, we get features like 'this is me' on 360. We play some beautiful footy, our rebound and heart are a joy to watch.

Demonland on the other hand feels like a time machine, the posting about trainwrecks, sniping the integrity of the players and other banalities makes me think Neeld is still coaching. 

We are a great club, show a bit of spine...fair dinkum...

I won't lie I use Demonland as a punching bag. When we lose it's comforting to realise I'm not the only bipolar football supporter out there. 

You should look back at my comments on Grand Final day. I don't have anywhere else to vent like that. My wife's interests are mostly Instagram influencers and buying stuff for our daughter. I need *somewhere* to talk about how bad a season we've had...

  On 26/07/2022 at 12:45, praha said:

I won't lie I use Demonland as a punching bag. When we lose it's comforting to realise I'm not the only bipolar football supporter out there. 

You should look back at my comments on Grand Final day. I don't have anywhere else to vent like that. My wife's interests are mostly Instagram influencers and buying stuff for our daughter. I need *somewhere* to talk about how bad a season we've had...

Yep for years Demonland was somewhere you could console yourself that there were others feeling the same pain. 

  On 26/07/2022 at 12:40, titan_uranus said:

It’s really hard for me to read posts from lifelong Melbourne supporters, who I’ve shared the misery of 2007–17 with on here, say they’re not enjoying a season in which:

1. We’re 13-5 with a percentage of 128% and sit 2nd on the ladder

2. We play regular prime time games

3. We’re a key focus in the weekly TV shows and podcasts

4. We’re watching three of our greatest ever players play elite football on a near-weekly basis

It’s crazy what one brilliant season can do for expectations. After years of being irrelevant, losing most weeks (sometimes in dispiritingly non-competitive fashion), and with few stars on our list, I relish watching us every week this year, even if I’m concerned we’re not going to win the flag because we’re not in good enough form. 

I really worry that those who aren’t enjoying it right now will look back on 2022 in the future when we’re tripe again some day and regret not relaxing slightly, accepting back-to-back flags are [censored] hard, and enjoying us being so good that even when we’re pedestrian we’re the competition’s 2nd best side. 

I think part of the problem TU is we see how easy it would be to slip back to the not so distant bad times. Fear is our biggest enemy. 

  On 26/07/2022 at 11:42, Vipercrunch said:

Absolute myth. It’s very easy to go onto the AFL website to see that Richmond had some ugly loses in their premiership years.  Bigger margins than us and also gave up leads.  

Thanks for the tip about the AFL website. My comment about Richmond not coughing up 5 goal leads was purely from memory. However, I did just check most of the 2019 and 2020 seasons, and could not find a game where this happened. Maybe you could help me out? What I did see was that in both those seasons they won the last 8-10 games of the home and away season. They were bullet proof, invincible almost. Not feelings I get about us this year. Which, after all, was the point of the topic wasn’t it?

  On 26/07/2022 at 12:57, bobby1554 said:

Thanks for the tip about the AFL website. My comment about Richmond not coughing up 5 goal leads was purely from memory. However, I did just check most of the 2019 and 2020 seasons, and could not find a game where this happened. Maybe you could help me out? What I did see was that in both those seasons they won the last 8-10 games of the home and away season. They were bullet proof, invincible almost. Not feelings I get about us this year. Which, after all, was the point of the topic wasn’t it?

Not sure about giving up 5 goal leads, but 2019 they lost R11 by 37 pts, lost R12 by 67pts, and lost R13 by 33 pts.

16 W, 6 L    (Will be same as us if we go 3-1 from here) 

Then went on to win the GF by 89 points. 

Edited July 26, 20222 yr by 1964_2

  On 26/07/2022 at 12:45, praha said:

I won't lie I use Demonland as a punching bag. 

 

Literally my week is ruined when we lose, I stew on it, am grumpy, etc, I defy anyone to say they are more [censored] off than me. I have not stopped thinking about the losses, Freo, Swans, Geelong, bloody Collingwood, (Dogs I really wasn't fussed) I've got no dramas with calls for players to be dropped, not at AFL level, bemoan tactical coaching mistakes, that is all fine and dandy, even if I don't agree or I think the positives of a player have been overlooked. But what drives me bonkers is when folks have a go at a players integrity, call them soft or whatever. This is like my children are being insulted, and makes me furiously angry (after already being surly at the loss).  So while I believe in free speech etc, insult my kids, then watch out, am talking generally and not you specifically. My French wife thinks I am clown when watching footy, but indulges me (i've posted about this before but it got deleted)....anyway... 

Sometimes reading Demonland, I think I'm the deelusional one, that I am cooked, and that I have no clue about football, because I still see so many positives, like watching Melk get better two weeks in a row, Sparrow having a ripper game, Brayshaw's bravery backing into packs, Kozzie's immense fwd half pressure. I am not blind I see the need and things to improve (I pray that Salem turns a corner soon), I'm just not a zero sum kinda man, and when I balance it up I still see plenty to like and don't think the season is done. I've put more people on ignore this year than I have done in the rest of my time on Demonland. And I really do believe we are not finished yet, 2 more wins and a finals series it will still be the second best season of my 52 year life (1988+2000 we were always a long shot, now we are deadly dangerous).

So in essence, throw your punches, just no low blows...

  

NB. The Swans loss where Paddy McCartin had a blinder I must admit I was happy for the bloke, what a journey he has had.

Thus far, not really.

Coming off Everest, I couldn’t really compute us being so dominant again in the first half-ish of the season - I’d become so conditioned to supporting a hopeless club that I didn’t really know what to feel or how to react. I’d always been the super passionate supporter of a hopeless club, and now we’d become elite, I felt a little uncertain about the world and my relationship with it. I look back to seasons 2000, 2002, 2004-6 with genuine fondness.

Then the fight between May, Melksham and Smith. And a few unhelpful injuries. Some horrible losses. And Brayshaw and Jackson not expressing any particular enthusiasm for re-signing with the club. It all feels a little tres ordinaire.

I just wish Ricciardo was driving better. I was hoping he’d be my positive distraction on the season, but that hasn’t really eventuated either.

 

We're the reigning premiers, this whole season is a first for me. It's great!

I've enjoyed the season, even when we've lost I've felt we've always been in the matches so the losses have been frustrating in that we haven't had the ability to go to the gear we had last year when challenge. The run home is tricky and if we manage to get top 4 then that should be recognised as a bloody incredible achievement. I also think that we could be that team that can win the premiership from 5th as everyone knows we have levels we can go to but for whatever reason it's just not clicking.

The things I haven't enjoyed are Luke Jackson's contract issues, May being a complete F L 0 G, and seeing us give up winning positions late in games. But we are in this up to our eyeballs. 

No. I feel depressed whenever I log on to DL and see this photo. How the f are we always the ones that let an oppositions underperforming high draft pick forward get his first bag of goals and Rising Star nom lol.

 

 

Edited July 26, 20222 yr by John Demonic

  On 26/07/2022 at 19:57, John Demonic said:

No. I feel depressed whenever I log on to DL and see this photo. How the f are we always the ones that let an oppositions underperforming high draft pick forward get his first bag of goals and Rising Star nom lol.

 

 

*sigh*, it's like putting on a comfy pair of tracksuits and moccasins innit?