After becoming premiers in 2021, and occupying top four finishes in the last three years, 2024 was a completely different story for the Dees.

Melbourne finished 14th in 2024, with significant off-field issues weighing them down. But Cam Luke has nine positives for Melbourne fans, urging them to sit tight and remain optimistic heading into 2025.

1. Max Gawn

“I think sometimes we underrate people because the standards they set for themselves are so high, and we take certain things for granted," Cam Luke said on AFL Trade Radio.

“AFL fans should not take Max Gawn for granted.

“He played pretty much with a broken leg in the last month.

“We talk about inspirational leaders and captains in the AFL; if there’s any in front of Max Gawn it is a very small number.

“He leads this football club by example. He has had to answer a million questions at the Melbourne Football Club.

“He fronts up, he talks about it, he wears his heart on his sleeve.

“He is the best ruckman in the league and this is by far the best positive – that Max Gawn is their captain.”

2. Caleb Windsor

“He was good this year. He was probably a bit low in the rising star.

“It’s never easy to wander into a club that has had success and be good straight away.

"To be able to crack into a team like that, Caleb Windsor deserves a pat on the back."

3. Jacob Van Rooyen

“He kind of got thrown into it once Luke Jackson left the club.

“It is not easy for a young kid to carry a lot of responsibility, they haven’t got their forward line mix right, which we understand.

“I think there are ups and downs, and I don’t think we accept the ups and downs of Van Rooyen as we do for other forwards."

4. Easier fixture next year

“They’ve had a hard fixture; they’ve had to do it a harder way.

“The last three years they’ve been in the top 4, they were a premier, back-to-back top 4 positions.

“In 2025 that won’t happen, they finished bottom 5 and next year, away they go.”

__5. Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver are not leaving_

“They are not leaving. If you are a Melbourne fan you should sit there and tell yourself, they are going to go back to their level.

“Why would you be pessimistic about Petracca and Oliver at your football club next year?

“We’ve seen players want out before and play good footy.

“These players are two of the best greatest Demons of all time; Petracca is a Norm Smith medallist and has two best and fairests. He was having a great year before he got hurt.

“Clayton Oliver has four best and fairests.

“Look on the bright side that these two men are in your colours next year and can bounce back.

“Don’t be glass half empty, be glass half full.”

6. Judd McVee

7. Trent Rivers

8. Jake Lever and Steven May

“I am touching wood that they can stay fit and healthy and, on the park, because if they do that means defensively, they will rarely ever get beat.”

9. They can make the top eight next year

“I think they will make the eight.

“I will make a bet with you that they make the eight next year.”

Nah, the sky is falling down isn't it?

5 minutes ago, Demonland said:

After becoming premiers in 2021, and occupying top four finishes in the last three years, 2024 was a completely different story for the Dees.

Melbourne finished 14th in 2024, with significant off-field issues weighing them down. But Cam Luke has nine positives for Melbourne fans, urging them to sit tight and remain optimistic heading into 2025.

1. Max Gawn

“I think sometimes we underrate people because the standards they set for themselves are so high, and we take certain things for granted," Cam Luke said on AFL Trade Radio.

“AFL fans should not take Max Gawn for granted.

“He played pretty much with a broken leg in the last month.

“We talk about inspirational leaders and captains in the AFL; if there’s any in front of Max Gawn it is a very small number.

“He leads this football club by example. He has had to answer a million questions at the Melbourne Football Club.

“He fronts up, he talks about it, he wears his heart on his sleeve.

“He is the best ruckman in the league and this is by far the best positive – that Max Gawn is their captain.”

2. Caleb Windsor

“He was good this year. He was probably a bit low in the rising star.

“It’s never easy to wander into a club that has had success and be good straight away.

"To be able to crack into a team like that, Caleb Windsor deserves a pat on the back."

3. Jacob Van Rooyen

“He kind of got thrown into it once Luke Jackson left the club.

“It is not easy for a young kid to carry a lot of responsibility, they haven’t got their forward line mix right, which we understand.

“I think there are ups and downs, and I don’t think we accept the ups and downs of Van Rooyen as we do for other forwards."

4. Easier fixture next year

“They’ve had a hard fixture; they’ve had to do it a harder way.

“The last three years they’ve been in the top 4, they were a premier, back-to-back top 4 positions.

“In 2025 that won’t happen, they finished bottom 5 and next year, away they go.”

__5. Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver are not leaving_

“They are not leaving. If you are a Melbourne fan you should sit there and tell yourself, they are going to go back to their level.

“Why would you be pessimistic about Petracca and Oliver at your football club next year?

“We’ve seen players want out before and play good footy.

“These players are two of the best greatest Demons of all time; Petracca is a Norm Smith medallist and has two best and fairests. He was having a great year before he got hurt.

“Clayton Oliver has four best and fairests.

“Look on the bright side that these two men are in your colours next year and can bounce back.

“Don’t be glass half empty, be glass half full.”

6. Judd McVee

7. Trent Rivers

8. Jake Lever and Steven May

“I am touching wood that they can stay fit and healthy and, on the park, because if they do that means defensively, they will rarely ever get beat.”

9. They can make the top eight next year

“I think they will make the eight.

“I will make a bet with you that they make the eight next year.”

26-1 to win the flag. Load up! 

1 minute ago, Doug Reemer said:

26-1 to win the flag. Load up! 

What odds were we and did you do this at the end of 2020?

Just now, Rodney (Balls) Grinter said:

What odds were we and did you do this at the end of 2020?

I had a Petracca Brownlow Melb flag double.

1 hour ago, Doug Reemer said:

I had a Petracca Brownlow Melb flag double.

Pity it wasn’t a Norm Smith instead of a Downlow. 

Re the easier fixture:

If we had Fremantle's 2024 fixture who finished 14th in 2023, we'd play the following teams twice in 2025 based on 2024 rankings:

GWS, Hawthorn, Carlton, Collingwood, Gold Coast and Richmond.

Is that really that much easier on paper?

 

 

 

3 hours ago, Doug Reemer said:

I had a Petracca Brownlow Melb flag double.

I took a treble late in preseason. Brown Coleman, trac Brownlow, flag.

About 2 hours later news came out about Brown's knee.

Haven't placed a bet on anything Dee's related since.

1 hour ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Re the easier fixture:

If we had Fremantle's 2024 fixture who finished 14th in 2023, we'd play the following teams twice in 2025 based on 2024 rankings:

GWS, Hawthorn, Carlton, Collingwood, Gold Coast and Richmond.

Is that really that much easier on paper?

 

 

 

On this year's placings, that's

5, 6, 8, 9, 13, 18

This year we played, based on final standings,

1, 3, 7, 9, 10, 16

So,

5, not 1; 6, not 3; 8, not 7; 13, not 10; 18, not 16; and 9 again.

Easier on paper, yes. 'Much' is moot. And it takes no account of where and when games happen, particularly the once-onlys, or of changes in performance.

p.s. Noting it's possible for journos to put positive spins on us! Yay.

4 hours ago, Rodney (Balls) Grinter said:

What odds were we and did you do this at the end of 2020?

I got exactly these odds ($26) on the eve of the 2021 season. Put $25 on it. (But then I have bet on Melbourne to win ever since about 2001)

The only thing worse than all the negativity is the forced positivity newspaper stories 

17 hours ago, Demonland said:

After becoming premiers in 2021, and occupying top four finishes in the last three years, 2024 was a completely different story for the Dees.

Melbourne finished 14th in 2024, with significant off-field issues weighing them down. But Cam Luke has nine positives for Melbourne fans, urging them to sit tight and remain optimistic heading into 2025.

1. Max Gawn

“I think sometimes we underrate people because the standards they set for themselves are so high, and we take certain things for granted," Cam Luke said on AFL Trade Radio.

“AFL fans should not take Max Gawn for granted.

“He played pretty much with a broken leg in the last month.

“We talk about inspirational leaders and captains in the AFL; if there’s any in front of Max Gawn it is a very small number.

“He leads this football club by example. He has had to answer a million questions at the Melbourne Football Club.

“He fronts up, he talks about it, he wears his heart on his sleeve.

“He is the best ruckman in the league and this is by far the best positive – that Max Gawn is their captain.”

2. Caleb Windsor

“He was good this year. He was probably a bit low in the rising star.

“It’s never easy to wander into a club that has had success and be good straight away.

"To be able to crack into a team like that, Caleb Windsor deserves a pat on the back."

3. Jacob Van Rooyen

“He kind of got thrown into it once Luke Jackson left the club.

“It is not easy for a young kid to carry a lot of responsibility, they haven’t got their forward line mix right, which we understand.

“I think there are ups and downs, and I don’t think we accept the ups and downs of Van Rooyen as we do for other forwards."

4. Easier fixture next year

“They’ve had a hard fixture; they’ve had to do it a harder way.

“The last three years they’ve been in the top 4, they were a premier, back-to-back top 4 positions.

“In 2025 that won’t happen, they finished bottom 5 and next year, away they go.”

__5. Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver are not leaving_

“They are not leaving. If you are a Melbourne fan you should sit there and tell yourself, they are going to go back to their level.

“Why would you be pessimistic about Petracca and Oliver at your football club next year?

“We’ve seen players want out before and play good footy.

“These players are two of the best greatest Demons of all time; Petracca is a Norm Smith medallist and has two best and fairests. He was having a great year before he got hurt.

“Clayton Oliver has four best and fairests.

“Look on the bright side that these two men are in your colours next year and can bounce back.

“Don’t be glass half empty, be glass half full.”

6. Judd McVee

7. Trent Rivers

8. Jake Lever and Steven May

“I am touching wood that they can stay fit and healthy and, on the park, because if they do that means defensively, they will rarely ever get beat.”

9. They can make the top eight next year

“I think they will make the eight.

“I will make a bet with you that they make the eight next year.”

Being glass half full rather than a doom and gloomier personality, I’m going to double down with Cam Luke!

Add Jack Viney into point 5.

10. A full pre season for all the team

11. Turner takes next step as a forward, he is already a good kick for goal, just needs a bit more consistency 

12. One of our posters in another thread suggested turning next years #1 draft pick into another first rounder this year, two Caleb W types capability wise would be big for the team.

13. Just get the ball moving much faster into the forward line, it makes the opposition defenders panic!

A massive plus missed in that article is the number of players under 22 Melbourne played, more than any other club.  Rivers, Van Rooyen, Turner, Windsor, Brown, McVee, Howes, Laurie, Bowey, Tholstrup, Moniz-Wakefield, and yes, I'll add Kozzy even though he turned 23 midway through the season (and Rivs at the end of the season).  And then there are the ones who haven't debuted yet (Seston, Verrall, Adams, Jefferson, Kentfield) and the potential to get a couple more father/son recruits in Yze and White. This is what excites me, the future of the club is looking pretty bright. Our stars are ageing, but our youth are shining.  

Edited October 10, 2024Oct 10 by Katrina Dee Fan

What a pathetic article. He couldn’t even be bothered discussing why McVee and Rivers were positive. This is why I don’t read mainstream football stories. No serious analysis, just the scraps the clowns seem to share around to save them self the bother of doing any actual journalism. 

9 minutes ago, Roost it far said:

What a pathetic article. He couldn’t even be bothered discussing why McVee and Rivers were positive. This is why I don’t read mainstream football stories. No serious analysis, just the scraps the clowns seem to share around to save them self the bother of doing any actual journalism. 

So I take it you prefer it when the media are tearing us to shreds with bulldust?

Well, that was certainly refreshing. I’ll take some good media, thank you very much. I think there are more positives than this, how young the team is, Viney having a bigger year etc. The reference to Clarry may have an asterisk depending on whether you believe what’s still being said. Who knows, but if he is playing for us next year I’m sure it’ll be a huge year. I think we’ll have a good year, we just need to be smart about some trades/recruits and off field stuff

39 minutes ago, Katrina Dee Fan said:

So I take it you prefer it when the media are tearing us to shreds with bulldust?

No, not that it was all bull dust Katrina. 
 

6 minutes ago, Roost it far said:

No, not that it was all bull dust Katrina. 
 

How do you know?

1 minute ago, Katrina Dee Fan said:

How do you know?

How do you know it wasn’t?

1 minute ago, Roost it far said:

How do you know it wasn’t?

What has the media got right in the last 12 months or so about Melbourne?  Clarry going last year?  Petty?  Kozzy? I wouldn't trust those media leeches as far as I can throw them.

3 minutes ago, Katrina Dee Fan said:

What has the media got right in the last 12 months or so about Melbourne?  Clarry going last year?  Petty?  Kozzy? I wouldn't trust those media leeches as far as I can throw them.

Thats all fair…..I’m more concerned with how the club has handled all this. If we were doing it all so well why did our President quit? 

17 hours ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

the easier fixture

Yearning for an easier fixture is one of the silliest things in all of football fandom. 

Just compete hard against everyone. 

"It's an even competition" is generally just a euphemism for "We're not good enough often enough". 

19 hours ago, Demonland said:

8. Jake Lever and Steven May

“I am touching wood that they can stay fit and healthy and, on the park, because if they do that means defensively, they will rarely ever get beat.”

 

At least he admitted he had his hand on it while writing the article  😂

I'm positive about pick 5. JT will find a very good player for us.

10 minutes ago, Katrina Dee Fan said:

Because [censored] like you demanded it.

Thats a bit harsh. I didn’t demand anything. I listened to her interview and thought to myself…..Wow, that’s a train wreck but that’s already been discussed more than enough. You seem to want an argument but I’m only up for mild disagreement today, the weathers just too good. 

Edited October 10, 2024Oct 10 by Roost it far