I thought Langford had a better year than Langdon.

What happened to Fritta, and for that matter Turner.

12 minutes ago, binman said:

I'm pretty sure riv finished equal 10th with Viney.

At least I think that was the graphic on the screen at the end of the event.

Bu agree, it's interesting riv got so fee votes.

And I thought it interesting clarry didn't finish higher

I dont think he deserved to nessesarily, just that he played every game and was often in our top 5 rated players - and on the surface he had a better season than chin.

I say on the surface as the difference in best and fairest awards to say the brownlow or player ratings is, like the coaches votes, they factor in things hard to assess externally like leadership and adherence to role and instructions.

Which I think helps explain chin and langdon, who rated super poorly this year, getting so many votes.

Even though he missed 4 games i was surprised tmac didn't finish top 10.

7 hours ago, GS_1905 said:

Not sure how historical votes compare but the fact that max was more than double of the runner up says a lot about everyone else.

Anyway, seasons done and no point on labouring the point anymore. I hope everyone is determined to have a huge 2026. All starts off with a respite then a huge preseason. I’d expect everyone to come back in ripping shape.

2 minutes ago, gs77 said:

Thanks!

MFC comms department strikes again! I took the data from this article on mfc website. Rivers not mentioned.

gawn-claims-third-keith-bluey-truscott-memorial-trophy

No love for S May?

9 hours ago, Hopeful Demon said:

Gawn was well due for another one. I reckon three best and fairests don't reflect how dominant he's been over the past 10 years.

Yeah, but you do get that impression when you combine it with all this:

8× All-Australian team: 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 (c), 2022, 2024, 2025

AFLCA Champion Player of the Year: 2018

2× Frank 'Checker' Hughes Medal: 2024, 2025

Neale Daniher Trophy: 2016

2 hours ago, picket fence said:

Salem is OVERATED! IMO

Salem is solid best 22 player at the moment. Maybe not a superstar, but a reliable contributor.

Great sides need these sort of players just as much as they need the superstars.

10 hours ago, At the break of Gawn said:

One of the worst in the league and just slightly better than Brisbane who stop giving score updates once they start to lose.

HA HA HA HA! That's incredible. That's something I'd expect from Fremantle.

Surprised no TMAC (only 17 games) or Turner up there, or Rivers either. Thought Turner had a very solid year and was the highest rated backman in the league for a while in the last part of the year (fox footy), unsure which stat exactly.

I would've had MAX, Pickett, Bowey, then Petracca.

I thought Oliver's last match was outstanding.

Edited 14 hours ago14 hr by SFebes

10 hours ago, Ethan Tremblay said:

You’re judging him against himself. That’s not how it works. It’s his season judged against that of his peers.

“Funny thing with champions — their ‘off year’ looks disappointing only because we’re comparing them to their peak, not the pack. Against the rest, Trac still stands tall, which is exactly why he finished 2nd.”

I know it’s been mentioned but the delisting of Billings & how it wasn’t announced with the others during the day, how & why this occurred looks unprofessional

Well done to Gawn, a much deserved winner who definitely should have more than 3 B&Fs. Congratulations also to Petracca, Pickett and Bowey who were clearly our next best 3 players over the year.

As for the rest, the less said the better. If you agree with the coaches' assessment that he was our 5th best player (and I don't), Salem's votes equate to 404 / 23 games =17.56 / 4 coaches = 4.39 out of 10 on average. That was a failing grade when I was growing up. That the others were even worse is an indictment on the group.

It is actually a real concern that our coaches rate Salem, Chandler and Langdon amongst our better players for the year, because all three were pretty ordinary for the most part. It makes me wonder whether as a club we are valuing the things that are going to bring us success in the next few years. Hopefully a new coach will change this.

I think they got it right this year, unlike last year. If you average Tracc and Pickett's votes per game, Koz beats him, but those three games missed cost him runner up. Tracc had a decent season. Pleased Bowey finished top 5 and Salem was consistent and pretty reliable.

As for Max, he should have 5 of these (robbed in 2016 and 2024). What a champion he is.

2 minutes ago, poita said:

Well done to Gawn, a much deserved winner who definitely should have more than 3 B&Fs. Congratulations also to Petracca, Pickett and Bowey who were clearly our next best 3 players over the year.

As for the rest, the less said the better. If you agree with the coaches' assessment that he was our 5th best player (and I don't), Salem's votes equate to 404 / 23 games =17.56 / 4 coaches = 4.39 out of 10 on average. That was a failing grade when I was growing up. That the others were even worse is an indictment on the group.

It is actually a real concern that our coaches rate Salem, Chandler and Langdon amongst our better players for the year, because all three were pretty ordinary for the most part. It makes me wonder whether as a club we are valuing the things that are going to bring us success in the next few years. Hopefully a new coach will change this.

Why single out Salem!

Your comment on Salem is fair only if you note all averages. In fact Salem's average was ahead of Langdon, Langford, Viney Chandler and Olliver.

On averages only Max, Petracca, Kozzie and Bowey rated a pass mark.

The B&F is based on votes cast by 4 people (I assume coaches and Goody were thanked for voting for some players), where every player is given a vote out of 10 for every game played.

Max did not miss a game, nor did Trac, while Kozzie missed 3. Any player who missed a bunch of games would struggle to appear on the leaderboard. TMac & May both were out of the team for extended periods. It would be more interesting to see the full voting list to see where players finished. Top 10 is the metric, but B&F's are compromised by games played

15 minutes ago, poita said:

Well done to Gawn, a much deserved winner who definitely should have more than 3 B&Fs. Congratulations also to Petracca, Pickett and Bowey who were clearly our next best 3 players over the year.

As for the rest, the less said the better. If you agree with the coaches' assessment that he was our 5th best player (and I don't), Salem's votes equate to 404 / 23 games =17.56 / 4 coaches = 4.39 out of 10 on average. That was a failing grade when I was growing up. That the others were even worse is an indictment on the group.

It is actually a real concern that our coaches rate Salem, Chandler and Langdon amongst our better players for the year, because all three were pretty ordinary for the most part. It makes me wonder whether as a club we are valuing the things that are going to bring us success in the next few years. Hopefully a new coach will change this.

Yeah, we had a bad year...

And Chandler was very good for a flanker in a bad team.

Viney & Oliver were the 2 biggest disappointments finish 7th & 10th respectively. Rivers is another one who didn't poll well

Much debate about Petracca but he did win a lot of the ball considering he spent a lot of time forward

As for being wasteful with the ball, we had numerous contributors in that area so it all evens itself out

Kossie missing those 3 matches was costly

So the placings reflects the year we had and not much representation from the backmen or forwards either

Bowey and Chandler were both much improved finishing 4th & 6th

Congratulations to Max

Our best player by a good margin

The points I took from watching last night were : Goody was acknowledged by every person who spoke and in glowing terms (well deserved).

Every player who spoke on stage & some in other interviews acknowledged the disappointing season but were very positive about what’s to come. Spoke glowingly of the love they have for the club & their teammates.

Gawn when acknowledging the supporter group & fans said (paraphrasing) how it’s a shame they don’t see inside the four walls as they are an extremely well connected group. He also mentioned players receiving accolades for games played & said we don’t lose many players ..they want to stay.

One interesting comment ..I’m not sure if it was Richo or Chappy but when talking about changes he said “Paul wanted a new coach”. Not the “board decided on a new coach”.

Looked like a great night & good to see only Chandler & Spargo having some surgeries.

12 minutes ago, Deestar9 said:

The points I took from watching last night were : Goody was acknowledged by every person who spoke and in glowing terms (well deserved).

Every player who spoke on stage & some in other interviews acknowledged the disappointing season but were very positive about what’s to come. Spoke glowingly of the love they have for the club & their teammates.

Gawn when acknowledging the supporter group & fans said (paraphrasing) how it’s a shame they don’t see inside the four walls as they are an extremely well connected group. He also mentioned players receiving accolades for games played & said we don’t lose many players ..they want to stay.

One interesting comment ..I’m not sure if it was Richo or Chappy but when talking about changes he said “Paul wanted a new coach”. Not the “board decided on a new coach”.

Looked like a great night & good to see only Chandler & Spargo having some surgeries.

How predictable

Did you expect some oppositional rhetoric?

Yeah....nah...

12 hours ago, Lord Travis said:

Why are people surprised Trac is finishing high? Everyone heaps [censored] on him because he's not at his peak of being the best player in the league, but he's still a good player and had a good year. He bettered all his main career average stats bar marking and was our best midfielder.

Talk him down and hate him all you want - he's still better than most running round in red and blue, even at his current level.

To me, he wasn't better than Pickett, but I guess he missed a few games which has a big impact in this format.

who got the award for trying the hardest?

3 hours ago, binman said:

I'm pretty sure riv finished equal 10th with Viney.

At least I think that was the graphic on the screen at the end of the event.

Bu agree, it's interesting riv got so fee votes.

And I thought it interesting clarry didn't finish higher

I dont think he deserved to nessesarily, just that he played every game and was often in our top 5 rated players - and on the surface he had a better season than chin.

I say on the surface as the difference in best and fairest awards to say the brownlow or player ratings is, like the coaches votes, they factor in things hard to assess externally like leadership and adherence to role and instructions.

Which I think helps explain chin and langdon, who rated super poorly this year, getting so many votes.

Even though he missed 4 games i was surprised tmac didn't finish top 10.

Oliver missed the game through his mental health break. He was well down the leaderboard until the second half of the year when he caught up which feels about right with how his season went.

Of course Gawn was a certainty to win this year and clearly well deserved. I don’t think anyone would argue against Pickett being our second best player for the year but we know missing games hurts in this voting format. Petracca, like Oliver, was pretty good this year when judging against other players; it’s only really against their own high standards that they get judged and criticised. They’re both valuable contributors and likely to improve next year.

It’s no surprise Chandler and Langdon polled well. Both have predominantly sacrificial roles for the good of the team and bust themselves every week. High half forward is probably the most thankless roles from a media and supporter perspective but without exception the best teams have good ones who contribute defensively. They’re the players that you can’t really appreciate from watching on TV.

Glad Bowey finished high. Honestly I thought he might come second, barely played a bad game. For such a disappointing season from a results perspective, there were a lot of positives.

Eight players get Life Membership

melbournefc.com.au

Life Membership | Eight Demons earn honour

Eight Demons have been recognised at the Keith ‘Bluey’ Truscott Memorial Trophy, receiving life membership for their service to the red and blue.

Well done all!

What has gone under the radar is that two of them are Petracca and Oliver.

It will be a bit weird if either leaves this year. Maybe the club got in early just in case either does.

13 hours ago, brendan said:

Maybe billing’s retired that’s why he wasn’t listed as delisted

Marty Hore also retired yet he was listed as delisted.

2 hours ago, poita said:

Well done to Gawn, a much deserved winner who definitely should have more than 3 B&Fs. Congratulations also to Petracca, Pickett and Bowey who were clearly our next best 3 players over the year.

As for the rest, the less said the better. If you agree with the coaches' assessment that he was our 5th best player (and I don't), Salem's votes equate to 404 / 23 games =17.56 / 4 coaches = 4.39 out of 10 on average. That was a failing grade when I was growing up. That the others were even worse is an indictment on the group.

It is actually a real concern that our coaches rate Salem, Chandler and Langdon amongst our better players for the year, because all three were pretty ordinary for the most part. It makes me wonder whether as a club we are valuing the things that are going to bring us success in the next few years. Hopefully a new coach will change this.

I think you and a few others are being tough on Salo Poita he averages 22 disposals / game at 81% and 8 marks per game.

12 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Got absolutely robbed big time last year.

2 hours ago, Swooper1987 said:

As for Max, he should have 5 of these (robbed in 2024).

“Robbed”??!!

By his own vice-captain??!

As judged by our own coaches??!

How is that robbery?

#RespectForVines

3 hours ago, Fritta and Turner said:

I thought Langford had a better year than Langdon.

What happened to Fritta, and for that matter Turner.

I see what you did there 😅