Couldn't have put it better myself Jack.

I was so happy to see Hassa present Xavier with the guernsey. He kind of gets overlooked sometimes as a 'Mr MFC' but shouldn't. He's as Melbourne as anyone and I'd love to opportunity to meet him myself.

1 hour ago, Ollie fan said:

I remember Len Mann vaguely- wasn't he a ruckman? - but I didnt think they were related. Anyone know?

Cousins I believe.

2 hours ago, chook fowler said:

Saw him kick 7 whilst playing in the midfield. Genuine star.

Didn't mind a goal

47 minutes ago, layzie said:

Couldn't have put it better myself Jack.

I was so happy to see Hassa present Xavier with the guernsey. He kind of gets overlooked sometimes as a 'Mr MFC' but shouldn't. He's as Melbourne as anyone and I'd love to opportunity to meet him myself.

Have met him many times and he is a wonderful, modest, friendly true red and blue bloke.

1 hour ago, Timothy Reddan-A'Blew said:

2060, eh, Dub? There's a fair group on here who'll have to be with you just in 'spirit'. Represent them well! 😇

The Demon spirit as it were. I may have gone to hard

Just saw my Cardiologist and he laughed and said, 2060, you're dreamin mate

Do I hear 2040....?

Doc?

I hope Hassa gets to read these posts - maybe a family member pointing him here - and he sees the high esteem which we supporters hold for him.

44 minutes ago, M_9 said:

I hope Hassa gets to read these posts - maybe a family member pointing him here - and he sees the high esteem which we supporters hold for him.

I adored Hassa Mann as a kid and reading the above I can see that adoration was not misplaced. Fantastic choice for the presentation. I also loved him saying "welcome to my club".

11 hours ago, Fanatique Demon said:

It was the difference between finishing first (enabling us to win the premiership) and fifth (missing the finals altogether).

At the obvious risk of seeming pedantic. that is not entirely correct .The Hawthorn game was the penultimate round and the win guaranteed top spot .We would still have achieved this by defeating a lowly Footscray (as it then was ) in the final round.

My favourite part was when he said to Xav Taylor on stage "Welcome to my football club"

Fun fact. Hassa would have finished his career at Melbourne but left in 1968 when the Club refused his request for a modest pay rise.

He then went to WA & played another 4 years on a better deal.

With that sort of administration it's no wonder we became a basket case Club.

21 minutes ago, Cranky Franky said:

Fun fact. Hassa would have finished his career at Melbourne but left in 1968 when the Club refused his request for a modest pay rise.

He then went to WA & played another 4 years on a better deal.

With that sort of administration it's no wonder we became a basket case Club.

No wonder you're called "Cranky Franky".

Times were different then and the game wasn't as professional as it is today. I believe Hassa also had better career opportunities in WA and in the end, the club didn't stand in his way.

17 hours ago, monoccular said:

Wasn’t it Hassa who slotted that “impossible goal” at Glenferrie Oval from deep in the forward pocket that got us into the 64 finals??

I was there that day ground was soaked he took a sliding mark in the pocket mark was heaverly disputed ,I didnt care we still won .Thanks for the memories Hassa

1 hour ago, Demon Head said:

No wonder you're called "Cranky Franky".

Times were different then and the game wasn't as professional as it is today. I believe Hassa also had better career opportunities in WA and in the end, the club didn't stand in his way.

That's an ill informed & rather snarky response there Head.

You should read Hassa's interview about the matter or even do some basic research.

He had won 3 B&F's, was the leading goal kicker & Captain & was refused a modest pay rise so he was very peed off & left.

The Club was struggling badly at the time yet the muppets running it let their skipper & best player walk.

The same muppets also lost Dillon, Parke, Leahy, Jacobs, Gallery & Brewer which was partly why we were bottom feeders for so long.

7 hours ago, Ollie fan said:

I remember Len Mann vaguely- wasn't he a ruckman? - but I didnt think they were related. Anyone know?

As mentioned by others, Len was Hassa’s cousin.

In the 1960 GF he was a ruck an changing back pocket as was the thing then - I remember a photo in The Sun that showed, had we had goal review then, Collingwood have scored 1.2.8 not 2.2.14 for the match as Len marked on the goal line but the goal was called.

3 hours ago, kallangurdemon said:

At the obvious risk of seeming pedantic. that is not entirely correct .The Hawthorn game was the penultimate round and the win guaranteed top spot .We would still have achieved this by defeating a lowly Footscray (as it then was ) in the final round.

Don’t spoil a magic memory moment 😮🙄

Edited 19 hours ago19 hr by monoccular

3 hours ago, kallangurdemon said:

At the obvious risk of seeming pedantic. that is not entirely correct .The Hawthorn game was the penultimate round and the win guaranteed top spot .We would still have achieved this by defeating a lowly Footscray (as it then was ) in the final round.

Hassa's goal was snap from the forward pocket on the north side at the Glenferrie Road end (for those who remember the ground).

As it turned out, because we were guaranteed first place, we were walloped by Footscray the next week in the last round.

But it made no difference - we beat the filth by 89 points in the 2sf and by 4 points in the gf. I saw both. The joy had to last 57 years.

14 hours ago, Timothy Reddan-A'Blew said:

I certainly, even particularly, meant that cohort, Rodney, for what they bring from the Club's history. 'History' in this discussion does them an injustice; they are very much 'present'. Their potential and actual contribution is tangible. The older cohorts, infirm or departed, can still provide models of attitudes to the Club and to life, though, for our cohorts current and yet to come, as they make, then go on to represent, history* for the Club.

(*...and now, into the spotlight, herstory)

14 hours ago, Timothy Reddan-A'Blew said:

Don't worry about this, Rodney. The discussion was about the value of the Club's history (vs looking to its future) to the Club. not to the 'outside world'. It seems to be in good hands in the former.

I can only really associate with the legends of the likes of Hassa Mann, Brian Dixon, Ron Brassi, Bluey Adams and that era through the stories and respect that my dad always speaks of them because they are not really of my era. But that their names are still know and spoken about so passionately and favourably all these years on really does say something of the character and manner in which they served the club as players and then in later years as past players.

I think I somewhat yearn for the time when in a somewhat less professional era more players seemed to care more for loyalty and service to their club than picking up the next $8M, 5 year contract that they might or might not have the commitment to see out.

I guess a few others that I see as loyal respected recent past players that have held onto a strong association with and/or service to the MFC would be the likes of Aaron Davey, Matthew Wheelan, David Neitz, Adam Yze (to an extent) as well as (though not a player) The Reverend, The Great Neale Daniher. I feel even Bryon Pickett to an extent has contributed in this space through his support for Kozzie to remain at the club and perhaps in future years we may well look at Kozzie himself as a great all-round contributor to the fabric of the club.

I guess within the most recent crop, it would also be pretty hard to find someone who bleeds more Red & Blue than Jack Viney and it will be interesting to see what others might also step up post career - perhaps the Jake Melksham, Tom McDonald types will. It's so sad what happened with Gus Brayshaw as I think he also played that club ambassador role so well, but now understandably would prefer to stay somewhat more detached (at least for now).

To me it's this kind of service and characters that make following a footy team seem more meaningful and worth while. For all the talk of the ruthless professional era that football is today, I think all the clubs, players and powers at the AFL would do well to think about that 50,000 to 100,000 people don't go down to the local stock agents to cheer on the NAB Vs the ANZ or CBA.

Edited 10 hours ago10 hr by Rodney (Balls) Grinter

On 24/11/2025 at 00:41, Fanatique Demon said:

It was the difference between finishing first (enabling us to win the premiership) and fifth (missing the finals altogether).

So, a premiership goal.

Well we probably would have pulled our finger out against Footscray, in that case.

This is a truly legendary post. Hassa Mann was The Man after Barassi left the club.

Edited 8 hours ago8 hr by bush demon
Sp.

22 hours ago, DubDee said:

I personally would love being called Mr. Mann

Thanks for the thoughts on a player I never knew.

I will hopefully be alive long enough to tell DL users in 2060 what a [censored] Tom Scully was and how Gawn spewed on him and went on to greatness post spew.

Don’t forget to mentioned he turned up hungover on his first day at the club and also got caught smoking on his way to Casey

18 hours ago, Cranky Franky said:

Fun fact. Hassa would have finished his career at Melbourne but left in 1968 when the Club refused his request for a modest pay rise.

He then went to WA & played another 4 years on a better deal.

With that sort of administration it's no wonder we became a basket case Club.

The same administration that sacked Norm Smith