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We were watching the game from the nose bleed section in the Members. You could see absolutely everything. The game was completely in the balance. Time was running out. 71,000 people had their hearts in their mouths. Harmes kicks it long to a player in space. It was to Watts who had sprinted from the CBD to run onto the bouncing ball on the wing. The rest played out in agonising slow motion. Watts, with ball in hand, laconically moved into the forward 50 looking for pass options. Jones was on. Bugg was on. Not sure he saw either of them. Garlett was in the goal square but was well covered. Watts was on a tight angle. And yet he kept inching towards the goal square, almost begging for a Pie player to approach him so he could give it off. And then he seemed to realise that it was he who had to do it. He had to kick the winner. At that moment, he seemed to slow down, focus on the goal, and steady himself. It was like the bomber in the Dam Busters knowing that he had just one attempt and he simply had to hit the target. Civilisation depended on it. And he nailed it! A truly seminal moment in his career. A truly memorable footy moment for the rest of us. I still get nervous watching it on replay, which I have about 350 times.

Watching the replay of the fateful goal, who was the bloke that Watts ran past as he went for his 50m hard lead? Taylor Adams. I really hope that kid joins a successful club one day, he deserves it...

Bugg stays. His presence and 1%ers were excellent. Gives everything Dean Kent doesn't. A great team man also.

Had a slab on the result with a pies mate. Got a text at half time... 'How is that free beer looking, mate?' I replied 'don't count your beer until it's hatched' Hehehehe Got them to send $50 to MND. I can buy my own beer.

What a win. I'd say that's our second best win of the year (behind the obvious Adelaide result): big crowd, played poorly for large parts of the game, minus Gawn and Hogan, the winner jumps into 6th, the loser has a very tough road ahead. But we held it all together and managed to hold on. I haven't felt as elated after a win in a long time. It's winning those close ones. Thought it was a terrific effort from Goodwin and co to turn things in the second half and for such a young team to respond as they did is very exciting. Oliver's third quarter was insane. The kid is a genius. Oscar started off slowly but by the end of the game was in our top 2 or 3 players. He was a rock. Clever little kick from him into the path of Harmes for Watts' sealer too. Petracca got the accolades and as I said to my old man during his ordinary first quarter and a bit, he is going to be that mercurial player that bobs up with a moment or two to turn the game. Sure enough, he did in that second quarter to keep us in touch. Had a couple of scum supporters in front of me from Brighton, given the botox in the faces of the ladies and their husbands wanted to punch my block off, but couldn't reach due to the 6'6ness of me. Loved giving it to them in the end. Some will say it's bad sport, others will say stick it right up 'em. Go the bloody redlegs.

To quote the Collingwood fan sitting in M7, Row 3, 3rd seat in from the aisle on the quarter time siren after Dunn gave away a free to T.Mac. " The bloody AFL has been giving this club handouts for the last 20 years. I can't believe that these people come to the games and follow this team." Well fella, it's moments like today why we come to the football. We are as passionate as the bloke next door, it's an escape from the real world and we live in the moment. Yes, you have seen your team win a grand final, most of us have not but we will continue to scream, cheer and hug the stranger sitting next to us and maybe our day will come. The noise in the last quarter was simply incredible, it's been a long time since I heard that much noise from us. Take a bow Melbourne fans, you willed your team over the line today. I'm still out of breath and my heart hasn't slowed one bit since leaving the ground. Well done Dees!!!!

After watching this replay for the umpteenth time, I just noticed this. I'd thought Watts just happened to be hanging around in space somewhere at half forward when the ball came down. But no, he was near the back of the centre square in the middle; he was in a totally different part of the ground. But as soon as he saw O-Mac's dribble kick break the Collingwood line, he sprinted - because he had to get to where Harmes was going to kick it before any Pie defenders - towards the boundary line about 60m out, then ran in another 40m to make sure of the goal. A 100m sprint at the end of an exhausting game ... ... after which he somehow mustered up both the energy and the composure to slot the goal. Watts has been criticised for his level of intensity, but this was intensity with a capital "Holy S***!!" If he'd just stayed where he was at the back of the square, Harmes would have had just Garlett against 3 defenders to kick to, nobody would have blamed Watts or anybody, and we might have been treated to the alternative scenario of Fasolo kicking the winning goal after the siren in a triumphant comeback! But it was just as much his ability to dial that adrenalin down from 100 to about 20 in a few seconds that made him able to settle himself enough after that massive physical effort to actually get the execution right. Some don't like the fact that he's not full-on intensity all the time, but the ability to quickly control that intensity can be absolutely critical at the right time.

an:un'it:otion.(n) a exhilarating feeling experienced by umpires after making Collingwood fans think they've been shafted in the last two minutes of an AFL football match.

Favourite moment: Watts sealer was all class and very poetic. The look on his face after he kicked it was priceless. It was like it eradicated years of pain. Really pleased for him.

I was lucky enough to be sitting right behind it. As Watts ran in he slowed right down, balanced himself before he kicked and it was like an arrow. There was not the slightest bend on it, straight over the goal umpires head. I knew he'd done it the moment it left the boot, it was pure. Coaches often talk about courage and the courage to run when you're spent. Watts was remarkable in this respect yesterday. One wonders if the training camp they went to before Christmas was the genesis of that ability - to just run when you can't. Great moment for Jack, great moment for every Melbourne supporter and I suspect a great moment for all football supporters other than the Pies.

Gee I have been very vocal won't make it etc etc, but never let it be said that I don't acknowledge a good performance, even a very good one! I thought today was Oscars best game for the club!! No ifs or but's he still bothers me and the jury from my piont of view is well and truly out but I must say..... Oscar, Very good game indeed! PF

i'd like to see the filth banned from our ground permanently

Watching the last 15 minutes this morning in Foxtel while having breakfast. That goal and his reaction actually brought a tear to my eye. He was so calm, so poised. He knew exactly what he was doing, and when he kicked that goal that pure relief was incredible. He is much maligned, and I find myself getting annoyed with him, despite being a big supporter for all those years, because sometimes his intensity isn't good enough. But sh*t he is a smart player, and he knows how to find space and time and his kicking is superb. He brings something to the team that we desperately need, which is class. Now that he is finally surrounded by grunt, this has become more obvious and more important to our fortunes. I thought McDonald in the ruck in the second half changed the game. He became an extra mid, and it gave us the opportunity to play two proper forwards in Watts and Pedo up forward. Pedo is great, he has the brain of a forward and he competes above his weight and height. He doesn't need to set the world on fire, but gees him and Watts plus Trac permanent forwards in the second half made the Collingwood defenders accountable, and we know how bad Howe and Dunn are at accountability. Well done to Goodwin for exposing that. As for the umps, yes Hunt should have been paid holding the ball against him, but minutes earlier Vince tackles a Collingwood player who dropped it like a hot potato and it was called played on. So everyone sooking about the umps or saying we won because of them, are taking the [censored]! For a team on the bottom of the ladder for frees for, I will take every free coming our way. Lord knows we've been stuffed the other way so many more times!

I keep replaying Watts's game sealer, honestly there is no one I'm happier that got to be the man at the end. I bet it even stung the Pies fans even harder, they give it to him more than any other Melbourne player for no other reason than he's a number one draft pick we trotted out all those years ago. I'd say they should move on but this is the same mob that boos Travis Cloke when it was the Pies that showed him the door! Logic and reason are not words in their vocabulary. Might just go watch his goal again!

I feel I will be in the minority here, but I'm liking what Buggy brings to the side at the minute. He is a deceptively good mark, he puts on some pressure at ground level AND he knows how to hit the scoreboard. Granted, he has wasted opportunities over the last month, but I think that will improve for him over the coming weeks. He is offering more than guys like Kent, JKH and even Harmes, at the minute and I think he deserves to keep his spot going forward.

You can understand Pies fans being upset, they've just narrowly lost what has now become their Grand Final.

Scoreboard

Nup, made 2 disposal errors centring the ball early but apart from that held up well when our midfield were being smashed and the defence were under siege. It was a good 4 Q game from Oscar.

Back to the hotel at midnight, up at balls o'clock to catch the first flight out. Hoarse, hung over and still bloody buzzing. Fantastic day.

The pies fans are annoyed at losing a match to the Dees on QB and want to pull out of the Big Freeze match. I would have thought they were the perfect opponent for the game. They build a big lead (28 points ) then Freeze. Long may the tradition continue !!!

Nah, I reckon it's yet another soft effort from PF. The time to show Oscar some respect was before, when he was struggling a bit, rather than laying in to him excessively. Supporting players when they play well is the easy bit.

The noise of the crowd in those final minutes was just incredible. And the anticipation of watching Watts run the length of the ground, and then the ecstasy when he calmly slotted it, is everything I love about sport and football.

I've been sitting in the same stand for near on 12 years. First time ever every single supporter got out of their chair and was jumping around. It was seriously the most pure moment of joy I've felt from our supporters in my time.

Loudest roar I've heard from the Demons fans when Watts kicked the sealer since 2000....the Southern at the punt road end end was shaking!

Can we just talk about Hannan in that final quarter? He collided solidly with Dunn (who came up second best) and was up three seconds later tackling Jack Crisp? We've found one here.

Check out Hibberds game saving spoil with 1:40 left. If he didnt get a fist on that, De Goey would have been lining up to give them the lead and possibly the match. The spoil went to O Mac, who kicked along the ground to Harmes, who kicked to Watts in space.. and the rest is history.

He meant covfefe.

" They had the bulk of the crowd which gave the umpires anunitotion." anunitotion anunitotion anunitotion

Very unfair of the pies fans to single out the umpires like that. Everyone treats them as stupid!

It won't get the plaudits it really deserves. I'm biased of course but it's right up there for goal of the week. Why ? Understanding of the moment; the action to gut run and position himself, to commit to the play.. it's do or die, its brickbats or bouquets. To know the weight of that moment, to own it, to do it. One of these days id like to buy this bloke a beer. Strong shoulders this lad has...mmmm. Takes balls

You can listen to the last 5 minutes of the game with 3AW. Tim Lane's commentary is brilliant and I got goosebumps listening to the Watts goal. Can someone please dub this with the video footage like they did with the Hawthorn game last year? http://www.3aw.com.au/live-footy-melbourne-v-collingwood-the-big-freeze-at-the-mcg/

Just watched the 2nd half. Our intensity was way up on the first half, resulting in a lot more tackles that went unrewarded by the umps, mostly in the last quarter. I just don't get the fantasy that the umps helped us. We helped ourselves, got some free kicks, but there were more there. And once more, the Collingwood crowd embarrassed themselves by booing at the end of the game, not to mention the booing of Jack Watts. For what reason, other than personally directed malice? Contrast that to the reception given by Melbourne fans to Lynden Dunn, and therein lies a story of two cultures. I know who I'd be prouder to support.

There was a Collingwood fan who bagged Watts the whole match, calling him soft and saying he could not get a hard ball. I gave him a mouthful several times but he chirped through the whole game. Despite the excessive alcohol he ingested he refused to say anything when I turned round and gave it to him when Watts kicked the sealer.

If you google it, the only page that shows up is the big footy page I copied it from. So in the history of the entire intranets, no one has ever put those letters together. They really do have their own language.

How good is that Hibberd bloke. Quietly goes about his business. Super reliable. Recruit of the year I would have thought.

Nasher sums it up best: We had our lapse - the second quarter, in which they kicked 6 goals in about 20 minutes or something like that. We fell our standard 20-30 points behind. And then, when we clicked, we flipped the game on its head, played much better football than our opponent, and clawed the deficit back. Getting the lead in the third quarter was helpful to our momentum and confidence in the fourth. Petracca was incredible, OMac's second half gives us all something to at least get excited about (with the likely exception of @stevethemanjordan), Oliver lifted as the game went on. Hibberd is an absolute star, his spoil is what got the ball to Watts for the sealer and was just one of a series of important things he did. And as for the umpiring, that is the exact narrative Collingwood wants to drive post-game: that we "stole" it from them because of free kicks. That is rubbish. We won the game because we were better than they were for longer periods. They were on top for one quarter, we won the other three. We had a more even distribution across the ground, we learned from our mistakes and won the clearances in the second half, and we were cleaner with the ball than they were. Yes, there were some decisions which clearly went in our favour (Dunn did not chop TMac's arm, Hibberd didn't handpass it, etc.), but that's not why we won (just like it's never why we lose). We've now played 6 games since Spencer went down (with Gawn already injured), for a 4-2 record. Whilst the only strong side in that 6 was Adelaide, we also beat Essendon, GC and Collingwood, three sides who are thereabouts and fighting with us for a spot in the 8. So I rate our past 6 weeks, ruckless (and largely Hogan-less) as exceptional. And a shout out to Goodwin who made some key changes at half time. The biggest one IMO was moving Melksham off Pendlebury. Melksham was in at centre bounces in the first half which had us playing with only two real midfielders and I think that contributed to their clearance dominance. Not that I thought Melksham was that bad, and certainly Pendlebury was quiet, but I think we set up better in the stoppages after half time (moving TMac into the ruck and Pedersen forward was also important). I thought he was pretty average actually. We've seen some ruckmen get the better of us this year (e.g. McEvoy and Goldstein) but IMO it wasn't Grundy, it was their mids (and Treloar and Sidebottom in particular). I think taking Melksham off Pendlebury and getting three midfielders in there, coupled with our mids learning to read Grundy more as the game went on, is what shifted things. And around the ground I didn't think Grundy did much. IIRC, only two: Carlton and Essendon. I'll double check but I am confident in each of the other 9, we've been down by 20+.

Weird isn't it. Bernie tags Sloane and gets plaudits. Melksham does the same to Pendlebury and is in line to be dropped! Talk about unconscious bias!

Umpires helped us a lot. Oscar was VAFA in the first half but All Australian in the second. Fitting that Watts kicked the sealer, an excellent goal at that. Tyson does himself no favours. Team selection still wrong despite the win. On a personal note, Mini Bizkit was born a few days ago, bought her membership last night so today she was our good luck charm.

So just a little update on Keilty, he was feeling real crook for the first half of the game against the Pies, but managed to settle it after half time, but don't worry I got into him after his poorly missed goal hahaha Just want to remind people that he played as a key defender all of last year, and trained as a key defender during all of pre-season. So now that Melbourne want him to play in a Ruck-Forward role, it is going to take some time for him to really learn, develop and prosper in his new job. He is a late bloomer sorta player who probably won't hit his prime for another couple of years. For those calling for his delisting at the end of one season, I think is very short sighted.

I'm a tad peeved that there's quite a few Watts' bashers on this forum who are sitting back saying that they're 'happy for him' and this was the 'redemption' blah blah blah Jack Watts is more to this footy team than that goal yesterday - he shows human leadership, determination, has an iron will and an ability to turn off from puerile, unrelentless vitriol That goal was Jack Watts doing what he does best - the poise, the class, the finish

I was wondering who was 'chasing' wattsy. Then i listened to the last 5 mins 3aw call linked above (ta btw). It was adams. Succesful clubs have players who gut run and kick critical goals. Double dose of poetic justice.

Haha me too the Watts goal I've now watched a couple of dozen times, and I admit I have always been a fan. Something I noticed in his face after he kicked it was different though. Look closely at his face, it wasnt just boyish joy, it was far bigger and deeper than that...

If they'd prefer to play against North Melbourne on Sunday afternoon instead of that atmosphere yesterday, I'm sure Essendon wouldn't mind having a kick on the QB holiday. As despicable as the Bombers are, I'm sure they'd love to get behind Neale and the MND cause. I think it would be quite reasonable to share the gate with Collingwood on an alternating basis, but if they'd prefer to take their bat and ball instead, no worries. I think they might be struggling with the concept that Collingwood is not the centre of the universe.

I sat behind the interchange bench today. After Watts kicked that great goal time on in last qtr, he ran to the bench. Mission waved him away and indicated to go to the backline. 2 minutes later he made a crucial save touching the ball on the line. In a 4 point victory he literally saved us in the dying minutes - twice.

Great win. I have not missed seeing a QB match live for years but had to this weekend as i had to go away for a basketball tournament. Got back just in time to watch it on TV. I never go on DL during a match, usually because i'm at the game, but stupidly did so today at the end of the fist quarter, albeit very briefly. Predicable bagging of Omac for his two errors blind clearing the ball with rushed kicks from deep inside 50 (on his left foot both times interestingly). No mention at all of his other excellent defensive efforts in the quarter. An i wonder if there were comments about the defensive errors by Salem and Frost x 2 that cost us goals. Or the woeful kick inside 50 by Trac that cost us an easy goal. Or later in the game the three other times in the game we blindly kicked it from deep inside our 50 (Jones, Lewis and someone else) that didn't come back purely because of luck (one of those times because of a brilliant spoil from TMac halved a contest he should have lost) I had to laugh because at one point Omac took a defensive pack mark and one of the bone headed commentators said it 'fell it into his lap'. Not geez, he read it well, unlike the other players flying for it. I wondered if DL had somehow infiltrated the commentary box such was the obvious confirmation bias. Omac was excellent today. As i have said many times i acknowledge his weaknesses but some of the comments on this site about him not being up to AFL standard, wouldn't get a game in any other team, woeful, etc etc are so of the mark they border on weird. As i have also said many times the coaching team keep picking him and that can only mean one thing. They rate him. Actually two things. Those that say he should not be in the side because he is not up to it are wrong. Plain wrong. They had the opportunity to drop him this week by bringing in Spencer (or Wagner for that matter). Many argued they should have. A season defining game with a top 8 position on the line. With only one big forward in the magpie side. But they didn't. What does that say about how highly they rate OMac? And OMac repaid that faith and proved his knockers wrong. And by by the by may he miss next week because he hurt his abductor near the end of the 3rd or near the start of the last and played the rest of the game under severe duress.

To all those in this thread going on about the umpiring I recommend you go back and watch these moments: Early last qtr Collingwood (Howe?) player takes possession at the top of our goalsquare runs, does a don't argue, gets tackled, tries to kick, misses ball, definite holding the ball to Melbourne, not paid, certain goal missed. Treloar taken by Viney in a tackle drops ball on ground, no disposal, HTB missed, picked up by Collingwood goes inside for Collingwood goal. Levi Greenwood drops a mark in the centre square, not infringed, tackled properly by Viney, ball heading forward for Melbourne, either the dropped mark or a free paid and a FIFTY paid to Collingwood. Pies score when Dees would've had a certain score. First quarter Watts taken out in a marking contest on the Wing, pies player takes the ball while Scharenberg barrels him over with what looked like a tackle in a marking contest without his eyes on the ball. Pies goal, no free for Melbourne. There were many other holding the ball frees missed for us, soft high tackles paid to them at crucial moments and many other moments. The Hibberd and Hunt ones should've been HTB, but they missed plenty to us as well. Also both managed to hit the ball so the argument is whether they threw it first and that has barely been paid for 5 weeks. Should've been HTB and we got the rub of the green on those two but so did they, many times, especially in the first half. It was a magnificent gutsy win and to claim the umpires won it for us is ludicrous. great game Dees! Being on Gawn, Hogan and the doggies!!! Edit: Not to mention Oscar perfectly bodying a contested mark on the wing to have it reversed then a pies player does the exact same thing in our forward fifty.. NO FREE!!

No 4 goes alright.... Was that the sealer he kicked to win the game? And the touched ball on the line to save the game? I think so

Overplayed. Collingwood supporters were whinging about everything plenty went their way too. We ground out a tough win with no ruckman and no key forward. That was a bloody great win. Knew we would come back after being 5 goals down just wasn't sure if we'd given them too much of a head start or not. Bloody proud of this team, can't wait til Gawn and Hogan are back. GO THE MIGHTY [censored] DEMONS!!!!

New respect for Oscar best game yet well done Oscar!!!!