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Past us .... When did we pass them?

I'm not gutted. I'm barely even upset. I'll be looking forward to the 2019 season with more anticipation than any other I've experienced. We all rebound from disappointements at different speeds and process it in different ways, but I think soon enough everyone on here will be climbing the walls waiting for 2019 to start and for the next effort to get rolling.

Only for a handful of pathological supporters. The rest of us are celebrating a wildly successful season.

Tom McDonald kicked 53 goals this year you clown.

Hopefully all the bandwagoners who jumped on & showed up for the 2 finals actually sign up as members & come to games next year. We clearly had more support at the first 2 finals, like to see these people show up from day 1 next year. Should get 50k members

Jesse Hogan Born:12-Feb-1995 (Debut:20y 51d Last:23y 181d) Height:195 cm Weight:100 kg Year Team # GM W-D-L KI MK HB DI GL BH HO TK RB IF CL CG FF FA BR CP UP CM MI 1% BO GA Totals 71 32-0-39 685 459 393 1078 152 81 13 110 17 174 20 132 81 37 14 458 629 124 183 87 5 44 Averages 17.75 45.07% 9.65 6.46 5.54 15.18 2.14 1.14 0.18 1.55 0.24 2.45 0.28 1.86 1.14 0.52 0.20 6.45 8.86 1.75 2.58 1.23 0.07 0.62 2015 Melbourne 1 20 6-0-14 178 134 83 261 44 19 25 1 45 5 20 17 6 5 118 139 47 52 22 1 12 2016 Melbourne 1 21 9-0-12 206 149 104 310 41 33 4 29 8 47 1 39 19 10 6 123 189 43 63 24 3 12 2017 Melbourne 1 10 5-0-5 91 51 51 142 20 6 15 2 26 3 19 9 5 3 55 87 10 21 9 1 6 2018 Melbourne 1 20 12-0-8 210 125 155 365 47 23 9 41 6 56 11 54 36 16 162 214 24 47 32 14 Josh Kennedy Born:25-Aug-1987 (Debut:18y 255d Last:31y 28d) Height:196 cm Weight:103 kg Year Team # GM W-D-L KI MK HB DI GL BH HO TK RB IF CL CG FF FA BR CP UP CM MI 1% BO GA Totals 220 112-2-106 1887 1296 651 2538 559 306 52 519 15 486 38 467 254 227 69 1190 1370 323 591 259 15 119 Averages 16.92 51.36% 8.58 5.89 2.96 11.54 2.54 1.39 0.24 2.36 0.07 2.21 0.17 2.12 1.15 1.03 0.33 5.41 6.23 1.47 2.69 1.18 0.07 0.54 2006 Carlton 5 9 1-1-7 36 32 16 52 5 4 1 11 15 1 17 7 8 25 30 5 8 3 1 2007 Carlton 5 13 2-0-11 57 50 40 97 6 5 40 27 4 16 6 19 10 9 40 55 7 6 15 1 2008 West Coast 17 7 1-0-6 55 46 34 89 7 4 1 7 19 2 12 9 5 34 55 9 6 7 4 2009 West Coast 17 16 6-0-10 150 110 52 202 31 17 2 28 2 40 4 35 16 13 76 128 23 32 23 1 9 2010 West Coast 17 22 4-0-18 199 130 61 260 41 19 1 60 1 69 3 58 25 27 3 108 149 28 34 30 3 15 2011 West Coast 17 23 16-0-7 208 144 62 270 59 38 70 69 4 55 25 32 4 150 125 51 65 42 3 15 2012 West Coast 17 9 7-0-2 58 43 16 74 18 14 13 13 1 16 7 11 3 39 35 14 24 7 1 1 2013 West Coast 17 21 8-0-13 210 143 63 273 60 23 1 69 2 60 1 44 26 21 6 137 137 34 62 16 1 17 2014 West Coast 17 20 10-0-10 175 114 51 226 61 33 62 1 33 6 46 23 26 11 90 131 17 56 19 1 10 2015 West Coast 17 25 18-1-6 241 168 92 333 80 55 52 1 60 5 44 28 20 12 154 184 39 101 28 3 18 2016 West Coast 17 23 16-0-7 229 148 71 300 82 37 1 69 3 45 4 52 34 26 17 151 157 42 87 30 1 15 2017 West Coast 17 19 11-0-8 166 111 59 225 69 39 5 27 27 32 24 18 13 112 111 34 72 28 10 2018 West Coast 17 13 12-0-1 103 57 34 137 40 18 24 1 20 1 37 20 11 74 73 20 38 11 4 Jesse Hogan 152 goals in his first 4 years in 71 games. Josh Kennedy 90 goals in his first 5 years in the AFL in 67 games. Jesse averaged 50% more disposals in those games as well. I think you are the one that needs to feel really embarrassed. Also I was rubbishing the get rid of Hogan thread. I never said he would have made a difference yesterday, so don't change the meaning of my post. I said he could be our Josh Kennedy and people want to get rid of him. He is on better track than Josh was at the same stage.

Rubbish. We won two games in front of 90,000+ as the favourites both times. You can't say we're weak under pressure every time we lose.

Each to their own, but I hate the cringe worthy artificial nonsense other teams use after goals. Much prefer to hear genuine crowd support then that rubbish.

Well I spoke with a number of non-Melbourne supporters today who said "but you were so good before the prelim, you'll be dangerous next year". So there. Some people will remember only the prelim, some will remember more. But the truth is that we stood up on the big stage for a month straight.

Well, as most have said, a disappointing way to end an otherwise fantastic season. The most disheartening aspect of it all is that it just simply wasn’t Melbourne and as much as West Coast destroyed us, they also had luck to help them. That goal off the back of the LeCras’ foot after a dashing run of desperation from Hibberd was simply cruel for our boys. On top of that, Darling’s goal from a miracle bounce compared with Hannan’s missed opportunity when Optus Stadium decided to turn into a bloody trampoline and bounce the ball as high as possible to give West Coast a better opportunity to chase him - seriously wtf? I know the game was done and dusted by all those points, but it really just was not our day in all facets of the game. I do want to say though that it would take a pretty spectacular team to knock off a West Coast outfit like yesterday at Optus Stadium in a Preliminary Final. I landed back in Melbourne about three hours ago from Perth and you really don’t understand the home ground advantage they have until you go there and experience it yourself. I am not complaining, they earned their right to a home game - but the moment I got there, I knew we would have to play our most formidable football to win. Had the game been at the MCG, I am not saying we would have won, but we certainly would not have let it blow out the way it did. To make up 4% of a crowd, it is really hard to get the boys going when nothing seems to be going their way. We actually were playing somewhat decent footy in the first 10 minutes (in the sense that we were getting into our 50 and actually possessing the ball, though overly so) and had we had the electric crowd of the previous two games, I truly believe we would have been able to answer their pressure a little better and get ourselves into the game a bit more. The West Coast cheers even gave me chills and the pre-game stuff was inspiring - I mean they had a friggin, real, breathing eagle that flew around the ground and eat some bloody seed once it had looped the whole oval. But enough of the bird and the stadium, there is no point in dwelling in the land of could-have-been as that will take us nowhere… let us look to the land of what-will-be. All in all, the season has been a resounding success - if you told me we were going to make the preliminary final at the start of the year with the injuries we have had, I would have taken it in a heartbeat. Certainly yesterday was a missed opportunity, but also a valuable lesson that I believe we will come to thank later. I would have loved a premiership, but in my honest opinion, one this year would have been premature. The next five to ten years we have an opportunity to make multiple assaults on the flag and I am confident we will come out victorious on more than one occasion. It was a bittersweet ending, but that bitterness can simmer in our guts along with the players’ helping to stir them on to a bigger and better season next year. Top 4 and we are shot to be the 2019 premiers.

There are few things I cannot stand more than "X has gone past us". Didn't Adelaide, Port Adelaide and Essendon "pass us" last year? It truly is a mind-numbingly stupid way to look at things.

Been a disappointment today, but I think this club has had a great year and while we had an opportunity it didn’t pan out our way. welcome back Lever, Hogan, Tmac and Viney for full years and I think we go one step further next year. Must Hunt top four and stay in Melbourne for all our finals. GO DEES!

Gee tough one to swallow for these lads. Would have been a nice lift for our youngsters. Bernie it’s been an honour!

This umpiring is insanely one-sided but we only have ourselves to blame. Game should have been over at half time. Never should have put ourselves in the position where the game could be decided by umpires.

I’m very calm today and I’m over this loss already. We weren’t ready and the lessons we take away from today will help shape us over the pre season. But for us 2018 was the beginning not the end. And I can’t wait to see what happens next. Bring on trade and draft week (we excel at those!) and bring on the next decade. Go Dees!

Finally got home. It’s been a tough one. A few conflicting emotions but will try to keep it as consistent as possible. This was a lifetime game personally, I’ve been this nervous and pumped for maybe half a dozen other days in my life. It felt like the final frontier. And just like that, it was over. Nice while it lasted, but as Melbourne fans we know all too well that nothing has ever come to us easy. We looked so nervous before the game. The build up, the drama it all got too much I think. Oliver needing to go the bathroom before the bounce was a sign of that. We got slaughtered in contested ball from the word go, and that was it. This allowed them to take over with their skill and outside game with uncontested marks. Hawthorn threatened this a little last week, West Coast took it to levels beyond belief. By half time it was 11 inside 50 marks to 1 and it’s already been documented about the tackle count. Turnovers killed us. West Coast were way too good. I’m actually not going to nit pick too much on individuals because there is no point. As a team we failed. Lewis had a complete honker, worst game I have ever seen him play. At least 6 players with a 0 for tackles. But really, it was a bridge too far anyway. First finals appearance in 12 years and two great finals wins, this moment was coming as it does with most young teams/teams in this position. In the history of the game I would be shocked to hear than a team who hasn’t won a flag for over 50 years and then hasn’t made the finals for 12 years has waltzed in and won the flag. This is JUST NOT POSSIBLE, it cannot happen. You have to go through this hardship and get the experience. Someone will n doubt point out that Collingwood hasn’t made it for 5 years and could win it all well that’s great! Do you want a medal or a showbag? They will learn from this. They have to. They have a duty to go on with the narrative that they are setting up, the Demons are finally relevant again and we have people’s attention. The season ended terribly but we took a big step. I believe now that this is the team that is going to get us there, I believe now that this is the coach that is going to get us there. I want to now point out some things said so far that he’ll sum up how I feel, because there are a lot of emotions. I think these are all good points: In Harmes way - “It’s a long time to same time next year. What a disappointment.” It certainly will. I felt this when we just missed last year and it burned like buggery. No guarantee we’ll even be there either but all we have is hope. DSP - “We are still are way off top 3-4. Big difference.” Yeah I never thought we were top 4. Top 6 was about right and there are a few things that need to be rectified to break into it. SWYL - “Natural improvement isn’t the answer” Unfortunately the pessimist in me agrees with this. To think that we’ll automatically be in a prelim next year is wishful thinking. At the end of the day we may well have blown our best chance with a lot of teams like Essendon and Brisbane ready to get a rifle and pick off teams in this year’s 8. SWYL - “But this club has history of not getting up after being belted” Again SWYL isn’t wide of the mark. Severe beltings seem to have a lingering effect on us. You are quite often left wondering if that was the moment. Gonna take a big change to right it this time. Titan Uranus - “Our game starts and ends with contested ball” It certainly does. We play in the phone box most of the time. Break even with us there and you’re a chance. Being a great contested ball side is awesome and I’ve really enjoyed it, but we must be able to run and spread to the outside a bit. These guys are humans and although they are great at winning hard ball, all it takes is 1 off game like this to go to water. Nasher - “I'm perpetually frustrated at the way people become irrational and grossly exaggerate the magnitude of the problem after losses (and get told I don't care as much or I'm a happy clapper or whatever), but that's how people cope so fair enough.” Yep, too right Nasher, I’m done with it. Don’t get me wrong, happy to critique but there is just no point at all demanding 1 guy gets the chop because he had a howler like everyone else did. It’s stupid. I do not believe we need to make wholesale changes, yes we need re-tooling but that is it. The game plan, while solid is also not being executed to its full capacity yet and I believe another season or two will see it firing. The quick ball movement through the middle is great but still erring with that one handball too many or putting a guy under pressure. Keep refining this and it is going to be very hard to stop. I say at this point in time I’ll probably head to somewhere for a getaway next week but who knows. I have never not watched a Grand Final apart from in 2002 when I was on a remote island in Greece. Sorry to all the Victorian marks or people still annoyed at today but I hope West Coast goes on with the job. They are a good side and have great forwards. Please smash Collingwood back to the Stone Age. Lastly, Peter Jackson. Your efforts will never be forgotten. All the best and live life to the full, you deserve it.

This is the kind of stuff I don't get. We're just coming off two consecutive finals wins in front of 90,000+ against sides we've hardly beaten for 15 years, and you're going on about "the big stage" being the problem?

I'm the same, Goff. I thought I'd be distraught after losing a prelim, but we were playing West Coast in WA and we took a young team with significant structural weaknesses (especially through injury) and we beaten soundly. If we'd won it would have been a truly exceptional win. And now we go into 2019 with a flag in the forefront of our minds. We get to be a team whose season doesn't begin until September. We have a few gaps to fill still, but the cream of the team is very young and in the important spots. Plus we have significant improvement. Now I'm just excited for the new season to start. And we don't need big names to join to manufacture that excitement. We'll be in the top 2 or 3 picks for the flag next year across the board. That's a type of fun I haven't experienced before as a Melbourne fan.

If you live in Melbourne and you barrack for Melbourne and are over 20 years of age, the correct team to support is West Coast. You are all idiots if you are supporting Collingwood in this Grand Final. No excuses, now is not a time to be stupid.

2017-Rd 23 Gutted 2018-Prelim Final Disappointed 2019-Looks bright to me! As a 'long time' reader of the Demonland site and new member this year one of the highlights of the season was having the opportunity to listen to, reflect on and chat about our great team with you fine folk. Here's to a successful trade period and an even better 2019. Go Dee's ❤️?

I hope WCE wins so they take the cup and the celebrations back to Perth and we only get 1 day of post GF media, if it's Pies then they'll be reporting on it for weeks here... Sorry Ethan Tremblay Also I can't stand Eddie McGuire

I don't hate Collingwood like most seem to. I quite admire the way they display pride in the club and give unconditional effort. My favourite thing in sport i seeing seemingly outclassed teams beat their opponents on effort. Collingwood have been doing that for many years.

Has been ok last few weeks until dying in the arse today, but we're mad if we don't start trying to upgrade ASAP. Cannot finish 2019 in the 1s if we're serious.

My word I’m proud. They’re our boys. They have restored a lot of pride in what it means to wear the red and blue jumper. There’s a pulse in this club again we’ll and truly.

1. Goodwin does not rate leg-speed enough. This must change. We have an over-supply of one-paced tractors. Hunt, Garlett and Frost were stamped for Casey until he had his hand forced with the latter. Our wings yesterday were Tyson and Jones FCS. Wingmen surely must be able to cover the ground. Also Lewis as our +1 in defence slows an already sluggish team. 2. Due in some small part to factor 1, WE DONT SWITCH EVER. We predictably kick down the line hoping that Gawn will bring it to ground. With Frost and Hibberd back we should be switching at least to keep the opposition guessing, and forcing their attack to hang back and leave more room for our mids. 3. We can’t play tempo at all. As Roos says, we are 100% ballistic. We are nervous when we need to control the pill. The Hawthorn last quarter proved this beyond doubt. Yes, it was a gettable flag, but we have cracks under the wallpaper to patch. A credit to our players for doing so well despite this.

As a Melbourne fan I am used to watching grand finals as a neutral. I’ve seen grand finals where I’ve preferred one side to win than the other. I’ve also seen grand finals where I’ve been ambivalent about the outcome. This year I’m faced with an uncomfortable scenario: loathing at the prospect of either side winning the flag. Two well supported, well resourced clubs that have already won flags in recent years and whom we know are insufferable in the aftermath of winning. What a fairytale. Pass the tissues cause I’m choking up over here. No wait, it’s bile. False alarm. I can’t bring myself to simply not care. Their fan bases alone are enough to put anyone off the idea. West Coast - a sea of mindless booing drones, all wearing the exact same blue polo and blue cap they received when they upsized their meal at Hungry Jacks. They repulse me in a deep and meaningful way. Collingwood - little need be said. We all know. One of my mates is one. Well, I say mate. He’s more a friend from high school that I’ve never managed to rid myself of. The thought of him tasting ultimate success again fills me with....what’s the opposite of joy? Seething hatred is in the ballpark.. Both teams have their fair share of unlikeable players. Taylor Adams on one side. Mark LeCras on the other. I thought I may have found the tiebreaker with the feel good story of Travis Varcoe. Then I remembered he plays with that tattooed ballbag Jeremy “omg I carry a photo of Bucks in my wallet!” Howe. No luck there. I said in the post match that I’d be barracking for the umpires. On reflection, I think I’ll be barracking for the umpires mutating and going on a zombie feeding frenzy. Mason Cox being chased around the MCG by a zombie Razor Ray. That will placate me. Pretty much anything that spares me from having to watch one of these muppet ensembles celebrating at the final siren, I will gladly accept. If you can see an upside to either of these sides winning a premiership that has somehow escaped me, let me know. If not, wake me up when this one is over. Or when the ground has opened up and swallowed all players and officials in one glorious gulp.

And you can’t help but be disappointed when you watch these games and realise just how many list cloggers we still have. Hopefully some have had their papers stamped. I’d rather punt on pick 80 in the draft than keep most of these players.

I don’t know about you guys but I thought the umpiring was pretty sh*t

Casey got killed in the ruck: probably the main reason they lost. The Box Hill Gent was very impressive with his 'feedouts' to running Box Hill players. Not having anyone taller than Pedersen made things rather difficult. Tim Smith is not a ruckman.

Umpiring was bad. I hate criticising this aspect of the game but this was up there with the Fri night Port game this year.

You know things are going badly when your Captain plays a whole GF and has more boundary side interviews than possessions. Add to that Garletts CGAF performance and they played 2 short....at least...

The umps would have just worked harder.

What’s even more staggering is the CH7 commentators haven’t noticed the umpiring.

WTF is with the umpiring!!!!!!! They won’t pay us a free kick.

There is one aspect that stands out to me about 2019 and beyond that holds us in good stead. If you consider that players don't really begin to peak until their mid 20s, we have a large amount of the current senior side who have plenty of improvement still to come. Petracca, Hogan, Lever, Oliver, Brayshaw, Oscar, Harmes, ANB, Salem, Viney, Spargo etc are all still young and, through hard work, can improve even further. It's not as if we have an aging list that just had their last hurrah. This is only the beginning. Outside of Jones and Lewis, our oldest player was Hibberd at 28. Melksham, Frost, Tom Mac, Gawn etc are all in their mid 20s and have lots of good footy left in them. Also, we have others like Fritsch, Hunt, Petty and Keilty who still have plenty to offer going forward too. The loss was tough, but the future looks terrific. Don't let one performance in hostile territory cloud that over the summer.

Hunt is looking strong. Big pre season and he's straight into the 1s

The team had maximized its limit, throw in the hysteria,hostile atmosphere over their, we were over awed by the occasion. The heads dropped after the 2nd turnover in the middle of the ground. Gawn got worked over early, midfield had no energy, no tackle pressure, we could not shut down the spread at the source. Thats why you have to get in top 4 and play your first final at home and win so your well and truely rested and not have to travel in a preliminary final week. Yes Western Bulldogs played a Preliminary Final in Sydney but had 90% of the crowd. Yes they played at subi in week 1 with only 40,000 not 60, after a week break and at night, heat did us no favours. Dogs beat up an ageing Hawks line up like we did, They never played a Prelim in a hositle atmosphere like we did, something we have to avoid in future.

So you didn' t see the previous 2 finals with Cats and Hawks staging comebacks, with hawks players saying " Don't choke" and yet overcome but still young and inexperienced team finals-wise? Huge steps taken this year, good platform for next year's assault and glaring deficiency which I acknowledge shown up yesterday as a good dose of reality (think Lewis, outside run, close in shots at goal, Tyson ...) All fixable. Soon as I heard the forecast yesterday I thought the season over. Ended up being 28 degrees.

Got $5 on Keilty to get BOG at $67 odds hahah

A couple of things that have annoyed me: 1. Brayshaw constantly using his left foot when he can use his right, the ball goes up in the air and half the side off the side of his foot making the ball spin wonky, he needs to use that right foot when he can for penetration, when he uses his left it just looks like hes showing off. 2. Petraccas set shots for goals and one step field kicking. 3. Lewis, Jones, Tyson. Can the club make the hard calls. 4. On a sunny 26'c day in Perth, how can we slip and fall over as much as we did, I just cannot believe it. 5. Just a bad day, every club has them. 0 goals in a half of a prelim is shattering and embarrassing, but all in all a positive year. 6. The boys started to look tired v Hawks, we had the toughest run home of anyone don't forget. WCE in Perth, Sydney, GWS then Cats, Hawks and WCE in Perth again. I'm looking forward to see what Jason Taylor etc can bring in, we seriously lack polish and skill, have done for decades.

I just don’t know where Jones plays in 2019. He sure ain’t an outside running wingman. Look at Collingwood’s wingmen, Sidebottom & Phillips. Wouldn’t they love the thought of playing on Jones.

Before yesterday, McDonald kicked at least one goal in every game he played this year.

We could have had wayne carey and gary ablett snr in out forward line yesterday and still would have got pantsed. If the team is prone to shirking the hard stuff your forwards will never be the difference makers.

You go with that first line all the time. No one is speaking for you, those are the things you said. If you don't like it, don't type it. And you love a good cliche as well. This has been our best season in almost two decades. We are heading in the right direction, regardless of yesterday's result. I look at the season, not one game like you do.

If anyone had said at the beginning of the year that we would overcome our hoodoo teams (North and St Kilda), consistently win away, finish 5th on the ladder, win two finals, in our last 5 matches against teams in the 8 win 4 out of 5 including beating one of the grand finalists, and all this after last year consistently losing to teams below us on the ladder and not even making finals ... we would have all taken it with open arms. We are back.

I think the problem here is that Jordan was brought in because of his experience and finals nouse and today, he, himself, started the rot. He turned it over with a shocking handball for a goal, he then did it again, he then belted Ryan in the guts for another one and then gave away a 50 for stupidity and another goal. He seemed to go half hearted at the contest a few times as well. Most on here are furious with that. As someone said he was given 1/10 by a Journo for today's effort. His bad play and resultant goals started the rot and yes we went downhill from there. The team was putrid, but IMO and many others on here, he started it. Confidence can be lost in momentum and he killed it. I am not knocking Jordan, only his game today. TBH, I think he would agree.

Well, that was a bitterly disappointing way to finish up. We were beaten comprehensively in pretty much every element of the game. Every single player got pantsed in that first half. People can rant and rave about individual insipid performances, and there were plenty of them, but like it takes a big team effort to win big games, the team collectively flopped on this occasion. It's not possible for every single player to be individually to blame. They beat us at our own game early and we couldn't recover. All the players get made to look much worse when that happens. It's exactly the same thing we were all laughing at Richmond about last night. Anyway I understand people's mode of grief is to blame Lewis or Jones or Goodwin or the the umpires or whoever. I'm perpetually frustrated at the way people become irrational and grossly exaggerate the magnitude of the problem after losses (and get told I don't care as much or I'm a happy clapper or whatever), but that's how people cope so fair enough. I'm gutted, but at the end of the day we've shown we can play a finals brand of footy in the previous two rounds, we didn't bring it today, and we therefore got given an education by the team that finished second on the ladder, and not by fluke. I hate ending the season this way but we got further than 14 other teams did, and we should absolutely build on that for next year. Chin up people. Bring on 2019.

Our finals campaign started in Round 21 and we won four on the trot. Dropping games we should have won cost us a top four spot and a more viable finals campaign. We burned out bad on this difficult road trip. Too big an ask.

We made a [censored] prelim after not making finals for 12 years and being trash for years. Chins up [censored].

I just wanted to make finals so that period from when Kent kicked the sealer against West Coast to today was the most I've enjoyed football for a long time. Having said that, we can't just assume we will improve next year, we must learn from our mistakes and continue to be bold. Before the Geelong and Hawthorn games I was really relaxed, the only time I started to get stressed in the finals was when we dropped Fritsch and kept Tyson because it felt we were making the same old Melbourne mistakes. It didn't cost us the game but it put us on the wrong foot and it's just a shame to finish the season that way.