Leaderboard

Saturday was a bitter/sweet day for me. I awoke to the news that a family member in Australia had succumbed to cancer after a long and painful battle over the last 7 years. Unfortunately over the last few week she went downhill very fast. To make it more difficult, it is impossible for me to get back to be there for the rest of the family. I spent the morning on the phone sharing stories and tears. Football was not in the forefront of my mind but I did sit down to watch the game to try and distract my mind from the morning's events. My heart was not really in it but I watched through the first half with a heart growing heavier by the minuet. I stayed watching it and did have a thought at the end of the third quarter that with an extra goal or two we might have been a chance. The way the team delivered really lifted my spirits and brought a smile to my face. I thought of the Pink Lady round, the Big Freeze game and the recent Reach game, but mostly the Pink Lady round and thought about how proud I am to support a club that works so hard to promote good causes. The footy is important but we need to ensure we all look more broadly at life. Go Dees.....

Feeling blessed to be able to be there on Saturday night with my Wife, and 2 fanatical kids 🙏 Ticketek is a tough site to navigate when it comes to AFL games but managed to get some amazing seats in the Eastern stand! We will make as much noise as possible for those who cannot be there 😢

Just home from work and asked the kids how remote learning went today. Their answer: ” Very good Dad, our kicking was elite in the last quarter”

Here we see in one picture, the MCG, and in the other, Kardinia Park. To scale.

Here's your chance to show your colours subtly in your next MS Teams or Zoom meeting Full size image available here: https://www.myheartbeatstrue.com/

I was 8. We lived in the northern suburbs back then. It was Collingwood heartland, with a sprinkling of Essendon and Carlton supporters. My 4 older brothers all barracked for Collingwood, but I followed my dad, who was born in Sydney, but when he moved to Melbourne he chose the Dees after the name of his adopted city. In his day, living in Fitzroy, he was pressured by his peers to choose either Collingwood, Carlton or Fitzroy. But no, my old man was a stubborn bugger. I don't know he did it, but he got tickets to the '64 granny. In those days, beer was consumed out of cans; steel cans. As a kid, I was more interested in collecting the empty cans, than watching the game, so I could stand on them. My most vivid memories are of the 2 famous moments that occurred in the last quarter. I wouldn't say dad was a wowser, but he would not tolerate bad language anywhere. While I was foraging on the ground for cans, I heard my dad say Geezus F@#$ing Christ. I looked up in horror and even as a child, I detected his embarrassment knowing his young son had heard him utter such words. Of course, that was as a result of Gabelich's clumsy run along the members side flank to finally kick a goal, which put Collingwood in front. A few minutes later, I found myself flat on my back. My dad jumped in the air and as he came down, he knocked me over. That was after Neil Froggy Crompton followed his man from the back pocket into the forward line and kicked the winning goal. The irony was, that Froggy broke one of Norm Smith's cardinal rules in doing so. The only other memory I have is seeing Barass on the dais, holding the premiership cup aloft and from that moment I was a rusted on Dees supporter. I live in hope that I may get to see big Maxy doing the same.

Gawn will be a 5 time All Australian and the captain of the minor premiers. How can he not be made captain? He has been without a doubt the best and most consistent ruckman in the competition for half a decade now. Suggesting Toby Greene as captain is laughable.

I think this thread has finally put to bed the fallacy that old codgers can't operate tech devices.

75 - refuse to die until we win one.

I was 8 years old and the youngest of 3. All the family are Melbourne supporters and everyone was at the game in 64. I can remember Ray Gabelich running into the open goal with minutes to go as my sister and grand father and l were sitting behind the goals in the old Southern Stand. Mum and my brother were sitting in the MCC area. Tears of disappointment turned to tears of joy when Neil Crompton kicked the winning goal with seconds to go. We are all waiting for our next flag. Mum is frail 95. So please hurry up MFC 😃 1964 was a great year for my family as we went to see the Beatles live at Festival Hall as well as a Melbourne Premiership that year. Great memories of special moments so long ago.

I turned 15 in the middle of 1964 and by that time, I had been a supporter for almost 10 years. In 1954, Father Christmas presented me with a tie that had a Melbourne footballer on it and lo and behold, I was a fan for life. We won 6 flags in the next 10 years. I couldn’t get a ticket to the ‘64 grand final but managed to get invited to the Channel 2 studios where I watched it in an auditorium on black and white screens with about 100 others, almost all of them local aged care residents. The one grand final that I made it to was in 1960 when it rained from start to finish and we held Collingwood to the lowest score ever in a grand final - 2.2.14. When I got home, I had to work in the family milk bar in the northern suburbs selling Heralds and Sporting Globes to disgruntled Pies fans. My recollection of winning grand finals was the feeling of happiness and euphoria, one that I hope we’ll all be experiencing in a little over a month’s time.

I am truely amazed by some of the comments on here. It seems that people expect every player to perform there best ever game every week. We have just finished on top at the end of the season playing the team that was second. We won! So those 22 must have collectively done almost everything possible. Why change when most of the options have not played in weeks and have zero game experience. All of a sudden players that have played almost every game are " given another week" please it isn't broke so don't fix it. Baring injury no change

My young daughter who has number 6 on her jumper can't understand why people ask if it was for Jordan Lewis. She responds back in disgust it's for daisy. I don't think people understand yet what an impact she has had and is having on this club When the inaugural women's draft happened she said she wouldn't play unless it was for Melbourne. It reminded me of the famous clip of Norm Smith saying he is Melbourne and won't go anywhere else.

I was 27 at the time but I was in the Navy at the time and was at sea somewhere an I listened to it on the radio. The last time I saw them fight for the flag was in 1958 when I was doing my training at HMAS Cerberus such a long time ago Beachball

What a great season Clarry has had, one of the best and most consistent players i have seen in my 50 years following the club. Congrats Clayton

Of all the great things Clarrie did on Saturday, one is not getting the praise it deserves… the stacks-on after the siren: boy, did he get some air right there! Hang time was amazing!!!😁

All-Australian team will be announced this Thursday, and while he's unlikely to get a spot in the final 22, surely Kozzy Pickett deserves to be part of the conversation. Has had the odd quiet patch, but finished 3rd in the league for tackles inside 50, and put 35 goals on the board. Outstanding effort. PS: ANB was #1 in the comp for tackles inside 50. Also outstanding.

Agreed the best part of Viney’s game aside from the usual aggression and smashing tackles was that he took the first simple option most of the time. Made a real difference to his game

I was 13 and seated in the lower section of the old Northern stand. Ray Gabelich took his three bounces right in front of me. I'd joined the cheer squad 2 years earlier. Great memories with MT as president. Some of us were responsible for the banners. Mine was The Never Say Die Demons. I'd get the first train (4:15am) from Parkdale, or sleep at the ground. We never slept at Vic Park or Windy Hill (too dangerous). When the Saints moved to Linton Street we made a bonfire from some of the pickets we pulled off the new fence. The Saints cheer squad invited us to join them for the night in the St Johns Ambulance room. Quite an eyeopener for a young boy with the stretchers getting quite a workout with Saints and Dees supporters fraternising. Hassa Mann was my favourite player and I had a banner with his name on it. Great memories. PS a shout out to Dobbo and Ken Saw

😂 we did it! Gawn after the siren. First ever MFC win with a kick after the siren in 150 years. I’m in shock. Not going into the office today. I reckon I’ll stay home for a couple of weeks and watch the replay on a loop

Oh to be minus 15 again. They were good times. This thread got me thinking and I've realised it is quite possible my grandad was at every Demon premiership except 1900. The age range matches up and I know he was a lunatic in general and a very serious Demon. He was actually committed to not dying until the Demons won another flag but the story goes he was satisfied that 2000 was an acceptably high note to go out on. EDIT: Further thought, I hope this thread needs to be wildly updated in a few weeks' time!

People who keep calling for Gus to be dropped don’t understand our game plan or his role at all.

Unbelievable win, still in disbelief. Wins like that build a club. We're onto something special here. Let's go.

Max's leadership stood tall in so many ways. In the last quarter his actions said: Follow me lads. And they duly followed. Time and time again he willed them on. The 44 pt comeback and the mobbing of Max after the siren will galvanise the team for a long time to come. And send a few shock waves through the other finalists. I particularly liked that after the siren he was like a shepherd lovingly looking after his flock. He has been a very good captain. Saturday was his breakout game as a Leader.

Finally being stuck in SA for the past 6 months for work has paid off. See you there Dees!!

My mum was 11, and I was 19 years from birth. I’ve got to admit, as a man in my 20s, I always cringed a little at the older generation of Melbourne supporters who just wanted to talk about the glory years of what is literally a lifetime ago. Dropping these dusty old names that meant nothing to me. I knew of the Norm Smith Medal for a lot of years before I knew he was an all-time great Melbourne man. As I’ve progressed through to my late 30s, and had the youthful optimism beaten out of me by some pretty dismal failures, I’ve come to appreciate how precious that success is and how much it is to be cherished when it happens. You folk who can remember Melbourne flags are so lucky. I hope we can all share another very soon. And rest assured, if we lift the cup up in 2021, my grandkids not having any idea or interest in who Max Gawn and Christian Petracca were won’t stop me from talking about them.

viney's workrate to lay the shepherd on stanley to allow pickett that little bit more time to deliver the ball over the back of henry to allow fritsch to run into goal was unreal brayshaw's ability to work back and spoil by creating a 2:1 in our favour across half-back without giving away 'front on contact' was outstanding work rate from both unbelievably good

Used to live in Powlett St opposite the MCG in 1964. Then it was a cross between a bohemian and working class suburb and not uber rich like now. After the game my brother and I were sitting on the fence watching the thousands of fans going home when a jubilant drunken Melbourne supporter gave us 1 pound each. A fortune for a young kid those days. I was already a Melbourne supporter then. My brother followed Geelong because he liked cats.

I was seven. On TV, I saw the team holding up the cup and doing a lap of honour and thought, 'Obviously this is the team to follow to ensure years of satisfying success.' Narrator: it was not the team to follow to ensure years of satisfying success.

Long time, no post. LID IS OFF!

They were leading by 44 points well into the third quarter of a game to decide the minor premier, having kicked nine unanswered goals. The Cats were about to lap up their bowl of cream, dreaming of next week but the Demons led by Max Gawn had other ideas. In a stunning finish, they stole the game from under them to claim the plaudits as best team and top of ladder position. In a remarkable game, it all came down to Max having to kick the winning goal after the final siren, something which seems to have become a regular feature in Geelong-Melbourne games in the past few years. This time Max struck the ball truly and ignited a riot of emotion among the Melbourne players, coaches and supporters glued to their TV screens throughout the country. The vision of scenes that will become iconic. The game started as expected, given this was a match between the top two sides in the competition. It was hard contested football with neither side conceding. The Demons had the upper hand but small mistakes were costly. Once again, their set shot kicking was slipping with both Jack Viney and Bayley Fritsch missing chances to put the side well in front early in the piece. Tom Sparrow was showing all his nervousness with kicks into the man on the mark, but composed himself to provide a good shut-down job on Dangerfield during the quarter. At the first change, for all their troubles, the Demons led by a mere two points. The second quarter was a complete disaster for the Demons. The Cats kicked eight goals in a row, mostly in a 15 minute patch, where they simply got one centre clearance after another, and their forwards capitalised on the free entry coming their way. Max Gawn was being given a bath in the middle by Stanley, who was simply jumping over him to provide his mids with first touch. It wasn’t helped with James Harmes time and time again losing his man at centre bounces, as he often did last week. The rot was finally stopped when Viney was re-introduced late in the quarter and the Demons finally began to get their hands on the ball again. But the damage had been done, and the Cats took a 39 point lead into the main break. Something had to change. Early in the third, Luke Jackson missed a set shot, to continue the goal drought for the side, which had recorded a single goal from their previous 23 entries into the forward 50m. But slowly the pattern of the game began to change with Clayton Oliver finally kicking a major to put an end to the sequence of nine unanswered goals for the Cats. Jackson was thrown into the ruck, and matched Stanley’s athleticism. Geelong’s clearances stopped. The conditions also became slippery which was inhibiting the Demons skills and swift ball movement. By three quarter time, they had clawed back the Cats lead but it was only to a deficit of 32 points. All seemed lost from the fans’ perspective. Although the momentum had swung through persistence and hard work, nobody in the history of the game had come back from this far behind at the final break to win against Geelong on its home turf. Cue the Gawn and Oliver show. Within the first minute a swift clearance resulted in a Kozzy Pickett goal. This was quickly followed up when Charlie Spargo got his toe to the ball in the goal square to record another major. Max was winning the taps now, and the clearances from the middle continued. Clarrie snapped truly from the pocket and the Demons had put three in a row on the board. Spargo crumbed and snapped truly with 15 minutes to play to bring the score within seven points. Suddenly, it was game on. With seven minutes to play, Fritsch who had been absent for a majority of the game, outbodied his opponent to run into the open goal and the Demons were only a point down. The Cats seemed to be floundering and their main playmakers Dangerfield and Selwood were on the interchange, spending seven or eight minutes resting in an attempt to revive the old legs. Geelong had a chance to put it beyond doubt with Cameron missing and a collision between two Cats players in the dying minutes denied them a certain goal. It was all down to the final minute and a quick kick forward by Angus Brayshaw was inexplicably deemed deliberate out of bounds. Fortunately, Guthrie put the resultant free over the boundary on the full, and in a game already on a knife edge, Close punched the ball away after the whistle had blown. Lever took the resultant 50m penalty, spotted Gawn unattended, standing 15 metres out from the goal with Harmes by his side. The kick to the spot that Max pointed out was perfectly placed and he obliged with the mark. The siren sounded and Max converted truly - the smile on his face could have been compared to a Cheshire cat. The look on the face of Chris Scott and the finger pointing of the Geelong defenders in the vicinity was priceless. The outcome from the Melbourne perspective gave the true meaning of the phrase… “a game-changer” with Gawn going from being soundly beaten to a match winner. Clayton Oliver with 37 touches and 9 clearances simply moved the goal posts. Chipping in with two goals of his own put the icing on the cake for his performance, and may well have put the Chas Brownlow medal around his neck for the season. Down back Lever took twelve intercepts including nine marks to turn the tide and those who questioned the draft picks that Melbourne gave to secure his services had only to look at this game to see his value. Jackson had reversed the ascendancy of Stanley at a low point of the game for the side. All these little things caused others to come into the game and make the contributions needed to get over the line. It is worth remembering that this was the side’s third successive six day break. That they still got the job done was another big credit to Darren Burgess and his team. Kudos must also go to the coach who was able to inspire the remarkable turn-around and has now finished up with a 17 win and 1 draw season. The side now has belief entering the finals series. When they encounter the same situation in coming weeks, they know they can overcome what previously would have been impossible. For them, the cream at the top is now theirs for the taking. MELBOURNE 2.3.15 3.5.23 6.7.43 12.9.81 GEELONG 2.1.13 10.2.62 12.3.75 12.5.77 GOALS Melbourne Pickett 3 Brown Oliver Spargo 2 Fritsch Gawn Viney Geelong Hawkins 4 Cameron Rohan 2 Close Dahlhaus Dangerfield Selwood BEST Melbourne Oliver Petracca Gawn Salem Lever Pickett Geelong Selwood Dangerfield Hawkins Smith Henderson Guthrie INJURIES Melbourne Nil Geelong Nil REPORTS Melbourne Nil Geelong Nil SUBSTITUTES Melbourne J. Jordon (unused) Geelong S. Higgins (unused) UMPIRES Matt Stevic Craig Fleer Jacob Mollison Official Crowd 0 at GMBH Stadium

Would love to know if Mark Ricciuto still believes that Jake Lever is a $500k player and Adelaide are happy that he left.

Love the excitement of the last quarter. Love it. It was the momentum building. We were being embarrassed. The umps were against us. The cats at home. Even the commentators were singing their man-love for Hawkins, Selwood, Rohan, Cameron, Dangerfield. But we turned it around. Incredible. Amazing. Unbelievable. Perhaps our greatest victory since the 2000 preliminary final imv.

If Franklin gets picked then the AA process is flawed and is simply grown men getting together at playtime talking about their favourite players.

I love Fritsch and Salem but Boak isn't in the squad. That's insane. Edit: Riewoldt and Crisp have also missed out on squad selection. But Sean Darcy (he's not getting picked over Gawn or Naitanui so why is he in the squad), Lyons and Seedsman all get picked?

Some more thoughts after rewatching: Sparrow was fantastic (specifically his mark with 6:01 remaining). Showed his talent, great selection. Kozzy is one of the most accurate field kicks I've ever seen, especially for short <25m kicks. Watch his passes, he has a beautiful kicking action and never misses. Rhys Stanley not marking up Gawn was the only reason Max got a free mark and shot at goal. Huge mistake from Stanley as he obviously thought Lever was going for the shot. Petracca's emotion in his interview on Twitter is pretty emotional stuff. Good luck watching that without shedding a tear. Clarry with 26 contested possessions. TWENTY SIX. Agree with Seraph, I think he is the best midfielder this club has ever had.

12 years old in '64 and two years into my Demon journey. I grew up in Hawthorn amid a family of Hawks supporters. I got tired of walking to Glenferrie Oval and watching Hawthorn get pummeled every week, so decided to follow the Dees. It's been a long time coming, with lots of soul-searching along the way as Hawthorn became a dominant force, but I believe the time is now near. It was my birthday on Sunday and the best gift I got was when my son facetimed me with him and his two young ones all dressed in Dees jumpers and scarves. My whole family, kids and grandkids, are Dees supporters and proud of it. I'm a happy man! GO DEES!

I was only seven, living in a country town and more interested in the weekly ritual of the Saturday afternoon matinee than football and it was at the cinema where they showed cartoons (yay!) and Cinesound newsreels (boring) before the movie that one day featured some colour film footage of Melbourne v Collingwood that so enchanted me that I immediately fell in love with our magnificent jumper and my allegiance was founded. We didn't even have a TV in the house and, alas, I don't remember the Premiership and I have no memory of Ron Barassi playing for Melbourne. I started following the Demons in earnest in 1965 with Hassa Mann as my hero and it was his number 29 that I had my mother sew onto the back of my first Melbourne footy jumper.

I was 15, started going with my dad in 1960. After the win in 64 ( stood all day in forward pocket Richmond end) thought how good is this following Melbourne we will continue the tradition forever Ha ha! There have been plenty of years when I wished my dad had barracked for Hawthorn. But once you have the start I had changing is not an option. Go Dees.

I think I feel a bit more for Jayden Hunt more then anyone. In 2018 we were three weeks from playing finals and he damages his ankle against Sydney which ruled him out of the finals campaign. Plays all year this year and a big contributor towards our success and yet hurts his ankle 3 weeks ago again, and in serious doubt not play finals. Hunt has been at this football club since the rebuild took place when Paul Roos came on board. I like Steven May, but I'm hurting more for Jayden Hunt.

Minus 23

I don't rate King at all. He does stats because that's what the American sports shows do but AFL football is much harder to define with stats because the game is so chaotic. Sports like baseball, basketall etc are far easier because there are fewer moving parts. King tries to shoehorn stats into his analysis but he usually misses the point of them. It's really frustrating to watch because most of the time he just doesn't understand what's actually happening, despite the resources and statistics that are thrown at him. Montagna is far more interesting and insightful. He looks at things that are actually interesting about the game and you can learn a lot from him. It must be hard for him to sit there sometimes as King talks about Geelong chipping the ball around, as they have for many years, like it's the most groundbreaking analysis of all time. Get Daisy on. Get her on all the shows.

One of my favourite shows. But only because of montagna. I love his analysis and ability to explain it. One example tonight was matching their extra at the stoppage in the first half (which is something we have only done once i think). And then going back to no extra in the second hslf. Brilliant coaching he said. King is totally random. Mixes some genuinely interesting points with bizarre bulltish. What the hell was king on about when talking up the cats? Sure they were brilliant in that 15 minute patch. But montagna is right we had the better of the rest of the match. And we matched that 9 goal run, with 8 unanwered goals to win the game. They had their 3 talls up and firing. Perfect conditions. And in a must win game they could only manage two goals after half time. Two. Where is the critique of that dismal effort? Or the acknowledgement of how brilliant our defence was. And where was his critique of their three most senior players - dangerfield, sellwood and Hawkins. None had any impact in the last quarter. Danger didnt have a possession! Star power indeed. Their controlled kicking style gets it done in the home and away season. As demonstrated by how phenomenal their home and away record is under scott - who i agree with King is a terrific coach. (albeit bolsterd by the incredible home ground advantage they are gifted on a stupidly narrow ground they get to train on - are they the only club who get to train on the ground they play home games on?) But as their finals record shows it simply does not hold up in finals. When we turned the wick up in the last quarter to finals like intensity their game style fell apart. They were desperately trying to play tempo and control the ball. We simply didn't let them. We have beaten them twice this season. The first time we were clearly the better side, despite losing may early. Tbeir chip mark style wasn't up to it. And in this game tbey had a 44 point lead with 7 minutes to go in the third quarter. On their home ground. And we won. And if we play them again we will beat them again. We are a better team.

I will give it my best effort supporting the Mighty MFC on saturday night. For me as a kid if you wanted to play in the biggest sporting events it was always at the MCG first and foremost. Being an Adelaide lad there is nothing that makes me more prouder when the club i fell in love with as a 6 year old roles in town to play. The Iconic Adelaide Oval is the country's 2nd most historical ground (my opinion) steeped in history its aura has been good to the Red and Blue since its redevelopment in 2014. May it continue Saturday Night and beyond, i will be thinking of all of my fellow Dees who can't attend from all over the country and overseas. Last night was my greatest night as a Dee, I'm hoping the lads have 3 more special games left in them and bring the Premiership Cup home to the MCG. Long live the MFC, It's finals time. Raise Hell.👏👌🙏🏆🇭🇹

Played an amazing game last night, setup the match winner, and now...

17 and was there with the cheer squad down by by the city end goal. Was lucky to have seen previous premierships as well. Been waiting, waiting and waiting. Can this be the year??

As if I needed to shed more tears 😢 That is beautiful. Love the Gawn and Petracca hug. Even more moving was the way Gawn reached out to May whose face was pure joy and hugged him tight. There is something special happening between them.

One of the examples King used was how the chip kicking resulted in the soccer goal to Hawkins (12 minutes in) because Lever was playing on Close. However the kick came in from a turnover in the Geelong attacking half, with a switch kick and then a bomb from 80m out .... to an 8 vs 5 with Max Gawn standing under it. Geelong somehow scrubbed it through because Max got body pressure from the small Parfitt and let the ball over the back, whilst Hawkins and Cameron were worked out of the contest. This is how we want to defend, but a series of weird mishaps resulted in a goal. King, instead, thought this was a coaching masterclass. I don't have a problem with being bullish on Scott's plan to nurse a slow, old team to a final crack at a premiership. It's smart coaching. But he's started with a conclusion in mind and then went really looking for evidence to support it even when it wasn't there, which made the whole thing look really weird.