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Great listening about Darren Burgess and his time at the club. Enjoy

Some Demonlanders out there will remember the brief appearance of a group of Melbourne Next Generation Academy players at preseason at Gosch’s Paddock in December 2019. The standout was a strongly built tall ruckman, Deakin Pereira who mixed it with the likes of Max Gawn and Braydon Preuss in the ruck and held himself in good stead against the Demons’ tall timber. We were hoping that the young Pereira would try out for a place in the 2020 national draft but Deakin had a long-held dream of making it in the world of professional basketball at its highest level in the USA. Over the past 20 months or so he’s gone a long way to achieving that dream despite the fact that our world is a far different place than it was back then. I reached out to Deakin’s biggest fans, his parents Kylie and Ryan, and they filled me in on his movements in the interim. They report that he’s made it through the world-wide Covid19 storm and is finishing his last year of high school. He has just achieved his first aim by securing a scholarship to a major division 1 college - California State University, Fullerton which is a leading campus of CSU and which serves as an intellectual and cultural center for Southern California. Sholarships are few and far between and Deakin was good enough to get one. He stands around 6 foot 9 inches tall (206cm) and is looking very strong. He says he can’t wait to go to college where he will beef up even more. If things don’t work out, you never know, he might be back at Gosch’s Paddock battling out with our premiership pair of ruckmen one day but in the meantime, we’re looking forward to seeing him proceed to a different draft in the NBA, possibly to join the growing band of Aussies there. Then it could be on to the Olympics in Paris in three year’s time. We all know now how well Demons go in Olympic years.😀 Anyway, Deakin can rest assured that there’s an army of Demons fans following his fortunes in sunny California. Good luck!

Meaningless gloating and disrespectful to Paddy McCartin who, through no fault of his own, couldn’t fulfill his potential.

I have a limited run of these special edition Premiers t-shirts available. Hit me up with your size. ™️Ethan Tremblay Industries Worldwide

Signs that players/staff won't have 'swollen heads': Petracca taking off his NSM. Brayshaw admitting he would love to be in the middle but sacrificed that with an exemplary attitude and took on the wing role. Viney, sacrificing the more attacking side of his inside mid role to allow Oliver and Petracca to do the more fancy stuff. Viney is not sufficiently lauded for that level of selflessness. Gawn on how badly they want to win a premiership in front of their Home fans: Us! Younger players set with the above role models will quickly be brought into line if they get too cocky. Enough depth in all positions that no player can afford to think they are a walk up starting 22. For staff: the opportunities that come from being part of a successful club. GF are incredibly hard to win. If we don't win next year it won't be poor attitude or being satisfied with one premiership.

I always got a smile on my dial watching Spargo during Hannans goal in 2018 during the elim against Geelong. He's running parallel to Hannan and goes through the action of kicking the ball when he wants Hannan to kick it 😂❤️

I know. And filling in the forms is time consuming as well. I'm an Aries, I enjoy football etc

Umm, that sub money helps Andy keep the place going. I don’t think the ad revenue is that much really. And ads these days - unless you have a VPN - is you get ads for things that reflect what you google or search for in FB and the like… Just sayin’

As posters above have alluded , we have all the physical attributes needed to win another flag. It's what is going on in the head and the heart that will be most crucial.

Particularly given how universal, constant and strong was the players' narrative of connection with, and importance of, us and 'home', I think an MCG premiership is a pretty good carrot, for #2 anyway.

We are in BETTER shape than all these teams for 3 reasons 1 Age of list 2 Amount of football development left 3 Serious depth Now if the Desire is there and Goody and co can keep group focused (no big heads) Then stand by for DYNASTY TO END ALL DYNASTIES

It’s great isn’t it? Sometimes I don’t even watch the play anymore during the replay, I’ll look at the background for players reactions to certain plays. Spargo is my fav, always on his own somewhere back there clapping, cheering, fist pumping. A bit of a funny moment is when he spots up Fritsch for his 5th he does this little hop in the air shortly before Fritta marks almost like he’s urging the ball to land in his arms.

We should never underestimate the contribution Simon Goodwin made to this club. That remark from Burgess that Goodwin backed him and the fitness team 100% and not once in 2 years questioned him about players' fitness, bodies etc. etc. Also, his remark that Goodwin has no self-interest and only does what's best for the club/team was revelatory and reinforces what we saw with the players backing each other with their "team-first" approach. (rather than just trying to get 30 touches). Perhaps the best behind-the-scenes AFL podcast or interview I've ever heard.

That was a great listen, and shows how important Goody was in getting him to the Dees. It did sting a bit towards the end where he mentioned that initially he was keen to stay with the club for 10-15 years before COVID hit, but oh well.... better to have Burgo'd and lost then to have never Burgo'd at all - I think that's how the saying goes...?

More than interesting! Apart from anything else, he makes it plain that avoiding injuries is not luck, it was part of his method. It is so dreadful that we have lost this genius! We can only hope that he has been able to teach those with whom he worked.

Demons did a great job to get Selwyn Griffiths in from Brisbane after he’d been successful in keeping their list healthy, spends a year with Burgess and is perfectly placed to step into the main role! Great planning!

I'm not sure it has FULLY sunk in for me yet either. I feel Euphoric but also relieved that the Monkey is finally of our back. Its great walking around the street EVERY day wearing my Melbourne Jumper with NO 13 on the back. My wife actually snuck it out and washed it when I wasnt looking and I felt like Linus without his blanket. Shameful for a grown man to behave like this..... NOT🤩

A fantastic look under the bonnet of our 2021 season. It felt a little bit like when they revealed the winged keel of Australia II after winning the Americas Cup back in 1983. In contrast to the Bulldogs which was more reminiscent of pulling back the curtain at the end of The Wizard of Oz.

Was interesting to hear him talk about the GF. You can tell that the 3rd Quarter even shocked Burgo. Everything went right for 3 minutes and basically continued into the Final term. Yes our boys were fit and strong, but no one can plan that sort of play in a GF. It will go down in GF History

I’m “stealing” my theme for today from the Mongrel Punt article entitled "Where the Dees get even better in 2022" although I actually came across the idea earlier and from a slightly different perspective. There used to be a saying that the “premiership glow” doesn’t last forever i.e at some stage after a team tastes the ultimate in success, the celebration of the victory comes to an end, at which point it’s time to start thinking of what comes next. You’ve reached the crossroads. The question becomes one of coming down from the high of a premiership with the same hunger that you had in the past, to ensure thad you don’t develop a lot of swollen heads and end up going backwards? And how can you get even better?

That’s a great listen. I wish he had kept his secret about the two strategies regarding preventing injuries and how he used to be in the first camp but came around to the second. For those who don’t have a spare hour, the first is manage players by letting them have days off when tired or sore, while he now believes don’t do that and push through it and build resilience. It’s taken a long time for him to learn that and he has been at clubs that have fallen just short a lot. But he totally nailed 2021. He didn’t give away any secrets re making sure we peaked in finals, but his entire building resilience strategy is genius in hindsight. Most on here had MFCSS mid season when we had our mini slump, but @binman and others spoke about training loads and I was a bit worried about TOG for Max, Tracc, Oliver etc as they were being flogged by playing high 90’s game time. In finals it dropped back to the 80’s and in hindsight you would say he built fitness and resilience in the core superstars during the season to have them peak for finals. He also put that 15 minutes in the GF into context from a fitness perspective and explained it was partly due to how we had 4 fresh players in the square to start that run. Well worth the listen.

Spot on, durango, the criticism was unrelenting - from the media and fans of other clubs, as well. What makes the deal even sweeter is that we also received a pick from Adelaide that we used to draft Harry Petty.

This totally factors in. In just about every post-match interview, be it Tracc, Maxy, whoever, there’s a reference to the Dees Faithful who missed out on being there to witness the glory. I read somewhere a quote from Gary Pert where he says he’s never been involved with, nor knows of, any other team that is so devoted to their supporters.

You can add another dot point in terms of the way the club has gone after a first round draft pick and signed Luke Dunstan. You have to keep improving on your list both internally and externally.

When you put together a season like this one the following year can really only go one of two ways. Either the hunger is there for sustained effort or that was it and we drink our own bathwater and live off the ‘21 cup sinking slowly into mediocrity. We’d all be disappointed with the latter but you can’t ever take away this achievement. Based on what I’ve seen and heard, I think it will be the latter, and if they bring the dedication, intensity and focus that they brought this year, I can’t think of who could stop us. There is growth and improvement to be had all over the ground. As HB pointed out BB will only get better with another preseason and a midfield that is looking for him and knows his leading patterns. Fritsch has put his kicking yips behind him and looks like everything Gunston was in his hay day and then some. Just remember Pickett has only had 2 seasons and is nowhere near his peak. Sparrow and JJ and Jackson have barely gotten started, our midfield has significant upside over and above the awesome talent we already know so well. Our backline, holy sheet! Just think about the fact that Rivers was only in his second season and Bowey just his 6th game. Can you believe it?! Add to that Petty, who really just played his first full season. I can’t see Salem, may or lever dropping off anytime soon either. So there is significant organic improvement to be had all over the ground. It really only depends on what attitude they bring with a premiership cup in the cupboard already. I think we’ll have the answer quite early in the season, I can’t wait to be there for it.

#positivebusslingers

From AFL.com.au

Well this is an easy fix. https://demonland.com/forums/topic/39509-remove-the-ads-with-a-demonland-subscription/

I love the new Premiers range at MFC shop online. I am addicted to this premiership merch. I’m getting a cap, hoodie and t-shirt. My kids all want a tshirt each. BANG BANG BANG BANG !! 49 years as a Dees fanatic. I have to indulge!!!

No more will they be able to say, 'Oh, the Queen's Birthday is their Grand Final' or 'Anzac Eve is their Grand Final'. The Grand Final is our Grand Final.

Great suggestion. Collingwood has had lots of experience of dealing with Constables.

I remember us winning that joke AFLX premiership a few years ago and thinking this is the first time in 30 years of following the club that I ever saw the red and the blue hold up some sort of silverware - although the aflx trophy was more of a crappy pale copper bronze shade … anyways even though I’ve watched the GF replay many times now I don’t think the enormity of this has truly sunk in yet. Also the fact that we absolutely owned Geelong this year too and won a game after the siren down at the cattery - I don’t think I really took that in at the time as I thought it wouldn’t mean [censored] if we didn’t end up winning the flag , ditto the prelim pantsing of the cats. But we did it , minor premiers and the flag !! Very comprehensive and very Un-Melbourne like … all this attention and focus on us now being the competition benchmark of professionalism and success now will take a bit to get used to! But am looking forward to getting back to the G and to see the team in person holding the cup up - I hope this is before xmas it would be really awesome highlight to this extraordinary crazy year and I think then it will really hit home that we have now reached the promised land !

"Dave Misson is very experienced and had done a great job."

Wow. There is a fine line between Glory and Bust Training Flat out before Finals. Full load. The only way to do it. The Standard has been set. i have been assured from inside that Selwyn will continue this elite philosophy. he better!!!

To suggest that no luck is involved in avoiding injuries sounds plain silly to me. Sure fitness & the medicos & rehab people play a role but look at Richmond they won 2 flags with barely any injuries in their AFL & VFL teams then this year they had a swag of injuries & their teams struggled.

In the last 50 years Whorethorn have won 12 fags, been Runners up numerous times and played Finals most of those years. Set the Bar at a high level MFC, players will want to Play at such a historic and iconic Club. This is the time to set a Standard. Be wise. Next year we will be studied and hunted, so we have to be better… Kick Straighter early in a game, kill opponents spirit…

Three weeks later and I find I routinely still have to pinch myself. Talk about the afterglow!

Whispering, I believe there was another very important factor which may have been the most significant in our decline and malaise after the 64 flag. The VFL brought in country zones. These were supposed to rotate between clubs. In fact that never happened and my understanding is that Melbourne's zone was relatively unproductive. This was an incredibly unfair for the Dee's and caused the heartbreak for supporters until the late 90's. I have understood this for a long time and in writing this post I looked up on google and Wikipedia seems to confirm it. "The VFL’s response was to zone rural Victoria and the Riverina of New South Wales in a similar manner to metropolitan Melbourne. Because of the sparseness of Australia’s rural population, the country zones related not to the player’s address, but rather to the league in which he played. This difference made zone boundaries effectively impossible to adjust, and was a critical component of the failure of country zoning. The VFL was aware that discrepancies existed in the strength of each zone, and it was originally planned that the zones would be rotated every year so that each club would obtain a chance of receiving the best young country players. However, Carlton and Hawthorn lodged complaints with the VFL, as they had productive zones and were naturally unwilling to give them up for less productive ones,[1] so the zones remained the same from the inception of country zoning until it was abolished in 1986. There was also no provision for demographic changes which occurred in the various country zones, which exacerbated the problems mentioned above". Unsurprisingly, Hawthorn and Carlton were the two most successful clubs from the late 60's until the early 90's. Eight flags to Hawks and 7 to the Blues.

Dees getting even better? Based on the finals we are frighteningly good. No team got close (poor goal efficiency stopped the Brisbane final being a scoreboard blow out like the others). Other clubs have a lot of work to do just to catch up to the 2021 Premiers: Us! 🏆 . Our team is so young there is heaps of improvement there. Our leaders are young and will steer the good ship for some years. Even if other teams bridge the gap to us in 2021; a mighty feat given the non-event trade period, any improvement by us means the gap can only get bigger!

Take nothing for granted! Looking at some recent post premiership disappointments, there was Hawthorn who surprised Geelong in 2008 to take the flag with a young side. Everyone raved about how good they were going to be but they crashed in 2009 and finished ninth with 9 wins 13 losses and a percentage of 92.5. The Bulldogs crashed their way through the 2016 finals and started 2017 well enough before messing up the second half of their season and finishing 10th with 11½ wins 10½ losses and a percentage of 97.1. Before that the 1993 Baby Bombers crashed to 10th in 1994 after everyone predicted a long dynasty ahead of them. They all struggled after breaking through to win flags with youthful teams that were expected to kick on. I think in every case, they celebrated too long and too hard and took it for granted that they would do it again the next year but lost their hunger.

JV is my favourite player. 5s into the game after he crunched MacRae I thought this will be fun today. The last 15 mins in Q3 was an unbelievable team effort, but my view is Viney was key in 4 goals and without him we enter 3Q time probably behind. His contribution hads’t been recognised well enough. 9 minutes before the toe poke he started it all when he crashed the pack on the wing where the ball bounced off his chest and then he got a foot on it where the ball fell to Harmes who delivered to Fritz and 8 minutes before the toe poke at the centre clearance he bullied/pushed Treloar right into Martin creating space for Oliver to swoop in, give to Trac, and get the second in a minute and 30s before the toe poke at the centre clearance he got his foot to a ball that Bont looked about to pick up, then picked it up himself, gave to Tracc, who gave to Clarry, who gave to Sparrow who goaled. Then the toe poke. This all happened with LJ and that isn’t appreciated either. LJ was excellent at getting the ball to his feet where Viney was key. And it happened with Libba in there who usually gets first hands to those balls but Viney beat him to it. My view is Viney had as much to do with that 15 minute burst as anyone, and if you look at it closely his work started it and allowed Tracc, Clarry and others to do their stuff. Yet he was probably credited with only one possession.

Just take the example of Christian Petracca who isn’t resting on his laurels and training himself to get better. That demonstrates his attitude to improvement. The younger set need to respond and do likewise.

A bit of self indulgence here fellow Demonlanders but I thought some might enjoy it from a fans perspective. I made this video for my family as I was lucky enough to go to the game - we live in the NT - so it’s some personal footage spliced with game stuff and a bit of very amateur editing.

I lived at Yarraville and around for 15years… [censored] those guys! 😂

At 22 years of age, he clearly lacked the maturity to play for the Cats.

I've been watching, care of You Tube,some famous victories since 2013. I'd like to pay tribute to those who missed out on being part of the 23 players who won the flag, and, probably more importantly, the players who were involved in the journey to get the MFC there. There are/were the coaches, the recruiters, the unsung staff who managed the players through thick and thin, but here's an attempt to acknowledge those who made contributions: First of all, lets not forget the players who were not stars, let alone superstars, the foot soldiers, the players who received few accolades. Among them I'd nominate: Tom Bugg whose career was ruined by one singular discretion. Toby Greene has done way worse than Bugg, many, may times. Bernie Vince who installed character and grunt plus enormous talent. Ben Kennedy: busted his guts for us. The Wagner brothers: ditto. Chris Dawes: a match winner in some games, always reliable for 100% effort. Dom Tyson: played many superb games for the MFC. Oscar and Frost: busted their guts and more, never gave up, though maybe limited in comparison to Lever and May. Jack Trengove and Jack Grimes: sacrificed their careers and bodies. Dean Kent: Highly talented, talent diminished by injuries. Jesse Hogan: Prodigious talent ruined by injuries and inability to overcome bad umpires. Viv Mitchie: so talented, so prone to being the first mid to be dropped. One of the best: Jeffie Garlett. He was great for the MFC. And, how can I forget Cam Pederson. He was great. Then, the likes of Tim Smith, Declan Keilty, the fringe players who gave their heart and soul to the MFC. And, the best of 'The forgotten', our very own Jack Watts. Maligned on this site by many philistines, appreciated by those who appreciate the concept of individuality and natural ability. He busted his guts for the MFC. Apologies to those I've forgotten. The real hard luck stories: This list includes such stalwarts as Nathan Jones, Neville Jetta, Mister Hunt, Vandenberg, Smith. Enough has been written about the very great Nathan Jones, a true and genuine hero. I take off all of my hats to him - I've worn a few, 93 jobs in my life, most of which I hated. Ditto the great Neville man. I'll always love him to death, in the same way I love Eddie, Whelan, Davey, Sid Jackson, the Krakauer boys - named as of Jewish origin because a WA convict with the same name, a name descended from Crackow in Poland, was a cockney Jew who ran afoul of British Law - and all the other brethren, dudes like Goodes and Winmar, heroes in my eyes. And, most of all, apologies to those I've forgotten. In the meantime, thanks so much to the team who celebrated their kinship and dedication to being the best they could be in 2021.

Still strange to read the words" 2021 Premiers: Us".

Round 2 Pick 22 North Melbourne: Rhett Bazzo (195/79, KD, Swan Districts). Pick 23 Hawthorn: Darcy Wilmott (183/75, HB, Northern Knights). Pick 24 Geelong: Mitchell Knevitt (193/81, IM, Geelong Falcons). Pick 25 Hawthorn: Ned Long (192/88, IM, Northern Knights). Pick 26 Greater Western Sydney: Josh Fahey (186/76 HB, GWS Academy). Carlton bid, 729-197=592 points, match with picks 47 and 64, go into 115 point deficit 2022 Pick 27 Carlton: Blake Howes (190/79 M/F, Sandringham Dragons). Pick 28 St. Kilda: Michito Owens (190/85 IM, Sandringham Dragons). Richmond bid, 677-197=480 points, match with picks 54, 58 and 59, have a 68 point surplus Pick 29 Richmond: Zac Taylor (180/74 SF, Calder Cannons). Pick 30 Richmond: Leek Alleer (195/84 KD, Central Districts). Pick 31 West Coast: Angus Sheldrick (179/84 IM, Claremont). Pick 32 Geelong: Sam Butler (184/73 SF, GWV Rebels). Pick 33 St. Kilda: Marcus Windhager (183/82 OM, Sandringham Dragons). Sydney bid, 563-197=366 points, match pick 75 and 68 point surplus, go into 298 point deficit in 2022 Pick 34 Sydney: Judson Clarke (179/69 SF, Dandenong Stingrays). Pick 35 Geelong: Brady Hough (189/71 IM, Peel Thunder). Pick 36 Adelaide: Connor Macdonald (184/77 OM, Dandenong Stingrays). Pick 37 Geelong: Tom Brown (186/71 Utility, Murray Bushrangers). Pick 38 West Coast: Josh Browne (185/77 IM, East Fremantle). Pick 39 Melbourne: Jack Williams (194/95 KF, East Fremantle). Pick 40 Richmond: Kai Lohmann (185/76 Medium Forward, GWV Rebels). Pick 41 Sydney: Charlie Dean (195/86 KD, Williamstown). Round 3 Pick 42 Richmond: Hugh Jackson (181/70 IM, North Adelaide). Pick 43 Brisbane: Paul Curtis (181/71 SF, Western Jets). Pick 44 Port Adelaide: Jase Burgoyne (186/65 HB, Woodville-West Torrens). North Melbourne bid, 362-197=165, match with pick 55, 42 point surplus 2022. Pick 45 North Melbourne: Cooper Murley (178/69 SF, Norwood). Pick 46 North Melbourne: Luke Nankervis (189/76 MF, Sandringham Dragons). Pick 47 Melbourne: Jamieson Ballantyne (183/79 OM, GWV Rebels). Pick 48 Geelong: Charlie Molan (186/78 OM, GWV Rebels). Pick 49 Essendon: Jahmal Stretch (181/62 SF, Claremont). Pick 50 Western Bulldogs: Noah Pegoraro (194/88 KD, West Perth). Pick 51 Brisbane: Corey Warner (182/74 IM, East Fremantle). Pick 52 Essendon: Miller Bergman (188/65 HB, Dandenong Stingrays). Pick 53 Melbourne: James Willis (180/75 OM, North Adelaide). Pick 54 Collingwood: Felix Flockhart (200/79 KF/R, Sandringham). Round 4 Pick 55 Hawthorn: Samuel Banks (187/73 HB, Tasmania). Pick 56 Brisbane: Cameron McLeod (192/78 MF, Murray Bushrangers). Pick 57 Fremantle: Jai Serong (192/80 IM, Gippsland Power). Pick 58 Carlton: Mani Liddy (183/80 IM, Sturt). Pick 59 Hawthorn: Oscar Morrison (193/86 Utility, Geelong Falcons). Pick 60 Fremantle: Eric Benning (196/85 KF/R, Claremont). West Coast bid, 0 points to match, Fremantle match with pick 61, 135 points in surplus 2022. Pick 61 Melbourne: Taj Woewodin (182/77 OM, East Fremantle). West Coast bid, 0 points to match, Melbourne match with pick 85. Pick 62 West Coast: Judd McVee (178/65 HB, East Fremantle). Pick 63 Sydney: Blayne O’Loughlin (171/74 HB, North Adelaide). Pick 64 North Melbourne: Lachlan Rankin (182/68 HB, Oakleigh Chargers). Pick 65 Port Adelaide: Hugh Stagg (179/80 IM, Glenelg). Pick 66 Port Adelaide: Sam Breuer (183/80 IM, GWV Rebels). Pick 67 Adelaide: Lewis Rayson (183/69 HB, Glenelg). Pick 68 Brisbane: Cooper Hamilton (182/69 SF, Bendigo Pioneers).

Because you’re from Deeland I’m happy to assist, I have a couple of free walls I could hang it on. More than happy for you to pop over a couple of times a year to admire it, I’ll even put the replay on.

Bruce would never have said: BANG. BANG, BANG, BANG. For all the words of the great commentators of the past and present, it horrifies me to have to say that JB nailed it and this will last forever. BANG. BANG, BANG, BANG.