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Time for a shout out to the Club for the fantastic stuff they are putting on the MFC site at the moment. And a special shout out to Jack, Tom and Max who have been front and centre of so many thrashings and so much pain as we bottomed and then rebuilt. What a mighty effort to stay the distance when it would have been so much easier to just take easier options. Jack's bit on the MFC site is a huge insight into the frustrations and hurt the players endured and make the "the players don't care" comments just so inappropriate. And of course to JT, to hear his comments on the strain of watching your picks run around and wondering if you'll have a job in future just as telling. Of course that applies to all the FD staff. What a brutal business.

I wish people would get over their MFCSS. We are the best side in the competition. 1. Do they remember that we absolutely belted the Bulldogs in the GF? They would be traumatised by the prospect of playing us at our home ground in front of rabid supporters, after what we did to them at a neutral venue. 2. Sponsors bring more money into the club than members. Here is the opportunity to grab a prime time exposure for the sponsors in front of a huge crowd. This sort of prospect make the club marketable. The AFL won't fixture us for this type of exposure if we are playing GC. You have to make hay while the sun shines. 3. Playing the Dogs is the opportunity for the players to show they are serious about giving their home fans the chance to see us playing in another GF at home. Beat the Dogs again , and the rest of the competition takes a collective breath. Win this game and all those members who waver about stumping up their money for 2022 quickly head for their wallet.

And that Bontempelli didn't get any....

It will presumably be our home game so no issues with getting the members in. Secondly Friday night might not be family friendly but it’s cash friendly. It brings loads of dollars and sponsor money. Thirdly I have stopped giving a crap about the opposition’s feelings when I realized they don’t care about ours. We will play the Dogs twice in the season anyway. Why not in round 1? The MFCSS is back… “oh but they’ll be motivated. We will lose. Let’s play an easy opponent”. How about our boys will be hella motivated to back up? How about it’s good to start the year with a really big challenge to set off the season right? We are goddamn premiers!

I've got into listening to the Burgo podcasts. For those that are interested in the hard science this one has a lot of interesting info. Burgo and Coutts (Sports Scientist) It's a bit of a technical listen. The amount of stuff they measure is mind boggling. Burgo had 70 people reporting to him at Arsenal, so I guess that is what they do all day. Brukner mentioned that despite the science soft tissue injury rates have not changed in 30 years. So what they do with teams right now is a huge experiment based on experience, understanding the science that doesn't work, and theories they come up with. Burgo has a PhD and I suspect could go against the grain with MFC. We may have been an experiment based on what he has learnt over the years. A few interesting things from the podcast: 1. Burgo mentioned that Arsenal had 7 years of detailed player data (from 45 games per year) and the data scientists could not find any correlation between the data and injuries. This says to me that all the managing players, pulling from training when sore or tired etc etc didn't work. At MFC, Burgo trained players through soreness, fatigue, etc to build resilience. It may have been the first time he ever did that and may be his most important professional achievement. 2. Coutts talks about a few of the things they do know for sure. One is training variability leads to injury. This goes against what elite athletes have done for ever with hard weeks/easy weeks, and the AFL tendency to do super hard AFL preseasons then back off when the games start etc. At MFC Burgo seemed to take the attitude to just train hard all year, even in the lead up to the GF. The Burgo/Coutts theory seems to be that doing so reduces the risk of soft tissue injury. Listening to Burgo you just have to have a lot of respect for his appetite for the science, and how he used all the data and experience to put together the 2021 season. I hope a lot of this has rubbed off on Selwyn but he has giant boots to fill.

I’m glad he managed to hang on to his spot in the flag side, even if it was by the skin of his teeth. Will be even harder next year, but he’ll always have that medal now. Loved the cheeky moment of snatching the cup and running off towards the crowd with it… to where Bernie Vince awaited, in a Melbourne guernsey, cheering like mad like the rest of us. Cheers for your part in the rebuild boys. Both part of the MFC family now.

i reckon we were close to getting four goals in that last minute. Trac was almost about to launch but got caught. Its still a remarkable time for the club and I don't get tired of watching it. How many times have we watched games we we have conceded a goal the last minute of the quarter? Way too many. Imagine being a dogs supporter with the last 60seconds and Brown kicking into that pocket. You would be crossing your fingers thinking please don't give up a goal here, But conceding THREE. if it happened to us I think my head would have exploded. There was a camera pan to some dogs fans after it all and the look on their faces was just silenced shock. If it wasn't for the incredible elation I was experiencing, I may have felt sorrow for them. The strange thing was the dogs conceded another two in the first two of the last. A four goal lead wasn't impossible to chase. I think they were just broken from that last minute.

A solid game in the finals. Fortune smiled on him in terms of team selection but after the personal year he had who would begrudge him that. Premiership player!!!!!

Yeah i'm probably being a bit harsh on Daniels. Totally agree he did the right thing going to Oliver. And yes he forced the handball. It just seemed a bit of a half hearted effort - maybe a bit more intensity and the handball doesn't hit its target. On Daniels, i think he has escaped a fair bit of scrutiny. Can't believe he got a norm smith vote. He had a lot of possessions in the first half when we elected not to lock down on him, but very few of them were damaging. Compare and contrast to Salem. And then in the second half, when we did lock down on him (Sparrow played a big role with this - but i think also Nibbler and Harmes at times too) he had bugger all possessions and was defensively poor. Sparrow ran off him and he won few contested balls. And he asked for a cheapie handball deep in their defensive pocket, and shanked his attempt at clearing the ball, leading to the Gus goal. He looked like he ran out puff to me. I suspect they were happy for him to run around in the first half picking up easy kicks, safe in the knowledge he would blow up in the second half, with the plan to tighten up on him in the second half and exploit his defensive weaknesses.

Thanks Cards Still pinching myself that it all came true!! Guess after 57 years you have to takes chance a little bit but really it was a no brainer. Boy really want to emulate this year next season with Finals at the G BTW How good has it been the way every person in the Club have embraced this extraordinary achievement. we are very lucky Dees supporters at the moment with such a humble and respectable group of players that make us feel so proud of them not only as players but superb examples of young men in every different way they knocked out of the way the challenges during 2021 and embraced their success all along the way never taking their eyes off the ball. And virtually drama free as well. Hats off to them and the Club from the new Pres down to the staffers who all played their part and deserved very success that came our way. A season to remember and one fir the Ages ( and record books)

If they play the Crows the Afl won't put it on Friday night, this is a great idea, for so many reasons. Marketing unveiling the flag in front of a packed G on a Friday night will bring in the $$. We will be favourites, even if we loose they don't get any prize other then the 4pts.. it has so much upside for the club

As my avatar suggests, I’ve been around for a long while. During my time on earth, I’ve been very fortunate to enjoy the very best of our ‘golden era’, and (I guess), less fortunate in a ‘football sense’, to endure the post 1964 ‘doldrums’. Over the years, I’ve said to many friends and acquaintances (most of whom don’t really understand my passion for the Dees), that all I want to see before ‘the inevitable’, is another Melbourne Premiership. Since our glorious 2021 win, several of those friends and acquaintances have reminded me of my idle comment. They know, but don’t understand, that when my number is up, I will die a happy man.

In general I think Daniels is a very damaging player. When we bring our press up hard his style of distribution doesn’t work because we close up both the space and the overlap option. What I did notice in the granny was how much Bowey reminded me of him. Such a fast thinker and distributor. He could be absolutely anything. I am dreaming of both Bowey and Salem distributing out of our defensive zone. Bowey needs to get a couple of preseasons into him to strengthen him up but he is already looking like something special.

My memory was, in the first half, he was getting the ball deep then doing a 20m chip kick to a team mate, hardly even getting it out of defensive 50. Wasn't hurting much at all.

He’s a favourite of the pundit class, I hate the cheap stuff he gets - even that stupid hand off he effed up that led to Brayshaws goal - why are you getting that ball there, Caleb?

......... and don't forget Jonesy and Jetts, who both stayed the course during the tough times, but also suffered the disappointment of not having a Premiership Medal to show for their sacrifices.

A highlight for Hibbo in 2021 was his handling of Dusty in the win over the Tigers. Media pundits after that were calling for other teams to "find their Michael Hibberd.." to play on Dusty, as if the Dees had unlocked the secret.

Please keep this thread on topic.

I feel sorry for my baby boy who's never seen a Melbourne premiership in his lifetime 😄

Yes it was Dee 75 A life changing event with good stories all around it. Hard to come down from this although I had to check in 2 days after my return to Brisbane for an elective surgery Cardioversion I was able to put off to ensure this dream was able to be real!!! Go Dees for back to Back at the G in '22.

I love when friends and family say "are you watching the 3rd quarter AGAIN?" I love the gushing bulldust here on Demonland - and the smug feelings I get reading it. Loving it. I love speaking to the Blues, Pies and Bombers fans from my past, and telling them they are all [censored], and we are the champions. I have been waiting a LOOONNGG time for this. I probably shouldn't be enjoying it so much, but I really, really am. I love the time spent on the internet looking for that perfect piece of memorabilia. I love the way long-suffering past players have been welcomed back into club life with genuine warmth.

The club now have, unsurprisingly, made a private commitment to Taj that he will become a Melbourne player at the draft 👏

There was a lot of talk about how badly Tom McDonald’s form tapered off in the last month or so. Did it though? Football is a team game, not an individual one. It’s not a coincidence that Brown’s apparent influence grew in the same time that McDonald’s diminished. Every time that Brown took a mark or had space to lead into, if McDonald and his man were nowhere to be seen, that’s not an accident. These are the sacrifices that key forwards make for each other. Does Bayley Fritsch have the finals series he does, and is he able to cut the angles to find space like he does, if McDonald is cutting off his leading lanes or being close enough for his opponent to go third man up? McDonald will have been feted beyond belief internally for putting the team above himself. Old mate earned the extension.

Weightman pulls Kossie down on top of him during the tackle trying to milk holding the man/in the back (which the ump was rightly having none of - if anything should’ve a free to Pickett). Loved how Weightman’s input in the game was Gary Rohan-esque. And how he got his pants pulled down by a 7-gamer in Bowey, who was continually getting stuck into him (physically and verbally).

I have spent the last few weeks endlessly watching replays, and to be honest I thought it was time to get back into reading. So, whilst perusing the AFL GF Record I noticed that Libba had an AFL Ranking of 5. R u serious. What a joke. The only 5 in Libbas life is on the the back of Petracca and it progressively got smaller as Tracca torched him.

It is a great credit to Hibbo that he even got back to play at the top level in 2021. Notwithstanding that he is probably in the twilight of his career, a position in the best defence in the competition is still his to lose, and I don't see him giving it up meekly. Well done on a great achievement!

I thought it was only me, in my opinion Daniels gets too many cheap possessions from team mates because they see him as a distributor and give it off to him when they can. Salem earns most of his possessions and very rarely stuffs up, if he does he is like a man possessed and does whatever it takes to get the ball back.

Good point. He was brilliant wasn't he. And unlike Daniel, almost every possession he had was damaging. A star

Settle down. Covid has slowed everything down

So happy that Michael Hibberd chose to come to MFC he has been such a great contributor and role model for our young ones. Tough, hard and is rarely beaten. Hibbo deserved his spot in the Granny and looked so happy running away with the cup, bought another big smile to our faces.💕❤️💙

Love this guy So happy he is continuing

Yep, same. I went through the roof. Watching it in the replay, this goal is still the moment where the hair on the back of my neck stands up. Love the look on his face as he salutes the crowd too. None of the usual excited child bouncing around you see from him sometimes. A stern look of concentration. We’re crushing them, but the job’s not done yet. We may never again in our lives see a midfield combination like Petracca, Oliver and Viney. I’m definitely going to enjoy it while it lasts.

That was the moment. My confidence soared. We’d kicked 7 in a row to obliterate the Dogs. Clarry knew it. He showed we are number 1. Great year young man. Clarry… you’re a champion. !!!

Yeah everything I've seen makes it look like a mark too. Maybe Trac made the split second decision that it would be too far for him to line up the shot, and he just wanted to get on the board early and get the team going.

I’m loving the club right now but this feels wrong. Most clubs that lose the GF rebound the next year to defeat their conquerors. It’s basic human motivation. Dees should look to get round 1 versus a club like Crows. Gets us away to a positive start.

2021 Max is widely touted as the best captain, and one of the best and most influential players in the AFL. Nothing else needs to be said really! He sets the example both on the track and in games, wins games off his own boot, bleeds red and blue and is an outstanding spokesman and ambassador for our OUR club. Superb season, and just keeps on raising the bar!

Re the umpires: I agree they were relatively benign. I will never understand, however, how blokes like Liberatore get away with blatant throws each and every time they dispose by hand. Also, a snippet picked up today from an interview of Neville Jetta on SEN, by the mighty Durrwayne and the King of contradictions. Neville said that apparently The Club took a dim view of Kozzie'a absence in January when his mother died. He said that he, the Fabulous Wrecker Whelan and Steven May convinced the club to let Kozzie take the time he needed. He said that if they hadn't they would possibly have lost Kozzie, that by taking their advice, the club won Kozzies's heart.

That effort of his that Daisy pointed out where he still kicked the ball while being tackled by two players was as Bt said.....freakish.

Max is an outright champion of the game, he set the standards, helped blend the young into the team no petty jealousies with this champion player / leader and no recriminations. His after game interviews and acceptance speech elevated Max to Elder Statesman of MFC and AFL. Our premiership captain ticked all the boxes on ground and off. Thank you Max Gawn.💕❤️💙

And that's true too. But listening will give anyone a fair gauge on the the difference between professional courtesy and genuine praise. Anyone still doubting Goody as the key architect of our flag needs to give up now. The weight of evidence continues to mount against them.

G'day all! I'm currently in the process of editing and uploading Grand Final highlight reels for every player that took to the ground during that fateful day (sorry James Jordon, we still love you!) I'll post them here in this thread as they're released. To kick things off, here's Steven May's Grand Final highlights!

Winning the Premiership is the ultimate AFL joy for supporters. But along with that biggest thrill, there are little things to savour. For me, it is this. I'm old enough to remember football in the late 60s onwards and in those days, like so many others I supported Melbourne and anyone who was playing Collingwood. Given we were so awful then, the best to be hoped for was an annual dose of Colliwobbles as Collingwood regularly made finals, and often Grand Finals, only to fail at the end. In my lifetime (born between the 57 and 58 seasons), and before this season, both Melbourne and Collingwood had won three Premierships. The little thing that pleases me most with the 2021 win is overtaking the number of Premierships won by Collingwood in that time. What little thing has added to your enjoyment of this new Grand Old Flag?

And many more to come Deeoldfart. Like you, I have experienced the joys of the 50's & 60's and have weathered the storm since then, but looking forward to see what this team can produce. I, and a lot of people are going to enjoy the ride.

Binny, I like the view of that goal from down the ground. As Sparrow receives the perfect handball form Oliver there are 4 dogs that look to converge on him from the 4 points of the compass. One step. Bang! Too late she cried.

Also, it's hard for them to give our opposition freebies in front of goal when it never goes down there.

50k or nothing imo !

The umpires were too mesmerised by the torrential storm of goals to notice the bulldogs antics, let alone interrupt such a spectacular show...

Pickett also tackled and dispossessed Weightman to enable Bowey to get the turnover and pass it to Brayshaw for his lead changing goal. He also harassed the Bulldog players to force a turnover for Spargo’s goal.Three very important efforts that directly turned into goals. Never got much ball himself but was always in the thick of the forward line action.

For me, it's meeting iike minded supporters going about their business: in the car park, at the shops, at my local dentist and greeting them with a heartfelt "Go Dees" and who have thought there was so many?. It's walking around my neighbourhood and seeing all the red and blue banners, still flying three weeks later, puts a pep in my step and a smile on my face, and still getting emotional when watching the replay for the "umpteenth" time as Clarrie puts through the last goal of the 3rd quarter, still makes the tears well up