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We wouldn’t have Steven May running around for us if Jesse stayed. Our backline was critical in capturing our 13th flag and was the most consistent part of our team for the whole year. May was phenomenal in his role as our KPD big man, without him I doubt we would have become premiers. Will always have a soft spot for Jesse, but May is part of the 22 (along with Goody) that I will forever worship.

LAST WEEK AS YOU RECALL WE LEFT DR. SMITH, THE ROBOT AND WILL ROBINSON LOOKING FOR DR. SMITH'S LOST DENTURES, UNAWARE THAT THEY WOULD SOON BE WHISKED TO AN ENTIRELY ADVENTURE IN TIME AND SPACE. Dr Smith, ""I just knew I put them down over here by this Rock"". Robot, ""Dr. Smith your memory must be fading"". Dr Smith, Silence you Cackling Clod Will Robinson, Here they are Dr, Smith I have found them. Hey Doctor Smith, Robot come over here I have found something else!! Will Robinson '' I remember this this is the Taurons old matter transfer unit, they must have left it behind. Robot " You are correct Will Robinson" Dr. Smith "Matter Transfer unit? How interesting" Robot "DANGER DANGER" Dr. Smith "Silence you interfering incomprehensible bringer of doom" Will Robinson " We better do as he says Dr. Smith Dad said we should not touch any Alien machinery until he has checked it out." Dr. Smith " It all looks very simple, push a button here , turn a dial there" Adjusts levers Zoooom Tish, Zappppppp Weird sounds all of a sudden a mazer beam envelops the Robot and He Vanishes Will Robinson, ROBOT ROBOT Dr. Smith "What have I done" oh the pain, the pain! LATER ROBOT WHERE AM I WHAT IS THIS PLACE ?????? Casey Fields?? I must have overloaded my servo mechanism and are in some trance, Whoah who goes there??? Picket Fence " I know you your the Robot from Lost in Space, Yes but where am I and who are you" I'm known as Picket Fence I come down and watch The Mighty Melbourne Demons and file training reports ROBOT ''It does not compute" Picket Fence "" Look I've read the Script Your gonna be Ok Robot "You''ve read the Script??? Picket Fence "Yeah I've read the script and what happens is Don, Will and Professor Robinson will replicate the sequence from the Taurons matter Transfer unit and in about an hour or so you will be whisked back to Priplanus" So hang out with me and I'll talk you through what I do, Tell you what can you do dictation?? Robot "Affirmative" Ok start dictating:- Picket Fence ventures to Casey fields to file this report. Fresh Breeze sprung up today coming from the Sth. West some modifications when kicking into the cross breeze were evident but all in all not a bad day out in Casey. Solid 3 plus hour session again with quite a few highlights and observations. NO SHOWS MAJAK DAW, HARRISON PETTY, and I also didn't see JAKE MELKSHAM MODIFIED DUTIES T. MAC, ANB, CHARLIE SPARGO (although they all took part in Running drills) SKILLS, DRILLS AND MANOUVERS DRILL 1 Small ball work in close formation emphasizing correct option and skill drill under pressure in disposing of ball DRILL 2 Running through cones strategically placed and turning and disposing of ball under pressure DRILL 3 Goal kicking Drill from every concievable match dynamic and distance, included inside shots outside shots, trick shots running and pinging from variety of angles, coaches presenting ball from setups and all with clear intention of practicing and perfecting routines from almost any situation. DRILL 4 Methodical Diamond ball press using the old diamond configuration but whole ground, running in threes and fours handballing, overlapping, precision handballs and kicks to next group in the diamond formation, Like a very advanced and technologically hyped Circle work for want of a better understanding. This was clinical, precise with barely and funble and it was done at High Velocity. DRILL 5 3 QUARTERS OF WHOLE MATCH SIMS WITH AFL UMPIRES DRILLS 6 A, B, C Small group work on stoppages, Boundary work and kicking and handball practicals. PLAYER WATCH MAX, CLARRY, JV, JAKE LEVER, STEVEN MAY, BBB, BAILEY FRITSCH, TRACC All "Brilliant"" As usual really you only have to take a look at what the strong inner core do just relentlessly day in day out they just do no rest on laurels they keep driving the perfection bus so tight that it sits flawlessly on superb conditioning and just the expectation that hard work and dilligence are the cornerstones of success. ANDY MONIZ-WAKEFIELD Wow what a dynamo, absolutely provided the highlight of the day when he took possesion rover like on the wing, assessed options, delivered long, sprinted forward, recived the ball back again and crashed a classy goal. Will play in 2022 SAM WEIDEMAN Probably as involved in match sims as I have seen him, kicked a couple of goals marked around the ground and was non to shabby in the ruck vs Max when called on. Can see some tangible improvements ED LANGDON Played on Fraser Rosman and I though Fraser did some very nice things, Ed Langdon just runs all day and gathers possesions at will JAMES JORDON Was very good today linking up creating play and ran all day, I thought that for the last two weeks that TOM SPARROW has been more impressive, but today James was very telling. TAJ WOEWODIN Noticed him a bit more today, he fiited in well uses the ball well and seems to be finding his feet a lot more. Similarly DANIEL TURNER, and BLAKE HOWES trained impressively and clearly as their confidence builds there form will create excellent and robust jostling for spots in the senior team. LUKE DUNSTAN Copped a knock or two but continues to impress with his zeal and attack on the ball. Disposal has been questioned but for mine he uses it thoughfully and with good skill. JACOB VAN ROOYEN Not as prominent today but still looks likely to take a freak mark or snap a cool goal. Will keep a closer eye on him in coming months HARMSY Probably for me was highlight no 2 where he got the ball in heavy traffic, powered his was out and kicked an inspirational goal for the Red side when they really needed it OSKAR BAKER He also was influential in the play today got the ball mused his pace and disposed of it very well. FINAL THOUGHTS Gus trained without a helmet😁 and looked good, there was a player no 39 but have no idea who he was!?? Another full on session and it is clear that the levels of professionalism continue to rise and that that infectious will to win as derived from our player cohort, continues to drive up standards to another level. I can see tangible warmth, empathy, and collegiality among then player and coaching fraternity and this points to a period of sustained success. There will be no premiership hangovers at M.F.C You can bank on it. Did you get al that Robot?? Robot "Afirmative" And just like that. one minute he was here then ""Whoosh"" He was Gone, it was all after all in the Script! ""I WISH I KNEW WHERE I WANTED TO BE WHEN I WANTED TO BE WHERE I WAS TODAY"" P.F

They were different kinds of problems but moving them on was key to our premiership. From a purely trade perspective watts gave us Fritsch and hogan gave us May, I don’t think anyone would argue how pivotal they both were to the outcome last year. More than that they both sucked oxygen from the team. I’m not blaming them as people, they both seemed like good guys from what I could tell from a distance, but everything was always about them and not the team. Every year there was a discussion about Jesse going back to WA. Every year we had to talk about how watts needed x or y to reach his full potential. They share that they were both talented footballers who’s leaving did so much more for the team than their presence ever did.

I went down to Casey Fields for today's training. The boys started with lighter drills (kicking, shots on the run, snaps from the pocket, set shots) before moving into a drill where the players were in four groups (two at each end, two on each wing) which involved basic kicking to a lead, giving off to a player running past and then kicking to the next group. Missing from training (at least to my eye) were Melksham, Petty and Daw, while TMac ran laps. TMac didn't appear too bad and ran at a pretty steady pace - I would presume he will be back in training fairly shortly. Then match sim began, which was three 20-minute quarters (or should that be thirds?). Of the training group, ANB and Spargo didn't play in the match sim (but trained prior to then). Blue v Red, with Blue seemingly a predominantly "A team". Teams were as follows: Blue backs - Lever May Tomlinson Bowey Hibberd Salem Hunt Blue mids - Oliver Petracca Viney Langdon Brayshaw Sparrow Jordon Gawn Blue forwards - B Brown Weid Fritsch Pickett Chandler Red backs - Turner J Smith D. Smith McVee Rivers Baker Red mids - Dunstan Harmes Woey AMW Rosman Howes Jackson Red forwards - M Brown JVR Laurie Bedford There were a few fill-in players who played for the red team. My comments below are subject to a pretty ordinary viewing position about 30m behind the goal and behind a fence. But I'll try my best! -Unsurprisingly, the Blue team dominated. Scores were B 3.3 v R 0.4 at the first break, B 8.8 v R 1.6 at the second and the final scores were B 13.13 v R 3.7 after the three terms. I've just included that for those who like those things - it means nothing, especially when after the second term the entire Blue "A" defence switched teams with the Red defence. Jackson also switched into Blue as a forward, taking Weid's spot, while Weid went into the ruck for Red. I also noticed Chandler in Red for the third term. -Blue were just too dominant in the midfield and even when Red were able to get the ball forward, May, Lever and co. were just too well organised to allow easy scores. -Goalkickers for Red - Harmes, AMW and Chandler. Harmes kicked a nice long-range goal on the run and handed an easy one over the top for AMW in the goal square, while Chandler kicked a nice snap from the pocket. -Goalkickers for Blue - Fritsch 5, B Brown 4, Weid, Jordon, Langdon, Jackson -Fritsch and Brown were obviously the most dangerous forwards - Fritsch got his goals mostly in opportunistic fashion, including a 50m penalty, marking a floater that he judged best and getting an over-the-top goalsquare handball from Viney, but smart forwards get themselves in the right positions. He also kicked an absolute beauty, gathering a ground ball with back to goal, turning and drilling a left-foot drop punt on the spin. Brown kicked all his from set shots, one from a free, one from a 50m penalty (having marked on the lead) and two from marks out in front. His kicking was excellent, with two of his goals from fairly tight angles. He looked slightly more mobile to me - I think he was very straight-line last year and while he will never be the greatest exponent of lateral movement, he did look a bit more agile. -Gawn was just superb, especially in the air - he dominated the ruck and marked everything in sight, whether in a one on one or in a pack of 6 players. -Oliver was his usual ball magnet self, just racking up touch after touch and setting up the play, particularly in the first two terms. -Trac was a bit quieter but got better as it wore on. He took two lovely marks as a forward where he parked himself in line with the ball, used his big frame to protect front position and the drop zone and just marked on his chest. -I thought Weid was really good in the first two terms as a forward. He really launched at the ball and took several contested marks. He spilt some others but hit the pack hard each time. He wasn't as effective in the ruck in the third but he was up against Max. -D Smith seemed to get a head knock during the game and went off. He didn't return to the match sim. Other than that I didn't see any other injuries. -Viney was pretty solid and Sparrow did a few good things. Sparrow is just a brick outhouse - both in the upper body and the legs - you wouldn't want him hitting you at full speed. -May and Lever were really solid with their positioning and understanding of where to be, rarely if ever allowing any easy inside 50 marks. Tomlinson also did some good things and it was great to see him play the full match sim at full intensity. -I probably noticed less of the Red team, given Blue had more of the ball and the vantage point wasn't great. But I liked the look of Howes - he is still quite thin but when he got it he made really quick decisions, which is not always typical of young players adjusting to the increased pace of the game. JVR showed a bit but it was a tough day for Red forwards up against AA defenders.

Forget covid, the biggest medical mystery confounding the world's best medical minds is the rohan syndrome. What to make of an otherwise fit young man, an elite athlete no less, coming down with a debilitating sickness every September. Cause? They don't know. They only know the symptoms - an inability to perform his job to anywhere near a satisfactory level and a violent allergic reaction to leather forcing him to avoid the football at all costs. Confounding.

If he was still with us we would not be premiers. The trading of both Hogan and Watts has been key to both cultural change and incoming player outcomes.

According to everyone's favourite non MFC coach. Geelong had too many players under an injury or illness cloud and thus the game should've been postponed until Geelong were fit and healthy. No excuses but flummoxed Scott still wonders why prelim went ahead

Normally it's a nice bunch of flowers but the pressure was on.

They're a bit different to me. Baker has one excellent trait which is lovely burst speed. But has otherwise been too flawed with a lack of tank, suspect field kicking and poor contested ability and pressure. He's been working hard on those deficiencies though and the standout trait is still dangerous and rare. Chandler doesn't really have one standout trait. He's got a bit of a leap and burst and tackles pretty well but overall he's just got a number of solid attributes to play half forward. Pretty similar to someone like Spargo. Spargo had a bit more of a tank and smarts but really it took until last season for his clean skills at training to shine through on game day. ANB took even longer to start making quality decisions across half forward. It's the trickiest position to play especially when using the ball and finding that balance with how much you can take on is tricky.

Defence outstanding (again!); mids and stoppage work very good (again!); forward craft hopeless (again!); handball out of trouble to put a team mate into more trouble, far too prevalent (again!). I’ve loved some of Paxy’s work over recent weeks. Just kick it off the ground and gain 20 or 30 metres. There should be more of it from her team-mates! Also loving Lily Mithen’s game. She consistently ‘nails’ those 15 to 30 m. passes through the corridor. Lauren Pearce is the AFLW’s Max Gawn. Goldie is an AFLW version of Sean Wight in so many respects. Westy continues her rise but disposal needs work.

Chris Scott: No excuses, but "add fifty five excuses of varying levels of sookiness".

When May went down in the Prelim , boy was I glad we had Hibbo roaming in defence. Thoroughly deserved Premiership medal.

He’s here for the bullying guys.

Gotta say, for a man with supposed "serious" character flaws, Goodwin seems to be able to quickly gain the respect of players. Effectively every player he's recruited has said something along the lines of "I joined Melbourne because I was blown away by Simon Goodwin and his presentation".

I think the last line covers it dc.

Why bother trying to apply rational logic to what Scott said?

That's a typing errror clearly not an accuracy issue with Sparrow ANB yes 2 goals instead of Salem so one each. To be fair there could well be far worse inaccuracies elsewhere as it's not just a mag about the Dees but just that we are hanging onto any articles that remotely refer to our 2021 triumph. Your point in reality is very valid as they have had 4 months to come up with this historical annual publication and the AFL should get it right. Of course the AFL have had such VIP issues as listening to Chris Scott suggesting 5 months later why the Prelim was not delayed ( probably until Tom Stewart was fully fit from his leg injuries. Etc.and that Covid or the mysterious local Perth Flu might be over by then).

They will stream it on WatchAFL. I checked with them. (I live in India and WatchAFL is my life line)

Don't mention the war.

I couldn't believe the dream run we got from the umps. Stark contrast to the Adelaide game where we couldn't buy a free, and they continually got soft ones. Jake Lever must be coaching Libby Birch!

Here come Clarry and Tracc…

Agree. A pivotal recruit in the clubs history.

Maybe Luke Wanted to play for a coach who was prepared to defy Gil, and have an occasional beer with his players.

+1 Jontee! I would watch Giants games just to watch Hogan playing well. He's a rare talent. But the sliding door can't be slid back. All the best, Hoges. GO DEMONS!!!

If you look at the infectious disease reports it was more than likely rotavirus. One of the main symptoms is “passing excessive amounts of gas”. I don’t think Scott has fully recovered from it yet.

All the Cats players looked fine when they had the ball but it seemed they had Ebola when it was time to defend. Just a bunch of one way runners who got badly found out.

It's worth noting that players such as Narkle and Dahlhaus were both available for selection but overlooked for the prelim. Instead the ''ill'' Brad Close (one of the 6) was chosen to play ahead of them. Close isn't that far ahead of either that you'd take a risk with an unwell player if you didn't have to. It makes you wonder how sick Close really was, especially as he had more disposals in the prelim than his season average. It's fair to say I'm a little sceptical as to how much of an effect this illness had on the actual game.

I recently watched a documentary on marijuana. It's the best way to watch docos.

I've always felt a bit sorry for Hogan. In his early years he looked destined to become our best forward since David Neitz and it's a pity that his career hasn't panned out in the way everyone expected. He has had some off field issues over the years but he really does seem like a great guy personally. I would really like 2022 to be a redemption year for him.

Just like celebrity couples who became known as one; Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez: “Bennifer” or Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie: “Brangelina”, Brown and Hogan could have become: “Bogan”

Me too D17 Another analagy Who would you wish to play on at half back against The Dees Hibbo or Joel Smith? And I think Joel was making some good gains in the last half if 2021. Lets Hope he gets a really full go at it all season and we may see the good that our Coach sees in him at last. Good luck Smithy.

Aged care residents during the height of COVID were more resilient than this mob.

This is the tree that the Herald Sun should be barking up if they want to troll an AFL coach - not Goody. Coach says “my players are soft”.

On and on and on and on....every year the same

The reason players who are free agents want to go to successful clubs is the promise of maybe playing in a GF and ultimately a premiership. Like Frawley and Rivers they wanted success, some get the ultimate prize others miss out. In any given year 3 or 4 teams standout but only 1 wins the prize and if the team is lucky with injuries and has enough scoring shot kicking accurately enough the prize is theirs. In 2021 injuries played a part since a team like the Lions lost players who they could not cover with their depth players. That is why depth players are important and the midfield is probably the most important area so players like Dunstan are valuable to team like the MFC. Last year Richmond's midfield depth was tested and fell by the wayside.

Ha ha! We let down our hair and took off our glasses and the high school quarterback suddenly realised: holy cow ... she's the 2021 AFL premier! and asked us to the prom.

What works for Jeremy Howe from FIGJAM certainly not for Maysie who would need a strong argument to be persuaded. Saw his hit on that unfortunate Lion at the Gabba five years ago and our Stephen definitely plays for keeps. And we would have thought that Hibbo was previously a new breed of tough!!! Silly us! PS That in no way diminishes Hibbo as he has been deservedly rewarded as a premiership hero by good years more than not and a loyal and committed team man who was of AA standard in 2017.putting his peptides experiences well into the past and wiping them out at the same time and sadly his own family tragedy to boot early in 2021.

But like Sally in Neighbours who " grew up" in about 4 episodes from 10 to 15 years!!!

The decision makes a bit more sense to me after reading the article. Sounds like he just wanted a good workplace and a fair opportunity to get a game if his form deserves it Originally I couldn't see why he would want to come here as he wouldn't get the game time I assumed he wanted. Will likely be a great pick-up with covid looking to effect the year dramatically like other sports have been.

Oh Goodie, that means we’ll be celebrating at least a third flag in the next few years

The doco involves Dunstan because of his manager, and some of our presentation to Luke will be in this doco. D’Orazio actually explained our presentation to get Dunstan over the line as one of the best he’s ever seen.

I wonder what his conversation with FIGJAM entailed? I reckon it was because Maysie was blown away by Goody not mentioning himself every 30 seconds 😁

Correct! Steven May had all but agreed to be a Pie until his manager suggested a chat with Goody. After one phone call with him, he told his manager to find a way to get him to The Dees.

Neeld and everyone

l wouldn't be lumping jess in with watts ... jess trained his bum off and worked hard during games .. in his last year with us he was leading our b and f before injury ... his body language wasn't always the best but he was working on it ... watts rarely trained or played at high intensity for long periods