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As we approach the dawn of a new AFL Season, lets look back at 2021 one final time with a round-by-round recap of all of the 6 pointers kicked by the red and blue throughout the year. From the clutch goals scored from set shots (before and after sirens), to the brilliant bananas from the boundary, to the half back sneaking forward and slamming home a rare goal on the run, they're all here in a feature length video! The video premieres on YouTube at 8:00pm tonight with a rough running time of 2.5 hours and will be available to rewatch as many times as you desire afterwards. So prepare your cheeseboard, open up a bottle of shiraz and enjoy all 323 goals (yes, I counted) plus the premiership cup ceremony from Melbourne's drought breaking season!

I am ALL for stopping abuse against umpires at all levels. What happened with Toby Greene last year was a complete disgrace. I just don't want the AFL to censor emotions. Players in the heat of a battle will show a range of emotions. As long as those emotions are not abusive or degrading/threatening to an umpire, they should be allowed to continue. Our players are not robots. I don't know if the free against Trac was actually against him or against Tmac who ran past and presumably talked back to the umpire, but I know that if we punish players like Trac for wearing his heart on his sleeve we will lose a big part of our game. I also thought Tomlinson getting 50 paid against him for questioning the umpire was soft. Healthy dialogue between players and umpires should be allowed. Max should be allowed to go to the umpire at the break and ask about a questionable free. Tomlinson should be allowed to say why did you pay the free, when the free was as borderline as it was. If we keep seeing an overreaction from the umpires like we did on Thursday night, the only thing that will happen is greater crowd abuse of the umpires, completely defeating the point of this whole rule change.

I actually think his kicking could still do with some improvement.

Have a look in the mirror, mate…

I have to say I love the old school 'leadership group' comprising just the skipper and VC.

True Clarry really is unique and how good is it to have Tracc and Clayton playing for us at the same point in time.!!

Don't sell yourself short Clarry.....

And how about McLaughlin bite the bullet and make umpires full time employees. It's amateur hour to have part timers officiating a multi million dollar business. McLaughlin's the pits, can't wait to see the back of him

I luv Trac, who gets comparisons with great players like Dusty and Danger. But I really luv Oli, who is so unique, I cannot think of one player he can be compared to, past or present. He is that “special”.

Having seen the devastation of Covid19 health and safety procedures on Fremantle's women's team on Saturday night (not taking anything away from our team's effort but ...), I think it's not a great idea for the players to mingle with fans in crowds just yet.

Good to hear the players and club owning it, learning from it and hopefully moving on regardless of how cooked it was on the night

Soooooo happy Saints didn't pick him.

I would say we would have a much wider leadership group which is often spoken about by other players. It's just not advertised as it's unnecessary. We also have a leadership academy for young players too which I believe is lead by Choco. I know that Lever and ANB are both in the extended leadership group.

Have been mine for decades. The grand final will forever be my favourite game of all time, but the smashing we handed Geelong in the prelim is a very very close second.

The tigers got so burnt with Buddy, then we got so burnt with Dusty, now the Saints have got some painful years coming there way watching Trac. It’s good to be on the other side this time.

for 19 games before injury last year Hunt played as a defender and did it well, without the injury would've been a premiership defender. His 2021 is underrated I think

Yes, I believe it is pronounced “Oh-ayy-euro-trademark-Connor” Its part Flemish.

I love Oliver's humility. I wouldn't blame him if he called himself the best player in the league.

I think Viney becoming a father has really changed him for the better. It looks like he's been able to forge a bond with some of the 'dads' and find a better balance of family and footy. Gawn is someone who naturally just connects with people, young, old, it doesn't matter, he gets people. Viney is a follow me into battle, I will lead you there and I will die for you there type leader. I think they are very ying and yang but they balance each other perfectly. Player know they can go to Gawn if they are struggling emotionally or mentally for support, and to Viney if they need help with training standards, injury management or understanding their role on the field. Gawn is definitely the better of the two in the media, he is a great communicator, whereas I think Viney leads with his actions and players really respect that. Everyone feels invincible walking next to Viney on the field because they know he will have their back and give everything he has out there.

One that doesn't get enough credit here I think is Viney. Some would not be able to bounce back from being demoted from captain - and I feared that someone who bleeds for the club and is as proud as Viney, he might find it harder than most. Though we have no idea how it works internally, clearly he's found a way to make it work. While I always cringe when he is the spokesperson for the club, there's no doubt that Viney would be a critical driver of the high standards and the hardness required for success in the AFL.

Abusing umpires is part of the theatre of the game. They should understand they are there to play the heel like Macho Man against Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania V and just embrace it.

"It's a fair cop" "You're right, it was too high" "Well, you're in the best position to see" "Good decision. I was thinking I'd run too far" That's like a foreign language to the players!

It's a hard one because the rule is subjective. Running across the mark 50m is the most objective I can think of but what's "umpire abuse?" How do you clearly and without any misjudgment define "umpire abuse" What I find offensive, you may not. Calling someone a f**ing cheating c*** is obviously offensive but what about "turn it up"? I hope the umpires use common sense. I would imagine some people are very polite most of the time so you might give them a warning, other players might be horrible. Ironically by trying get people to respect umpires more your forcing them to make tougher and tougher calls, therefore increasing frustration amongst fans and causing more umpire abuse 🤦‍♂️

So on the real flag, if I were to get close to it can I use the spready fingers thing to make the font bigger so I can see my name on the actual material?

Waiting for Mark Williams to develop Petacca’s left foot. It’s the biggest deficiency in his game and the thing stopping him going from superstar to whatever comes next above that. He relies on pace and power to get on to his right but there’s times where it’s just easier to go left and a semi reliable snap or gentle 20m chip would be a huge weapon.

It’s great. It also avoids the nonsense every year about who is and out of the 7 or 8 man LG.

I’d like a Deputy VC (May or Lever would be my pick) to have a clear chain of leadership positions should both Jack and Max be unavailable but I imagine such a thing does exist internally; it’s just the official roles presented by the club is Max captain, Jack vice captain. Hard to argue with the pair bring the premiership home!

A trip to the west is never an easy proposition, but it was Fremantle who faced the most adversity in getting onto the park. They lost five players to the dreaded protocols, two just an hour before the game, necessitating the call-up of a player they hadn’t seen since preseason. Melbourne fielded the most experienced team in AFLW history (665 total games) against the youngest Fremantle team since its inaugural season. While the Dockers had three debutants, the Dees were bolstered by the returns of Colvin and Fitzsimon, with Parry and Gillard making way. With all those qualifiers duly recorded, and the quality Freo were missing, by my reckoning that would account for about a six to eight goal disadvantage. The demolition that was witnessed at Optus Stadium was something else. Before we jump in, special mention to the Western Demons and members of the Freo cheersquad for their efforts in providing a banner for our team, and to Kate Hore for her 40th game. FIRST QUARTER The last thing anyone wanted while enjoying some footy escapism was another East and West conflict, yet here we had West lining up for Melbourne and East for Fremantle. For the sake of said escapism and out of respect, I’ll resist the temptation to subject readers to a continuation of this metaphor! The first several minutes told little of the rout to come. I was eager to see how Goldrick would counter Houghton’s X-factor status, and the signs weren’t good initially, with the Dockers spearhead looking dangerous. Her second goal attempt crumbed by Tuhakaraina to open the scoring. Despite this, in retrospect, there were clues that we were in rare form, with West reading Freo ruck’s tap, Zanker charging forward of the centre circles in space and Daisy effortlessly rescuing half volleys from her bootlaces. The latter got Melbourne on the board, spoiling Harris’s opponent and then making perfect position to kick the Dees’ first. Compounding Freo’s personnel issues, they lost a player to concussion. Then, in an important play that set the defensive tone, Colvin doggedly pursued the speedy Houghton, allowing a previously open forward line to be swiftly crowded by Melbourne defenders and a hard-running McNamara. With a few minutes to quarter time, Zanker was rewarded for a strong tackle and kicked to the hot spot, where Harris got a good run at it, marked and slotted the goal. In the next passage of play, Goldrick streamed through the middle, only to kick to the advantage of her Irish compatriot in Tighe. Luckily, she couldn’t reel it in, and the ball spilled to Hore. Positioned 45 metres out, off a few steps, she launched a left foot snap that carrier a good 30 metres before bouncing through. She looked mighty pleased with herself, as well she should, and the Dees were two goals up. SECOND QUARTER Fremantle found some time with the footy and a few early opportunities in the second. Still, Colvin and Gay were steadfast in defence, while Heath’s chase and tackle were typically tenacious. After one such run-down earned a free, the Dees neatly picked their way from half back via short kicks, starting slow to control possession. Five marks later, Harris turned up the speed dial and again turned provider for Daisy, who scored her second. Not long after, in another amusing role reversal, Paxy tapped to L Pearce on the 50 arc, and the Dees persisted through a scrap to find Hore as the only player in the clear. Her snap fell short, but with lightning reflexes, Scott snatched it and kicked truly – or so it seemed. Daisy was adamant it was touched, but with no goal review in AFLW, the Dockers had no recourse. If it wasn’t already apparent that things were going well, soon after a Freo player sized up L Pearce, tried to step her, and was simply denied. At one point, both Pearces and Paxman were shown taking a breather on the bench, a sure sign we were in a comfortable position. When Fremantle finally did get a chance to score, they were rushed, no doubt feeling pressure was imminent. From the kick-in, Melbourne marched down the field, a coast-to-coast goal going begging only when West’s kicking let her down. The Dees had it well and truly locked in though, and another Melbourne goal was inevitable, this time through the roving skills of Bannan. The next clearance was poetry in motion, in particular Hanks’ perfectly weighted handpass to Purcell beelining it off the front of the stoppage. Harris retained her status as a mere mortal by missing what should have been a certain goal. As such, when Bannan registered another behind, it was a 3.5 return for the quarter. With percentage crucial, focus now turned from victory to taking full toll. THIRD QUARTER It was an inauspicious start to what turned into a Demon rampage. Fremantle looked keen to exert themselves physically, but Melbourne just handed back the same treatment. Before long, they’d wrested control back and Bannan was on a trademark run, her opponent in her dust. She took a bounce, drew a player and selflessly delivered Daisy her third goal on a platter. From there, it was a procession, with everyone getting in on the act as Melbourne slammed home 7.1 for the quarter. Melbourne explored every avenue to goal, running the Docker’s depleted backline ragged. The rest of the onslaught comprised a goal to Hore, two to Daisy (to make five), one to Sherriff (shifted forward in another show of versatility) and two in a minute to Paxman. Of course, credit should also go the work up the ground: absolute dominance in the centre (even for a period with Scott rucking and Zanker out of the midfield rotation); untouchable ball movement; and players positioning themselves selflessly in waves of red and blue to do the one-percenters and secure a path to goal. Special mention to a strong, brave mark to Goldie, a disciplined smother by Bannan, some good turns of speed by Colvin and a classy kick by Paxy hard up against the boundary to set up Daisy’s fifth. Fittingly for a player who’s given so much, Paxman’s first saw Melbourne surpass their previous scoring record of 70 points, kicked against Fremantle in the inaugural season. With two minutes to go in the quarter, and a 71-point margin on the scoreboard, the absolute desperation shown in defence was a sight to behold. They refused to concede, battling it out in numerous one-on-ones as though the game was on the line, before clearing defensive 50 and leaving the opposition demoralized. At some point during the carnage, Zanker went off with quad tightness, her withdrawal from the game a precautionary luxury conferred by our scoreboard dominance. FOURTH QUARTER As the commentators noted the 77-point margin at the resumption of play, it was clear we were in uncharted territory. The big 100, once a seemingly unattainable target for the league, let alone our team, was well within reach. The “we’re in the zone” vibe continued, with Gay taking a bit of a speccie to start the term. Daisy almost snagged her sixth, then bobbed up with a timely bump to allow Hore to snap her third. Halfway through the quarter, Fremantle finally got some ball movement going and Miller was rewarded for her persistent effort with a goal. Between the Dockers’ first goal and their second, though, Melbourne had piled on fourteen unanswered. Amazingly, Harris had kicked just one of them, but she was rewarded for her contribution around the ground, including nine marks, with two in the last. With her second goal, she became the first player to kick 17 goals in an AFLW season, went two goals clear in the league goalkicking race, and took Melbourne to the highest ever score in AFLW history, surpassing the benchmark of 98 set a mere seven days ago by Brisbane. Shortly after, Harris stepped around two Freo defenders to claim another mark. The result, her third goal, saw Melbourne pioneer the league’s way into the triple digits. The Dockers mustered another major in the dying stages via a classy finish from the debutant Machlachlan, but they had little else to celebrate. For the Demons, a glance at the scoreboard at any stage after halftime might have been cause for complacency, but there was absolutely none of that here, just a ruthless four quarter effort and a memorable win on hallowed turf for the MFC. STATS & STAND-OUTS Melbourne dominated in every facet of the game, racking up 303 disposals to Fremantle’s 192, at 68% efficiency. The Dees had 53 inside 50s to the Dockers’ 14, came out on top in contested (133 to 107) and uncontested (172 to 85) possessions, accumulated 56 marks including 14 to 2 contested and 23 to 1 inside 50. West had 7 clearances and topped the disposals for the first time in her career with 24, a stat she shared with a relentlessMithen. Purcell was close on their heels with 23, while Hanks and L Pearce had 21 apiece. Miller had a captain’s game for Fremantle with 22 and 9 tackles, while East was the only other Docker in the top 10 for disposals. L Pearce notched up 18 hit outs and 7 clearances (for which she’s 3rd in the league). Hore, coming off a lean patch of goal-kicking, had her persistent efforts rewarded with 3 majors, plus 17 disposals.Hore and Harris are ranked equal 2nd for league score involvements, and D Pearce is ranked 3rd. Hore is also equal 5th in the season’s league goalkicking, sharing the position with Daisy, who became Melbourne’s record-holder for most goals in a game with 5 (12 current and former Demons have kicked 3 goals in a game). She joined four other players in competition history who have kicked 5-plus goals (amazing, considering this brought her career total to just 17!). Daisy also had 17 disposals, 12 score involvements, and 5 marks, in an all-time performance from an icon of our club. Meanwhile, Harris now sits 4th on Melbourne’s all-time goal kicking list, behind Hore, Scott and Cunningham. She is also one of just three players in the league with over 40 games who have an average over one goal per game, the others being Vescio (the first player to 50 goals) and Phillips (46 goals). Harris is second on the all-time list, just three goals shy of 50. Our half forward line functioned much better, with Scott in particular finding some good lead-up footy as well as contributing in the ruck. As the commentators rightly pointed out, not playing in a wind turbine brought foot skills to the fore; the lack of pressure on the ball carrier didn’t hurt either. Special mention to Paxman’s first time kicking multiple goals in a game, earned through hard running off the wing. The output of the midfield was remarkably even, maintaining control whichever combination of Hanks, West, Zanker, Purcell and Mithen was at the feet of L Pearce. The backline didn’t have a whole lot to do, with Birch probably left hungry for some intercepts. Colvin was key when the game was there to be won, and Gay and Lampard drifted up the ground to cut off multiple dumped kicks. Credit to Gemma Bastiani (@glbastiani) and Swamp (@sirswampthing) for some of the stats contained in this report on a game that left the record books well thumbed. A few more: The Demons' seven goals are the most goals a team has ever kicked in an AFLW quarter. The first 100+ score in a V/AFL game was 107 points by Melbourne in 1897 (15.17); the first 100+ score in an AFLW game was 107 points by Melbourne in 2022 (16.11). Collectively, across the men’s and women’s teams, our club’s last three outings at Optus Stadium have netted us 372 points FOR and 127 points AGAINST. Yes, everything went right for us. But we had a team ready and willing to capitalise on the opposition's misfortune, and this season was always going to be a test of depth (as it was for us early in the season and could easily be again). Our players had come to play, expecting a hard-fought contest, and they showed no mercy. MELBOURNE 3.0.18 6.5.41 13.6.84 16.11.107 FREMANTLE 1.0.6 1.1.7 1.1.7 3.1.19 GOALS MELBOURNE D Pearce 5 Harris Hore 3 Paxman 2 Bannan Scott Sherriff FREMANTLE Maclachlan Miller Tuhakaraina BEST MELBOURNE Hanks D Pearce Bannan Mithen Paxman FREMANTLE Miller East Verrier Tighe INJURIES MELBOURNE Zanker (quad tightness) FREMANTLE Sergeant (head knock), E. Antonio, K. Antonio and O'Driscoll (Health and Safety Protocols) replaced in the side with McMahon, MacLachlan and Western REPORTS MELBOURNE Nil FREMANTLE Nil CROWD 2717 at Optus Stadium NEXT ROUND Carlton at Casey Fields with top spot beckoning. THE LAST WORD You can only play the team in front of you.

Abuse directed at an umpire at any level of footy must be penalised. However, in the AFL where they are all adults at the peak of their profession, the abuse must be seen to be clearly addressed to the umpires by looking at the umpire whilst gesturing or talking so that the direction is unmistakeable. A normal human reaction such as Tomlinson's expressing surprise or disappointment after watching a replay on the big screeen is not abuse. What if Maxie's reaction to the sling tackle in 3Q of the GF was considered abuse? What about players expressing frustration or even regret at their offence? Surely that cannot be abuse. As for a delay in returning the ball, there are situations where the identity of the offendee might not be clear (either through misunderstanding of the decision or umpire's call not being audible) so that the umpire's discretion should be applied. Time for adults to show their maturity. Gil, for all his outstanding success at getting the past two seasons finished, also needs to grow up.

Unquestionably all teams in AFLW rely very heavily on their best 5 - 6 players, so Fremantle being without Bowers and Antonio x 2 had a massive impact on the competitiveness of their group. They are a much better team than that, and will be a very dangerous opponent with a bunch of players back in time for the finals. That said, this was clearly the best we have moved the football in the history of the competition and it was a joy to watch. The ability of smart players like Hanks to handpass to the advantage of a teammate running into space is incredible. The size and width of Optus Stadium suited us, and the lack of wind helped us immensely. Our skills look a million times better playing in good conditions and, as good as our record at Casey Fields is, you wonder whether it is holding us back overall. It has taken nine weeks but we finally have the right forward structure in place. We need to give Harris as much space as possible and try to prevent opposition teams from double and triple teaming her. If they are determined to push numbers back, we need to ensure that the likes of Pearce, Hore and Bannan are in dangerous positions and that we use them where possible. I also like Fitzsimon providing pressure at ground level, even if she doesn't get a lot of touches. Far better than Scott or Parry clogging up the forward 50 and not offering much of anything. If we can avoid injury and illness, the only possible change in coming weeks would be another tall defender to come in against certain teams. Otherwise I think we have our best team settled. One more quality performance against Carlton and we have a genuine chance of finishing on top and reaping the benefits that come from this.

Yep. And I'd add tbat goals are not his KPI - pressure is. Goals are a bonus. He had 8 tackles against Carlton, a stand out in a low intensity performance from us. And his pressure was outstanding in the practice match against the roos.

What a crap post. Late last year? He kicked 3 goals in the preliminary final against Geelong and and had a dozen score assists. He kicked 2 goals in the first final against Brisbane and provided huge amount of forward line pressure. The final game of the season he had 14 disposals, 4 tackles and kicked 3 goals. He kicked a really important goal in the last term to get our resurgence going for that win. Not only was he he doing some incredible defensive work off the ball but he was still hitting the scoreboard. I also found the whole impacting the scoreboard comment boring.. he kicked 40 goals last year playing as a 19 year old small forward in just his 2nd year of AFL. Some of you are seriously outdated with writing kozzie off so early. His upside is scary.

Great point. You bang on about the importance of respecting umpires, yet you don't respect them enough to support them to become the best they can be by offering them the ability to make a living doing it.

Clarko..

I’m not sure about your argument of demand vs earn. As far as I’m concerned by putting themselves in there as umpires of the game they have earned the right to respect immediately. What does need to be considered is heat of battle and the fact that they do make mistakes and the players can be frustrated. Case in point, Kozzie getting his head taken off in the Grand Final and Trac going ballistic at the umpire. Now is that dissent? Maybe. But Trac has every right to stick up for his teammate.

Didn't end up kicking a big bag last year (think his best haul was four goals against Gold Coast) but often performed a selfless team role by taking the best opposition defender that allowed players like Fritsch to go absolutely ballistic. Had a superb finals series as well. Absolutely annihilated Harris Andrews and Mark Blicavs in our first two finals.

The big problem is that Gil and the AFL are trying to demand respect of the umpires rather than having them earn it. Typical half baked knee jerk reaction to what they see as a probelm. Yes, abuse should not be condoned, but penalising asking a question or showing frustration is another gross overreaction, and likely to have the opposite effect, making relations between players and umpires far more fractious. Time to reset, Gillon.

Back of the envelope calculations say that ~10 extra points would have us on top, but it'll depend not just on the margin but on the scores for/against in the last round - this is more variable than going into the final round of the mens comp, because in AFLW there are less rounds and lower scores, so margins in the final round have more impact on the overall percentage. One thing we have in our favour is that even though St Kilda struggle to score, they have managed to be relatively solid in defence. Hopefully they come out on Sunday keen to spoil Adelaide's top spot chances. We definitely need some decent conditions on Saturday night at Casey.

You won't see many against the Bulldogs, or West Coast (at Optus).

why is that "abuse"? gesticulating with arms is not abuse, facing the umpire is not abuse. we don't know what he said but i'd guess it was probably something about the carlton player ducking to draw a free. now if he swore at the umpire or said something offensive then that would be abuse, but you don't know what/if he said. let's not reinvent the word abuse or it just becomes ridiculous

Actually thought the delay ones were fair tbh. Lingers has been taking the [censored] with that for a fair while and I hate it when players do that fake pointing thing to delay the game. The Oliver one has been an automatic 50 for as long as I can remember, honest mistake or not. I'm keen on cracking down on the delay of game ones. The 'abuse' ones in our game tho.... sheeesh... Hopefully the backlash and attention from our game will mean it will settle in before round 1. Always happens with new rules, I remember tons of 50s the start of last year when players standing the mark lost their balance, moved a foot slightly or sneezed, but that settled in after a while.

I agree with your sentiments fwiw. I used to get all worked up about umpires once upon a time, but then I got myself a life and realised abusing someone to make me feel better is actually pathetic. But Rome is the mob so er, play on.

My young kid, who hasn't reached an age yet where footy is a massive interest, is still talking about the big day at the G and how good it was. Club did an amazing job on the day, and I don't recall there ever being 35k at a family day in the past. Pretty clearly that was our family day, and I reckon we've got more excited kids still buzzing from that than the Hawks or Pies do from watching training and seeing a mascot from at least 1.5m away.

Man, there’s no pleasing some people. Be thankful that we can attend matches this year. You won’t read this since you’ve got me on ignore. I just feel better having said it. Thanksies! 😁

On the back of last night's embarrassing performance, I've emailed the club and asked them to take my name off the flag.