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I'm quite comfortable with how we carry ourselves on the big stage - and the respect we've earned from the football world in return. Yes we went out in straight sets last year, but you don't finish top 4 three years in a row without 'stepping up' multiple times. I saw the OP made a similar post in another thread, implying that the flag was diminished because it was played at a neutral venue away from a hostile crowd; if you want to put an asterisk next to one of our greatest premiership wins, that's your call. Not me. We were on the precipice of one of football's biggest ever chokes in 2021. We were easily the best team of the H&A season, and the finals, and we'd let a dominant four-goal GF lead turn into a 19-point deficit midway through the third term. Our decades-long reputation as a soft club that couldn't deliver when the heat is on was about to be signed and sealed forever in front of the entire nation. But we didn't fold. We produced 45 minutes of the most devastating football in finals history - close to perfection. When it counted most. With a heavy 57-year old monkey on our back. To pretend there wasn't scrutiny or pressure is just plain wrong - there will never be more pressure than there was in 2021 when we were trying to break the curse.

I disagree with this. Marchbank’s ‘touch’ being disallowed means we finish top 2. Every single AFL ready key forward we have on our list has been injured for massive chunks of the season. Every time we find a solution it got taken away. We’ve had back to back finals against the only 2 teams still in the race that could drown us out at the G. One of our favourite sons gets knocked out in a thug move and everyone pretends it’s not, purely for their job security and ratings. Yet still Friday night, undermanned and exhausted by all of this we will be there in droves to support our team. Our supporters are so much more resilient than we get credit for, and the crowd numbers this year prove it. Go Dees. Make some [censored] noise. The whole worlds against us, but that can’t stop us.

Last week's loss and incident has given Goody a golden opportunity to galvanise this group, harness all of that emotion from players and supporters alike and attack the rest of this finals series as if we have a point to prove. The question is whether or not Goody and our leaders have what it takes to go there and be fuelled by it. Now if we really are club with a strong and changed culture and a team stacked with competitive beasts, then we will see that come Thursday night. I think this game is one of the most important in defining us as a club going forward. We're up against another juggernaut of a supporter base. Do we have the resolve to overcome their raucous crowd and execute? Reputations are made this time of year. If people want to play the 'woe is us' injury card, then you may as well pack up bags now. I'm sick of that rhetoric. Every side has experienced injuries and both Collingwood and Carlton were able to persevere and win games despite the fact. Injury will not define this game. Our attitude will be the only thing. If we win this, we have a shackles off free hit against Brisbane and we can carry this emotional wave through to a grand final. Clearly not the easy or desired path but gold is to be found in the places you least want to look. I just really hope Goody and co are using all of what has occurred this past week as motivation. Because if we make a Grand Final against Collingwood in a couple of weeks' time, they will be absolutely [censored] themselves.

"Wanted to hit, wanted to hurt': Brayden Maynard - the guilty man found innocent." https://www.theroar.com.au/2023/09/13/brayden-maynard-the-guilty-man-found-innocent/

Maynard launched himself like a scud missile was nowhere near the ball. It was reckless and dangerous. There is no other way around it. The evidence was laughable. " I didn't see him" " I touched the footy" "He ran into me" You have to be f*ing kidding. What is abundantly clear is that the AFL is as corrupt organisation as you could possibly see. Read Michael Warner's Boys Club and there is no other conclusion. If you are Dangerfield, Cripps or Collingwood you get favours . Its disgraceful and I really hope they get there arses sued off.

Leaving aside the arguments about what he did, what Gus did etc etc, the one thing that really stands out for me is Gleeson making some remark about the importance of the matches coming up for Maynard. Remarks like that are toally inappropriate before the matter is decided by the jury. They may be barely acceptable in pleas about the sentence, but not before the jury deliberates. What a ****ty organization has taken over Aussie rules.

Mentioning that Maynard may miss important games, irrelevant and disgraceful, no mention of the fact that Gus is going to miss important games . The fix was in

Just realised last time we played Carlton in a final was the 2000 QF, one of the best days ever. Would give anything for the same Friday night.

So they're not worried about the head this year only next year. If you told someone this story they'd think you were making it up.

Alright, last one and then I'm going to attempt to re-focus (not move on, never moving on). BRING THE HEAT PLAY WITH DIGNITY IF ALL ELSE FAILS ULTIMATE FRISBEE

The club should lodge a protest against the extremely poor handling of the prosecution of Maynard and the obviously biased review board. Especially that bozo that sighted the decision could effect Maynard missing very important games, he was there to judge if Maynard did something wrong him missing games has nothing to do with the crime and should very have been a consideration. That was a disgrace, the fact the AFL is not appealing after all the b.. over wanting to protect players shows how the power of the purse comes first. Maynard had choices how his body reacted, he saw a Melbourne player there and went the bump no doubt about it. If he was falling towards a woman or a child do you not think he would have tucked his shoulder in and hit them hard no we would have reacted in a totally different way, he may have tried to turn, reach out and push them aside, a lot of things, none of which he did. he saw an opposition player and went into damage mode because that is the military-style training drilled into them. It was careless it was dangerous and in the end I believe deliberate because his conscious mind saw an opposition player and chose how to react, i.e. his hands were above his head when he was high in the air, his arms were tucked in and he led with his shoulder when he hit gus. I quite frankly dont know why the person prosecuting this case did not consider something like that.

C'mon guys, I know this has been a horrible week but we have a huge game in 2 days! if we win, we have a Prelim. How much did we dream of this 10 years ago and decades prior? Not saying you can't be upset or drained or over it, just some gentle encouragement to let it go and cheer the boys on when they need it most

Dillon & Kane now official members of the old boys club. Never to be trusted ever again The most violent act on the footy field this season goes unpunished

Collingwood. A scumbag organisation from top to bottom.

The kangaroo court would also have chucked out the hypocrisy of Maynard having the time to react to Brayshaw "veering" into his path by noticing it, comprehending the outcome enough to react with the thought procedd of thinking "[censored] he's there"; while also arguing there's not reaction time to brace for contact!!!! The act of jumping and bracing was a predetermined singular action; this is actually supported by the biomechanic person - as he stated there was no time to adjust once launched. Also if there was a report why wasn't the umpire there providing his view (something I thought they had to do) and if this was a test case then surely the AFL (tribunsl) would require evidence from Brayshaw so as to understand all aspects in making an informed decision.

I think this was a con job. It has all been about what can you be expected to do, when you are off the ground, attempting a smother. The biomechanist was even wheeled in. The whole decision was centred around what can reasonably be expected of a player who is in the air, in the act of smothering. The con that I see, is that it was never a smother, it was a deliberate hit, to make a player earn it the hard way, with hands up at the start, to make it look like a legal act, a smother. I am not saying he meant to knock him out, but rather deliver a hard hit, making him earn it and that would affect him and rattle his team mates. Maynard said as much during the week, that he would make us earn it. We have been conned, they looked at it from the point of view of a smother in the air, instead of a deliberate hit. That is how he got off, when coupled with a pretty poor prosecution of the case. To me the whole thing has the look of being stage managed, which is borne out by the refusal to Appeal. That of course is probably my MFC bias speaking.

In the past Gleeson has ordinarily made any number of pointed remarks to the accused often with an undercurrent of guilt (or at least trying to make the perpetrator feel guilty) There was none of that last night. In fact it was what he didn't say that jumped out at me. And Woods was close to completely useless When considering the victim was knocked out cold for 2 minutes, Gleeson's & Woods attitudes were nothing short of callous

Just read the Hamis Brayshaw comments. Good on him for calling out the AFL for its Collingwood bias. If only heavier hitters in the industry had the gumption to do the same.

That sums up my take on the incident. 3 minutes into a do or die final a known enforcer wants to make a physical statement. And it worked.

i still don't understand how the umpire who reported him on the day was excluded from appearing does reporting maynard him make him biased witness or something? the tribunal despite all its lawyers however seems very distant from a real court of law i guess it's just a version of drive-in fast mc-law

I don't see why we supporters have to move on. The players do, but our venting has no effect on anything (especially the bloody AFL). If anyone wants to move on by not reading this thread, they know how it's done.

latest rumour mill on sen: grundy to swans with pear pulling out of the race jj to aints as a free agent harmes and tomlinson on the market we're chasing early picks

Eddie McGuire is the finest example of why the world is a steaming pile of [censored] headed for extinction. This man led an organisation with systemic racism, and is still allowed a platform from which to exist and express his unnecessary views. How utterly embarrassing.

Agree with all this. I've no doubt we'll be galvanised and extremely motivated this Friday. My bigger concern is whether this can be balanced with being focussed and composed. I think we lost to the Pies due to lack of composure; didn't handle the Pies early intensity, blazed away going into F50 and some shanks on goal when the game was to be won. The emotion of the week needs to be channeled into playing the best football of their lives not just coming out breathing fire.

You need to understand the biomechanics of kicking a football When kicking long and straight on the run for a right foot kicker, to get power through the kick, the body has to lean and/or move to the right otherwise the kicker is unbalanced Same story for kicking on the left (think Buddy) And most importantly, all footballers know this including Maynard So knowing that Gus was going to lean or move right, Maynard lined him up accordingly I'm actually astonished that the tribunal didn't rebuke the biomechanist but maybe like a lot of people, they just don't get it You don't have to have played footy to know the above, simply observing is enough They also missed the stutter step as pointed out by @Ouch! here a few days ago A totally shoddy effort from the tribunal all round ... they were shown up to be rank amateurs. Or they probably just failed in their duties by design Footnote: For place kicks in other sports the kicker (if a right footer) approaches from behind, from the left moving to the right ... they never come from directly behind

17 clubs. We don’t have one. Edit - Jesus what was I thinking. Angus brayshaw. That thug living a thug life is a stone cold killah who disguises his sniper hits on oppo players with footy acts like kicking only to try and head butt defenceless players (airborne frisbees ) in their shoulders. What a pr1ck!

Stop giving these people ratings. Turn it off.

Found a photo of Brodie Holland being a sook

Guys - I'm angry too but enough. 112 pages is enough. Move on. We may have all the time in the world to revisit this after Friday's result. Weather looks like it should be terrific - we are still one game from a prelim, same as we were last Thursday midday. You never know if we fall away next year, so appreciate it while we're here! Carlton have waited 10 years for the day, like we did in 2018. Let's get back to that energy.

Finally someone writes the truth of the matter.

Eddie is a walking racist pig. No surprise that morally bankrupt fool was celebrating someone wearing prison bars getting off for caving an opponents head in. Disgusting pr*ck. I saw ex pies player Brodie Holland wrote a long piece about Melbourne FC and it’s supporters being sooks. Bit rich coming from a known sniper and a wimp who literally burst into tears on field when he lost and had to have a cuddle from his coach to be consoled. What a tragic waste of skin his existence is. Pathetic human.

The MCG was under reconstruction in 2004

I think it's been a brilliant coaching & playing exhibition against the odds this season. A lot has gone against us yet we still finished top 4. Will need a rabbit out of the hat from Goody and the FD to push much further but it's not beyond this team.

Maynard has knocked 2 blokes unconcious in "footballing acts" They both should sue him. Much stronger case with 2 of them.

Nothing we as supporters say or do has any impact on how the players play. Sure, a big turnout and loud crowd support is influential and helps teams, especially with favourable umpiring, but nobody at the club gives a [censored] how [censored] off or otherwise our supporters are. They play for one another and they are very good at blocking the outside noise. I worry far more about how defeated they are when one of our players goes down with an injury. The care they have for one another is wonderful, but it’s also been detrimental to outcomes of games.

He's contracted, we don't need a bidding war. We have every right to hold him to his contract if we don't get what we want.

The precedent that has been set here is that if you turn yourself into a human frisbee and knock out an opponent for 2 minutes your punishment will be: - one or at the most two outraged journos calling for your head - the cold shoulder from a couple of MFC players upon visiting the victim - a rebuke from the victim's mother over the phone - enduring four hours in front of a kangaroo court while biting nails and clutching onto a mini football like a toddler with a security blanket Meanwhile the victim is subbed out of the game, misses the next game and possibly enters early retirement with the prospect of a damaged brain and ongoing mental health issues. Yep seems like a fair and just system.

Apparently Harmes has interest from Richmond, Carlton, Sydney and Essendon.

Not sure if this has been posted elsewhere. Exhibit A of what Maynard should’ve done.

Yes, that's it Gonzo. Always the bum steer, always getting the [censored] left over when it comes to fixturing, always getting outmuscled by these fat cats who think they run the place. Can you believe 3 of my nump Collingwood friends have said this is not only a good result for them but for the AFL? I've got a Carlton friend who said Brayshaw had a duty of care to himself knowing that his "next concussion could be his last" those words verbatim. This is the level of idiotness we're dealing with from the general public and now they've lapped up some crud that Gus would have kicked the ball in a safer way too. I've had it, don't feel too sorry for other clubs when it happens to them. They sure as well aren't sorry for us.

This is the first time in the modern era with social media and fast information that we are so prevalent in the news cycle. We are consistently playing in front of big crowds, during prime time, against big clubs in big games. We are in the news almost daily. Our supporter base seems tired. Our players lack composure. Even after a flag we still lack respect from the football community. The way teams like Collingwood deal with adversity is to ride the wave and hold on. We seem to struggle. I feel like we are still dealing with the challenge of expectation, of wanting to be a big club, being let into the big boys club, but not actually being a big club. We almost seem out of place here. It's just an observation -- maybe I'll be proven wrong on Friday but it's never been harder for me to imagine us winning a final or even a flag in front of 100k at the MCG. Let alone against a powerhouse club. There's a sense of being "spooked" and it was evident on Thursday night for mine. And now with what's happened with Maynard... I almost feel like Melbourne people are spitting the dummy more than I've ever seen a fanbase do before. We struggle to let go of both the good and the bad and it's to our detriment as a club and fanbase. I struggle with it myself. But I wonder when we'll genuinely put to bed the spooks and silent our critics once and for all. 2021 wasn't enough, we felt like it was, the pressure gauge was tightened and now here we are.

They are a pack of corrupt bastards at the AFL! I hope Angus Brayshaw investigates his legal options. Both the AFL and Brayden "the Thug" Maynard deserve to be sued for the despicable lack of duty of care! Brayden "the Thug" Maynard could of killed Angus Brayshaw! I am with former Demons player Shaun Smith! The AFL is a disgrace! A PLAGUE UPON BOTH THEIR HOUSES (THE AFL AND COLLINGWOOD)!!! 🤬🤬🤬🤬

I want the CEO and President to come out and do a Presser to condemn the AFL and the tribunal process. Need to bloody stand up for Gus and that we don’t accept this [censored]!

There have been a couple of contrarian posters who 'guarantee' that if Gus had done this to Maynard we'd all have a different view. I suggest they look at the posts before and following Pickett's ban early in the season. Most posts were along the lines of 'how could he be so stupid', not 'our golden boy can do no wrong.'

Officially time to move on guys. I know a revenge that's a lot better than Maynard getting rubbed out.

The injury dilemma has never really impacted us. We've gone chunks of the season without Gawn and Oliver, missed Fritsch for a third, JVR has been in and out of the squad, and we are still amonst the leaders in the league in most stats. It might have been the difference in our losses but we were still on top in all of them except Essendon and most of the Gabba game. Composure has definitely hurt us and even at full strength we struggled at times with this. I'll be so disappointed and disheartened if we don't win on Friday. Carlton is good but we are objectively better across the board. Not to understate the Blues at all but this goes beyond just being a "must win" for us. It has to be a formality on the way to at least a Prelim. Not winning this week marks the season a failure in my mind. Statistically, it would be a huge anomaly for us to not at least make a Prelim over the past two seasons.

And if it works in the next 3 games why not beyond???? Reckon Brodie has shown his class throughout all that has transpired for him this year. Proud to have him as a Demon.

It is infuriating that the evidence of Maynard was not challenged. He "jumped straight into the air" is a flat out lie. He ran full tilt and dived forward into Brayshaws path. The closing speed of the two players makes this dangerous and reckless. The side on view suggests he travelled at least 2m fwd Its front on which is illegal I didn't see him. - But I ran straight at him like a maniac I touched the footy - Flat out lie. He was miles off it I wouldn't have hit him had Brayshaw not changed direction is the biggest lie of the lot I am over the AFL. lets win flag and the rest can f off

Only if youre a 'name player' from a big club like Carlton Collingwood Geelong or Richmond. Cripps high impact concussed opponent....cleared to play Maynard high impact almost broke Brayshaws neck.... cleared to play. AFL went after Toby Green and piled on the weeks. GWS? a zero club. Melbourne players will get suspended if they rough up Carlton. AFL is totally corrupt.

More than anything I've seen for years, this whole episode seriously brings almost every part of the AFL profession into DISREPUTE! Well done AFL for failing to move towards societies desire to make our sport less barbaric while maintaining as much of its wonderful essence as possible. Well done AFL for giving soccer valid reasons to make further inroads into our unique Australian sport. This damages Aussie rules footy, a great part of our countries culture. It's sickening and should be remedied.