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Got a feeling Bont will get the 3 votes in our R23 win against the Cats.

I don’t think there’s enough gambling ads. I’d like to be able to bet on Auskicker of the year as well.

This is still a work in progress. I inadvertently bought almost a kilometre of ribbon last week (I explained this in another thread) so I’ve still got a ways to go… Just realised I should’ve windexed before I posted. 😁

Really fascinating interview with Peter Jackson around his journey with the Melbourne Football Club. Talks about the period around Mark Neeld era and also the Paul Roos recruitment. Also talks about flying to Sydney to catch up with James McDonald and mend that relationship with him and inviting him back to the club. Said it was an emotional meeting with junior and pointed to having a lot of scarring that need to be repaired. Well worth a listen. https://player.whooshkaa.com/episode?id=905242

A fantastic but moving article by the talented Megan Hustwaite in the Age who interviewed family of past demon players who have recent passed. https://amp.theage.com.au/sport/afl/families-of-demons-who-died-too-young-say-their-hearts-still-beat-true-20210915-p58ry0.html?btis=&__twitter_impression=true

He’s gone up a gear in the last few months, that’s for sure. He’s hanging on to his marks again now, and his work rate is awesome. Funny how ridiculous perception of footy players are from the outside. For Brown, there was this perception that he got a favourable run from the umps. Having watched him a lot more closely since being one of our players, if he does draw frees it’s only because at his best he’s so hard to stop otherwise. He’s huge, he’s massively strong and he’s got a high leap. There aren’t going to be many defenders who could match him, so they resort to double teaming and arm chopping. We took a player who was injured and well below his best, for cheap, and gave him the time and resources to get back there. Great recruiting and great management that is now paying dividends.

I’ll put my hand up and say the Spargo bandwagon was standing room only when I jumped on. He’s a key ingredient to our forward line now though. He defends like a warrior and his possessions while low in numbers are high in value. The kid rarely wastes it. And I love his reactions to when he scores. It’s almost like “yeah so? It’s my job.” He’d be a massive blow if out. Sounds like it’s all good though.

Since we are playing in a night grand final.

I give 0 [censored] about this award. I’m just confused how the umpires can get it so wrong. You can give 2 out of 3 votes to players who played for a team that got comprehensively beaten by 41 points. It just doesn’t make sense. Yet Touk Miller clear BOG in an 11 point loss to the Dogs not one vote. Umpires are lazy. May didn’t poll a single vote (?), Lever with 5. Arguably our most influential players. Lever with the most intercept marks ever taken in the history of the game. Salem was superb in the first half of the season. One vote. Walsh with so many votes in a losing team. It’s a popularity contest.

If we took wines we probably don't take Clayton. I know who I prefer

If Bont get another vote its rigged.

Serong’s goal was great but as he said it was a fluke. Kozzie’s was 100% intentional.

Tracc NEVER fails to mention the fans. ❤️💙

I’m an old so and so, who was fortunate enough to live through our Golden Era of the late 1940s, the 1950’s and (obviously) 1964 as well. I have my place adorned with Dees flags, as shown in the ‘Flying the Flag’ thread. I was sitting on my front porch this evening, enjoying a glass of Shiraz, and taking in my attractive garden as the twilight took over. When the evening breeze began to flutter the flags it caught my attention. I spontaneously and unashamedly, burst into tears. That’s what a premiership would mean to me! Cross my heart, that’s a true story.

Let the Bont get all the headlines Clarry will just kill it on Saturday

I can’t stress enough how good this is, well worth a listen where I learned a lot about Oliver:

Possible Spargo injury - Demonland's heart skips a beat - my, how times have changed!

I was at the 2017 GF with my old man. Both as neutrals (via MCC ballot). My old man got up and left 5 mins into the last qtr and said to me "I can't sit here and watch these bastards win one before us"...I lasted until full time. The last 15 minutes when everyone in the ground knew the game was over was absolutely party time in the stands and there was outpour of emotion. As I was walking back to Richmond station I was walking head on into 30k people going from Punt Rd oval back to the MCG. As I sat on the train going home I thought 'I can't wait for this to be us'...fast forward nearly 12 months as I walked out of the MCG after we had just beaten Hawthorn in the Semi. I was daring to dream. Alas it wasn't meant to be. Fast forward 3 years and the world has been flipped on its head. Regardless of your position & fall out of covid, the last 18 months have been totally awful. Personally, if I didn't have footy to watch I don't know where I'd be. Would I love to be at the MCG this Saturday? 100%...would I settle with watching us win a flag for the first time in 57 years on TV? 100%. A bit like how Andrew Gaze said (when Australia were going for gold in the basketball) "I think of those that have been along for the journey have their DNA on this". If we win, the Premiership Cup it will have my DNA on it, my old man's, Nathan Jones, Neale Daniher, Jim Stynes - it will have all of our DNA all over it! I'll look forward to the unfurling of the flag in front of our 70,000 members. Go Dees!

Well done Ollie, a great season

Bont looks like his ready to cry. Definitely was more invested in this then he led on

Congrats Jim Toumpas I mean Ollie Wines.

Rather Oliver, Gawn or Petracca win a Norm Smith personally…

Out of sheer desperation my friends and I are playing a drinking game tonight where we drink every time our club’s Brownlow favourite gets a vote. My friends barrack for Essendon Carlton and Sydney. I’m going to be plastered.

The above and post before is my place. Easy to see I am not tech savvy.

My mother was a demon supporter before she died. She would have loved it. My uncle definitely won’t see next grand final. I feel for them. Especially Robbie. He was the last demon I saw as a demon through and through. Barracked for the team all his life. Kept trying to play for our club and our club only, despite numerous rejections. Refused many offers to leave and have success with other clubs. The mans loyalty and love for this club was matched by none. He was a demon through and through.

It is a great piece. The mother’s ongoing grief in the Sylvia bit at the end hit me square in the feels. It’s easy as footy fans to dehumanise football players a bit. To think of Colin Sylvia as that kid who never quite managed to reach the heights we thought he might. But at the heart of it, he was just a young man, with a close relationship with his mum and the best years of his life still ahead of him, who is gone too soon. We all felt a pang of sadness when we heard the news, but she still lives it daily. It’s all about the people and this article captures that. I highly doubt Brad Flower, Sam Ludbey-Stynes, Peggy Wight, the Broadbridges and Lynne Hatfield have anything in common whatsoever other than grieving men lost too soon, and the Melbourne footy club. They’re all our people, it will mean something to them, and they’ll be amongst like-minded friends if it happens, even if they don’t know it.

Whether or not it’s our “bad luck” depends on how highly our recruiters regard Andrew. Cal Twomey's latest Phantom Form Guide puts him at #9 which means that if he was picked at that number under the old rules, Melbourne would have had to come up with 1469 points less 20% = 1175 points. We currently hold picks 33, 42, 54 & 91 which are collectively worth 1178 points which means we could have just squeezed him in if we wanted to match the bid, leaving our first pick in the draft at notionally around 72. It also means we would have to have gone into points deficit (affecting our hand in next year’s draft) in the event that another club nominated Taj Woewodin in say, the middle of the draft and we wanted to match that bid. We also have promising NGA Andy Moniz-Wakefield who will probably go late in the draft or rookied. Still, we would have to be prepared for a bid for him, even if it’s not likely. Of course, the above doesn’t take into account the likelihood of us improving our draft position through trading out players but where would we be left on that score if we were serious contenders for Adam Cerra and if not Cerra, where would we be in terms of list management if we wanted to pick other players we had our eyes on? At least we would have a very skinny project player who, according to Chris Doerre who also rates him at #9 on his latest You Tube (released yesterday Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAjYGjloLY4&t=1944s) will start as a KPP due to his current physical limitations but might eventually make it as a ruckman and be a Tom Nicholls or an Archie Smith type. Would anyone fancy heavily mortgaging the farm and forgoing other more immediate needs so that we can maybe have a Tom Nicholls or an Archie Smith running around in 2024 or 2025?

It absolutely sucks. I know others won't mind so much but I (along with many others here I'm sure) have been going to the footy week in, week out to support the Demons for 33 years. I've been a member since 1989 without a miss. I was there for all the drubbings and I was there in 2018 for the first two finals when we packed the G in red and blue and the "MELBOURNE" chant rang around the ground. Now we have had our most dominant season in my life and our most dominant finals series in my life and have made the Grand Final and are going in as favourites for the first time in my life and we have been stuck watching on TV most of the season. I've dreamed of being at the G to witness the Demons raise the cup my whole life and cheer the team while they run a lap of honour. And now we face the possibility of seeing it happen while stuck to our couches and we can't even share the moment because we are stuck in lockdown with a 9pm curfew!! Of course I just want to see them win, but it won't be the same.

Fixed it!

Great player, great bloke. Humble and understated. One of the good guys. Happy to see him win it.

If we take Wines we may not get Petracca or Oliver. Things turned out ok in the end.

Glad it’s over Focus on the real stuff now Bont will be rattled…

The Bont ain’t happy. #Freekickbulldogs

Best result for us is 3 players in the top 10 but don’t win. Show we have the depth of talent. let another bloke deal with a hundred interviews this week. Our blokes can get some sleep and prepare

That non decision against Adelaide still sticks in my craw.

Another one here who had a mild panic that I might not be able to watch the GF thanks to 7’s dumb streaming options, but I’m sorted. Phew. Can’t watch this though. Honestly, who actually owns an antenna in 2021? There hasn’t been one in my house for years.

I’m loving the look of it. We’ll have the most team votes by end……perfect.

Even the filth are jumping on the wagon

Whatever the result next Saturday, this football team we support has brought me more joy this year than any other year that I have supported them, including’64. The players , coaches and support staff have my greatest admiration and thanks for what they have achieved to date, for themselves, the Club and for us loyal supporters. That sentiment will not be diminished if the worst were to happen on Saturday night. I would also like to state that while I’d love to be able to see it live in person, that fact that I can’t will not diminish the shear joy and ecstasy I will feel if we win. It’s our time, I believe.

Two things I don't want to see at the Grand Final, Umpire intervention. Hannan playing 2 good games in a row for the first time in his career.

I got amazing tickets on the wing thanks to some very generous Demonlander’s. It restored my faith in people with how willing people were to help out. I wouldn’t have been going if it weren’t for this site. Cheers to all.

The old man just dug this up out of storage, an original poster from 1959

Spargo adds 3-4 goals a game hardly “just a role player” Have some respect

Ben will really turn it on in the GF. He has practised his 'tricks' and 'readiness' in lead-up games, he has led forward and taken nearly all opponent defenders with him, he has started to increase the accuracy of set shots, plus a few snaps. This is the last game for the year and this game is super-important for him; good scores are vital and he has the toolbox to produce great little contributions across the game.

That first game against GWS, the G was echoing with “Crikey, Jordie McKenzie’s really improved over preseason!”

The only MFC merchandise I brought when I moved to the UK was a 2007 scarf. view from Greenwich Park

They're training at the right team's ground to get that sorted.

Chez George: