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Realised I hadn’t watched the GF all year… poured a pint of home brew Czech Dark lager and away we go…😃

They need all players to get over to Gawns house for a rona' party to get it prior to the season, an ideal competitive advantage

KDA sorry but you have not looked at our last 6 Finals. Jack Viney has been in our top 3/5 in all games except the 2018 Prelim Final where hardly any one played well. I also suggest you look at the GF again and see who got the ball out numerous times for our outside mids to break open the game and score multiple goals. Jack played one of his best games ever and has changed his role for the teams benefit. He looks to pass the ball on first grab he gets and no longer takes on the opposition and gets caught with the ball. I believe Dunstan will be valuable and get games as part of our midfield mix but form and injury will decide over the season who plays in the AFL team. Sparrow especially but Harmes and Jordan also deserve their spots if they are in form and fit early days 2022. But Dunstan is a good player who will be valuable in 2022 at various stages, But to say he will work better than Viney with our rucks and mids after the Finals is not correct as their chemistry was as good as it gets from Round 20.

Be very careful if you Google "How to change your ringtone". I ended up on a website that sells a product to bleach an unmentionable part of my anatomy.

The more I watch the replay, the more I appreciate Fritta's roving abilities and uncanny goal sense. He has light speed reflexes and to be fair it was probably good Hannan moved on and Melksham didnt get a guernsey . Frittas skills are in a very elite class.

Add to this list The Western Bulldogs, still in a TON of pain and hurt😂

My ringtone is just Bang Bang Bang Bang

Happy New Year, Demonlanders! In celebration, here's my quiz about the 2021 Grand Final. It's a long one at 57 questions, so make sure you're in the zone when you have a go. I've given the maximum allowable time of 20 minutes. Enjoy! https://www.sporcle.com/games/dees_in_october/2021-grand-final-quiz---demons-premiership

Anyone following the NBA will see that this would be a huuuge advantage if all our players got it prior to the season. Difficult with the various strains i guess.

Better now than during the season

I think Caleb Daniel is a very good smart player............... However, watch Jake Bowey overtake him and become much, much better!

I reserve my right to remain silent ...

I'm making an early call on Jonesy's son. On the Sunday GF replay he was running along the G in front of me and Viney ran up behind him and barrelled him into the ground. I'm guessing Viney used to cop that as a kid too.

I'm not sure that it is strictly on topic, but here is a list of insults that Dr Smith directed to the robot on Lost in Space ... https://irwinallen.fandom.com/wiki/Dr._Smith's_Insults Perhaps they could be adapted for use towards some of the AFL commentators? And yes ... I've probably lost the plot.

Great article that sums up the situation really well. https://themongrelpunt.com/afl-season-2022/2021/10/12/where-the-dees-get-even-better-in-2022/ Quote “In successful teams, there is always someone knocking on the door, and with Dunstan’s move from St Kilda to the premiers, he has made no bones about the fact that he wants to prove himself and make his way into this rotation. It puts the others on notice – step it up, or step out of the way.” ”Whilst a lot of the attention when talking about the Dees goes on the Petracca/Oliver combination, and rightfully so, however, the designated roles and the discipline to adhere to their allocated roles are an absolute strength of this Melbourne team that simply does not get the attention it deserves.”

Year of extreme emotions to say the least, thank god the Dees won otherwise I would have literally nothing positive to remember about 2021.

It's weird, the more I hear about it the more I just cannot believe we actually did it. On abc grandstand they just replayed highlights and I got all excited again. We actually did it.

I think there might be lots of GF births in late June this year. Bang bang bang!

There have been many musing on Demonland and in the media in general about the background, circumstances and even omens which led to the MFC mens side winning its first Premiership in 57 years. There is no doubt that the ever-present factors of luck and injury have to align at the right times, but all the other building blocks have to be present firstly, before even a tilt at the Flag can be made. And it may take some years to put these pieces together. Success through recruiting and trading is something which has to be achieved over a number of years, because a club simply cannot propel itself up the ladder on the back of a single draft-trade period. Talent and experience has been proven necessary to be present, since it is the best team with the best combination of players that will win the ultimate prize. Enough of the background to the success formula, so where does the AFLW Melbourne side sit in its quest for a Premiership? Already the commentators are recognising the fundamental talent that has been accumulated at Melbourne, combined with the current pool of experience built up over those many years. In this Melbourne Age article, Sara Burt nominates Melbourne as her pick for the Premiership: AFLW season preview: Footy is back, in early January The arguments and examples she uses are an almost perfect blueprint copy of what the Mens side had in place prior to season 2021. Ben Brown was recruited to fill the hole at full forward for the AFL Men and Tayla Harris returns to the side in the same role in the AFLW. When Daisy Pearce had to be moved forward last season to bolster the scoring opportunities, it just left a gap further down the field. Tayla will provide both a marking target and a solid goal scoring talent in front of goals. Then enter Liv Purcell from Geelong who despite an ACL injury in 2021, had won that clubs B&F playing in the middle in the prior year. We may not see her for a couple of games due to that injury, but she will slot straight into the middle. The recruiting staff had also identified the changing nature of the Women’s game some seasons ago. The players are now much more powerful and more skilled and have greater fitness levels than when the competition first started. Karen Paxman needed help around her, and so we find Tyla Hanks, Eliza McNamara, Eliza West and Purcell now surrounding her. In the ruck the men had the best in the competition, and so has the Women’s side with Lauren Pearce. The side sorely missed her presence when injured in the early games of last season, and had to call on Cunningham and Eden Zanker to fill in. Not a great situation, and was almost a parallel of when the mens side had to use TMac and Weidemann to do similar in the past. But it was just “robbing Peter to pay Paul”. So Lauren and the team needed backup, and this year we have recruited Tahlia Gillard at 189cm and Georgia Campbell at 183cm as just that. Gillard was the tallest recruit in the draft, while it is worth noting that Pearce ( the best ruck) stands at 183cm. Anyone see the comparison with the mens side drafting of Luke Jackson? The other plus is that Zanker, with her extraordinary athletic abilities, is now released to do damage throughout the whole ground this coming season. The experience level of the team is also unquestioned today. Lauren Pearce, Karen Paxman, Kate Hore and Tyla Hanks all made the All Australian squad last year. The men could only manage 3 in 2020, and naturally for both the Mens and Womens sides, there were glaring omissions, but you must have a core group of those experienced talented players to “hold the fort” when the going gets tough during the season. Luck and injury? Who knows about those … Certainly the fitness levels of the Mens side was the standard in 2021, courtesy of Darren Burgess. It is not too much of a stretch to suggest his legacy would also extend to the Women’s side, in terms of what is needed to get success. When we look back with that perfect 20/20 hindsight it is obvious what the Mens side had put together at season opener. The signs are that similarly the Womens side has done the same and with this group, this is the Premiership chance that has to be taken, before the talent and competition is further diluted with incoming sides in 2023. First Demons game: 2022 NAB AFLW COMPETITION Round 1 • Western Bulldogs v Melbourne Saturday 8 January 2022 • 7:00 PM (GMT+11) Victoria University, Whitten Oval

Viney is severely underrated on here which is suprising considering his finals series.

You must have been a bugger of a kid.😀😀

I’d like to think that by round 6 Weid’s form at Casey will be such that he forces his way into the CHF role in the ones at TMac’s expense - and will stay there for the rest of the year.

Didn't try it, but I have since had a strange craving for chocolate freckles.

Hereeeeeeeeeeeee's Kozzy!

Chiefs, Buccs, Eagles. Thanks @Macca Wanted to pick the Browns, but the Browns.

In arguably the most challenging season ever for the AFL competition we were awesome. Could had been a season of attrition but we were head and shoulders above the rest of the competition. Richmond fans might say 2020 was tougher but it was a truncated abbreviated season and we could have won that one too if the season wasn’t shortened.

Were you happy with the results? The team of the blonde coloured moon.

Thanks Dees in October. I think I will stop doing these. My confidence is taking a battering. One question that was easy was Lyon interviewing someone who said they would have kicked nine. I didnt see who it was but even without the suggested names I would have said Allen Jakovich. And he probably would have. He was a remarkable forward. But looking at our forward line now its still pretty exciting. Bbb prior to us had one bad year and THREE years of being one of the best forwards in the land. In a very average team as well. Tmac is a mixed bag. But when he does fire, he is a defender' s nightmare and he is exceptionally strong. Kozzie and Spargo will keep improving. Dogga likewise. Fritta is the interesting one. If he continues improving on his current trajectory he will bag over sixty next year. So we had ( still do) a great midfield. Then we built the best backline. And now we seem to have created a very potent forward line. It took a while for it to sort itself out but it really gelled coming into the finals. I'm not sure which forward to be the most excited by. I think maybe Kozzie. I do think this year will see us making over 100 points a game on a fairly frequent basis.

I have had the G-O-F theme song on my phones for some years, my kids had it on in no time flat, the only drawback is it dosent ring as long as a normal ring tone .My kids wont read this so if they can do it any younger person will poop it in ,

Yep as someone who works in aged care thankfully for the moment we have kept it out but I feel the walls are closing in. Which would just shatter me because we have kept it at bay for now and after all our hard work last year it would just annoy me as we are all doubled vaccinated and getting the booster next week. The stupid thing is visitors must have had a flu shot before they can even enter the front door but he covid vaccine isn't mandatory for visitors. Which makes no sense. My manager has been fighting with the fed government for months on this.

An 11-year bump in this thread! That’s gotta be a DL record, surely.

Lovestruck Lothario! Not mentioned was used at least once

Great job making the quiz! It was lots of fun. “Only” got 67% and had watched the replay in NYE, so I guess I’m gonna have to watch it again a few more times 😉 P.S thanks for not quizzing about anything in the 2nd quarter!

It's Dunstan vs Sparrow vs Jordon for one spot in the 22 I would suspect if it's a lineball call, the coaching staff will always go with one of the youngsters who currently have unknown upside I think the football department would view Dunstan as Viney's back up for when he gets injured again personally

Utter rubbish look at our last 6 Finals !!!

To be fair he runs rings around Vanders.

Agree and he did finish 10th in the 2020 B&F while playing a virtual lone hand up forward for much of the season which I think some are forgetting.

Thanks very much flash. I didnt watch many Saints games so my knowledge of LD is zip. As for JJ and Sparrow I thought the former was somewhat jibbed when TS took his spot but I now totally get it. As for TS ceiling, I dont think I'm alone in saying it's very high. I get the feeling we have a future champion on our hands. At his age, his courage, strength and mature use of the ball are very positive and the two goals kicked off a step in the granny by him and Trac on the fifty, give me pause to think TS may follow the others footsteps. I know that's a huge call but his gf efforts were fantastic for his age and that's why I hope he gets to play a lot of games next year. The Mfc has done a great job in the young players recruited and then entrusted many of them with a Gf birth. Given most of our elite players are mostly around 25 and all the young players we have, I can't imagine us not being a force for the next five to ten years. It's looking very, very, very good for four more flags...bang bang bang bang..... back where we belong..with the most cups. #Deesbacktoback2022.

Agree. Go back 12 months and everyone was saying T Mac is finished and Weid is da man. I think there's a lesson in that. I'm not totally confident that he'll do it (I don't think anyone can be), but I do think it's important for the medium term depth of the side that Weid makes it in some capasity. Our team ethos and game style means he doesn't nessacerilly have to be the superstar, but if he can be a solid contributor in the years between BBB and T Mac dropping off and/or retiring, while we develop other young KPFs, then I think that is important. Sure we could try to aquire a ready made mature KPF from elsewhere, but there are no gaurentees there either. I think BBB would be a great player for Weid to be an understudy to. Lead up forward that can also crumb and do smart stuff and kick goals once the ball hits the deck. The general demeanor of BBB is also such that I think he'll also be a great mentor and developer of our next batch of forwards.

He is definitely good. Based on 2021 he is well ahead of both Sparrow and JJ. That being said we don’t yet know what the ceiling is for those two. His 11 Brownlow votes puts him well in front of even Viney if you rate that as a measure. i am predicting we will use most of our list this year and where fitness and injuries were the measure of success for good teams in past years, depth will be the measure in 2022. COVID infections are going to hit every team hard, players will not be isolating and infection numbers will be closer to European levels than 2021 Australian levels. It is going to make for a very different looking season. I’m guessing it is going to favour team’s like the bulldogs who are constantly pushing versatility (often, in my opinion, to the detriment of themselves). I suspect it will also favour team’s with good depth and players who are well drilled to swing into a role. i am also predicting that taking the whole list to Perth and spending all that time together is going to look like genius in 2022.

The second-year goal tallies for some of the best small forwards in recent years: Stephen Milne: 50 Kysaiah Pickett: 40 Tom Papley: 30 Liam Ryan (mature recruit): 30 Cyril Rioli: 21 Eddie Betts: 20 Toby Greene: 4 What a special talent we have. Can't wait to see what this man can produce over a decade-long career in the red+blue.

To make sure everything is above board we'd like ASADA to be involved.

My life changed from this moment. The Viney crash actually.

More upside than Viney, the others are kids in football terms.

Jack Dyer retired from calling footy a few years before Rigoni first played. He did, however, manage to butcher many names and trotted out more than a few malapropisms.

Not to mention players possible missing for a week with Covid. This could be the year where a deep list becomes very important and we have one.

I’d cut him some slack. He’s a young man letting his hair down. I hate the way footy fans expect players to act like they’re at a funeral after they lose a game. Just because we’re emotionally unbalanced and tie our complete mental well-being to our footy team, doesn’t mean the players should. And this was obviously some time afterwards, seeing as it is in a night club. Fair dinkum, who cares.

Was looking at some stats and noticed Sparrow only had 66% game time. He played a blinder. Really like his hardness and he kicks like a mule.

Words can't explain how much this means to me. All the pain, all the heartache, the disappointment we've had to endure. The love-hate relationship I've had with this club as a supporter for 30+ years and as a member for the last 15 years, has caused me so much more grief than joy. At our lowest I would often ask myself why I put myself through this. Why do I care so much? Will this ever be rewarding? Well, all of that was worth it... for this moment. Although bittersweet in that we weren't able to be at the game or even watch it and celebrate the win with friends, this game is still one of the happiest moments in my life. I still can't believe it's happened and I've watched the replay or at least part of it every day since. It's been almost a decade since I posted on here and probably over 10 years since I was a regular. Still an occasional lurker from time to time and as passionate as ever about the Dees, but family and work-life balance meant I no longer had time and fell out of the habit of posting. And I lost a bit of interest in the team during the Neeld years to be completely honest! It's been refreshing this year to come on this forum and see the positivity and hope return to the supporters. For so many years this forum was a hotbed of negativity and I love reading thru all the posts recently and seeing just how happy this has made all of us. We are Premiers! The MFC... Premiers!! Still delirious ❤💙🏆