Demonland

We finally won trade week!!!

Club sanctioned.

I think a form of MFCSS or at least some of the symptoms will always be there. Sure the no premiership aspect is forever gone but I just want my team to win and be successful. I certainly am not embarrassed in any way to tell people who I barrack for anymore. There was always that nervous giggle when I would tell people "ha ha I go for Melbourne, yeah I know, no I'm not off to the snow, well I do have a Range Rover but that's besides the point". If in a few years (and hopefully it's a lot further away) we fall into a heap and become a basket case those symptoms will come flooding back. It won't quite be the "woe is us we'll never win a flag" type thing but it all comes back to me wanting us to win and be successful on and off the field. I'm sick of being last or mediocre or the butt of the joke and the premiership might change that for a few years but I still want us to win and be the best, be competitive and make finals at the very least. If we hit rock bottom or become also rans I'm sure some aspects will flood back. Look at Carlton supporters. I have a lot of mates who I have personally diagnosed with Stage 2 CFCSS. These arrogant [censored] would tease me mercilessly about not having a flag no matter how many times we beat them in games and finals. I had no comeback to that. Thankfully that is no longer an issue. I won't be as arrogant as they were about it as I'm not 12 but I have a new found air of confidence about me that I hope will last. A few more flags might turn me into an insufferable [censored]. They're still in their denial phase and are a long way off the acceptance phase. I hear them all up and about in preseasons just like we were for 30 years saying this'll be our year. False dawns aplenty down there. Poor bastards kids are embarrassed to wear their footy jumpers at school. They could be the true generation of CFCSS sufferers In 1987 we made the finals and were looking to break a 23 year drought. My MFCSS was slowly built on during the next 34 years to the full blown case you have all seen recently. 34 years between 1987 and 2021. That's 11 more years than the distance between 1964 and 1987. No wonder I was a basket case. Those scars don't just melt away. I have footy's form of PTSD from that trauma. It can never truly go away. I want more premierships so if things go south the MFCSS won't wait 34 years to build into a raging hot mess. My medicine will be to whack on the 2021 Grand Final and that should soothe me for awhile. Or I could quietly take solace in my Carlton friends misery as they enter their 27th year without a flag and their memories of 1995 slowly fade.

Longest Active Premiership Droughts St Kilda - 55 Fremantle - 27* Carlton - 26 Adelaide - 23 North Melbourne - 22 Essendon - 21 Brisbane - 18 Port Adelaide - 17 Gold Coast - 11* Collingwood - 11 Greater Western Sydney - 10* Geelong - 10 Sydney - 9 Hawthorn - 6 Western Bulldogs - 5 West Coast - 3 Richmond - 1 Melbourne - 0 *Yet to win a premiership

We'll be analysing the 2021 AFL Grand Final between the Demons and the Bulldogs on the Demonland Podcast LIVE Tonight 27/9 @ 8:30pm featuring @george_on_the_outer, @binman, & @Demonland Listen & Chat LIVE: https://demonland.com/podcast Call: 03 9016 3666 Skype: Demonland31

Thank you vanders. Wish you had got a straight crack at it sans the foot injuries. Loved your 2018 final series.

Thank you to Aaron, Aaron, Jay & Austin

These two were the worst. As usual it was the non-calls that were the howlers and most of them were against us.

THE FIRST DANCE

Love this. Particularly the part about Gawn insisting that Jacko stay in the middle while he's hot.

A stat for you @Jaded

Post all topics relating to the Trading Period and the Draft in the threads in the following board. https://demonland.com/forums/forum/38-the-trading-drafting-for-back-to-back-flags-board/

Pretty [censored] close to it.

When an AFL Grand Final approaches, supporters look for omens to help them foresee how their team will fare in the contest. Melbourne supporters were, until just before Saturday’s opening bounce, the best in the business at looking for positives to give them hope and direction - a natural feeling after 57 years in the wilderness. So when the Bulldogs’ streamers kept slipping from the handle of the Premiership Cup as Glen Jackovich delivered it to Optus Stadium, they wondered whether it would it prove to be something of a portent? This was a Melbourne side that had steamrolled through the 2021 season. Like the Western Bulldogs, they were constantly in the top 4 or 5 teams, so this promised to be a match of two equals. This was to be a match up between the two best sides of the season, especially given that both had comprehensively demolished their opposition in the Preliminary Finals. The opening quarter proved to be everything that was promised. The Demons came out firing, having settled early and concentrated on winning the football and using it well. Heavy hits from Steven May and Christian Salem sent the message to the team and the opposition that Melbourne was serious and not suffering any stage fright. With 60,000 screaming spectators in a vast Colosseum the atmosphere was electric, and for a side with 8 or 9 players under 21 years of age (a couple had played only a handful of games) this message sent by the leaders of the club was critical. The Bulldogs faltered against the early Melbourne onslaught, and found themselves three goals down at the first change. The Demon fans were feeling a little less anxious but with four goals from nine shots at goal, they were aware from experience how costly such inaccuracy could prove to be at the end of the day. The second quarter saw a complete change in momentum over the game. The Bulldogs responded with a few positional changes and, led by Treloar and Bontempelli, they started to get their hands on the ball. Suddenly, things weren’t going the way of the Demons and even the goal umpire adjudged a Max Gawn major to have gone to the other side of the post. The Bulldogs piled on six goals and, at the major break they led the game by eight points. The Doggies’ momentum continued after a miss from Bayley Fritsch, with the first two majors of the second half coming courtesy of Johannisen and Bontempelli. With a lead of 19 points mid-way through the “Premiership Quarter”, the Bulldogs appeared headed for a second flag in five years. But anyone who thought that way hadn’t taken into account the resilience of this Melbourne side and its capacity to overcome adversity as it has in similar situations through the year. Angus Brayshaw was throwing himself at contests to firstly deny almost certain Bulldogs’ goals. In the middle, Luke Jackson suddenly blew away his opposition ruck division, already softened up by Max Gawn. When Christian Petracca, Clayton Oliver and Jack Viney started to get the ball forward, Bayley Fritsch made full use of the opportunity and put through two majors in the space of 30 seconds. Ben Brown duly followed with Brayshaw again throwing everything he had to mark the ball and then goal to put the Demons in front. Petracca then followed up with an audacious dribbling kick from the boundary and the Demons had stamped their authority on the game with a seven goal quarter. Suddenly, they were ahead by four goals with a quarter of football left for the year. The game was by no means over. After all, the Demons held a similar lead at the first break but what many didn’t know was the extent to which this 17 minute patch of excellence had demoralized the Bulldogs. A fair measure of the credit needs to go to the Melbourne fitness staff. The Demons remained full of run, while Bulldogs players who had dominated in the first half, simply were unsighted in the second. What followed was a rout of the opposition with the previously inaccurate Demons putting through and incredible 9 goals 3 behinds in the final quarter. They must have been thinking about their fans back home and also helping to cure the fear of failure they had developed over the years, by taking away any hint of anxiety about the result long before the final bell. And so, the 2021 Season culminated in the end of the drought and a long sought-after Melbourne Premiership. Christian Petracca was awarded the Norm Smith Medal as best on ground, and Simon Goodwin and Max Gawn lifted the Premiership Cup to the accolades of the crowd. By this time, the Bulldogs streamers had truly fallen away leaving only the red and navy blue colours draped over its handles. There are and will be many stories to tell, and much more to tell of the credits due to individual players. Not for this space since it could lead to a War and Peace type production, and in any case I need to head back to the replay to enjoy this again and again. For the first time ever, Melbourne supporters have full colour video vision of their side winning a Premiership to be enjoyed forever. The grand old flag is flying again. MELBOURNE 4.5.29 5.9.39 12.11.83 21.14.140 WESTERN BULLDOGS 1.2.8 7.5.47 9.5.59 10.6.66 GOALS Melbourne Fritsch 6 Brown 3 McDonald Petracca 2 Brayshaw Jackson Langdon Neal-Bullen Oliver Salem Spargo Sparrow Western Bulldogs Bontempelli Treloar 3 Hunter Johannisen Naughton R Smith BEST Melbourne Petracca Fritsch Oliver Brayshaw Salem Gawn Jackson Western Bulldogs Bontempelli Daniel B Smith Treloar Macrae, Liberatore Dale INJURIES Melbourne Nil Western Bulldogs Nil REPORTS Melbourne Nil Western Bulldogs Nil SUBSTITUTES Melbourne J Jordon (unused) Western Bulldogs L. Vandermeer (unused) UMPIRES Jacob Mollison Matt Stevic Brett Rosebury Official Crowd 61,118 at Optus Stadium NORM SMITH MEDAL VOTING 15. Christian Petracca (Melbourne) - 33333 10. Bayley Fritsch (Melbourne) - 22222 3. Clayton Oliver (Melbourne) - 111 1. Christian Salem (Melbourne) - 1 1. Caleb Daniel (Western Bulldogs) - 1 Voting Luke Hodge (Chair) – C Petracca, B Fritsch, C Oliver Harry Taylor – C Petracca, B Fritsch, C Salem Tania Armstrong – C Petracca, B Fritsch, C Oliver Andrew Krakouer – C Petracca, B Fritsch, C Daniel Callum Twomey – C Petracca, B Fritsch, C Oliver