Timothy Reddan-A'Blew

First, time for another 👍 to all (well, almost all😉) posters on this gift-that-keeps-on-giving thread. Then, your offering, Mazer, gives me the courage to put my offering below out there. I thought if 1939 warranted recognition (though I've never understood why - 13-year drought? Pffft!) then 2021 definitely does! I sent it to the club and got a prompt and very warm thanks for it, which I really appreciated. Looks like that's as far as it'll go, then, but I've got it off my chest (or I finally do now😄): 3. Well The Curse was done, in the year Twenty-one, And they did it for you and for me. With that final bell, ending decades of hell, We can sing with them finally free: Every heart beats true, for the Red and the Blue, And we sing this song to you, Should old acquaintance be forgot, Keep your eye on the Red and the Blue.

I remember thinking at the time there was a bit of 'right time, right place' and 'got on the end of a few'. See what you think... https://www.afl.com.au/video/647523/vfl-showreel-r13-ellison-explodes-with-six-goal-super-show?videoId=647523&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1626004800001 Lump of a lad and gangly/awkward. Ducklings and swans?

Thanks for the opportunity to reflect, Cassie. I went to the exhibition games Melbourne won (should have made it to the other?!) and I went to the first because it was free, the red and blue were in it, I was curious, and the 'Melbourne' team had a good loading of Darebin success, I think? It was a bit hit and miss and clumsy but it exceeded my expectations. That, and the win, and the performance of some of the stars (Daisy and Tayla stand out) brought me back. I think there was an element of wanting it all to lead to something but, in the main, it was the case for me that going to any games I could expect the red and blue to win was the main motivation. The loss in the last exhibition game annoyed me, as later did the drafting arrangements for the new comp, that saw Tayla go elsewhere, and I see that annoyance now as me becoming 'invested'. Then I was chuffed Melbourne (deservingly but never apparently certainly, and it was a nervous wait) became a founding team, and I became a Foundation Member. Regular access to Melbourne team playing home games at Casey (Casey mens were not yet fully Melbourne) added to the attraction (though it was an inglorious start!) Now the team is building a catalogue of 'moments' and somewhat of a heartache story of its own. So I think I can now say that I follow it on its merits, and that I follow it undulled by the men's success. Indeed, my following is burnished - selfishly, I want another dose of fulfilment and I can't wait 12 months!

Oooh. Nervous...

Went a couple of minutes early, @Range Rover to the snow Sorry😉

Paywall.

Page 39 of last week's Game day thread. Here we go...

They'd be choosing a retro name from the '64 team, in their grandad's honour wouldn't they @Neil Crompton? Welcome to grandparentness, Neil.

I've just picked up the Hun mag. It shows the string of our thirteen (🎵Thirteen! Thirteen! Thirteen!🎵) and it's the first time I've twigged that ten have been against Collingwood (6) and Essendon (4). Wouldn't mind a few last Saturdays in September against them in this era!

Early Elspeth Ballantyne. 'Bellbird's' decade from 1967 coincides with MFC's descent into the clutches of The Curse. But we're free, I tell you; we're free!

I should have included a '?'... Mind you, do we want them forerners in our trophy?😉

...and Casey Demons.

(Maybe one post then. And sorry if it's already been noted somewhere else in the extraordinary body of work that is Post Premiership (Still Feeling It!) Demonland...) Indeed, DIO, the score was 9.10.64. Say it fast...

I feel I've gone a bit silly (for me) with posting across the board this past month or so, particularly since Saturday, though particularly particularly with the above. So I'm going to sign off now, until I can post the results of the above. Gulp.

(Bumped from the 'Flying the flag' thread) I'm not normally a baseball cap wearer but how validated do I feel atm, quietly proudly sporting this everywhere (in unlockeddownland - sorry...). And I get to do it for two weeks. At least. That was straight after the Prelim (my 'At least' was hopeful but prescient😉) Anyway, to that I have now added this, for my exercise rides around my 'village', from my guess-which-birthday, 'Play-On-The-'G' present. p.s. Sorry about the in-your-face (in-the-back?) pics. I don't know how to shrink them.

Thinking caps on: I can't say as I've had cause to notice much in previous last weeks of September in this media age, but has their ever been a premiership captain able to add a whole other layer to the enjoyment and experience like Max does?

I just can't get enough... p.s. He's been asked about just about everything else; has Max been asked what he was actually thinking for his last kick?

...solo, surrounded at close range by 4 Dogs at the 4 points of the compass. A beautiful tableaux.

Sorry if this has been raised / answered / posted already, but has RDB31's reaction been heard or, better, seen anywhere?

👍to everyone's positive comments here. Time to call 'time', then, on the 'Goody's Pet' theme 😉. It already went past its use-by date several weeks ago...

Thanks for doing this, everyone, including for the nods to the other coaches (I'm also appreciating the on-reporting from various media that I'm unable to get, by the way!) I wonder if those to whom our thanks are directed get to see them? I hope so! p.s. Also wondering of 2021's realised good-teammate-not-self culture has made players and coaching staff more open to each other's messages, making good coaches (and players) even better?

Worm? It's a Brontosaurus. And what a glorious 2 hours it was, watching the message get from its first-bounce tail to its final-siren brain!

I think I shouted at the telly only twice (on the umpiring, that is - I was pretty vocal in other ways, including a primal scream of what I've since realised was emotional release after Clarry's goal) At the end of the game I said to my (non-footballing) partner that the umpires must have had a good game cos they weren't really noticeable. The analysis above suggests there were things to notice but, on their whole body of work, I think 'Mainly Went Unnoticed' is a pass-mark 3-word analysis of their game.

Consideration of symbolism - indeed the thirst for it - has steadily gathered baggage these last 57 years, proxying success and sometimes in a fond hope of creating it. Now we are gloriously baggage free. I've been thinking Nathan Jones needs to be recognised in some permanent way. Membership of Saturday's 23 would have sufficed but that wasn't to be. And Nathan's story of devotion through protracted darkness is uniquely paralleled (possibly slightly surpassed?) by that other Number 2, Robbie Flower, for whom permanent recognition is also due, indeed long over. Other major sports attach great honour to the retirement of numbers, and to the ceremony and curation that surrounds it, so I'm thinking this might be a fit recognition for Nathan - and Robbie - to suggest to the Club. I think it might have been considered before? But that was while we had baggage. And I don't think there will be future rush on other numbers; what Nathan and Robbie did was of a magnitude apart. Still, it may be a bridge too far for the Club. At least, then, could Nathan - on his and Robbie's behalf - be charged with the selection of future wearers of Number 2? Thoughts?

Time for a separate '25 September 2021 Moral Assists' thread. Take the honour, @roy11