Cracker Nackers

I will always love him for his fourth goal in the GF. Bonus points for the crowd-rev up too

I love the video. So many footballers of this calibre can be knobs. Clarry aint. He's a good decent country boy. The night he got drafted, he gave his mum a big hug (he gets his famous hair from her). It was a wonderful gesture. If my last memory in life is his Fist of God goal from the Grand Final, I will die content. To behold perfection.

I used to travel to Perth quite often on business but not any more. Much like the Camino de Santiago, I want to travel one last time to the capital of WA and visit Optus Stadium. I want to stand where Trac once stood, where Sparrow did likewise, and hover in that spot where Oliver delivered his Fist of God goal - the aim being to immolate one more time in that life-changing event. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.

I'm in the 100+ club for the Q3 sequence. It's like Tolstoy's Resurrection when the ice cracks. However many more flags come our way, that 38 seconds (or whatever it is) will always be sacred.

Thank God Bruce did not commentate the 2021 GF. I just heard him in one of the Richmond premierships: "Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, YES YES YES YES!!!!" As bad as BT is, at lease there is none of this super-heated crap with a strange agenda.

I love the way that he gave it to Duckwood in Q3 of the Preliminary Final.

Friends, one thing I have noticed since that immortal night of 25th of September is how much more magnanimous i am towards other clubs and their triumphs. There was once a time when I could not watch Collingwood in the 90GF, or the Handbaggers in 2007 or the Western Bulldogs in 2016 - I was so envious and jealous. Now, I can settle down with You Tube and appreciate their victories for what they are worth - something, yes, something in the scheme of things -, even if none of them approach our canonical 38 seconds or whatever it is.

The Bulldogs mother in that footage was hot - to the right of the picture. Her daughter, I suspect, is to the left.

Friends, will we ever hear from Big Carl who was our last captain-coach? I know that we share him with the Aints but it would be so good to hear from Big Shadow!

How sad it is to come to the end of this blessed year. Farewell, 2021 - my lovely.

Sparrow is best 22 - easily.

Prior to Oliver's goal, the best goal I had seen in my life was Greg Williams when he was playing for the Swans. They were matched against us at the MCG. It was a centre square bounce. Whoever the Swans' ruckman was, the ball went straight to Diesel. He handballed it, got it back and then kicked a goal, gun-barrel straight over the head of the goal umpire. . It must have taken 15 seconds or less. It took my breath away. I must be the only person who remembers it still. Great as it was, it does not eclipse or supplant Oliver's goal - the Fist of God. Re the latter, have you noticed that the goal umpire materialises from out of nowhere as the ball heads in his direction. At the start of the sequence, it is almost as if he is not there at all. Magic aside, I dont understand it, not that it matters. Whatever else happens to us in life, we have this treasure.

Beautifully written - well said.

As he wheels away from kicking that goal, Oliver's eyes are wide open but he is not looking at anything temporal. In these Shadowlands of ours, he is beholding perfection itself. And as for the kick itself, it seems to slow down as it approaches the goals and clears the head of the goal umpire - as if the Big Fella himself wanted to savour the glory of the moment. We will never see their like again. Never.

It was a miracle. That said, I will be forever disappointed that we did not get another goal in that last 15 seconds. All Oliver had to do was kick it rather than handing it back to Trac. Nevertheless, it shows how rattled the Dogs were. Moreover, these were not three ordinary goals; they were the Fist of God. I wish I could find some three quarter time commentary, not least from Matthew Lloyd who understood their significance in the scheme of things.

The cheering for the ex-players became noticeably ;louder when the Cup was handed to the Ox and the Wiz. I know he could not be there (surely) due to quarantine rules but the applause would have been even louder still for Jako. That said, his interview after the game is legendary.

A champion in every sense of that word. A good human being too.

I hear that he wants to sign with Freo for 10 years so he can hang around Cam McCarthy.

Collingwood is the great enemy. Ever since those two wonderful finals in the late Eighties - 2-0 - our paths have yet to cross in September. A Melbourne v Collingwood GF has a resonance all of its own.

Noel McMahen and John Beckwith are still in the land of the living!

Who was the mug here? It was not RDB. Bonus clue: my avatar.

For Melbourne to be fully Melbourne again, we need to play the Great Enemy in a Grand Final and beat the gizzards out of them.

Graeme Gaunt was a terrific stalwart of the Club at the worst of all possible times

That is very nice of you to say that, Demonstone. Thank you. I have one other alter ego as well who does not wear red and blue - he appears every so often on SEN . . . . Elsewhere, Tiger Fang on Punt Road End had a good run before he was evicted by Rosie.