Dante

On another matter, i went to the game on the day without a ticket and just expected i'd get one from a scalper, they used to stand around and have tickets in their hand. This day however, there were none around and I thought i'd misjudged it. Then I saw a guy with something in his hand that looked like a ticket so I approached him and asked if it was for sale, he said it was but it was a ground pass that the staff have and he wanted 10 shillings for it. I was a bit reluctant to part with my half a quid but he assured me that it was ok, so I bought it and he pointed me to the gate I had to go in and off I went. It all worked out ok and I got in, but I was only a staff pass away from missing the last Grand Final we won for over 50 years, well worth the 10 shillings, which for those that don't know is one Dollar.

I was at the game and thought that we would win easily, we had beaten them on the final leading up to the GF quite by a big margin and to me it was just a matter of turning up. It was not as planned, however and as deoldfart described above we only just won. I had a standing room ticket and was by myself, when Gabbo kicked that goal, it was down my end of the ground, so I saw it coming, I was devestated and thought it was over and sat on the terrace. A short time later a woman standing near me said get up, Hassa Man has a kick 25 out, I stood and watched him miss, so I sat down again. Then Froggy kicked the goal to put us in front and I didn’t see it, I was still sitting down. I got up and shortly after the siren went and we’d won. It was an amazing game and we were so superior to Collingwood, we would have been unbackable You have to remember we were a super team throughout the 50’s and 60’s so you went to the ground expecting to win every week, it never entered my mind that we’d lose the 64 GF so it was just a normal week, to me at least. If someone had said to me, as I was leaving the ground, that we wouldn’t win another flag for over 50 years, I would have thought they were crazy.

You mean like Chip Frawley?

Really pleased the way two of our young talls, Weid and Oscar played. Weid is just amazing for a tall forward, he tackles so hard, has really good hands and his kicking is becoming elite, I think there were a few who suggested we made a mistake in taking him ahead of Curnow, don't think so. He is only 21 and has a lot of development ahead of him. Oscar has bulked up and doesn't get pushed out of the contest, and his kicking out of defence is excellent, he will be a star for Melbourne. There were some times during the game where I thought he would have to kick to a contest but he always found someone to kick it too. They say talls take some time to develop, well if that's the case then we have a lot to look forward to. Also what about Spargo, he is like a Tiger when the ball is in dispute, and he has poise beyond his years when he has the ball in hand. On another matter, Bruce Mc is the most simpering commentator I've ever listened too, he sounds like he's having his jollies off when he talks about some of the Hawthorn players.

Was in the rooms after the win and Tom went over to his mum and dad, he let his mum give him a kiss but shrugged off his dad when he tried to give him a hug, priceless

I'm not sure, I can get tickets but I hate going over there and the last couple of times I have we have lost and the supporters over there, both teams, are feral. It's just so expensive and you have to spend a night in that shytehole as well, decisions, decisions. Are there flights available, does anyone know?

I expected a larger contingent of Smugthorn supporters there last night and thought the support would be closer to 50/50 but we, overwhelmingly, had the crowd. Unbelievable support for the Dees, I was fortunate enough to get a pass in to the rooms after the game and they were all up and about. Jonsey's brothers were both there and absolutely stoked for Nat.

Just got an email from the club. Great seats still available Adults from $35 Families from $70 Leads me to believe there will not be a packed house this week.

Stick around, eventually you'll see, that there is a call for every player to be traded, that's the way it is.

He will go own as one of the most important figures in the MFC history, I'm sure he must have had a feeling of pride when he looked out at the crowd on Friday night.

Really good interview, he is a very level headed guy and credit to the club, this is the best group of players that we've he'd since 1964 and it's great they have so much belief in themselves. I was stoked when we picked him up, and he hasn't let us down. The move to the forward line was a stroke of genius and you could see noticeable improvement in the team when he came back after injury. Love ya Tommy.

I was pretty confident all night and never thought they were in it. The exact moment though, was a couple of minutes before Hannan kicked the goal, I said to my son, if we kick the next goal it’s over.

We played well on Friday but I think we can play a lot better, we rushed a lot of kicks when we were under little pressure and should have kicked a much higher score. It was very reassuring to win a game, a final, when we were below our best and have a lot of room for improvement. Some of our kicking was uncharacteristically wayward, Salem's first few kicks were way off the mark, he tightened up after the but some of the other players were a bit off. Great effort by the boys and to win a game against an experienced team with some great players in it was a credit to all at the club. I'm getting on in years and during the Neeld years I'd actually resigned myself to never seeing us win another Grand Final, well maybe I got that one wrong, this group are quite capable of doing anything. I'm so proud of these kids and the way they go about the job and so glad that PJ convinced Roosy to come on board and revitalise the club and make us relevant for the first time since 1964. Interestingly John Kennedy took over as coach of Hawthorn and changed that club forever, because he was sick of Melbourne belting them all the time, well I'm sick of them belting us all of the time so let's hope that Goody has changed our club so it won't happen again.

I got mine from the club, the same as I did for the first final, they come from the club's allocation and I pick them up from the Demon Shop. They are available to Foundation Heroes only, I believe

Yes, I've got mine already, not physically but on order and picking them up on Wednesday from the Demon Shop.

Walked out of Collingwood to go to the Saints because they had a better medical team, how'd that work out Nate?

I’m on my way back to Australia from Europe and I’ve noticed the tightening up of security and the increased number of police and army on the streets, most armed with automatic weapons. I had to go through security to get in to a Nespresso store on the Champs élysées in Paris. In fact you can’t get in to any monument or major church in Europe, without having your bag searched or scanned They are currently constructing a barrier around the Eiffel Tower to complement the existing bollards and other security measures. Europe is stuffed and in constant fear of terrorist attack. Isnt it interesting we don’t have that problem here.

That’s interesting, I’ve just left Rome and no one I spoke to there even knew we had changed. The Italians have had more changes of Government since the end of World War 11 than the English have had in 200 years so they’d hardly be the ones to take notice of.

The Media gave Bugg 6 weeks, as soon as the blow was struck they agreed that a penalty of 6 weeks was appropriate and the "Jury went along for the ride". In view of penalties over the last 10 years, it was excessive to the point of obscenity. Houli got 2, which was doubled on appeal to 4, for knocking a player out.

If that's the case we might as well forget this year and plan for next year, is that what you're saying?

Some do, some don't, do you think we'd sell more memberships if we played all our home games at the G, do you think we might sell more memberships if we had an attractive draw? If you say no to either of the above I'd question your judgement. Some, like myself, buy in every year irrespective, but there are many who choose wisely where they want to spend their entertainment dollar.

I think Wines is just talking out loud at the moment, I don't think there is any chance he will leave Port. He is musing over his possibilities but I'd say he will sign on the dotted line when he stops, he hasn't actually said he wants to leave.

Melbourne have 6 Home games at the G left for the year. Collingwood, Saints, Bullies, Suns, Swans and GWS, how are we supposed to make money and survive if that's what we get? Crowds will probably be Saints 35,000 maybe, Dogs 35,000, maybe, Suns 20,000 maybe, Swans, 40,000 maybe and GWS 20,000, maybe, we are deprived of genuine crowd drawing games and the QB is the AFL's way of offsetting that, a little bit. To be quite honest, I'd imagine we sell a lot of memberships on the basis that we get admission to both the Tigers and Pies blockbusters games and I'd imagine we'd lose revenue if we lost that appeal, who's going to buy in when we've got games against the lowest drawing clubs in the comp. Melbourne should ask the AFL to schedule us against Essendon on the Queens Birthday Game, which would be more appropriate given the MND appeal and the Daniher connection and allow Essendon to use the facilities in the Ponsford stand like the Pies do at present. We could also ask to play an away game against Essendon to ensure they get a good slice of the pie, the crowds will turn up for that. [censored] Collingwood.

This is just McGuire stirring the pot just before the game next week. This quote is just a deliberate attempt to create disharmony. "Melbourne is a strong club now, equalisation has underpinned them and they're no longer talking about merging which has happened over the years. Now let's work together." McGuire is just a greedy [censored] and this is just pure greed, they get plenty and have other games that make them heaps.

I don't give a rat's tossbag about who they think has a better chance of win the flag, my concern is the relentless use of the ski jokes, it's like the media are trapped in the 70's and can't get it out of their head that we've heard the same [censored] for 40 years. I'd like to ring some of these clowns and congratulate them on their originality, but it wouldn't sink in even of I did.