Rodney (Balls) Grinter

2018 we just scrapped into the finals and from memory had hardly won a game against a team in the top 8. 2021 we hace finished top of the lot, not only had a finals birth secured early, but top 4 as well, which has ment we haven't had to cruel players carrying significant injuries into finals without being able to manage them throughout the season (on which note, we now also have a Burgo). 2021 we hace beaten every team in the top 8 during the regular season. I also think our maturity, disipline to play to team structures and belief as team is poles apart 2018 to 2021.

Nice work Zephyr. Understand you were just making good on a request, however, personally I'm a bit over the whole Titanic thing (so 2018). I think the respective clips from that final kick of Rd 1, 2018 and Rd 23, 2021 would make some great bookends within a video collage of the team's journey over the past 5 or so years, but I think we need to wait so that the closing scene could be the cup being raised. This win in Saturday was such a great moment, but I really love how the players have expressed that the jobs not done yet. COME-ON DEMONS!!! Just another 3 more wins between now and the end of this season to make good on a lifetime of supporting the Red and Blue.

It's probably been stated multiple times in this thread already, but the deliberate out of bounds rule was applied extremely inconsistently in the favour of our opponent yet again against Geelong. There were also multiple other occations it cost us, not just in the dying minutes. Chris Scott doesn't have any leg to stand on questioning the validity of that 50m penalty, unless he's also brings the paid/not paid deliberate out of bounds into the conversation. Thankfully unlike against Adelaide, it didn't cost us the game this time, but it's a bit of a trend that we get such a rubbish rub of the green with these decisions compared to our opponents.

Great little video and characterises what happened at my place pretty well. What a rollercoaster. At half time I remember sitting there thinking FFS, they have thrown this one, because the one wood to our games this season has been never to let a team get more than ~20 points up on us. While I thought it was possible that we'd come over the top of the dad's army in the second half, to be honest, when we hadn't pegged back their lead to less than 20 points at 3/4 time I thought we were pretty stuffed and would just be playing the last quarter to regain a bit of form and pride. Once we got them back to within 14 points, with soo much time I thought F this is game on baby, but once Sparrow missed his shot on goal and they started to play keepings off in that last 2mins I thought, bloody hell, I think we've blown our chance here. When Maxy marked, weirdly I actually had reasonable confidence he would kick it, but not the sort of confidence as if it was a Salem or Big Ben Brown. Seeing that kick go through the two big sticks was just a moment of pure elation and I was screaming my head off, fist pumping and jumping all over the lounge in a mad flurry. Hope the players know how to put things back in the bag, because I'm still buzzing from this win.

6. Clarry 5. Lever 4. Gawn 3. Big Ben Brown 2. Kossie 1. Harmes

Not quite WJ. We win today and finish on top and it's like we've reached that last little peak before the final accent to the summit. As much as I'm itching for the game today and would love us to finish on top, in my mind, we are still only strong qualifiers for the ultimate prize. Really hope this team has the physical and mental toughness to clutch the oppertunity that awaits us in the comming month. Everything I've seen so far this year says we are watching the Melbourne team most likely to go on and claim that illusive flag. Really hope that everything comes together for team over this last month and we can totally dominate the opposition along the way and put it all beyond doubt - starting with today.

Melbourne supporter as a kid mainly. Is he kinda mates with Trac as well maybe?

Agree. The Brownlow has become tarnished over the years by some really shocking outcomes. Doesn't deserve to be the penultimate players award. Substituting the umpires votes for the coaches ones would bring back some much needed credibility.

I'm all for us targeting Maynard and Pendelbery. I think both have some great attributes that would complement what we need in the team. I know there's this theory that as captain, Pendles is untouchable, but I'm not convinced. Plenty of precedents of captains jumping ship late in their careers. Add to that the Collingwood board instability that Ross Lyon sited as the basis of his decision to snub the Pies. Both have a strong MFC connection and that we have such a strong list, well in the premiership window (which I think would be a huge motivator for most AFL players) and I think you can make a pretty strong case that they are well and truly gettable.

I think Oliver as a player can be characterised as being fairly similar to Michael Voss. Asides from being a fiery red head, like Voss, he's a tough, no frills grunt player, who provides near endless drive for their team, but doesn't necessarily features that heavily in the game highlights reel. Recognised by anyone who knows anything about footy as an out an out superstar. I'm not sure that Clarry has quite nailed the leadership thing to the same extent as Voss just yet, but perhaps that's the next step in his evolution. If you listen to Steven May's recent SEN interview, he credits Clarry as putting his hand up in preseason as making a commitment to become the best player he can for the team, so I think he is well on the way in this regards as well.

Kind of amazing really that Ross Lyon rejected Collingwood on the basis of club instability, yet is still prepared to entertain an offer from Carlton. Kind of has the same overtones as when he took over the reins at Freo in similar circumstances, where the rug was pulled out from under the feet of an existing coach. I'm really not sure thay quality things that people say about Ross are justified on this basis.

I'm a bit conflicted on how I'd like to see the games to make up the teams in the bottom half of the 8 fall. On the one hand, I'd rather not see Essendon make it, but then I'd also like to see West Coast supporters suffer some pain and suspense of thinking they are in with a sneaky chance of making finals only to be denied at the last minute.

Read an article a while back, which included extensive interviews with Cox on his American background etc. I forget the specifics, but he seemed to find what was going on in the US with Trump at the time as genuinely abhorrent and I got the impression that it didn't seem like it was within his personality to be the racist type, quite the contrary.

As an asides, I'm quite happy to see big Steff Martin is still not right to step out onto the paddock for the Dogs. He was looking good for them and I think really added to their side early this season before he got injured. Particularly with Bruce out, I think they would have loved to get him back in for this game, when the double chance is all of a sudden on the line for them. Hopefully it's a sign of his fragility and venerablility for the Dogs come finals. Absolutely nothing against Steff personally (quite the contrary), but I'm tired of seeing players that we developed get recycled and contribute to the success of other teams at the expense of our own.

Dogga, Spargo, Kossie, Bowey - there's some decent tallent on that bench they named.

When I started following footy back around 1986, I chose to support Melbourne, a once great, and powerful club that had dominated the AFL for an era. At that time it had been around 22 years since our last flag and we still haven't won one since. It's been close to 22 years for Essendon now and Carlton must have had nearly as poor a record from 2000 as we did during the 70s and early 80s. It gives me hope that these clubs could one day go as long as we have without tasting the ultimate sucess again. Of course, we still have to nail one in the next few years and there are certainly no gaurentees, but it feels so close, you can almost touch it.

For a bloke that I suspect costs us SFA with respects to salary cap and trade capital, I think Smith was more than serviceable today. Actually thought his first half in particular was excellent. Petty was fairly average in his first few senior games this season, but plenty of posters were willing to give him a 'hall pass'. The oppertunity having Smith around to give Maysy a much needed break was invaluable and I don't think such depth should be under sold.

Actually wondering if there is a catch 22 here for North and Hawthorn. Forgetting about the Tassie govenments threats to cut off AFL from the state in the intermediate period, if Tassie were to actually get a team longer term, I'd presume they would no longer sponsor North and Hawthorn huge sums to play down there. So where does that leave North's finacial viability in particular. Not going to be easy to replace that sponsorship money, particularly within a diluted sponsorship pool from a 19th team. Do North end up completing for the NT govs money to play there? North talk the bravado about being financially sound going forward, but I do still wounder about that.

Got to say, at this point, I'm a fan of how the club has done a Claytons job at managing Hibbo and Jimmy Jordon. I think it should work out almost perfectly. In particular, it should be good to have Hibbo cheery rip for finals and blooding Bowey looks set to pay dividends with Hunty missing for a reasonable period. All the above particularly since they are talking above removing the pre finals bye.

Like playing on to advantage and/or any other time the umpire calls a free kick in general play.

Fawning over Dusty now. If Richmond struggle again next year, Dusty will get found out and just look like a hungry selfish has-been.

Still ten minutes left. It could happen.

This is soo un Richmond like.

Here goes Lynch getting himself into the game. ...poster. Dam shame that.

Tell em they're dreaming. We arn't going to fall for that [censored] again. Plus, it will be like 2018 in reverse. They are hitting a purple patch right now, but are having to throw everything they have at it just to make it and I'm tipping they will fall in a heap sooner or later.