tiers

For those of us who waited the whole 57 years, it is DEES FOREVER.

Don't despair, we have a lifetime to savour the moment. Slowly and longly.

The winning jockey's colours for the feature race on Saturday were red and blue. 1+9+6+4 = 20. 2020 was meant to be the year but due to the madness it was not a real year (16 min quarters, 17 rounds) so it doesn't count. Replaced by 2021.

+1. The joy of winning was beyond all expectations.

One year at a time.

I met Saty at training and at a family day many years ago. In our brief discussions, I was impressed by his deep knowledge and understanding of the game and observed his close, but respectful, relationship with the players that led to many insights that were unfairly derided on this forum. His return, even in a diminished role, would be appreciated.

The last two goals in the 3rd quarter from centre bounces (in our run of three in less than a minute) were started by Jack pushing the ball out to the front of the pack for Tracca, Clarry and Dogga to grab, run with and deliver. It's a role that suits him well but does not often get recognition.

Until proven otherwise, I say yes, 3 goals in less than a minute in a grand final is the quickest 3 goals ever. Check with Bruce's stats guru.

Closer. Only need the whole family at the G for a flag and my footy life would be complete. I was there in 1964. I can't wait another 57 years.

Not this millenium.

Not enough. I am looking forward to a long and pleasant summer.

Back in October 2020 I wrote: As I have said before in a post, the late Dean Bailey used to say that it takes 70 games played as a group to build the sort of cohesion and understanding needed for success. We are getting to this target - Oliver, Petracca, Brayshaw, Salem, Harmes, Gawn, TMac(?), Viney, Jetta and maybe others. It is significant that Oliver, Petracca, Brayshaw and Gawn have been prominent in recent Brownlows. MaCartney used to say that it takes 5 years to build an AFL footballer. Combine the two and 2020 was supposed to be our year but it will now have to wait for 2021. With good coaching and leadership it's nearly time for this group to burst out and find success. After Saturday's success, it is now clear that the club found good coaching thanks to Goodwin, Williams, Yze and leadership thanks to Maxie, Petracca, May and Lever. Once all the pieces were masterfully assembled thanks to Taylor, success flowed. C'arn the demons.

I have referred to this more than once in these threads. In 1964 I was in high school and had the thrill of standing in the open stand under the old scoreboard and watching Crompton's kick sail towards me. Until Saturday this was my greatest thrill after more than 60 years barracking for the dees. My greatest thrill from now on will be watching the last quarter and a half when we kicked 16 goals to one. C'arn the demons.

Re: targeting Maxie. If the bullies are set to target Maxie then one of both of these things should happen: Maxie should run him off his feet. Stef might have been faster once but Maxie's tank is so much bigger and he is at peak fitness. Or, play Jackson in the ruck to run him off his feet and rest Maxie where he can do most harm. Maybe to smother Schache and free up Lever or play in the goal square and take marks. There is no other player who is so versatile and destructive. Ask [censored] cats. And, we still have TMac if they want to play games and BBB can also take turns in the ruck in the forward line. C'arn the demons.

Recruiting zones heavily assisted the dorks and the lollieblues whose premiership sides in the 70s and 80s were full of zoned (ie untouchable) players. Zoning disadvantaged the dees whose zone delivered few champions (Flower, Lyon and not much more) in 20 years until drafting commenced. Good coaching and preparation could still make a difference but not enough for a flag. The u19s under the highly regarded juniors' coach Slug Jordan in the early 80s populated our finals teams in the 80s and 90s. But even they were not champions but just a well coached and trained group who came through together and were inspired by Northey to play above themselves. 2021 is the first year since the early 60s where we have a several mature champions at the same time (Max, Clarry, Tracc, May and Lever) and a well coached and implemented game plan based on roles. C'arn the dees.

Three levels of recognition: 1. Players on the day - 23 presented with a mini cup as recognition that they played that day. 2. All players who played at least one game - a medal from the AFL/club as recognition that they contributed to the premiership. 3. All support personnel including coaches, medicos, trainers, water carriers, runners - a medal from the club as recognition that they contributed to the premiership. Seems fair. Nathan Jones must have something to show for his outstanding contribution to the success of our club.

Doggies had success against anti-power because they were able to successfully isolate their forward line into separate one-on-one contests. Schache was just a spoiler. Watch the replays of the first quarter to see how it worked. The Dees on the other hand do not allow our backs to be isolated so easily and play a team defence based on clever running and support from team mates. About half way through last quarter against [censored] cats Petty was caught one out against Hawk and Cameron and was out positioned so that Hawk had a clear shot. Langdon backed up and harrassed Hawk who dribbled the ball to Cameron who was out classed by Brayshaw. How disciplined and smart is our set up when the two wingers provide back up on the last line of defence and in the blink of an eye are positioning up the ground as targets for clearances? It's called TEAM and has been a revelation this year.

Re: tagging. Why is it that it is always that we have to tag them. With Oliver, Petracca, Viney, Harmes, Jackson (in his midfielder role), Langdon and Brayshaw its more than probable that our opponents have more to worry about for their taggers than we do.

+1. A determined footballer, a courageous leader and a great servant of our club but, above all, a GENUINE DEMON. No honour is too great. Thanks Nathan. As we said in 1964, c'arn the demons.

Should also include Neal-Bullen and occasional ring-ins like Petracca, Oliver, Jackson and, of course, Maxie.. We have this year finally realised that there are roles for everyone. Sometimes they are fixed, sometimes they vary with the opposition set-up, the state of scores or simply to confound and to confuse. It relies on switched-on, disciplined role players who set up in the right positions and who can turn nothing into something. Very hard to defend against.

Copy of the team list from the 1964 Grand Final Footy Record signed by all of the players who attended the 50th anniversary reunion in 2014 at the Bentleigh Club. 14 attended with some sadly deceased and others unwell or overseas. I had the good fortune to attend and spend a few hours with my heroes from 1964. There are some things in life that bring great joy and happiness. It's a thrill to have our captain, RDB, and vice captain, Hassa, still with us to lead us to the game. 1964 Footy Record team list signed14092021.pdf

1964 poster. Bought many years later and I am not sure if it was original.

Meditate, pray, go to a monastery to hibernate to avoid the publicity. Come out of hibernation at 7.00 pm Saturday 25 September. One moment at a time. As we used to scream in 1964 c'arn the dees.

What a revelation. Maxie can play full back (on hawk in the goal square for a while), loose man in defence, high marking full forward, first ruck who can also clear his own work, chaser and tackler (tackle on rohan), ground ball getter, goal sneak from the pocket and now attacking midfielder with goals on the run from over 50m. Not quite the complete package until he shows that he can run like langers, intercept like Lever and kick exquisitely like Salem. I cannot recall over 60 years a champion ruckman in any team that combined the skills and attributes of our Maxie. That list includes Schultz, Farmer, Sampson (Ess), Green (Rich), Dempsey, Thompson, Moss, Teasdale, Madden 1 and 2, Scott, Jimmy, Wynd, Nicnat. None of them could have achieved what Maxie achieved in the prelim final. To Maxie - please settle, rejuvenate your mind and body and play to your best.

+1.