Flower Magic

Gus was great tonight, not sure which game joeboy was watching.

6 Petracca 5 Langdon 4 Viney 3 Brown 2 Brayshaw 1. Oliver

If I want to roll in negative sludge, this forum never fails to disappoint. If we are good enough (and we are), we will beat any team anywhere. And who really cares whether other teams get more night games or less interstate trips or less 5 and/or 6 day breaks when, on the last Saturday in September 2022, Max and Goody will once again raise the cup for us. Personally I'm stoked that we have ten of our first 14 games at the MCG. So by round 15, I will have a pretty good idea whether to stay in Melbourne or leave town to look after my dozen or so ski chalets.

Wow, I sure copped some heat for my concern for our players' wellbeing after Jake's fainting spell. Those replying (or face planting or even vomiting) seem to miss the point of my original post entirely. My question was simply why do such an onerous session in hot weather (and direct sun) and risk the players' health when it could have been done on a cooler day? Particularly given that this was the first scheduled training session for 2021/22. The best distance runners do not do their hardest workout on the first day back after a break, they build up to it, increasing the intensity as they get fitter. Okay, so football fitness is different to running fitness? Not so much any more. Any running program should be gradual. Throwing people into hard sessions on day 1 risks various injuries such as calf and achilles strains and even stress reactions or fractures. And doing them on warm or hot days risks heat exhaustion which may cause, surprise surprise, fainting. But I never suggested that players should not do hard running on hot days. Of course they should, given that AFL venues now include Darwin, Alice Springs, Cairns etc. But not on day 1 in hot weather after a two month break unless all players have followed and adhered to strict running programs during their break, which I doubt is the case and certainly ain't for the new boys.

Would love to see the individual results. For hardened distance runners, one km intervals or repetitions with a one minute rest between each rep is a stock standard session. Marathon runners will do 8-10 reps, 5k and 10k runners commonly do 6 reps. So for a trained runner, 4 reps is not a big ask, even on a hot day. But for big bodied footballers, I imagine 4 reps would be very challenging and even more so in hot weather. Kudos to all the guys who got it done.

In case you hadn't noticed, players are not required to run a flat out kilometre, or a series of flat out kilometres, in matches!!!

I stand corrected on the distance but they were most definitely time trials, not drills, as per Jack Viney yesterday: "Ahead of the session on Sunday, midfielder Jack Viney said: "He [Griffith] wants to make his mark pretty early and he's got us training really hard at the moment. There's a bit of nervous energy about the (1km) time trials."

Have you been outside today? 24 deg in the shade is more like 30 deg in the direct sun. If it was "not that hot", Jake Lever must be a bit weak or badly out of shape to collapse after his runs. And you can be sure that no player was treating the time trials as "fun runs".

It baffles me that the clubs (not just Melbourne) force their players to run time trials on hot days like this in direct sun. Hey fitness guy, it will be 10 degrees cooler tomorrow! Why risk the players' health? Lever's collapse comes as no surprise. We are coming out of winter and spring. No one is yet accustomed to today's conditions. And there will be very few days like this between March and September next year. Really annoyed about this lack of flexibility and common sense.

I wish I had read this thread pre-race 😪. Message to self: pay more attention to Demonland!

From a player who shall remain unidentified in a forum which I cannot disclose. On Ben Brown: "An incredibly nice person, a brilliant story (to come from wooden spoon to premiership team), very calm person, a steadying factor for us". On Bayley Fritsch: "Very stiff to miss the medal, a worthy second, a ripping fella". On Luke Jackson: "Played a huge part in turning the game, could be anything that boy". On Christian Petracca: "Like a big Labrador, incredible development since being drafted, a consummate professional, has learned to re-set after setbacks, may have another level he can go to". On Jake Bowey: "Very competitive, towelled up Weightman." On Christian Salem: "Tough as coffin nails, genuine superstar." On Steven May: "Didn't want to know his scan result, said if I can train, I can play - and did, despite a 5 cm tear".

I opened and drank my 1981 Ron Barassi tawny port on premiership night 2021 and it was SWEET. Tawny port keeps well for many years. Yours will be equally sweet I'm sure.

Absolutely agree. Please remove the statue of that thug Leigh Matthews and replace it with one of a true footballing god.

Our greatest ever, full stop.

Drank it! It was bloody beautiful, just like the game.

In 1981, Ron Barassi returned to coach the Demons and I purchased bottle no. 221 of a batch of 1981 bottles to mark the start of a "new era for the Demons". I swore that I would only open and drink it when we won our next flag, which of course I expected would happen by 1986 in accordance with Ron's five year plan. It's been a very long 40 year wait since then. Anyone else still sitting on a bottle of this rare drop? I wonder how it will taste when I open it tomorrow night?

I can't believe that nobody has posted this song, featuring Demon tragics Scared Weird Little Guys, the late Jim Keays, Wilbur Wilde and Russell Robertson, and brilliant footage of Barassi, Smith (Norm and Shaun), the Wiz, the Ox, Neita, Allen Jakovich, Big Carl, Jacko and of course my idol, among many others.

The only thing requiring cancellation right now is the MFC's "most years since a premiership" tag.

Won't say where I heard this, but these pearls are direct from Gus today (paraphrasing some of the questions and answers): Q. Why do you always play on the members' wing at the MCG? A. Because there are two wingmen in our team, but only one of them ever needs to come off the ground, and the interchange gates are on the members' side of the ground. Q. What is the most important thing for a young footballing kid to work on? A. Becoming equally skilled on both sides of your body. Q. What has Darren Burgess brought to the group that has allowed so many players to play every game this year? A. We trained harder than any other team in the pre-season. I have never run as far in any pre-season as I did this year. Q. Who's the best golfer in the club? A. Jadyn Hunt is off 1 or 2, he is obsessed with the game.

https://www.change.org/p/mark-mcgowan-get-neale-daniher-to-perth-for-the-afl-grand-final?signed=true

We love you Jack. Always have, always will.

The whippets are ready.

Family folklore has it that my mother went to the 1956 Grand Final with me in utero, so that was my first game. The Dees won that one, so of course I was fated to become a Melbourne tragic. Best game? Easily 1987 at the Western Oval. I can still remember my idol carrying the team to victory with four brilliant goals. Worst game: the 1988 Grand Final. It was worse than losing the PF the year before because of our abject surrender before a capacity MCG crowd.

This podcast produced by the MCC and hosted by Anthony Hudson traverses the journey from 1964 to now. https://www.mcc.org.au/whats-on/latest-news/2021/september/listen-hearts-beat-true-for-the-melbourne-football-club