Katrina Dee Fan

really beautiful. I managed to get myself the Narrm scarf, beanie, hoodie and pins. Very happy with my Narrm merch!

I had a similar experience at the Essendon game this year. I am a member of the Demon Army, I was doing my bit to cheer loudly and wave flags, and had a Melbourne supporter from the GA bay next to us physically manhandle me by grabbing me on the shoulder, telling me to stop waving the (insert f word here) flag down. He didn't take to kindly to me saying to him why is he sitting next to the cheer squad if he doesn't like flags. This is what we cop from fellow Melbourne supporters.....

What [censored] me about this whole debate is that the attendances are down across the board but the focus is purely on Melbourne, even though we have significantly less members than clubs like Collingwood, Carlton, Essendon, Hawthorn, yet Melbourne are still 5th on the tally for attendance. 5th out of 18. No one is criticising Collingwood and Hawthorn for their pathetic 42,000 on the MCG on Sunday afternoon, no one is criticising Carlton for 26,000 against Adelaide at Marvel a couple of weeks ago.

If people are stupid enough to not think this is ridiculous, then that's their problem.

Big deal, it's not a punishment. All players do community programs through their community partners as part of their contracts.

Same. I remember having a conversation with a friend of mine in Perth, who asked me, how is it possible to have so many clubs in one city without everyone wanting to kill each other? I think that's the great thing about the footy culture in Victoria, you can talk jovially about football with supporters from other clubs and it's mostly tongue in cheek ribbing. In Perth the opposing supporters of WCE and Freo seem to really hate each other, and I get the impression it's the same in South Australia. I look at my office, and there are St Kilda supporters, an Essendon supporter, a Richmond supporter, a fellow Melbourne supporter, we all are able to talk about football in a fun, respectful way. In fact one of the St Kilda supporters in my office and I have a thing we we will buy each other merchandise and decorate each other's desks. I put some St Kilda flags around his desk earlier this year when he was on long service leave so he came back to a nice surprise, he came back with a Gawny bobble head and some vintage VFL cards from the 80s.

Oh, no doubt about that, but it's still good :)

Just wanted to share with everyone a short story from last week's loss against Freo. I was on my way to Richmond Station, and I happened to pass a Freo supporter. She mentioned to me, "I hope you're not too upset with that loss." and I replied with "Freo did really well, you deserved that win." She mentioned to me that after that night, she was really impressed by Melbourne supporters. She said after the final siren, heaps of Melbourne supporters around her offered their hands to shake and said "well done". She though Melbourne supporters were really nice, and that she wasn't used to that kind of response from opposing supporters - "Usually in Perth, supporters yell abuse, but after tonight I think Melbourne's my second favourite team simply because of people like you, being really nice about losing," citing teams like Essendon, Collingwood and in particular West Coast as the worst. She said it made her trip to Melbourne for the game memorable. I do think it's an important element of us as supporters. We don't want to be seen as d-heads, and if we're gaining that kind of reputation, that can only be a good thing.

So it's shot up by 500 in 2 days? That's ace!!

Sorry to be pedantic, but the top 8 system didn't start until 2000 :) in 1994 they went to a top 6 (prior to that it was a top 5 for a period of time after much of the competition it being a top 4).

Pretty much :)

Except for Collingwood in 1902 (they lost in 1901) or Fitzory in 1904 (they lost in 1903) or Collingwood in 1919 (they lost in 1918) or Richmond in 1920 (they lost in 1919) or Collingwood in 1927 (they lost in 1926) or Geelong in 1931 (they lost in 1930) or Richmond in 1932 (they lost in 1931) or Richmond in 1934 (they lost in 1933) or Essendon in 1942 (they lost in 1941) or Richmond in 1943 (they lost in 1942) or Essendon in 1949 (they lost in 1948) or Collingwood in 1953 (they lost in 1942) or Melbourne in 1955 (they lost in 1954) or Melbourne in 1959 (they lost in 1958) or St Kilda in 1966 (they lost in 1965) or Carlton in 1970 (they lost in 1969) or Richmond in 1973 (they lost in 1972) or North Melbourne in 1975 (they lost in 1974) or Hawthorn in 1976 (they lost in 1975) or North Melbourne in 1977 (they lost in 1976) Or Essendon in 1984 (they lost in 1983) or Hawthorn in 1986 (they lost in 1985) Or Hawthorn in 1988 (they lost in 1987) Or West Coast in 1992 (they lost in 1991) or North Melbourne in 1999 (they lost in 1998) or West Coast in 2006 (they lost in 2005) or Geelong in 2009 (they lost in 2008) or Hawthorn in 2013 (they lost in 2012)

What did the email say, regarding the membership rewards? I wonder if only certain categories have received the email so far.

I've clocked up 37 years, I didn't get an email

I think you might be. I'm pleased it's at the G.

Not sure how you didn't know, given emails were sent as were postal votes, to all eligible voting members. I received this email on 7 February

I'm only waiting on two things now, being the Max Gawn book and the white New Balance tshirt. Everything else has arrived. All in all I purchased - 4 different style t-shirts (2 navy, 1 grey, 1 white New Balance) - the black 9-forty cap - premiership beanie - premiership scarf - Mark Knight hoodie - premiership guernsey - DVD - two stickers (one for the car, one for my laptop) - two pins (one logo, one premiership cup) - premiership bucket cap - premiership cup keyring - pictorial book - Max Gawn diary - Mark Knight poster - premiership mug - Mark Knight drink bottle - felt pennant - premiership footy record My god, winning premierships is expensive!!!!

What a day!! If there was ever an event to make you feel proud to be a member of the Melbourne Football Club, yesterday was it! My day started off picking up my nephews at about 8.30 and we made our way to the station. We got to the MCG see a sea of red and blue spectators milling around, queuing up to see the 13 premiership cups, and we made our way to the ice cream van. We found our seats in the MCC members reserve and the match replay started on the big screen. During the course of the morning we got to see some of the honour boards and photos of the MCC and the affiliated sports, including two sections dedicated to the Melbourne Football Club. All the proof I needed that while three other teams call the MCG home, the true home team is in fact the Dees, and has been since 1858. (Sorry, Richmond, Collingwood and Hawthorn!) It was treated like any other match. We cheered the goals, we argued with dodgy decisions (I still reckon that should have been a goal to Max Gawn and how that high tackle on Kozzie Picket wasn’t paid is beyond me). Quarter time saw Andrew Leoncelli and Guy Rigoni compete in the super kick competition, half time saw Robbo Live - Russell Robertson and his band playing Aussie hits, and 3 quarter time gave us a chance to farewell Neville Jetta and Nathan Jones. Then it was time for members of the Demon Army and the Ruby Demons to form the guard of honour on the ground for the players to run out. Standing on that turf while 40,000 people are in the stands is one of the most surreal experiences. The players came out, followed by the players who didn’t get to play, coaches, staff and some board members, and some, like us, had tears in their eyes. Garry Lyon looked like he was completely awash with emotion. We made our way back to our seats after navigating the rabbit warren of the underbelly of the MCG, in time to see the players awarded their medals (we missed the Norm Smith presentation to Petracca while trying to get back up to our seats). There was not a dry eye in the stadium when Neale Daniher presented Simon Goodwin with the Jock McHale medal, and then we hear it, the speech Basil robbed Goody of delivering on GF night. And he delivered it so absolutely beautifully. The cup made its way down a long line of past players, And with Ron Barassi unable to come to present it, it was instead presented by David Neitz. As I predicted! The after party at the London Tavern was next. And that was a massive party. The cup made its appearance, and we all had our turn with it, but we had a few gatecrashers in the form of past players. I managed to get photos with Brian Stynes, Rod Grinter, David Neitz, club president Kate Roffey, Steven Febey, and while I didn’t get a photo with him, had a good chat with Paul Hopgood. By 6.00 I found myself ready to leave. As I went outside i noticed small group outside, and I exclaimed “so nice to be somehere quiet!” Conversation was struck, they then mentioned they were about to go to the East End Bar. “Ah, Gawny’s bar in Hawthorn,” I said. They asked me if I’d like to come along, and I said I’d love to, but I should go home, as I had to get my car from my sister’s. It was then revealed to me who they were - Tom McDonald’s dad, Max Gawn’s mum, and Clayton Oliver’s mum. It was perhaps one of my favourite conversations I’d had in the course of the day. Exhausting day, but all in all, epic. I'm so proud of this club, and that I'm a member of it. Go Dees!!

Febey. Without a doubt. Even though I think his twin was better!

You win the Internet

Brayshaw

Will they show footage of the streaker at 3 quarter time? 🤣

Found myself at the Knox AFL Store, staring at items on their shelves that are in stock in shops, that I'm still waiting for from the online AFL Store that I've ordered over a month ago...... Anyone else feeling frustrated over this? Now the AFL store is telling me they're waiting on the New Balance tshirt and the DVD. Mind you they had piles of the DVD in the AFL Store at Knox last night......

Nowhere in the article does it state it's capped at 40,000. What the actually quote is "hopefully 40,000+ members and supporters". It sounds more like they're predicting how may may be attending. Given the club has 55,000 members, which includes interstate and overseas members, that's probably a fair prediction. As of today there is no restriction on outdoor gatherings, and in fact there's nothing stopping the MCG filling the ground to 100,000 if they want to. I'm predicting they'll be increasing from 80,000 to 100,000 capacity for Boxing Day soon.

My evaluation of Richmond this year is of a side who clearly placed too much reliance on too few players, and therefore were struggling when injuries hit. I think a big factor on their performance this year was the fact 2020 finished so late, and they didn't have much of a chance to recover, or put in place an effective preseason. I predict they'll be back in the finals, but to predict them to be premiers as Dermie did is ridiculous.