Chook

I think sport and religion fill a very similar place in people's souls/psychology. Basically, humans need to belong to a tribe. Melbourne Football Club is my tribe, and with that comes the sense of belonging, family connections, care, investment, and everything else that would go along with the basic human tribal nature. So what would it mean? It would mean my primitive ape brain has won a great lifelong struggle for dominance against those 17 other tribes just over the hill there, and all the sacrifices my tribemates and ancestors and kin have made to make it happen were worth it. The sun will rise on Sunday 26 of September and every day after that, just as always. But my tribe will be the best, and that will mean a lot to me.

Premierships speak louder than goal tallies.

Let's flip it. Medals for the players that DIDN'T play. No medals for those that did. If I win a grand final, I don't need a piece of metal to remember it by.

I have Hunt over Jordon as my sub. Hopefully it's academic.

I had only one worry before now - will we wear our traditional Guernsey? Now I have twice as many worries.

I'm very proud of the way number 36 has grown in meaning over the last 17 years. I put it up against any of those. EDIT: Demon4Life obviously agrees!

Port beat Geelong at Skilled in Round 21, 2007 as well. Didn't help 'em when the hammer fell on Grand Final day.

Good news. I was worried we'd be playing where we trained today - that surface looked ripe for injuries.

We're over a week out from the game. Obviously not ideal for a player to get it, but if they did how badly would it really affect them come gameday?

Hibberd. To me, the dogs can do two things that really scare me. 1. Beat us in the midfield. If that happens, then fair play to them.. 2. Kick too many goals from ground level balls in our backline. Hibberd's ability to desperately scrag and smother and fight to get those rushed behinds could save 10-15 points in this match, and add in any rebound we get from him we could be looking at the difference between winning and losing.

I said this on the Happy Birthday thread, but I'll say it again here: It's absolutely fantastic to see Garry speak so openly of his love for the Dees, and to hear him saying "we" and "us" instead of "they" and "them" (not that he shouldn't be doing that as part of his day job).

Absolutely fantastic to see Garry speak so openly of his love for the Dees, and to hear him saying "we" and "us" instead of "they" and "them" (not that he shouldn't be doing that as part of his day job).

The owner is gonna need a longer rail to hang them all on.

My man! What a journey Tommy has been on. CHB in a struggling team Swing man in a rising team Main forward target in a Prelim team Massive contract Drops of the face of the earth in a struggling team Injury Return to form in a dominant team, first as the main man, then as a 2nd banana to Sideshow Bob in a meat and 2 veg arrangement Now another contract Premiership? Here's to a couple more years of the meat and 2 veg show.

The media wouldn't give a rats if every Melbourne player did media 24/7 and lost the Grand Final because of stuffed preparation. In fact, they'd love it because it would give them more stories. Putting 2 and 2 together, some journo's asked for an interview after 9pm and got shut down, and now there's two stories out of it: 1) "a hard curfew for the players"; and 2) "Melbourne is being difficult to deal with" Give me a spell.

As the higher-ranking team we deserve to wear the red and blue traditional strip.

I'm also worried about the pants and shoes. Hope we don't go in with those as our match day kit!

I've been strong on this for years. Now finally the Dees have implemented the "No nite-owls" policy and it's paying dividends.

I'd rather he say we'll win it this week than 30 weeks ago.

That could just as easily be Luke Jackson.

One day I'll be old, and little ones will gather around me by the fire, asking for the story of the Rise of Melbourne. And I'll think back, and say: "This is the story of a time long ago. A time of myth and legend, when the Footy Gods were petty and cruel and they plagued old Melbourne with suffering. Only one man dared to challenge their power…Nathan Jones. Jones possessed a strength the world had never seen. A strength surpassed only by the power of his heart. He journeyed Australia battling the minions of Geelong, Collingwood and Hawthorn. But wherever there was evil, wherever an hardball needed getting, there would be…Nathan Jones."

When it was airing, I said to myself "…and back? We're not back yet surely." So I decided I wouldn't watch this series till we win a flag. Didn't think we'd get this close this quick.

An Angus Brayshaw retirement announcement may occur before the GF then, which would be less than ideal.

The book was written by Americans. You know how they are.

I misspoke. I think Garry is a deeply hurt person by things he's done, missed out on, and been burnt by. His lack of emotion (or rather, his attempts to push back at emotive displays, especially those prompted by others) is his way of controlling that hurt.