Vipercrunch

I'm sure I'm not the only one in this boat, but for me, one of the best things about winning this premiership is that I will no longer feel the need to apologise to my kids for influencing them to become Melbourne supporters. I've seen their pain, especially of my oldest son (now 19), and to be honest, there have been times that I've felt absolutely wretched about leading them to fall in love with the MFC. But now, instead of me feeling the need to apologise, we will forever have the memory of hugging, high 5-ing, and even shedding a few tears on Saturday night. We have a video that one of my younger kids took of our reaction when Clarry kicked that last goal of the now legendary third quarter. As a parent, it was a very, very special evening. We now want to be able to experience it live for oursleves at the G.

I'm not sure yet whether he'll end up as a pure mid, but he knows where the goals are and is dangerous from 50m out off a step, which is a rare comodity. I need to start calling him Sparrow instead of Swallow though. It's very embarassing and my son gives me heaps off grief every time I do it.

Where should we be buying our merch from to make sure $$'s go to the club? MFC store an obvious one. Does stuff bought from the AFL store provide same $$'s? New Balance store? Buying the DVD from JB Hifi (or others)? I assume I'm not the only whose Facebook feed is now full of Melbourne merch ads from all sorts of places? Some looks good, but I don't want to buy anything that doesn't feed $$'s back to the club.

I wonder if he's had the strength of character to admit he was wrong.

It's much easier to see the holes in the list of a team that finishes bottom 4 than it is when we win both the minor and actual premiership. This is unchartered territory for all of us. So what should our draft/trade priorities be? Here's my initial thoughts.. Draft a young, raw ruckman. Without an early pick, we're not likely to draft another ready-to-go ruckman like LJ so I think we need to pick up one or two rucks with our later picks with a view to develop them over the next 2-3 years (or more). As much as we all love him, we need to plan for a future without Gawn. That's all I've got to be honest beyond drafting the best available player of the right "type". I think our football and talent department have now developed a clear player type that is desirable and they will continue to target them to bolster depth accross the board. If we get involved in any trades, I think we should stick to players 23 and under. Without much draft currency (or available $$'s), I can't see how we can land players of the ilk of Cerra, so I think all we can do is to look out for any players that fit into point 4 above. I'd love to hear some thoughts because my son and I found it very hard to identify what our needs are this time round.

So good. That clip is going to be watched so many times. As a side note, watching replays like that really makes it obvious just how much time just disappears every goal. 4-5 seconds every time between ball crossing the line and the clock actually stopping.

I heard the official Grand Final DVD will have several commentary options including SEN (not sure about ABC). Can be ordered from places like JB Hifi already

Viney was a very important part of that group also.

Harmes has his head ripped off a second prior also. Was very grating to not get them while Hunter and McCrae got some very soft ones.

The Prez hinted that they might do a full replay at some stage. My preference would be as the curtain raiser at our first home game at the G next year just before they raise the flag. Including a lap of honour for Jonesy and Jetta (if he also retires).

Twice kicking 3 goals in less than 60 seconds. In the same quarter. In a bloody Grand Final. Already legendary.

My analytical head said we’d win easily. My Melbourne supporting battered and scarred heart said we’d lose. I’m not a betting man, but did seriously consider putting $10 on us at 40+ and $10 of the doggies.

We did Brisbane by 33, Geelong by 83 and WB by 74. Total winning margin 190 points. My son and I thought thas was a wonderful way to bury the pain of 186.

The second half of the third quarter will quickly become part of MFC folklore. It won't be long before we all know the order and details of all those 7 goals by heart. As someone who has dreamed of witnessing perfect footy (often to my own detriment of enjoying the less than perfect), that was as close to perfect as could be imagined. My kids and I were in absolute ecstasy.

SEN (with Whateley, Huddo, Jordan Lewis and Kane Cornes) replayed their call last night. I much prefer them to the TV call, so I listened to that while watching the vision from Kayo. Very worthwhile exercise. I'm hoping the offical replay DVD (or whatever format is available) has the option to listen to different calls.

Clearly compromised award. Here are some alternatives that keep the award a coach voted system.. Option 1 - Only use votes from the PF and GF's. If there's a tie, whoever receives more votes in the GF takes the award. Option 2 - Use votes from SF, PF and GF. Players from teams that don't play in the SF's score double in the PF. Break tie the same way. Week one of finals involves 2 games involving the top 4 teams, 2 games involving teams 5-8. Obvious difference in quality so easiest way is to discount that whole week. Alternative is to apply multipliers to the games. QF votes are worth more than votes from EF's (maybe only a 4,3,2,1 vote system for EF's?) Clearly the award should go to aplayer that plays in the GF. Another reason to exclude FW1 game as with the fewer games contributing to scoring, you pretty much have to play in the GF to win it.

One player I'm somewhat concerned about is their JJ. Won the Norm Smith for them and has been slowly finding form the last few weeks, highlighted by some very good moments in the PF. We can't let him rediscover whatever it was that led him to the Norm Smith 5 years ago.

Maybe this is the reason??

I’ll see ya in the Post Game thread or sometime next February.

After a very restless night, it's now going to be a very long day. I've never felt like this in the lead up to a big game before. The favourite tag is not a comfortable fit. It is one however I'd love to get used to.

Geelong handed MelbourneFC arguably the darkest day in our history. And now they stand between us and our best chance of a premiership in most of our lifetimes. It's going to be a very, very long 4 days.... As a Geelong based Melbourne supporter, the thought of losing to them on Friday night fills me with absolute dread.

I agree, so even though I voted for Kozzy, I probably like the Freo one better.

I think he would have been a totally different player if he was drafted to the Melbourne of 2018 onwards instead of when he was actually drafted. Too much pressure. Treated him like the messiah before his name was even read out on draft night. And then we tanked. Of course he never reached his potential. The Melbourne FC of today is a very different beast.

Definitley got the Toby doscount. Unfortunately, did anyone really expect the AFL to have the courage and sense to give him more?

Great summation. Neale’s gaining the umpires attention to self report his bleeding is completely different to what Greene did.