Nasher

It did work out. We got him during his best years, he was a valuable contributor during the rebuild, we continued to build after he was traded out, and he got a much longer career than the average AFL player. Only pity for mine is he couldn’t quite notch up 100 games for the club.

Well played. Eliminates any possibility of him ending up with a leaner sentence, although I’m not sure if that was a possibility to begin with.

Something to do with the footy media?

McGuire received a personal rejection from the WA Chief of Police. 😂

He's honest, articulate, funny, and easy to listen to. Definitely got a future ahead of him in the media if he wants it. It love listening to the Gus and Gawny on the podcast. Gawn is also honest and funny, but not so much articulate, which actually adds to the dynamic, with Gus frequently bemused at Gawn's slaughter of the English language. Very entertaining.

Just sometimes?

Irrespective of advances in dentistry, I think a knee in the choppers hard enough to knock teeth out would hurt a lot less if there was a big fat strip of rubbery stuff cushioning the blow!

Probably one of the 50 or so who get delisted every year without playing a game in the AFL.

Smith. Spargo played in all three finals in 2018. Edit: disregard, Smith played in the PF drubbing. It’s Langdon.

I saw the first half of the Bummers game. Looks like I watched the wrong half.

His opinion of himself exceeds his capability. He’s mouthy and dirty. I’d be embarrassed if he was on our team. Gross.

He’s back to a point now where he’s grabbing the ball at the top of his reach. He’s a massive dude, I wouldn’t want to be trying to outmark him. He works his butt off when he pushes up the ground too. I’m getting accustomed to see him impacting a contest at half back, then 20 seconds later impacting it at half forward, or getting on the end of one. His best MFC footy is still ahead of him I reckon. Hard to believe we got him basically for free.

I know it’s been mentioned but I really enjoyed Sparrow’s game. I thought he was tough and composed - he’s shown signs of not being quiet up to the pace of the game this year, but last night he looked the part. He’s directly competing with Jordon for a spot, in my mind he put his nose in front last night (obviously the MFC already thought he did). On Jordon, both last week and this week as the unused medical sub, he’s come out as stoked at the end as if he’d played every minute. I love seeing how invested everyone is, even if they’re not on the field at the time.

Giants, because it will mean Geelong went out in straight sets, and we started the rot.

Putting our most valuable assets out of harm’s way for sure. Imagine if Clarry did a knee in the last minute, Josh Bruce style, when the result was already settled. Rumour has it that it was meant to be Jake Lever that came off, but old Rick didn’t know where the bench was so Maysie had to come off instead.

I remember in 2018 after both finals wins. I felt like the boys after the siren last week, just elated. After this win, I’m celebrating like Charlie Spargo does when he kicks a clutch goal. Clenched jaw, bit of a fist pump, high five a few of the boys, then get in place and switch back on. Loved that win, but definitely just feels like a waypoint. Job’s nowhere near done yet. Bring on next fortnight.

I don’t think playing at the top level is necessarily essential. There are other examples of coaches who didn’t but went alright - Neil Craig and Chris Fagan spring to mind.

Who cares if he does? It’s not illegal. If he is blatant about it, it won’t get paid. If he keeps ducking and gets caught holding the ball, the coaches will stamp it out quick smart. I hate it when Selwood and the others do it. I don’t care when our players do, especially if they suck the umpires in. Yes I’m a one eyed, biased hypocrite, so what?

15! Far out, we’ve dropped the ball. We had a Billy Stretch thread when he was about 12.

You lot have let the endorphins cloud your judgement. McLaughlin is the worst. For mine he’s the whitened teethed face of the appalling state the commentary of our game is in. Combined with Darcy and Richardson, my ears were bleeding and I’m just glad I was still able to enjoy the game in spite of their presence in the call.

Lol, mate. I’m offended you even need to ask.

Nah. Both games are in Launceston (3 hour drive each way from my place), I’m busy on Saturday and don’t want to spend my only weekend day in the car. Would have gone if it was in Hobart though. Bombers have a pretty solid following in Tassie so that was expected. I’m pleasantly surprised the Sydney GWS game sold out so quickly too though.

Both games sold out within minutes of tickets going on sale.

My mum was 11, and I was 19 years from birth. I’ve got to admit, as a man in my 20s, I always cringed a little at the older generation of Melbourne supporters who just wanted to talk about the glory years of what is literally a lifetime ago. Dropping these dusty old names that meant nothing to me. I knew of the Norm Smith Medal for a lot of years before I knew he was an all-time great Melbourne man. As I’ve progressed through to my late 30s, and had the youthful optimism beaten out of me by some pretty dismal failures, I’ve come to appreciate how precious that success is and how much it is to be cherished when it happens. You folk who can remember Melbourne flags are so lucky. I hope we can all share another very soon. And rest assured, if we lift the cup up in 2021, my grandkids not having any idea or interest in who Max Gawn and Christian Petracca were won’t stop me from talking about them.

Have a watch of Trac’s post-match interview. The 2021 team are, without a doubt, playing for the jumper.