Grapeviney

Watching footy for 40+ years and never been so nervous during a 12-goal thumping. Oh well, no point ruing what might have been, we’ve clearly got the talent to win the thing. Funny to think that had they been able to do it, the women, like the men, would have snatched the minor premiership right at the death, albeit by vastly different margins.

I’m no fan of Ross, but it’s funny to see posters bemoaning his defensive style when one of our own players (Langdon) said not all that long ago that we pride ourselves on making Friday night games boring to watch.

It’s a pleasure to watch this team. There’s talent to burn on every line, and a real connection in the game-play. Between the men’s the women’s and Casey, it really is a magical time to be a melbourne supporter.

I'm just glad it's not at Crown this year, which means I can bring my little bag of crushed up anti-inflammatory powder.

The thing with Bolt is that he uses selective facts and very specific words and phrasing to distort the truth and present a warped version of reality. Here's the first distortion of the truth. Daisy didn't express hatred for our past; she only said there were competing narratives about the impact of the British arrival. That is a fact, evidenced by the debate we're having. Nor did she express hatred for any institutions, including the royal family. On the contrary, she acknowledged and praised the Queen's life and service. The language is important here, as is the use of quote marks to trivialise the significance of the words 'genocide' and 'stolen'. Genocide has a number of definitions depending on which institution or dictionary you use, but Bolt is relying on most people's tendency to think of genocide through the lens of the Holocaust, where the plan to systematically annihilate the Jews was basically written in plain English (German) for all to see. Other genocides - see Rwanda and Cambodia, for example - had different characteristics. You can quibble about the use of the word in relation to Australian history, but there's no denying the large-scale widespread killing of Aboriginal people in the so-called Frontier Wars, something which even the most conservative of historians admit happened. Here's a piece from the Australian Museum which argues that genocide is an appropriate descriptor of what happened in Australia. And here's an interactive map from the Guardian and the University of Newcastle detailing the massacres. Whether it was genocide or not is just semantics. As for Aboriginal people having "some form of control" over half the land, again the language here is important, designed to give you the impression that most of the country is off limits to the rest of us. It's a throwback to the scare campaigns around the Mabo decision and subsequent native title legislation, that Aboriginal people were coming to take your backyard. It's true that large parts of the country are "Aboriginal land" in some form or another, but it's not ownership as you and I know it. They can't just build houses or businesses on this land - in most cases they can't do anything with it at all. Here's a story which highlights some of the complexities around land ownership and tenure, bearing in mind that this is one community of hundreds which was successfully able to secure a bit more agency over their own land - ie they're the exception to the rule. Cultural traditions remain strong in some parts of Australia, with the Yolngu of Arnhem Land being one example. But elsewhere, much has been lost - songlines and stories, customs and traditional knowledge. When the British arrived there were about 250 Aboriginal languages spoken across the continent. Today it's less than half that, and many of those are in danger of disappearing too. Government policy was the key reason for the decline, with Aboriginal languages banned on missions, and children who were taken from their parents punished for speaking their native tongue. This is from the Commonwealth Office of Education in 1953: "There is a need everywhere for a planned, vigorous and maintained drive for English." Linguist Arthur Capell wrote in 1964: "Government policy looks forward to the loss of Aboriginal languages so that the Aborigines may be 'assimilated'.” Read the bolded quote below from the Chief Protector of the NT about 'eradicating' Aboriginal culture. Sentence 1 is really just an opinion - an agreeable one to most - but it's all a matter of perspective really, as Yolngu continue to forage for yams and other traditional foods and enjoy mixing the traditional and modern worlds. But no-one (including Daisy) ever denied the benefits or joys of the modern, western world. Sentence 2 presumes that Aboriginal women prefer the western justice system over the traditional one - where's the proof of this? And even if it's true, so what? It doesn't undo all the other harms and impacts of colonisation. . This is classic Bolt, using a very narrow framing of events to present an inaccurate picture of reality. Just because there hasn't been a court case, doesn't mean the Stolen Generations don't exist. There's vast reams of evidence about the forced removal of Aboriginal children from their homes - a whole report actually, the Bringing Them Home report. You can go in there and pretty much pick any page you want and read for yourself the policy in action. Here's an excerpt quoting the Chief Protector in the NT about 100 years ago: Generally by the fifth and invariably by the sixth generation, all native characteristics of the Australian aborigine are eradicated. The problem of our half-castes will quickly be eliminated by the complete disappearance of the black race, and the swift submergence of their progeny in the white ... Bolt and others will hide behind the "perceived danger" excuse, which is just another way of saying "it was for their own good", a smokescreen for the assimilationist policy articulated above, and in so many other places. Do we really want to pretend that every child taken from their parents was subject to neglect? And really, it's not hard to find people who were members of the Stolen Generation. The legendary Jack Charles, who passed away last week, was one of them. Read his obituary. Here's an excerpt from a speech by another - William Tilmouth. I am mix-matched – a creation by others who decided they knew what was best for me. I am a product of assimilation. I am a product of being denied my identity, my family, my country, culture and my language. In the west I am a success. I was the kid who came good – became a model working citizen, living in my own home, paying my rent in advance, hiding my identity and keeping my relatives at a distance. What you see today, you might think is acceptable – but to me it’s not. Why? Because I have spent a lifetime, along with my brothers and sisters, trying to rebuild and recapture all that was stolen and denied us. I have a good command of English but I can not speak my own language. I have grandchildren but I was denied my mother and father. Sometimes I don’t know where I belong or where I’m going – or who am I? That is a question that you are left with: Who am I? Coming here was hard for me, coming back up north. I was stolen and taken to Croker Island. Minjilang and its people hold some of my fondest memories as a child. There was heaps of nature but very little or no nurture. Notwithstanding the efforts of the cottage mothers who had to spread their love over 12 or so distraught children each. Leaving Alice Springs was hard because I still cling onto home. I am the sum of my experiences and my experiences are such that my life doesn’t have the cultural integrity and grounding that it should have. I’m not recognised in native title. I’m not recognised in land rights. When my father’s traditional lands were given back, my brother and I were not even notified of the ceremonial handback. The apology meant nothing to me – there are too many sorries and not enough truths.

The AFLW attracted controversy last weekend when it ditched plans for a minute's silence to remember the Queen because of Indigenous round. Here's an articulate, intelligent and passionate explanation of why it matters from Daisy Pearce. For all those people who say Indigenous round is just a tokenistic, virtue-signalling concept, here's proof from our skipper that there's real substance behind the sentiment and a willingness to stand up for principles when it matters most. You might disagree with her stance, but there's no denying that she's taken the time to consider her position and has thought about these issues at length. If that's not the purpose of Indigenous round, then what is?

Lol I watched Spurs lose to Sporting Lisbon in the CL the other morning and it was maddeningly similar to watching Melbourne. Wasteful inside 50's, lack of forward connection, poor disposal around goal and and an inability to hit targets!! Son has had a shocking start to the season and the incredible chemistry with Kane has disappeared, at least for the moment. Marcus Edwards (who's an ex-Tottenham academy player) almost scored one of the great all-time goals, Maradonna-esque.. at the 1.25 mark of the video below Edit: haaland hit a nice one overnight against his old club, the guy’s going to kick 100 this year.

This is the exact moment Her Majesty realised she got sucked into buying one of those fake Ricky Nixon footys after last year's Grand Final, the ones with 'Charlie Spargo 8' on them.

I'm hearing that Buddy could be a late withdrawal due to a calf problem.

Nah, the jail is there for a reason.

Very excited to launch Grapeviney's 'Family Footy Finals Bonanza' ticket deal. The Family Footy Finals Bonanza is perfect for the modern MFC family, with 2 x adult, 1 x concession and 1 x junior ticket, conveniently located on ground level near the Melbourne cheersquad at the punt road end. Tickets are available at a discount, and can be bought individually or as a group. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, officially endorsed by the Melbourne Football Club. Max Gawn said: "If I wasn't playing on Friday night, I'd definitely be sitting in Grapeviney's Family Footy Finals Bonanza seats." Daisy Pearce said: "The thing I love about Grapeviney's Family Footy Finals Bonanza seats is that they are so family friendly. That's important to me as the mother of two children." * Seriously though - have 4 tix available in M2 Row T. Happy to sell at a discount. 2 adults 2 kids.

Check your PMs mate

I may be wrong, but I could have sworn that premium members had priority access during the 2018 finals. It's a real anomaly that you can have an expensive membership with a GFG but no guarantee that you'll even get a ticket to earlier finals, let alone a decent seat.

It's poorly designed because bays show up as having tickets available, but you only learn when you try to click through that you can't get multiple seats together. First world problems I know, but I'm really peeved that a premium membership basically counts for nothing. I managed to get on by 10.20 but already then I was unable to get 6 tix together in the cat 1 or 2 seating. Don't know why there wasn't priority access as there has been in the past.

If you haven't purchased tickets yet, I have up to 6 seats on ground level with the cheersquad which I'm happy to sell at a discount to a Demonlander. Send me a PM. 4 x adults - 1 x junior - I x concession

I have 6 seats on ground level behind the punt road goals if anyone is struggling to get tickets together and wants to be in with MFC cheer-squad.

We don’t need to worry about replacing Yze if he’s poached - apparently Scott Morrison has already appointed himself to the job!

I don't think that's true. Pessimists might tell themselves they're not disappointed because they knew it was going to happen, but they experience the same hurt we all do. And that's why - from a rational outside perspective - it's better to be an optimist. We all end up in the same place emotionally at the end of the ride, it's just that one group (the optimists) have enjoyed the journey while the other have grumbled all the way.

His best call of the GF is in the 1st quarter when Williams drops the sitter, and Brayshaw says “It’s falling the way of the Demons” as Fritsch capitalises. In recent weeks, he has constantly repeated the phrase “that’s not going to work” every time there’s a mistake, turnover or missed shot ie every 20 seconds. Infuriatingly repetitive and limited. As for Daisy, she has many admirable qualities - humility is up there with the best of them. She seems so grounded for a superstar, and it’s hard to think of many better role models, of any gender.

Not MFC related, but I'm publishing "The Big Book of St Kilda Premierships" on Twitter later this year.

Aside from winning us the match, great to see Kozzy lighting up in front of a large crowd of Aboriginal admirers. What a day to turn it on!

What’s worse is that Goody never reviewed the 2021 GF - he’s got no idea how we won the flag!

I don't think we're any more wasteful than other teams, but going to the pocket most of the time is definitely a factor in our scorelines. We kicked a pretty wasteful 9.15 in the '48 drawn Grand Final. Essendon kicked 7.27 !!

Real estate industry sources are telling me the search for a new home in Melbourne is off - Luke and his parents can no longer afford to buy here because of interest rate rises. Forget the players’ CBA - we’re going to lose him because of the RBA!