Maldonboy38

Calm, skilled, and a whole lot tougher than he looks. He developed from a draftee to an AFL premiership player in 12 months and is locked in until 2024. Well done Dees, and well done Bowser.

Great day at the 'G. Robbo and Clint as hosts were really, really good. Replay was brilliant. The booing of Caleb Daniel, the brutality of Viney crunching opposition players, the crowd reaction to the 3 late third quarter goals was immense. 35000 Dees fans going off was brilliant. Singing The Grand Old Flag at the game's end was very loud, and I belted it our until I was hoarse. The kick for cash with Rigoni and Leoncelli was so well done because they both almost got it in twice. Robbo and his band: I was expecting cringe-worthy mediocrity. But they were fantastic. Great song choice which helped, energetic, and perfectly suited to the day. Past players were a real highlight. To have Steve Smith and Gary Hardeman carry it together really spoke of the agony of 57 years. A huge shout for Ox and Wiz as they handed it over to Brad Green and James MacDonald, who in turn gave it to Jones and Jetta. Garry Lyon was a wonderful MC. Funny, focused and inviting. Biggest highlight was the crowd reaction to Neale Daniher. Standing ovation that went on and on, and he himself got quite emotional. Big Max giving a great brief chat with that quirky grin on its face, and Goody given his chance at last. And the cup held high! And pre-season starts in earnest tomorrow - Carna Dees!

First time I have ever watched the draft - and the last. Bat poo boring. Tigers got a steal with Gibcus, as did Bombers with Hobbs. I can't believe these 2 were let slip so far through.

I found a bloke on the internet doing his own graphic designs of MFC premiership stuff, and printing them onto clothing. THIS is what I wanted. A simple white tee shirt with this moment on it. P.S. I cut my head out of the image to ensure I didn't frighten any Demonland juniors!

1. Home base 2. 75,000+ members 3. AFLW flag 4. Massive home game attendance average. 5. Our 5 current main sponsors (Zurich, Hertz, Jaguar, Beyond Bank and New Balance) being locked in long term like Ford used to be with Geelong. I reckon we will lose NT connection to the thieves at Gold Coast due to AFL pressure. 6. Genuine Premiership contenders at least twice each decade (like Swans and Hawks).

I can see Richmond doing a Geelong over the next 2 years - annoying the carp out of the entire competition because their older players are absolute guns who hate losing. They will ride high and hurt teams because their top 8 players really are (have been?) great to watch, but they will only be strong enough to then lose in the Semis or Prelim. Dees - then daylight. Dogs, Tiges, Swans primed and ready to have a genuine crack. Lions and Port up there but I remain unconvinced about either of them. And there is usually a bolter or 2. Bombers or Saints possibly.

This is a classic case of "accidentally on purpose". No way were GC blindsided, Mark Evans is overseeing this and he is as shrewd as anyone going around. This is externally saying "we will delist you to re-list you", while internally hoping "(please, please, please, someone take him!!!!". I'm glad he is happy and I actually rate him fairly high, but I personally hate this kind of reading period BS.

I highly regard this bloke. His coming to the Dees as a player never really worked. But he took on other roles including the runner and it appears as if the players really like him, respond to him, and were eagerly embracing him after the siren went. Couldn't see Nev moving straight to this role, but maybe after a brief stint at the Pies he could be lured back.

Hey fellow Demonlanders! My MFC premiers hoodie arrived yesterday and I was devastated. The blue is so dark it looks black - nothing like MFC colours at all. Actually, and this is the part that annoys me, at first glance you might think it is a Bombers premiership hoodie!!! Has anyone else had this with clothing merch?

Set shot goal kicking was an issue from the first game versus Freo, but I don't think it is our major flaw. We won the flag so can't complain too much, but if I look at the 3 defeats and the draw, or even the periods in the finals games where the momentum was with the opposition, the same weakness was dominant: i.e. lack of defensive pressure through the middle of he ground, when we didn't have the ball. At a turnover, or at a stoppage where the opposition won the ball, or even at our half forward where the opposition took an intercept mark, if our mids, wings and half forwards were too slow to respond, goals were kicked easily against us in runs of multiple goals. After the round 19 loss to the Bulldogs, there were very few games where this defensive slow response hurt us too much, but I reckon other teams will try and exploit us on the turnover, because it is - as far a I can see right now - our only weakness.

Absolutely agree with this. To uphold the integrity of a system that is village-like, each club should simply be trying to draft the best available player according to their plan. That way the player managers, players, list managers etc... can look each other in the eye and not end up with future trading blocks based on narky nasty carp from years earlier. If North think Daicos is the best player in the draft, try and get him. If the gap between him and Horne-Francis is really narrow, go for either etc...

Great natural footballer, loved his aerial work and thought he was a decent team player. I loved watching him play, and not just his marking. I met him and Jared Rivers on a golf course once, had a good conversation with them both and were great to chat with. Neither of them were full of themselves or w**kers. He clearly did not fully endorse the Roos/Goodwin philosophy and game plan, and possibly wanted to find a role as a high flying forward (which he never got and in my opinion was not suited to). The lure of Collingwood was too much and he jumped. I don't have too much loathing for people who jumped from our basket-case club, looking for success. These blokes are professional sportsmen and they need to be where they can play their best. Scully is the one exception. What he did and the way he did it - I hope he looks at the Dees now and re-thinks his entire GWS/Hawthorn underachieving.

I keep watching the 3 goal burst at the end of the 3rd quarter - the best footy I have seen. We won it, playing a kind of football I have only seen 3 other times in my life - Hawks 88, Lions 01-03, and Geelong 07-09. But the general feeling is one of serenity. The pressure is off. I am totally relaxed, and I enter the 2022 season not giving a rats ar*e about too much at all. We are the best, everyone else can go get stu**ed. The trade period = whatever. Draft = whatever. Super chilled, no knot in my gut thinking about the next season. I could get used to this.

He looks so awkward and gangly most of the time, with elbows and knees out of alignment with his arms and legs, a jerky running style, and looks to be out of position. I have to admit that at times, watching him play makes me want to look elsewhere due to the lack of smoothness. But he has 3 traits I just love: He attempts to mark the ball at the highest point of his leap, the one thing defenders find difficult to combat, and even makes it difficult for the third man up trying to spoil. When he is looking awkward and out of position, he gets an arm in here, his body in there, runs across someone ensuring the ball comes to ground: he does something to try and get the ball to ground. He leads in a straight line, demanding the ball. Half the time he has concrete hands, but his leading is a thing of beauty. And stuff me, I can not for the life of me figure out why North were so keen on letting him go. We can build a very powerful forward line around this bloke for the next 3 years.

I don't remember us "going" the first time, so maybe our first date was a bit bland, or that I hate tattoos. In refence to Petty, I agree he is a very good and natural defender, but my point remains: until Tomlinson went down he trained with the forwards and was being shaped for that part of the ground. It remains wait and see, and he could play either or become a swingman. Good problems to have.

He is our main spoiler/negater - a role he fills will efficiency and team awareness. Considering he was a fill-in for Tomlinson, he has had a superb year. His 2nd efforts after the spoil deserve special mention. If Tomlinson comes back in, I would like to see Petty tried forward, which is where he trained prior to Tomlinson going down. He is seriously good in the air and could provide serious aerial issues for opposition.

I was a fan of Paul Wheatley and thought he could have been anything with a good club/system around him. Jack Grimes will unfortunately be remembered for his horrendous kicking, but apart from that he was a gun. Templeton was a seriously top shelf forward. His style of play would hold up well now, and he scored consistently in a fairly average Dees era. So it is between Templeton and Fritsch for mine. Considering Fritsch kicked 6 in a GF, he just gets the nod.

I didn't rate him at all until late in the year, but he genuinely delighted me in the finals. Not that he got heaps of the ball, but his body strength, booming kick, positioning - a lot to like. The pass to Ben Brown early in the last quarter - the way he read the play before all the Bulldogs boys and ran forward of the play was a thing of beauty (as was ANB's through ball!) I am happy to go out on a limb and say this bloke will explode in 2022. He has a touch of the raging bull about him, has a strong physique, and just a little bot of arrogance. I am as excited about this kid as I am about Rivers.

To be honest, it is possible that in the long term, she might be the first woman to coach an AFL team. You have to be slightly insane to take it on, and I don't know if she has the madness, but she has every other attribute.

Confession time. He drove me nuts. Naturally talented, great mark, great on the lead, cat like reflexes on the ground. I loved watching him play. But when he kicked for goal via a set shot it was basically "spread out boys, no-one knows where this is going!" It appears Chocco was able to reverse this in a single year and now he looks as clean and sharp with a set shot as some of the greats. I just love watching this bloke play and find my eyes following him more than any other forward. And his leading is a thing of beauty. He often appears as a forward of a bygone era. What a wonderful 2021. I reckon opposition coaches and mature backmen are going to make 2022 difficult for him by playing him close and being physical. I don't reckon it will work - he has bucket loads of footy smarts.

In watching replays of the finals, I noticed this too, Dee-tox. Appears he is the "line manager", and after each goal or opposition goal brings all the forwards together and resets them. Love it. I would never have thought of him in this light but the other forwards almost gravitate toward him.

I love the fact he is nuts - he is so different and makes his way through life absolutely at peace with his individuality. No cookie-cutter approach to people management or skill development. Everywhere he goes, things change, everyone around him grows or develops in some way. A rare human being and I hope he stays long enough to apprentice someone under him and mentor him/her as a development coach.

I was never the biggest fan, nor his biggest critic. He seemed to be a Brad Sewell, Brandon Ellis type who played a role maybe 4-5 others could play. But he elevated himself way above a role player. His two-way running, really good kicking (can't believe I am typing this next to his name!!) and his team link up play through the middle of the ground were outstanding. I also get the feeling he is a clubman like Gus and Gawn. And he performed in each of the finals.

I thought he was done, and Weideman would swoop in over the top. He pushed and pushed in the preseason, got himself into his best ever condition, and had a super, super year, especially early on. I am so glad one of the older crew - along with Max - got to see finals success. Well earned. While he wasn't in the best form during the finals, he continued to work very hard off the ball. In re-watching the finals games, the amount of times he was running goalward, 5 metres off his man and not used, was astonishing. His running capacity allows him to get to contest after contest, and if the opposition don't account for him, he will end up with 2-4 goals. Rapt for him.

"4 more years, 4 more years..." I'm not sure why, but something worries me about this chant. But 4 extra years takes him to the probable end for Max and May, in pole position for a reset with a newish group. Sign him up.