durango

It proves what I always said about Buckenara that he would not know what a good team looks like unless it was Hawthorn. He slamed players like Petracca Oliver May Lever Salem as B grade when both Oliver and Petracca had been All Australians. He under estimated Tom Mac and Fritsch being forwards and failed to see the rise of Jackson Pickett and Rivers from the 1st year.

He was a player who got the very best out of himself and it was a pity he could not be a part of the team who got a reward for years of good service to MFC. It was unfortunate that Bowey and Salem had passed him by in the small lock down defender.

Tom played his best game for the season and I for one did not think he should be in the side ahead of Hunt. His goal in the 3rd and pass to Brown in the 4th was pure instinct which he needs to do more often during a game to be a better player in the future. He is very good overhead for his size but sometimes he does not play on when he takes a mark and does not let the game flow which he should eradicate if he wishes to become a very good player.

This team is the best since the 1956 team which was a great team and lost Denis Cordner, Stuart Spencer, Clyde Laidlaw and Ken Melville in the 1957 team who were very good to great players.

He never stood a chance to prove him self because he miss so much competitive football during the years he was on the list and last year was left in Melbourne for much of the time without some sort of coaching by Stafford.

He turned his back on the offer from Geelong to join them and along with Gawn, McDonald (trade bait 2020) and Neal-Bullen (trade bait 2020) have been rewarded with the ultimate prize a premiership. If only Jones and Jetta could have been a part of it which would have made it perfect for the surviors of the 2012 list.

I have watched the round 23 match several times and still can believe we won but it is that belief by the players that got them to dig themselves out of the 19 point defict against the Bulldogs and going on to win the game, the siren sounded at 3 quarter time and the coach warned them that the Bulldogs recovered from being 21 point down at quarter time and getting to 19 points up so pressure and scoring would be the key in the first 10 minutes of the last quarter.

Both the Scott brothers must have the same philosophy because they both loaded up with older players to win premiership and then fall of the cliff in the finals. Geelong may make the finals but don't perform 2018 we done them, 2019 collingwood did them, 2020 got to the grand final the hard way and fell in a heap in the 2nd half and 2021 got to the preliminary final and got done by the premiers. Youthful sides like Melbourne are now the template for winning finals and premierships like us, Hawthorn 2008, Bulldogs in 2016 and Richmond in 2017, then filling holes with top up players in their late 20's al la Hawthorn 2013-2015 with Lake and Frawley.

There must be a reason he has not nominated the Blues at this stage since the Blues have named their coach and have the picks.

Actually it was 8 goal 1 point.

The question where is Ayce Cordy now, Mac Andrew maybe a Aaron Bratke Ayce Cordy or a Brody Grundy but it takes time 4-5 seasons of intense football in the VFL and AFL and the team that selects him must have a great deal of patience and a coach is not under the pump to get a premiership soon like Hinkley, Voss and Scott.

The pressure for spots in the backline will be immense and you players now know they will have to perform or play at Casey.

I think we were lucky that Isaac Smith chose Geelong because Tom Sparrow's development or James Jordan would have be stifled this year and he was 31 at the time.

The only thing that we did not get was beating the Magpies this year which in the overall scheme of thing is not much but shoving it up Eddie McGuire and Jeremy Howe. Although Howe would be envious of his contemporaries like Viney McDonald and Gawn who stayed the course to attain the ultimate prize in team football the premiership and the players will cherish this more in the future. The envy of being a premiership player is not lost on some of the MFC greats like Flower Lyon Jones Jetta Yze White Wight Stynes and Neitz.

The words unfortunate does not describe what this young man has gone thru but he will always be able to say he was at the Melbourne Football Club when they became premiers in 2021. This young man never got to show his football skills unlike his contemporaries in James Jordan and Tom Sparrow who now have a premiership medal to prove they were a part of the 23 players in the premiership team. The friendship he made will remain for the rest of his life because he was part of the squad of 2021 that made the premiership possible.

The comment by Yze that he has come home was priceless.

I watched the 3 quarter many times and most have forgoten the previous burst of 3 goals in less than a minute from the time Fritsch kicks his 3rd goal to Brown kicking his second. So infact there was not 1 burst but 2 which put the game on the balance to winners, the look on the Bulldog players and suporter after Clayton's Goal is priceless they knew the game was done and dusted. The last quater was icing on the premiership cake.

The premiership has now replaced the trade week as the hightlight of the season and we can watch the Grand Final over and over knowing we are going to win and we can look forward to next year with more optimism that we can win another one.

Thank god that trade week is no longer the highlight of our season.

We now know why he was recruited to head the development department of the MFC the players like Bowey Jackson Pickett and Rivers have come on leaps and bounds. Players like Oliver and Petracca are much better disposals of the ball than they were in 2020. He does not sugar coat the situations during the match which revs up the players.

I believe the MFC has an understudy to Burgo so he has had 2 years to watch and learn how it is done.

If I was a young player weighing up my future and an opportunity arose to go to the premiers or a lowly team then my role in the premiers would not matter so I would select to play with the Demons because playing with the likes of Gawn Jackson Oliver Petracca and Viney would make me a great player rather then a good ordinary player. Great teams have good ordinary players who then become better players because they get feed the ball by these great players and they look very good. The Carlton teams of the 1970's and 1980's, Richmond teams of the late 1960's and 1970's and the Hawthorn teams of 1970's 1980 and 2010's all had great player the bit players look very good in their presence.

The last minute of the 3rd quarter was priceless.

Too old at 33 will be 34 next year and players like James Jordan and Tom Sparrow would be pushed out of the team to allow Gray to fill a place, we have already pushed Jones out the door,

Wait a few years and Luke Jackson may eclipse them all.