The heart beats true

I know it’s a small thing in the current climate, but gee I wish the AFL would demand consistency in the camera angles and heights at all AFL grounds. At smaller grounds the angle is much lower and so as an audience it’s much more difficult to judge the distances in kicks and between players. It makes for a completely different viewing experience. With 95% of the audience of games not at the ground (hence the value of the broadcast contract) the least they could do is spend 20k on scaffolding and make it visually consistent.

This game has a distinct 80’s VFL vibe. Essendon vs Footscray at a regional ground with lots of mullets on the field.

If you did that to someone in a pub they would fully expect you are having a go at them. Remember Pubs? Those were the days.

What’s that photo from? Absolutely love it

The 2 things I took out of that game: 1. We are a great team. 2. I’m convinced Rhys Mathieson is Dr D

I forgot how tense that game against Carlton was! Our young forwards went absolutely bananas in the last. It was a great win. I was in the Southern Stand on level 4 (AFL member in those days) with my mum and dad. The Footy experience is totally different these days. I’m much more familiar with this team on TV (for obvious reasons), where as that team I watched live at a ground for probably 16-17 weeks of that season. I’d see all the same Dees supporters at the ground every week. We’d have a chat at half time, laugh at the supporters jumping on the bandwagon as our season gained momentum.

Todd (Jacks dad) took (in my opinion an ill timed) year out of football to go and be a coach for (up and coming, but ultimately disappointing Australian tennis player) Mark Philippousis. It was 25 years ago and I’m still salty at him about it.

Jack was a Melbourne supporter, but then switched over to barrack for Mark Philippoussis.

Britain = Ratten = Teague Pagan= Malthouse = Lyon Inexperienced coach who gets no support, followed by experienced coach whose best is behind then. Rinse and repeat.

Still too soon to be mentioning Simon Eishold in September. It’s only been 34 years. ☹️

Exactly. If you sat through 2013 you can sit through anything.

This is my tattoo over my heart. I’ve had it for about 10 years. It’s by a guy called Scott Campbell whose a really well regarded artist https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Campbell_(tattoo_artist) I was living in New York and missing the Dees. The rig doesn’t look this good anymore sadly. 🤣 If we win the flag I’m a big fan of the Weg Demon @Sir Why You Littleposted a few weeks back. Love the late 70’s/early 80’s vibe.

That was the most bizarre Melbourne forward 50 entry for the night. Behind Max as he marks it are both Rivers and May. The boys had been told late not to let them get an out number in our forward line. The entire team seemed to know what Lever was going to do, and Jordan Lewis said after the game on Fox that he knew he wouldn’t have the distance from there - and that all his teammates would have known it too. We have played the most consistent team line up all year for this very reason. In the big moments you know what your teammates will do. Watch Lever take that huge intercept mark in the last quarter deep in defensive and he just instinctively turns 90 degrees and kick it to Salem - because he knows he’ll be there, because he always is. Brilliantly prepared.

https://www.news.com.au/sport/afl/melbourne-demons-star-steven-mays-message-for-max-gawn-in-afl-thriller/news-story/4a2f9afdf10c6f4112e111781faeb2ec I love Steven May. He’s a quality person.

15,000 people is not going to deliver the AFL anything like the much hyped ‘Derby’ atmosphere they’ve been selling us for 2 weeks. We’ve been sold a dud here. I can buy it for the Grand Final in a place which will allow full capacity, because everyone will want to go because it’s a special occasion. 15,000 ain’t that. It’s just unnecessary travel for the team that deserves the right to play at home. The media will just roll over and put on their happy faces, but this is garbage. And as for Tassie, well 3,000 showed up today, so I think they are already letting the AFL know how they, justifiably, feel. To my friends in SA - give em hell! This is not about you. We need you more than ever. I’m just so annoyed at the way this has been reported, and sold to the football community, as being something that it’s clearly not going to be.

Can Queenslanders travel to SA?

I think it’s weak of him to show any emotion - but not as weak as it was for him to express his dislike of planking in that training video. Man up! 🤣 (Sorry, couldn’t help myself. Love this video so much)

How typical of both of these teams is this game? Saints looking great because they have nothing to play for. Freo looking terrible because they have everything to play for.

He’s at home right now trying to figure out how many salary cap and drug infringements we need to drop out of the top 4 from here. 🤣

Listening to commentary on the replay when you know what’s about to happen is just so rewarding. Darcy and Richo saying at 3/4 time that we’ll bounce back next week against Port. I’m just sitting here like…

For those of you wondering if watching the full replay is worth it. It is. Couple of take aways from the second time around: Kozzie looked on, and was very agile around stoppage. Lever was ridiculously good. Oliver is the player you want when the chips are down. Max was exceptional after half time. Tom Sparrow is a great mark for his size. Needs to work on his foot skills. Brown did what he needed to do. Spargo the same. Tmac and May will be better for the run. The big takeaway - Standing up in tackles is the way through a teams defence at stoppage. It’s frustrating to watch players get caught with the ball, but clearly both sides know to take the heat and draw players in so you can get them on the outside. I think this is why Viney is viewed as integral to our game plan.

Do it. Honestly we were all over them but for 10 minutes. It’s a testament to our coaching quality that they could see beyond the emotion of the scoreboard and remind the players we were doing so well. It takes a skill I don’t have to watch football as it’s happening with that emotional intelligence. I suspect it’s why coaches love certain stats.

Watching the replay now. That second quarter we were all over them and then a couple things went their way, and then they could do no wrong for 10 minutes. There was a VERY late holding the ball paid against ANB in the middle of the ground that really changed the momentum of the game.

Just watched the last 2 minutes on the AFL site. It’s just the most poetic moment when Max kicks that goal. It was meant to be. Sport has lifted me higher than I ever thought possible on a day like today. I feel so grateful for the footy club.

He’s really got back his ability to take the ball at its highest point, and he’s worked very hard on his defensive stuff and ground ball intensity. I think it’s a big credit to our fitness staff.