It's a grand old flag
Into the rooms, and the other song is sung: it’s a grand old flag, it’s a high-flying flag. The formalities are done, the win is complete.
Melbourne... yes, Melbourne, the side that was the carpet underneath the ladder for so many seasons, so many years, is once again a premiership club.
I know so many supporters of this team who are spending this evening in a state of shock. Some in tears, some elated, a lot with that strangely blank feeling that follows something they have wanted forever and can’t actually believe now that it has come to pass.
It will sink in later, perhaps tomorrow, perhaps weeks later, that this is real.
And I know that so many of those people are not where they would like to be, with fellow travellers on that journey, having what has happened made to feel more real by having it reflected back at them by other true believers. They will be on their own, or with a couple of others, in their houses and in their lockdowns, unable to dive into a room full of people, perhaps feeling that this moment is an anticlimax after all that waiting.
Let me tell you one thing: it is not just about the feeling now. It is about a feeling that will persist, that will seep into you, that will become part of you and will slowly make itself known over weeks and months and years to come.
When you love a team, and you see it achieve something special like this, it matters. It is real. It’s not frivolous. It is you, and you are it. That’s how a team works.
And for the Bulldogs, the old Footscray faithful... you know this feeling. You felt it in 2016. You may feel it again, you may not. But your team was there, and rallied, and challenged, and fought into contention, not just tonight, but all year long.
Tonight was special, on both parts. Now it’s part of your story, both teams. Enjoy it. Goodnight.
This is what’s playing on the PA right now, as Melbourne players lie on the grass together and take a moment to absorb what has happened here. Lyrically, it is accurate.
Brayshaw is having a big long hug with Gawn, who is holding him as he might a small child, the smaller man burying his face in Gawn’s beard.
Alert! Alert! Kozzy Pickett is making confetti angels. I repeat, confetti angels. Lying on his back in the centre of Perth stadium, swishing around in the paper.
Petracca: “I reckon it’s sunk in a little bit now. This is what you play footy for. To do it with a group of boys who have sacrified so much of their own game. I’ve dreamt about this for eight years since I came to the club. It’s so special.”
Angus Brayshaw: “We knew the Doggies were going to throw a punch. Like when they kicked those goals. They’re such a good team. We just tried to stay real calm. I can’t believe it. I can’t believe it.”
Jack Viney. “My first year we won two games. My first game we lost by 80 points, my second game 150 points. We were the laughing stock of the competition. Now we’ve just won a premiership, first time in I don’t know how long. I don’t think it’ll sink in until we get into that crowd.”
“The start of my career, that’s what Nathan Jones put up with for much longer than I did. He stuck around. He’s the heart and soul of this footy club. This one’s for you, mate.”
“The heartache of our supporters over along period of time. I hope our supporters back home in Melbourne are enjoying it, because this group of players are enjoying it. We’re going to stay in Perth for four of five days, celebrate this properly. We were under pressure, we were losing contests behind the ball. But then our mids took over. As the game went on I thought we outworked them, and our methods stood up. They’re a special group, they do it for each other.”
Simon Goodwin, the Crows player who is now a Demons premiership coach.
Hibberd sprints over to the stands with the premiership cup, and holds it up to a group of friends over the fence. Kysaiah Pickett is in the arms of his family, melting into a mess as they cradle him. Viney runs the perimeter, high-fiving.
Here’s the initial match wrap. More to follow, plus a picture gallery.
Then up comes Garry Lyon, barely holding back tears, to present the premiership cup to Goodwin and Gawn.
Blue and red confetti forms a snowstorm. The Grand Old Flag rings out.
They’ve done it!
Simon Goodwin receives his Jock McHale medal for the premiership coach from John Worsfold...
Lastly, up trots Max Gawn. Tall, imposing, one of the game’s best at heart.
“I want to thank the Western Bulldogs. I must admit, that second quarter, I was nervous. We put on a show in Perth and we managed to keep the season alive, so thanks to Gil and the AFL. The WA government and everyone here in WA, to put on a show for us.”
He’s got a visible bruise on his forehead where he hit the ground before.
“To everyone on my left, this special group. Everyone we left back home: players, family. Lastly, after 57 years of pain, it’s coming home.”
Tom Sparrow beams as he walks up. Harrison Petty lopes to the dais. Kozzy Pickett gets one of those hugely responsive crowd sounds, they love watching him move. Ben Brown was important tonight, another import who did his job. Gently places a cap on the head of his medal kid.
Jake Lever, scorned for coming in from Adelaide, has the last laugh. Charlie Spargo trots up.
Angus Brayshaw, helmet off for the presentation, tape hanging loose on his shoulder. Clayton Oliver, a real crowd favourite with the roar from the stand.
Michael Hibberd, who did a job in defence today. Ed Langdon comes up with the headband still on, keeping his hair from his eyes. Jake Bowey. Trent Rivers. Tom McDonald, who iced things.
Alex Neal-Bullen runs up. And the six-goal man, Bailey Fritsch.
Christian Salem, high-fives May on his way up. James Harmes skips all the way to the podium.
Petracca gets back up for a second dais visit, cap in hand as a little kid hangs his medal over his neck. Luke Jackson gives him a complicated handshake on the way by.
Jack Viney comes up. Melbourne royalty.
Time for the premiership medals. Starting with Steven May, one of the high-profile recruits to this club who has done so well.
Norm Smith goes to Christian Petracca
No surprises there: 40 stats, 2 goals, an inspirational performance.
“To the Melbourne Football Club, Simon Goodwin, Max Gawn, you’re an incredibly good outfit, so well drilled, and you did a job on us today. You deserve everything that’s coming your way, you deserve it.”
Nice from Marcus Bontempelli.
“This is for everybody back home. We bloody did it!” says Christian Petracca.
Max Gawn with great composure lists a number of people who Melbourne have lost over the journey: Jim Stynes, Troy Broadbridge, others.
Clayton Oliver just looks like a smiling red-cheeked baby.
Melbourne win their first premiership since 1964
There you go! Tom McDonald marks inside 50 with 22 seconds left on the clock. The siren sounds as he runs in. Bedlam. Players leap and celebrate. McDonald doesn’t take his eyes off the target. He slots it through. That makes it Melbourne’s biggest win in a grand final.
Melbourne 21.14 (140) – Western Bulldogs 9.6 (66)
That’s 74 points in the end. It doesn’t matter by how many. They’ve won it.
Updated
4th quarter, 2 minutes left: Bailey Fritsch has six! Again, space to move into, a comfortable mark, a set shot. Amazing how things opened up for Melbourne after a few minutes of the third quarter.
Melbourne 20.14 (134) – Western Bulldogs 9.6 (66)
4th quarter, 4 minutes left: This is Melbourne’s hour, though. Salem kicks a goal. Jackson kicks a goal. Petracca has the most possessions in a grand final - 40 at the moment.
Melbourne 19.13 (127) – Western Bulldogs 9.6 (66)
4th quarter, 6 minutes left: Adam Treloar receives a handball over the top and kicks a goal. For a minute there, when he kicked two in a minute, the Doggies looked on course for a flag.
Melbourne 17.13 (115) – Western Bulldogs 9.6 (66)
4th quarter, 7 minutes left: Norm Smith medal is going to Christian Petracca. Oliver puts in a smother as the Dogs try to clear 50. Petracca is there for the rebound, running inside 50, then pulling his kick square across goal to find Tom McDonald right in front.
Melbourne 17.13 (115) – Western Bulldogs 9.6 (60)
Updated
4th quarter, 12 minutes left: Party time, party time. Ed Langdon has worked so hard for Melbourne this year. Dash, run, tackles. This time he’s run into space in the pocket to receive a mark over the top. Takes his time, goes back and kicks around the corner for another.
Melbourne 16.12 (108) – Western Bulldogs 9.6 (60)
Updated
Melbourne are gonna win a flag
4th quarter, 15 minutes left: Bailey Smith hasn’t been sighted much today, the Flying Mullet has been trimmed. He gets a dash down the boundary at half forward and launches to the goal square, but Melbourne’s defence deals with it, Lever punching away. Back the other way for the days. Petracca fights for it on the wing, and today when he has fought, he has won. Comes away with it to Salem, to Langdon. Inside 50, Neal-Bullen marks, and kicks his set shot!
Melbourne 15.12 (102) – Western Bulldogs 9.6 (60)
Updated
Nine in a row!
4th quarter, 18 minutes left: It’s a procession. Melbourne finding targets inside 50 with ease now. Fritsch in space. Good on the set shot, good again. They’re suddenly six goals up.
Melbourne 14.11 (95) – Western Bulldogs 9.5 (59)
Updated
First goal of the last quarter to Melbourne
4th quarter, 19 minutes left: The Demons are away! Surely, surely. A centre clearance again. Sparrow picks up the ball on the right forward flank. Centres it over to the far pocket, where Brown marks strongly tumbling backwards against two defenders. Set shot around the body is good.
Melbourne 13.11 (89) – Western Bulldogs 9.5 (59)
Three quarter time – Melbourne 12.11 (83) – Western Bulldogs 9.5 (59)
This is extraordinary. The Bulldogs kicked the first two goals of the third quarter. Then the Demons kicked seven in a row to end the term.
They’re up by 24 points all of a sudden. The premiership quarter? Good chance that was.
Updated
Three in 30 seconds for Melbourne
3rd quarter, 0 minutes left: Again! And again! The Demons are winning the centre bounces with ease, passing the ball straight out, and taking shots on the run. First Sparrow kicks one on the run from 50, then about 12 seconds of match time later, Oliver kicks another.
Melbourne 12.11 (83) – Western Bulldogs 9.5 (59)
Miracle from the pocket, Petracca!
3rd quarter, 1 minutes left: A minute left on the clock when Ben Brown wins a free kick 70 metres from goal for being held and slung in a 360 spin. He kicks the cover of it into the pocket. Kozzy at the back, lurks but the ricochet goes just wide. Petracca picks it up. Standing on the paint. Kicks along the ground, with no daylight to aim for, and it skips and dribbles on a bending arc and through!
Melbourne 10.11 (71) – Western Bulldogs 9.5 (59)
Updated
3rd quarter, 2 minutes left: Almost another to follow for the Demons! Long kick, back towards goal, two on one with Gawn one of the two, but the Bulldog defender flying back with the flight gets a fist to punch through a behind.
Dogs in possession through the centre after winning a free for holding the ball at centre half back. They mvoe into the forward line but Melbourne win possession.
Melbourne 9.11 (65) – Western Bulldogs 9.5 (59)
DEMONS BACK IN FRONT
3rd quarter, 4 minutes left: Almost high contact on Kozzy Pickett, the commentators are calling for it but I reckon that tackle was well enough judged that it didn’t actually make contact over the shoulder. The Dogs eventually draw a free kick while deep in defence, but Caleb Daniel slips the ball off the side of his boot and it dribbles along the turf. Melbourne win it back, little chip inside 50, and Brayshaw takes a diving slips catch! Goes back from 45 metres and kicks the goal!
Melbourne 9.10 (64) – Western Bulldogs 9.5 (59)
Make that three in a minute for the Demons!
3rd quarter, 8 minutes left: Again straight out of the centre, Petracca this time carrying the ball and banging it long, and Ben Brown marks! Runs in the length of an airport runway and kicks his set shot from 30 out. They’re back in it!
Melbourne 8.10 (58) – Western Bulldogs 9.5 (59)
Updated
Two goals in a minute for Fritsch!
3rd quarter, 8 minutes left: Yowch! Talk about a mismatch: tiny Caleb Daniel versus mighty Max Gawn. But Daniel is the player who slings Gawn to the ground in a tackle on the boundary line. Gawn slips as well, I fancy, and he goes to ground and hits his head on the hard ground off the grass beyond the boundary.
Gawn wins the free kick. Downfield quickly. Viney kicks long over the top to Fritsch, who marks and goals.
Then from the centre bounce, immediately out of the middle to full forward. Gawn provides the contest. Fritsch flies from the back to try to take a screamer. Doesn’t, but lands on his feet to gather and goal!
Melbourne 7.10 (52) – Western Bulldogs 9.5 (59)
BON TEM PELLI
3rd quarter, 12 minutes left: Third goal for The Bont! About a dozen efforts from Melbourne to clear their defensive 50, and the Dogs keep forcing it back! Again the repelling effort, again. But at last the pressure tells. A chain of handballs ending with the Bulldog champion, and he kicks around the body from 48 metres out and snaps a goal!
Melbourne 5.10 (40) – Western Bulldogs 9.5 (59)
Updated
3rd quarter, 13 minutes left: The lights are on, the night has come, and the game has closed up. The Dogs are having the run of it, but can’t break through. Melbourne’s turn to defend grimly. Gawn is still imposing himself at the stoppages, but the Dees have dropped a couple of marks that could have helped them gain control.
Melbourne 5.10 (40) – Western Bulldogs 8.5 (53)
First goal of the second half to the Bulldogs!
3rd quarter, 18 minutes left: The Dogs away in no time at all. Raking kick into the forward line, and he’s not the tallest but there’s Jason Johanissen flying back with the flight, marking on the behind line! He kicks his set shot! What a turnaround.
Melbourne 5.10 (40) – Western Bulldogs 8.5 (53)
Updated
Second half about to start...
Got your breath back? A bit of Birds of Tokyo at the half time show. This feels like a long break for players to sit there and wait to get going again. But the lights are down at the stadium, little fireworks are going off, it’s a music festival vibe. Remember those? Me neither.
Updated
Half time – Melbourne 5.9 (39) – Western Bulldogs 7.5 (47)
Hooooo boy! Quite a half of football. The Demons threatened to blow it open in the first quarter, but the Doggies just, just, held on. Then in the second quarter they have exerted control, bit by bit.
Bontempelli kicks another
2nd quarter, 1 minutes left: The Dogs are taking control now. Schache kicks a point from deep in traffic to get them ahead, then Gawn gives away a free kick to English in a marking contest, hands in the back, and Bontempelli marks and goals.
Melbourne 5.9 (39) – Western Bulldogs 7.4 (46)
Updated
2nd quarter, 3 minutes left: We settle into arm-wrestle territory, the Demons creeping back to level terms with a couple of behinds. Then English wins a free kick on forward 50 for the Dogs, but his kick is smothered! Aaaaagh scores still level!
Melbourne 5.9 (39) – Western Bulldogs 6.3 (39)
THE DOGS HIT THE FRONT
2nd quarter, 8 minutes left: Lachie Hunter gets a free kick for high contact! Loose ball, he goes in hard for it, and the arm slips high around his neck. Technical but there. His set shot is true!
Melbourne 5.7 (37) – Western Bulldogs 6.3 (39)
Updated
Bontempelli kicks his first
2nd quarter, 10 minutes left: THE BONT! Floats across the front of a pack in the right forward pocket and he finishes with the set shot! The Dogs not going away. This coming just after Max Gawn has a long set shot from further out in Melbourne’s right forward pocket, which he thinks has gone through - or rather over, that’s how high it was - but the goal umpire says it faded.
Melbourne 5.7 (37) – Western Bulldogs 5.3 (33)
Melbourne respond immediately!
2nd quarter, 14 minutes left: Bailey Dale misses a Flying Mullet shot at goal from the pocket, and this time in response the Dees get the fast movement of the first quarter. Ben Brown marks. Kicks from the arc, and the big forward is into the game. End to end stuff!
Melbourne 5.6 (36) – Western Bulldogs 4.3 (27)
Updated
2nd quarter, 16 minutes left: This time it’s Treloar out the centre! Straight from the centre bounce, runs away with it, bangs it inside 50, over the back of a contest, Naughton picks it up on the half volley and can kick a goal almost unchallenged.
Melbourne 4.6 (30) – Western Bulldogs 4.2 (26)
Three in a row the Dogs!
2nd quarter, 16 minutes left: This time it’s Treloar out the centre! Straight from the centre bounce, runs away with it, bangs it inside 50, over the back of a contest, Naughton picks it up on the half volley and can kick a goal almost unchallenged.
Melbourne 4.6 (30) – Western Bulldogs 4.2 (26)
Treloar does it again!
2nd quarter, 17 minutes left: Adam Treloar, what a pick-up the former Pie has been! Again in traffic, kicks his second.
Melbourne 4.5 (29) – Western Bulldogs 3.2 (20)
Updated
Bulldogs goal!
2nd quarter, 19 minutes left: The start they wanted! Forward quickly from the stoppage, off a contest, Treloar on the side of the pack away from goal, roves it and snaps truly.
Melbourne 4.5 (29) – Western Bulldogs 2.2 (14)
Quarter time – Melbourne 4.5 (29) – Western Bulldogs 1.2 (8)
The Demons bossed it, but they haven’t completely got away. It was fierce, it was intense, and it was a bit sloppy at times. Grand final footy.
Updated
1st quarter, 2 minutes left: Petracca with a raking ball across the 50 from a stoppage, but it rolls out of bounds. Caleb Daniel ducks and weaves, gets the ball clear eventually. Contests erupt on the wing and Melbourne win it back. Ben Brown grabs the ball on the bounce and snaps on the spin, but misses. Petracca gets a snap away after the Dogs mess up the kick-in, but his kick is smothered. Dees could be further ahead. Bulldogs get inside quickly 50 but Johannisen in a paddock is well held and can’t get possession.
Melbourne 4.4 (28) – Western Bulldogs 1.2 (8)
Demons goal!
1st quarter, 6 minutes left: The Dogs have had a few chances. Schache crashes a pack, tall Tim English roves it, but his right-foot banana on the run is too ambitious for his skillset. And not for the first time today, Melbourne punish them with fast movement down to the other end, and it’s another error from the Dogs as Bailey Williams is in position to intercept mark but lets it through his fingers. Fritsch claims the ricochet and turns to kick his second!
Melbourne 4.3 (27) – Western Bulldogs 1.2 (8)
Updated
Melbourne goal!
1st quarter, 7 minutes left: A couple of free kicks get the Dogs to 50, then a free kick conceded sees it go back the other way. Gawn bangs the ball inside 50. Pickett chasing and pressuring on the boundary line. An error on the kick, straight to Melbourne’s Luke Jackson! Who hands over to Spargo, who dribbles through a goal.
Melbourne 3.3 (21) – Western Bulldogs 1.1 (7)
Updated
Bulldogs goal!
1st quarter, 9 minutes left: Roarke Smith does it all. Flies like Superman at the pack inside 50. Can’t take a supermark, but brings the ball to ground over the back. Lands on his feet like a cat, spins onto it, and snares the crumb. Space to sprint into an open goal!
Melbourne 2.3 (15) – Western Bulldogs 1.1 (7)
Updated
1st quarter, 10 minutes left: Max Gawn marks at the 50 and has a long set shot but misses. This feels like the Geelong prelim final. Dogs just have to hang in there somehow and avoid being blown away early.
Melbourne 2.3 (15) – Western Bulldogs 0.1 (1)
Updated
1st quarter, 11 minutes left: Almost through on goal, the Bulldogs, but an errant final kick into the 50 leaves Schache with too much to do. Looks like the Dees will score again on the slingshot but Easton Wood does incredibly well, sprinting back to defend, holding them up as the one player against three until the cavalry arrives.
Melbourne goal!
1st quarter, 14 minutes left: The Dogs get a flying shot at goal themselves, but it’s punched through. Quick transition down to the other end though, and Fritsch is running back into the goalsquare to mark right in the teeth of goal! Converts.
Melbourne 1.2 (14) – Western Bulldogs 0.1 (1)
Melbourne goal!
1st quarter, 14 minutes left: Petraaaacca! Bulldogs trying to get out of defence but they get interrupted by fierce pressure at half forward. Pickett prominent in there. The ball comes back to Petracca who picks it up near 50 on the half volley, turns and snaps on the run for a long goal.
Melbourne 1.2 (8) – Western Bulldogs 0.0 (0)
Updated
1st quarter, 16 minutes left: Pressure in defence again from the Demons, and they go coast to coast with a chain of possessions through the middle. Oliver finds Brown leading into that same left pocket, but his set shot slides off the boot and sneaks in for a behind at the left post.
Melbourne 0.2 (2) – Western Bulldogs 0.0 (0)
1st quarter, 17 minutes left: First shot of the game will go to Alex Neal-Bullen. Marks hard in the left pocket near the 50, takes his set shot around the corner but it falls short and is punched through.
Melbourne 0.1 (1) – Western Bulldogs 0.0 (0)
1st quarter, 19 minutes left: Max Gawn nearly gets the first clearance, has his head ripped off but doesn’t get a free, and Oliver gets pulled off his kick and concedes one for holding the ball. Dogs go forward, Bontempelli one hand to the ball but can’t mark it, and the Demons clear.
Herrrrre weeeee goooooo
oooooooooooo
Amy Manford does the anthem, a soprano who mostly does the Phantom of the Opera. She really goes for the last note, trilling across the Swan River.
It looks great over there. The Perth stadium is really impressive when you’re in the middle of it, and it’s packed out today. A different feeling in Melbourne without the game here, but there’s something good about seeing it somewhere else, something different, as with last year in Brisbane.
Teams are out onto the field! The banners are up. “One team, one dream,” says Melbourne’s simple message. I didn’t catch the Doggies’ one.
Updated
We’re up to shots of the dressing rooms. Lots of running about, nervous tension, attempts to suppress nervous tension.
In the interim, we had an emotional acoustic version of Land Down Under from a remote video version of Colin Hay.
Western Bulldogs
Full-back: Easton Wood, Alex Keath, Taylor Duryea
Half-back: Caleb Daniel, Zaine Cordy, Bailey Dale
Centre: Bailey Smith, Tom Liberatore, Lachie Hunter
Half-forward: Cody Weightman, Aaron Naughton, Adam Treloar
Full-forward: Jason Johannisen, Tim English, Mitch Hannan
Followers: Stefan Martin, Jack Macrae, Marcus Bontempelli
Bench: Bailey Williams, Josh Dunkley, Roarke Smith, Josh Schache
Medical sub: Laitham Vandermeer
Melbourne Demons
Full-back: Michael Hibberd, Steven May, Jake Lever
Half-back: Jake Bowey, Harrison Petty, Christian Salem
Centre: Angus Brayshaw, Christian Petracca, Ed Langdon
Half-forward: Kysaiah Pickett, Tom McDonald, James Harmes
Full-forward: Alex Neal-Bullen, Ben Brown, Bayley Fritsch
Followers: Max Gawn, Clayton Oliver, Jack Viney
Bench: Luke Jackson, Charlie Spargo, Trent Rivers, Tom Sparrow
Medical sub: James Jordon
Updated
The final teams are in. Stand by...
We’re getting Great Southern Land, which is good if you want to feel like it’s the start of every session of Test cricket in Australia for the last decade or so.
Now we’ve got John Butler, which is... less so.
At my house we currently have about six different screens, none of which work very well, trying to get this thing operational. But one of them has come good! And there are a couple of dozen pastel-clad dancers giving it their all behind a tall guy in a shiny blue tracksuit with a didgeridoo. Well worth the effort.
I only just learned about this “can’t cast a digital stream of the grand final to your television” thing. What’s that about? Is it still 1964 in footy rights land?
It’s poignant hearing Nick Riewoldt say, “Any other game, your preparation is the Monday to Friday. You preparation for a grand final is everything you’ve done since you were a kid. Your whole life has led to this moment.”
Someone who played in three, and deserved a win.
Jonathan Brown has taken time out from his busy Four N Twenty pie advertising schedule to tell us about playing in grand finals: “Every kid dreams of this growing up.”
Just quietly, maybe the pie folks should rethink an ad campaign that revolves around Ben Simmons shooting a three-pointer.
Updated
The Panthers have won, they’ll play the grand final against South Sydney. For at team with a flavoured milk sponsor writ large across the chest of strawberry-pink shirts, I’m on board.
This is a nice moment for a very good egg.
Never considered that ten years after leaving the ABC following a breakdown I’d be calling an AFL Grand Final in Perth … but here I am after 32 years & 1185 games … thanks to those who stuck by me through some tough times 🙏 #AFLGF on @NIRS_AFL thru the AFL app at 5.15pm WAT pic.twitter.com/pVPnoy2esm
— Glenn Mitchell (@MitchellGlenn) September 25, 2021
Across codes in the rugby league prelim, since I know how much Victorians unite* in their love* of the Melbourne Storm*, the Panthers are leading 10-6 with about ten minutes to go.
This has nothing to do with the football but it’s funny, so...
The correspondent the BBC sent to cover the petrol shortage this morning is called Phil McCann pic.twitter.com/t64piutcg6
— Talia Shadwell (@TaliaShadwell) September 25, 2021
Two football households, both alike in the indignity of many years out of the running. The Demons, yes, waiting since 1964 as we know. And their many years on the final couple of rungs of the ladder. But at least they had an era of success before times fell hard, and at least they made a couple of grand finals in 1988 and 2000.
The Dogs, meanwhile, were perennial prelim finalists for a couple of decades, never tasting the big day. And yes, they broke that drought gloriously in 2016. But what a drought: only their second flag in well over a century of existence, having waited since 1954.
What we have in truth is two underdogs. Not a fairytale, because there is no ogre to beat. Two deserving teams, two strong stories, playing off in what should be a worthy contest between two worthy winners.
Hello Dogs, hello Dees. Are you nervous yet? Normally by now you would slipping whole-bodied into euphoria or despair, except in the odd case where a fierce contest was still raging near the end of the fourth quarter. But today you’ve had to wait. Today you’re still warming up. Over an hour and a half until we get the main show started, but in the meantime I’m here for your correspondence, your thoughts and feelings, and a little emotional support if required.
Ok, Geoff is in the building, which means I am not long for this blog. Thanks for joining me this afternoon, and enjoy the festivities tonight.
Before I go, my head says Melbourne, but my head also says MELBOURNE!? So I’m going to tip the Bulldogs by 16 and Jack Macrae to win the Norm Smith with a record number of possessions.
See you soon.
Bont and Baz have arrived. #AFLGF pic.twitter.com/2FD70ujarT
— AFL (@AFL) September 25, 2021
Jonathan Horn has a lovely tribute to Luke Beveridge, an unlikely wayfinder of the modern game.
He’s more than a shaman figure. “One after another,” Martin Flanagan wrote following their premiership, “the Bulldogs players described him to me as caring. But he also has what could be termed a deep objectivity, a detachment, when it comes not only to assessing players and their roles in a team, but also to the running of a football club.” Indeed, one of the striking things about Flanagan’s book is how critical of his players Beveridge could be, particularly in his written assessments. He demands a lot of them. He is not afraid to drop half a dozen of them at once. But he never loses them. He always draws them back in. No coach defends his players in the face of public criticism as fiercely.
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While it’s easy to wallow, as a Victorian, at the grand final’s absence from the state, it’s not before time (in my opinion) that the biggest day in the calendar has made it’s way west. As with last year in Queensland, it seems only right that a fully national competition gets to enjoy the occasion every now and then.
Hopefully the AFL’s long sought after nighttime entertainment is a step up on this.
Jonathan Horn’s columns this season have been a weekly treat. His latest is no exception.
For anyone who has spent nine months in lockdown, it has been a strange time to be a rusted-on fan. It’s like being an Australian based supporter of an English Premier League club. You try and convince yourself that you’re part of it. But you’re a two-dimensional supporter. You’re connected to your team, as one sportswriter wrote last year, “like a patient on an intravenous drip”.
Today is that one day in September.
Melbourne fan Emily Weekes is one of many who have waited a lifetime for a day like this.
Growing up in the ‘80s in an Aussie rules-loving house, I knew two things to be true: we followed the Melbourne Demons, and the only woman I remember seeing run across the ‘G’ was a streaker. This Saturday – almost 40 years later – many eyes will be glued to the AFL grand final. A premiership match between the two teams that pioneered women’s footy, and today both have women as presidents. I wonder what dad would make of this.
Will Bulldogs supporter Mark Seymour reach his Holy Grail again today?
Later on we’ll be all about football’s presence in Perth, but the build-up has been dominated by football’s absence in Melbourne. Few pieces have captured this emptiness quite like this, from Nino Bucci.
It is usually impossible to avoid footy in Melbourne each spring. Like the pollen of a plane tree, it finds its way into your eyes and your nose and the back of your throat. The first organised game of what became Australian rules football was played in Melbourne only about two decades after the settlement was colonised. The city and footy have been together for more than 160 years since then. It is not surprising that it is hard to make sense of Melbourne without it. Everybody has lost something in the pandemic. For more than 800 Victorian families, it is a relative. Perhaps many more will die before the next grand final. We may feel bereft, but it is still only footy. For some, though, whose lives are more intertwined with the game, the loss feels greater.
I also hope for the best for Ben Brown. One of the smartest and most self-aware footballers I’ve ever dealt with. It was hard to see how he fit into this Melbourne line-up following his trade, but now he looms as a crucial point of difference. May his hands be sticky and run-up rhythmical.
If you have catholic sporting tastes and are no fan of a code war, then you could spend some of your grand final build-up multi-screening and keeping up with the NRL preliminary final between the Storm and Panthers. After all, the NRL did reschedule to avoid clashing with tonight’s match.
On the subject of clashing fixtures, there’s also a Wallabies outing to consider this evening. Throw in the Ryder Cup, an F1 GP, some monster matches in the EPL and we have ourselves a tsunami of live sport.
Rowan Smith wins the grand final sprint... to send in the first email! And it’s a cry for help, so any suggestions, send them my way.
“I’ve discovered that as a Melburnian with many laptops and screens and a Kayo subscription, I can’t watch the Grannie tonight because I don’t have an old school, plugged in TV. Any advice / tips? HELP!”
Well, in a rare turn up for the books, I may be able to offer some assistance. According to this link, the game is available on 7 Plus - within limits. Hopefully that does the trick and you don’t end up like the Likely Lads dodging the score and waiting for a replay.
Hello everybody, Melbourne maniacs and Bulldog barrackers, footy fanatics and fairweather theatregoers, you’re all welcome to the highpoint of the Australian rules football calendar. Today is a day of unabashed cliché, tradition and back slapping, an orgy of celebration of Our Great Game™️.
There’ll be singing, sprinting and crepe. Bob and Barassi. The Dogs and the Dees. We’ll go up there with Cazaly and look over the bridge to an empty MCG.
Geoff Lemon will steer you through the business end of proceedings later on, but I’m here to start the ball rolling, play the hits, and channel the grand final spirit for a couple of hours.
Your contributions at the end of this long season have never been more welcome, so please bombard me with your emails, or tweet @JPHowcroft.
