Melbourne players rush to join coach Simon Goodwin and captain Max Gawn on the AFL premiership dais. Photo: AFL MEDIA

GRAND FINAL: MELBOURNE 21.14 (140) defeated WESTERN BULLDOGS 10.6 (66)

Simon Goodwin has had a look in his eye.

It was there through Melbourne’s preliminary final run three years ago, endured the disappointment that followed, and has never dissipated on the ascent of football’s Everest.

If you trawl through the archival footage, it was evident back when Goodwin signed a five-year deal at a club that had won just 10 games combined over the previous three seasons.

From the day he was unveiled as Paul Roos’ successor in September 2014, Goodwin laid his intentions bare by making “sustained success” the most common piece of alliteration in his public vocabulary.

The burying of the Norm Smith curse on Saturday night – gloriously dramatic and brutal in equal portions – was a sight to behold.

However, this has never been about just one premiership or being satisfied with bringing a 57-year flag drought to a close.

“It’s not the end of anything – this is the start for our footy club,” Goodwin said after the 74-point thrashing of the Western Bulldogs in Saturday night’s grand final. “This is where we want to be, but what we do know is the respect that we need to show the competition and we need to show to ourselves how hard it is to be in this position

“It’s not an easy position to get to and we’ll hit pre-season, when the time comes, with that respect and that work that’s required to stay here.”

Despite the achievements of Damien Hardwick’s Richmond and Alastair Clarkson’s Hawthorn over the past decade, that sustained success doesn’t just happen.

Not in a competition littered with restraints placed on clubs that are specifically designed to share the silverware around. Goodwin knows it as well as anyone. “It’s not easy and it doesn’t come off just talent,” he said.

But his Melbourne squad looks as well-placed as any to achieve it, having been meticulously built from the ground up.

From gun midfielders Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver – both high-end draft picks – to defensive pillars Steven May and Jake Lever – recruited from rival clubs – there are All Australian-level magnets spread across Goodwin’s whiteboard.

Max Gawn is the competition’s best ruckman and apprentice Luke Jackson doesn’t seem to be going anywhere, despite keen interest from his home state.

The Demons’ attack, admittedly, lacks a little for genuine star power. But it works. Bayley Fritsch, Kysaiah Pickett, Ben Brown and Tom McDonald have seen to that this year.

There are committed role players everywhere and a selflessness that permeates the playing group, arguably best exemplified by Angus Brayshaw’s move to a wing in recent seasons.

The Demons often talk about having love and care for each other, and you believe them. You also believe that it means something, because the evidence is there.

The full force of this Melbourne unit was on show during an instantly-famous third-quarter blitz at Perth’s Optus Stadium, putting an exclamation mark on a dominant finals series that has sent a shudder through the rest of the competition as it looks to 2022 and beyond.

PLEASE HELP US CONTINUE TO THRIVE BY BECOMING AN OFFICIAL FOOTYOLOGY PATRON. JUST CLICK THIS LINK.

After Melbourne powered past Brisbane and embarrassed Geelong, only the Bulldogs stood between it and premiership glory.

It had been the same situation 67 years earlier to the day, when Smith led the Demons into battle against Footscray, with Charlie Sutton’s tri-colours saluting in the 1954 VFL grand final.

It remained the Bulldogs’ only AFL/VFL flag until 2016, and brought an added sense of romance to Melbourne’s quest to end its drought against a club that had experienced the most unlikely of fairytale endings not so long ago.

While not the MCG, Optus Stadium set a spectacular stage against the setting sun. As if the 21-year wait for a grand final appearance wasn’t enough, the 7.15pm bounce down in the eastern states tested fans again.

The Demons dominated the opening term with four goals to one as Petracca and Oliver fired. Fritsch kicked two early goals.

Things took a sour turn when Marcus Bontempelli, Adam Treloar, Caleb Daniel and co. got to work for the Bulldogs. They had all the momentum heading into half-time, and Jason Johannisen’s big ride on Jake Bowey got things going again after the break.

Johannisen’s goal, followed by red-hot skipper Bontempelli’s third, gave the Dogs a 19-point advantage. Melbourne wasn’t gone, but also wasn’t far from it. The next goal was crucial. Something had to change.

Seemingly out of nowhere, the Dees flicked a switch and produced a burst of dominance like nothing we’ve seen before on the grand final stage.

Fritsch struck first, trimming the margin with two goals in a minute. The second was the first of four in the quickfire obliteration to come direct from centre bounces. Petracca, Oliver and Jackson had their hands all over it and Petracca’s next clearance found Brown close to goal.

Brayshaw’s brave diving catch and cool conversion put the Dees in front and there was still time for more before the three-quarter time siren. Petracca’s carefully guided right-foot dribbler from the boundary line never looked like missing and was evidence the football gods were finally smiling on Melbourne.

When Tom Sparrow and Oliver kicked centre-bounce goals in the space of a minute before the last change, there was no doubt. The premiership quarter proved just that.

The Demons held a 24-point advantage by that stage – the largest of the match to that point – and ran riot in the final term, piling on another nine majors to finish with 16 of the last 17 goals of the match.
From the 16-minute mark of the third quarter, they poured on 16.4 (100) to 1.1 (7), allowing anyone and everyone in red-and-blue – no white – to embrace an unfamiliar sensation for the final half-hour.

The cruel irony, of course, was that the vast majority of the long-suffering Demons faithful weren’t able to revel in the full experience live at the ground or with scores of fellow diehards – for reasons Melbourne, the city, knows better than any other.

But from Perth to Prahran, corporate seat to couch, they would not be denied their moment, regardless of the unusual circumstances surrounding a second successive grand final being played outside Victoria.

The second half of the grand final will be replayed all summer, and for years to come. It will give Dees fans something to cling to for another 57 years, if required, though you get the sense that won’t be necessary.