Melbourne celebrates its breakthrough flag win at Perth’s Optus Stadium on Saturday night, the stands long since emptied.
Melbourne captured our imagination on Saturday night and ensured romance is still alive and well in the ruthless, cut-throat industry that is AFL football.
When the Demons added their names to the growing list of modern premiership drought-breakers, which also features Sydney, Geelong, the Western Bulldogs and Richmond, they reminded other clubs, in particular St Kilda, that they should continue to dare to dream.
But after the dust settled on one of the most remarkable grand final victories in VFL/AFL history, the focus invariably turned to whether Melbourne could become the league’s next dynasty club, following on from the Lions, Cats, Hawks and, most recently, the Tigers.
And it’s a fair question.
The team that spectacularly destroyed the Bulldogs in some 40 minutes of football did not feature one player with more than 200 games’ experience. In fact, eight of the 23 players were 21 years old or younger and only seven of them were older than 25.
Melbourne had four Rising Star nominations this year – James Jordon, Trent Rivers, Jake Bowey and eventual winner of the award Luke Jackson – as well as three members of the 22under22 side (Jackson, Rivers and Kysaiah Pickett).
The average age and games-played of Melbourne’s 2021 premiership team was 24.84 and 98.1 respectively. When you compare that to the Geelong 2007 (25.49 and 112.3) and Richmond 2017 (25.12 and 103.1) sides that kickstarted those respective clubs’ recent golden eras, it makes for good reading for the Demons.
In the last 25 years, those three teams, as well as Adelaide’s 1997 side, were the only ones to win premierships after failing to make the finals the previous year. The Crows went back-to-back in 1998. The good omens continue for Melbourne.
Of course, there are no guarantees that multiple premierships will be delivered to the Demons. Modern history also has a few examples of the flip side of the coin with Collingwood (2010), West Coast (2018) and the Bulldogs (2016) all failing to win more than one flag despite looking well set for repeat success. And while the Bulldogs should definitely not be discounted from climbing the mountain again soon, there are no such things as promises in footy.
However, age demographics and shrewd list management aside, the one thing above all else that might prevent the Demons from experiencing a premiership hangover is the fact that they broke the Norm Smith curse in Perth.
PLEASE HELP US CONTINUE TO THRIVE BY BECOMING AN OFFICIAL FOOTYOLOGY PATRON. JUST CLICK THIS LINK.
While Melbourne supporters from the club’s heartland of Victoria would no doubt have all been absolutely elated at the sight of seeing their team finally reach the summit of the footy world again after nearly six decades, there’s no doubt a part of them would have been frustrated at the fact that they were stuck at home in lockdown and not able to witness history being made at the rightful place – their spiritual home of the MCG.
Adding to the frustration would be the fact that supporters of the Bulldogs, Tigers, Cats and Swans all saw their teams break similarly-long premiership droughts at the MCG in recent times.
So while Victoria’s Melbourne fans missed out on one flag, in a roundabout way it may end up ensuring they see a second premiership in quick time first-hand from the stands – a two-for-one deal for their club, for want of a better phrase.
Doing a lap of honour around the MCG this year and seeing all those happy red-and-blue faces in the stands might have been enough for the players to rest on their laurels and think to themselves “mission accomplished”.
But the hunger, motivation and determination to make sure Victoria’s Demon Army get to experience what the WA chapter did this year could very well end up helping Melbourne earn a “bonus” premiership, moving to 14 flags rather than 13, by the end of next season.
Premiership captain Max Gawn all but admitted after the game that there was an element of lament as a result of triumphing in Perth.
“That lap (of honour) was pretty special and, I mean, I love Perth and I love what it’s done but it would have been so much more special if it was friends and family and Melbourne supporters (in the stands),” he told Fox Footy.
“They were here, but that 100,000-Melbourne-supporter crowd that could have been at the MCG, it would have been really special with that.”
It certainly makes coach Simon Goodwin’s job easier when trying to come up with a theme for the 2022 season.
And even if the Demons don’t go back-to-back next year, you can definitely see them winning another one or two premierships over the next few years.
Every kid grows up watching teams win the grand final at the MCG and wanting to emulate that feat. Luckily for Melbourne fans, their super side still hasn’t ticked that box yet.
