The moment before the final siren may be the most exciting of them all.
It’s when the anticipation builds up to fever pitch in every Demons player and fan.
The last 10 minutes of the game may have been a coronation, but it was no less special.
Every Melbourne player, current and past, had been reminded about the 57-year drought for almost every waking second over the past fortnight, a hefty burden on their shoulders.
The second the siren sounded, the weight lifted.
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For Dogs players and fans, the drawn-out ending meant processing emotions before the game finished. For a while in the second half, they seemed to have one hand on the cup.
That was before the most remarkable streak in two decades of grand final memory took the trophy away.
For three quarters, the contest was one of the tightest and most engaging in recent grand final memory.
It was a fever dream for modern footy fans, with tides and turns, runs and rolls.
With 60,000, loud Perth locals and millions around the country cheering throughout, Melbourne and their midfield rose to the occasion when it counted.
What could have been more heartbreak for the most snake-bitten club of recent years became the biggest triumph in the lifetimes of most fans.
Just before the bounce, Simon Goodwin revealed his last message to the players: “Let’s be honest. Let’s do our people proud. Let’s get the game looking our way, and we’ll be right.”
When asked if they were ready by Daisy Pearce, Goodwin simply replied:
It’s how history gets written, and this is how Melbourne earned their remarkable 13th VFL/AFL flag.
Front half pressure in first half
For a grand final that was won by 74 points, the game felt far closer for most of the time. There were several distinct movements, twists and turns, that left the hearts of fans in their throat.
Coming in to the final, each side’s ability to apply pressure in the front half of the ground was well known.
Both coaches prided themselves on playing a front half pressure game, and it showed.
For the first half, both sides lived up to their reputations and used pressure up the ground to create scores.
In the first quarter, the Demons raced out to a hot start, kicking four goals to one in the first quarter, and nine total shots on goal.
Of those four goals, three came from turnovers created in the front half.
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Despite racking up relatively few disposals all game, the Melbourne small forward brigade left their impression with their work rate and ability to influence the contest.
When the ends were switched after the first quarter, so was the forward half intensity.
Five of the nine inside 50s for the Bulldogs ended in goals for their team, three resulting from forward half turnovers.
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The Dogs were forced to use the ball a bit more to score than the Demons, with an extra disposal in the chain of play, on average, from these front half turnover scores.
Generally, the Dogs were using the corridor more in the first half, especially in the front half of the ground.
Marcus Bontempelli’s goal at the end of the second quarter seemed to turn the tide of the game in the Bulldogs direction. It capped a stellar half for the AFLPA MVP with 14 disposals, three clearances, three inside 50s and two goals.
Data source: Josh Elliott
)Clearing ground
The other hallmark for the two sides coming into the game was their ability to dominate from different parts of the clearance game.
For the Bulldogs, no side was better at scoring from stoppages.
The Demons, on the other hand, relished scoring from the centre bounce — and stopping their opponents from doing so.
For the first half, both sides were able to repel each other’s ability to create from clearances, with contests often turning into a stalemate.
Early on, both sides left a loose player at centre bounces, which largely quelled attacking action.
At stoppages, both sides set up well behind the ball, stopping quick movements by the elite midfields at play.
Then, at the 12-minute mark of the third quarter, the game changed.
Bontempelli’s goal from a forward-50 stoppage signalled the start of the shift of the game from being driven by counterattacks to clearance scores.
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Six of the last eight goals of the third quarter came from throw-ins, ball ups or centre bounces. Unfortunately, for the Dogs, Bontempelli’s goal, the first in that run, was their last.
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In just over three heady minutes, the Demons added three goals via clearances, getting back into the game.
On their 17 goal to one run to finish the game, seven came from centre bounces.
Notably, the Demons run largely came with relief ruck Luke Jackson taking the main ruck role, with Max Gawn playing deeper forward.
Whenever Gawn played forward through the night, the Dogs struggled to balance mollifying his impact with covering the rest of the Demons attack.
Fresh off a five-goal haul against Geelong in the preliminary final, the Dogs seemed hyper-aware of his presence, and were hurt elsewhere.
Defensively, the Demons started setting up on the back side of the stoppage, and looked to run through the contest.
This provided them protection in case they were second to the ball, but also attacking verve if they got hands on it first.
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The Bulldogs scored an average of 27 points from stoppages against the Demons in their two match-ups earlier this year.
In the grand final, the Demons limited them to just 13 points from stoppages.
The Bulldogs game, so much driven by changes in pace and direction, was rendered ineffective.
Instead, the Bulldogs were largely locked in the backline or confined to the boundary in the second half.
With the advantage of first use from the bounce, the Demons ran away with the game, and the flag.
Special day for Petracca
Every grand final has a host of heroes and, in 2021, no player shone more than Christian Petracca.
The 25-year-old from Warrandyte, on the north-eastern fringes of Melbourne, stood up when the Demons needed it the most, impacting the game all across the ground.
Data source: Josh Elliott
)The influence of Petracca’s game went beyond the raw number of disposals to how useful they were.
His first disposal involved an intercept and a rebound from a defensive 50, his second a dangerous attacking foray inside 50, and his third a goal.
The young Demon reached rare heights in the game, gaining hard ball and actively moving it forward.
Petracca’s 15 scoring involvements attested to his importance to the victory. His defensive work was also stellar, leading the Demons with eight intercepts.
Petracca was far from the only stand-out Demon.
Bayley Fritsch had the finest moment in his AFL career, slotting six goals, including two that shifted the narrative of the game.
Jake Lever corralled the defence, directing play while Christian Salem and Jake Bowey provided attack from defence.
Unlike in many big losses, most of the Bulldogs played well. Unfortunately, they were against a raging-hot Melbourne side.
Finally home
After many weeks on the road, both teams will unwind then head home, at the completion of yet another interrupted AFL season.
Given the effort put in over the season, no side deserved to lose, just one deserved victory more than the rest.
Melbourne’s victory isn’t just joy for its players, past and present, and fans across the country.
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It’s also hope for all other fan-bases.
No matter the dire situation currently faced, or the length of time between premiership drinks, a flag is possible.
After the game, newly minted premiership captain Max Gawn summed what it meant up maybe the best of all: “It’s a long time coming.”
“Yeah, I can name them. Dean Bailey. Jim Stynes. Colin Sylvia. Troy Broadbridge. The list goes on,” he said.
“What Neale Daniher is going through at the moment. These guys are the real heroes. We’re just out here playing our role tonight.”
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Source: AFL NEWS ABC
