MVP 2023 Nick "426" Smith Memorial Trophy Leader-Board | Viney wins his 1st

FootyGuy13 · Mar 22, 2023

It's the 2023 edition of the Melbourne Board's MVP main thread; the Nick "426" Smith Memorial Trophy. After the disappointment that was the 2022 season, it'll be interesting to see what lessons the team has learned from being overconfident and never leaving first-gear cause we went 10-0 against easy opposition.

One thing I don't think will change will be that either Oliver or Petracca will probably win this as they've been the clear 1-2 for the past 2 seasons and have yet to show any signs of slowing down, although Brayshaw almost challenged for the win of half-back last season before moving to the midfield, Gawn will get some help sharing ruck duties with Grundy so we'll see if that has any affect on the downward trend both players have been showing in recent seasons and you can never rule out any dark horse options in May, Lever, Petty, Viney, Langdon, Hunter, Pickett or Fritsch. Yeah I know some of those players won't finish in the Top 10, which brings up the question of who have to make way. Oh the problems of having a hopefully good team.

The voting and points system is still what it has been, just continue to put in your votes every week and we should have a winner that everyone can agree on.

Honour Roll (Bluey Truscott placings)

2022 - Clayton Oliver (1st)
2021 - Christian Petracca (2nd)
2020 - Christian Petracca (1st)
2019 - Max Gawn (=1st)
2018 - Max Gawn (1st)
2017 - Clayton Oliver (1st)
2016 - Max Gawn (3rd)
2015 - Tom McDonald (3rd)
2014 - Nathan Jones (1st)
2013 - Nathan Jones (1st)
2012 - Nathan Jones (1st)
2011 - Jack Trengove (5th)
2010 - Brad Green (1st)
2009 - Aaron Davey (1st)
2008 - Brad Green (3rd)*
2007 - Nathan Jones (2nd)
2006 - Brock McLean (3rd)
2005 - Brent Moloney (3rd)
2004 - Adem Yze (3rd)
2003 - Abandoned after Round 3
2002 - Adem Yze (6th)
2001 - Started in Round 10

Now included is each year being a link to the appropriate 426 thread.

FootyGuy13 · Mar 22, 2023

Round 1 v Bulldogs
10 - Kysaiah Pickett (67)
9 - Max Gawn (57)
8 - Christian Petracca (40)
7 - Jake Lever (32)
6 - Ben Brown (17)

Round 2 v Brisbane
10 - Ben Brown (63)
9 - Jake Lever (39)
8 - Lachie Hunter (18)
7 - Tom Sparrow (16)
6 - Clayton Oliver (12)

Round 3 v Swans
10 - Clayton Oliver (72)
9 - Brodie Grundy (23)
8 - Ed Langdon (21)
7 - Trent Rivers (21)
6 - Kade Chandler (20)

Round 4 v Eagles
10 - Brodie Grundy (63.25)
9 - Tom McDonald (35.5)
8 - Bayley Fritsch (28)
7 - Clayton Oliver (17)
6 - Jack Viney (15)

Round 5 v Essendon
10 - Clayton Oliver (16)
9 - Ed Langdon (10)
8 - Jack Viney (10)
7 - Lachie Hunter (5)
6 - Christian Petracca (3)

Round 6 v Tigers
10 - Jack Viney (49)
9 - Jacob van Rooyen (37)
8 - Kade Chandler (21)
7 - Max Gawn (13)
6 - Ed Langdon (11)

Leader Board after Round 6

Round 7 v Kangaroos
10 - Kade Chandler (64.545)
9 - Christian Petracca (55.545)
8 - Kysaiah Pickett (19.545)
7 - Clayton Oliver (18.545)
6 - Trent Rivers (15.545)

Round 8 v Suns
10 - Max Gawn (24)
9 - Christian Petracca (24)
8 - Clayton Oliver (19)
7 - Trent Rivers (15)
6 - Jack Viney (14)

Round 9 v Hawks
10 - Trent Rivers (37)
9 - Michael Hibberd (23)
8 - Christian Petracca (22)
7 - Steven May (16)
6 - Jack Viney (10)

Round 10 v Yartapuulti
10 - Michael Hibberd (29)
9 - Trent Rivers (27)
8 - Bayley Fritsch (14)
7 - Clayton Oliver (10)
6 - Christian Petracca (7)

Round 11 v Walyalup
10 - Michael Hibberd (19)
9 - Brodie Grundy (14)
8 - Steven May (14)
7 - Bayley Fritsch (11)
6 - Trent Rivers (7)

Round 12 v Blues
10 - Christian Petracca (52)
9 - Steven May (30)
8 - Judd McVee (22)
7 - Jacob van Rooyen (15)
6 - Jake Bowey (15)

Leader Board after Round 12

Round 13 v Magpies
10 - Jake Viney (65.33)
9 - Christian Salem (34.33)
8 - Steven May (21.33)
7 - Judd McVee (17.33)
6 - Adam Tomlinson (16.33)

Round 14 v Bye

Round 15 v Geelong
10 - Jake Viney (39)
9 - Trent Rivers (34)
8 - Judd McVee (25)
7 - Joel Smith (6)
6 - Christian Salem (5)

Round 16 v GWS
10 - Jake Viney (50)
9 - Steven May (14)
8 - Jake Bowey (12)
7 - Judd McVee (6)
6 - Ben Brown (2)

Round 17 v Saints
10 - Steven May (75)
9 - Christian Petracca (38)
8 - Christian Salem (15)
7 - Tom Sparrow (11)
6 - Jack Viney (8)

Round 18 v Lions
10 - Max Gawn (61)
9 - Christian Petracca (56)
8 - Jack Viney (23)
7 - Jake Melksham (22)
6 - Trent Rivers (5)

Leader Board after Round 18

Round 19 v Crows
10 - Kysaiah Pickett (46)
9 - Jack Viney (35)
8 - Trent Rivers (17)
7 - Kade Chandler (14)
6 - Angus Brayshaw (10)

Round 20 v Tigers
10 - Harrison Petty (66)
9 - Max Gawn (60)
8 - Jack Viney (28)
7 - Jacob van Rooyen (27)
6 - Jake Melksham (18)

Round 21 v Kangaroos
10 - Kysaiah Pickett (51)
9 - Christian Petracca (23)
8 - Lachie Hunter (20)
7 - Jack Viney (15)
6 - Alex Neal-Bullen (13)

Round 22 v Carlton
10 - Trent Rivers (53)
9 - Christian Petracca (49)
8 - Angus Brayshaw (29)
7 - Ed Langdon (7)
6 - Jake Lever (7)

Round 23 v Hawks
10 - Jake Lever (48)
9 - Jake Melksham (33)
8 - Trent Rivers (30)
7 - Tom Sparrow (19)
6 - Judd McVee (7)

Round 24 v Swans
10 - Bayley Fritsch (45)
9 - Jack Viney (36)
8 - Christian Petracca (19)
7 - Alex Neal-Bullen (14)
6 - Angus Brayshaw (9)

Leader Board after Round 24

Headless · Mar 24, 2023

Lever stiff!

Thanks for doing this again, FootyGuy13.

A11dAtP0w3R · Mar 24, 2023

Headless said:
Lever stiff!

You need to get over this Les.

FootyGuy13 · Apr 29, 2023

After 6 rounds, and much to some people's chagrin, Clayton Oliver has been voted to best player for the first quarter of the season.

It's interesting to note that Oliver's score of 33 is the lowest leading score after 6 rounds since 2008, while the 9-point lead is the largest after Round 6 since 2020. 2020 is the last time Viney had season start off this well, with Langdon only just behind in 3rd. With a myriad of players in the teens filling up the rest of the Top 10, it's still anyone's game now that the sprint is over.

Next week start looking into who has been the best finals player ever for Melbourne.

Headless · Apr 29, 2023

These three really have dominated the votes over the last little while, haven't they?

2022 - Clayton Oliver (1st)
2021 - Christian Petracca (2nd)
2020 - Christian Petracca (1st)
2019 - Max Gawn (=1st)
2018 - Max Gawn (1st)
2017 - Clayton Oliver (1st)
2016 - Max Gawn (3rd)

FootyGuy13 · May 19, 2023

So before the start of the season, I decided to look into who has been the Demon's best finals performer. Considering I've analyised who has done the best in the first and last 6 rounds of the season, naturally, the next step is to look into the last made-up award I talk about at the end of the season. However, there is a difference of course. While the other 2 are guaranteed to happen unless world events play a part, playing finals isn't assured and usually only lasts 2 weeks for the majority who do make it to September footy.

Another thing is the sample size. Since 2001, the Demons have played 14 finals. By comparison, Geelong has played 12 Prelim finals since 2007 alone. So there's not a lot of data to interpolate, nor does it give out any weird results. Well, I guess with circumstances leaving Nathan Jones with 0 points and having 8 finals played since 2018 compared to 6 in the 2002-06 timeframe, I guess it would give out some questionable results for some reading this.

Let's have a look at 2018 to now. It shouldn't be any surprise that Petracca, Oliver and Viney make up the Top 3 for this period. What is a surprise is who isn't currently inside the Top 10. While Gawn should have plenty of time to add to his score, seeing him sit on just 10 points for his 2021 Prelim performance and be equal with Weideman's 2018 Elim game does look out of place, but that's what happens when you only have 1 scoring game.

The top 10 finals players for this era so far go as such.

	Score	2022 SF	2022 QF	2021 GF	2021 PF	2021 QF	2018 PF	2018 SF	2018 EF
Petracca, Christian	44	9		10	9	9		7
Oliver, Clayton	36	8	9			10	9
Viney, Jack	31				8		7	10	6
Fritsch, Bayley	24		7	9		8
Hibberd, Michael	18						10	8
Petty, Harrison	18	10	8
Brayshaw, Angus	15			8					7
Jetta, Neville	14							6	8
Salem, Christian	13			7	6
Langdon, Ed	13	6.5	6
Neal-Bullen, Alex	13	6.5				6

Now, I could go over the finals results from the early days of the 426 however I'd rather go over the full block of finals the Demons had from 1987 through to 2006. If only there was some book that detailed every VFL/AFL finals game ever played and listed the best players in all of them.

Next Week: Doing that.

Headless · May 19, 2023

Great work! Very interesting.

FootyGuy13 · Jun 1, 2023

So I have 3 editions of the same book, The Complete Book of AFL Finals, which goes into detail about every final played from 1897 to 2009 (or 1995 or 1973). Now I get that this has nothing to do with the 426... but oh well, hopefully someone else will find this interesting.

So the next part is about the 1987-2006 period that everyone else on this board seems to have grown-up in. It probably should be split into the 1987-94 and 1998-06 eras that happened, but since there's some overlap with the players I'm combining the 2 so that those players aren't disadvantaged by having their totals split up.

Now it's interesting to think that, outside the main one from the 50s, this is the most successful period Melbourne has ever had. Despite only making 2 Grand Finals for 0 premierships, the Demons played 28 finals over 20 years. Only West Coast (36) and Essendon (31) played more finals over that time frame with Geelong (27), Carlton (24), North Melbourne (24), BrisbaneB/L (23), Adelaide (22), Hawthorn (21) and Sydney (21) all averaging a final per year. Of those 28, 16 were played between 1987 and 1994 and 12 between 1998 and 2006. I think that the better teams would get a week off during finals is the reason why Melbourne raked up that many finals, only in 2000 did the Demons get a break.

When it comes to the players, it's no surprise who takes the top spot with Jim Stynes. I mean, you might be surprised if it was straight after the 1987 Prelim, but his string of 7 finals games from the '88 Grand Final to the '91 Semi speak for themselves. What might be a surprise though is Brett Lovett finishing a close second. His scoring games cover a longer period than Stynes, got BOGs in the '89 and '90 losing Semi-Finals and I don't know if it's just the author of these books having favourites, but he must have been good enough to be a regular player in the Victorian side in those days.

Now we get to the Daniher era of players with Adem Yze finishing 3rd, scoring BOGs from the '00 Quali, '02 and '04 Elim. The only game he missed with scoring any points during that stretch is the '00 Grand Final, for obvious reasons. Finishing up the Top 5 is Jeff White and Travis Johnstone with White scoring 10 points in the '98 Quali and '06 Elim with Johnstone making a late run for points, scoring well in the '02 Semi.

You guys could most definitely have a better analysis of how good these players were, proven by that new thread that Headless started, so I'll just leave the full table here and you guys can pick it apart further.

	Score	2006 SF	2006 EF	2005 EF	2004 EF	2002 SF	2002 EF	2000 GF	2000 PF	2000 QF	1998 PF	1998 SF	1998 QF	1994 PF	1994 SF	1994 QF	1991 SF	1991 EF	1990 SF	1990 EF	1989 SF	1989 EF	1988 GF	1988 PF	1988 SF	1988 EF	1987 PF	1987 SF	1987 EF
Stynes, Jim	67																10	9	6	9	8	6	10						9	Stynes, Jim
Lovett, Brett	65													7				6	10		10	7		7	9			9		Lovett, Brett
Yze, Adem	57				10	8	10		6	10	7	6																		Yze, Adem
White, Jeff	48		10			7			7	6		8	10																	White, Jeff
Johnstone, Travis	35	8			8	10	9																							Johnstone, Travis
Stretch, Steven	34																6				9					9		10		Stretch, Steven
Brown, Nathan	33	10		10	7		6																							Brown, Nathan
Lovell, Andy	33															9		8					8		8					Lovell, Andy
Jackson, Ricky	31																							9			10	6	6	Jackson, Ricky
Johnson, Alan	31																				6		7	8		10				Johnson, Alan
Spalding, Earl	31																		9			9				7	6			Spalding, Earl
Yeats, Graeme	29																			7					6			8	8	Yeats, Graeme
Viney, Todd	28												6					7			7						8			Viney, Todd
Farmer, Jeff	28								10			9	9																	Farmer, Jeff
Lyon, Garry	27														10		7							10						Lyon, Garry
Woewodin, Shane	27						8		9		10																			Woewodin, Shane
Wight, Sean	26													10													9		7	Wight, Sean
Bruce, Cameron	24		9		6	9																								Bruce, Cameron
Green, Brad	24	7	8							9																				Green, Brad
Ingerson, Anthony	24							8		7	9																			Ingerson, Anthony
Neitz, David	22												8	8	6															Neitz, David
Febey, Steven	20											10										10								Febey, Steven
Schwarz, David	19														9	10														Schwarz, David
Powell, Stephen	18							10	8																					Powell, Stephen
Eishold, Simon	17																		7	10										Eishold, Simon
Flower, Robert	17																											7	10	Flower, Robert
Campbell, Tony	16																		8	8										Campbell, Tony
Grinter, Rod	16																						9		7					Grinter, Rod
Lovett, Glenn	16														8	8														Lovett, Glenn
McLean, Brock	16	9	7																											McLean, Brock
Charles, Sean	15													9		6														Charles, Sean
McDonald, James	15		6		9																									McDonald, James
Rohde, Peter	15																9			6										Rohde, Peter
Healy, Greg	14																							6		8				Healy, Greg
Tingay, Stephen	14											7			7															Tingay, Stephen
Vardy, Peter	13					6	7																							Vardy, Peter
Jakovich, Allen	10																	10												Jakovich, Allen
O'Dwyer, Steven	10																								10					O'Dwyer, Steven
Carroll, Nathan	9			9																										Carroll, Nathan
Walsh, Peter	9							9																						Walsh, Peter
Davey, Aaron	8			8																										Davey, Aaron
McDonald, Anthony	8									8																				McDonald, Anthony
Obst, Andrew	8																8													Obst, Andrew
Shanahan, Jamie	8										8																			Shanahan, Jamie
Wilson, Brian	8																					8								Wilson, Brian
Collins, Matthew	7							7																						Collins, Matthew
Febey, Matthew	7															7														Febey, Matthew
Ferguson, Ryan	7			7																										Ferguson, Ryan
Hughes, Danny	7																										7			Hughes, Danny
Rigoni, Guy	7												7																	Rigoni, Guy
Duursma, Jamie	6																									6				Duursma, Jamie
Miller, Brad	6	6																												Miller, Brad
Robertson, Russell	6							6																						Robertson, Russell
Seecamp, Marcus	6										6																			Seecamp, Marcus
Whelan, Matthew	6			6																										Whelan, Matthew
		2006 SF	2006 EF	2005 EF	2004 EF	2002 SF	2002 EF	2000 GF	2000 PF	2000 QF	1998 PF	1998 SF	1998 QF	1994 PF	1994 SF	1994 QF	1991 SF	1991 EF	1990 SF	1990 EF	1989 SF	1989 EF	1988 GF	1988 PF	1988 SF	1988 EF	1987 PF	1987 SF	1987 EF

Next Time: The Early Years

Headless · Jun 1, 2023

Brilliant. Very interesting!

Headless · Jun 1, 2023

P.S. Staggered McLean was only judged our fourth best in the 2006 elimination final. My memory was that he was quite clearly BOG.

EDIT: Wait, are these the book's ratings, FG?

Topkent · Jun 1, 2023

Headless said:
P.S. Staggered McLean was only judged our fourth best in the 2006 elimination final. My memory was that he was quite clearly BOG.

Yeah I've rewatched that game a few times. McLean was easily best on.

Headless · Jun 1, 2023

Topkent said:
Yeah I've rewatched that game a few times. McLean was easily best on.

A11dAtP0w3R · Jun 1, 2023

Headless said:
P.S. Staggered McLean was only judged our fourth best in the 2006 elimination final. My memory was that he was quite clearly BOG.

Robbo had him on stream tonight, surprised as he looks fairly fit still, kind of expected him to stack on the kegs once retired from AFL.

Theseventhhamster · Jun 1, 2023

Topkent said:
Yeah I've rewatched that game a few times. McLean was easily best on.

Wasn't close.

Topkent · Jun 1, 2023

Theseventhhamster said:
Wasn't close.

Could have been a top 5/10 performance by a dees player in my life considering the stakes

FootyGuy13 · Jun 2, 2023

Headless said:
P.S. Staggered McLean was only judged our fourth best in the 2006 elimination final. My memory was that he was quite clearly BOG.

EDIT: Wait, are these the book's ratings, FG?

I'm not sure what the book/s rating is. They're written by "well-known sports writer and researcher of Australian football history" Greame Atkinson with son Brant helping with the 2009 one. Google doesn't give me anything on the guy though so I don't what opinion you guys would have.

Here's the 426 results for comparison though.

	Score	2006 SF	2006 EF	2005 EF	2004 EF	2002 SF	2002 EF
Yze, Adem	8				3	2	3
McLean, Brock	5	2	3
Johnstone, Travis	4				1	3
Miller, Brad	3	3
Moloney, Brent	3			3
Bruce, Cameron	2		2
Robertson, Russell	2			2
McDonald, James	2				2
Bizzell, Clint	2					1	1
Vardy, Peter	2						2
Brown, Nathan	1.5	1		0.5
Green, Brad	1		1
Carroll, Nathan	0.5			0.5

FootyGuy13 · Jun 8, 2023

How does one rank the football played 100 years ago to the football played now? We want to compare the stars of today with the legends and greats of yesteryear but how far back is too far back? Despite the lack of finals played back then (including not being in the league for 3 years), Melbourne did have their fair share of champion players and goal-kicking heroes so let's see what names pop up from the early years.

Now there are a few gaps between finals appearances back here as well, we have the 1897, 1900, 1902 section with 6 finals, we have the 1925-26 and 1928 section with 7 finals and right in the middle, the 1915 Semi-Final. So that's as many finals we've had since 2002 over 10 extra years so surely there were a few standouts.

Looking into the 1890s and 1900s, we have Fred McGinis. "A rover of unparalleled skill and class", McGinis had already made a name for himself as a superstar of the game by the time the VFL was started and before he was amongst the best in the Redleg's first premiership alongside George Moodie and Dick Wardill. Though named as a rover, it was considered that McGinis could play any position, "was a beautiful kick of both drop and place, possessed great dash when eluding opponents, a determination in getting the ball and coolness and quickness in passing it on to a teammate". Unfortunately, deteriorating eyesight saw McGinis retire in 1901 at age 27. Such was his fame, the VFL and VFA played against each other for the first time as a fundraiser event for the Tasmanian that could be called the best player of the VFL's first decade.

For the 1920s, there is stiffer competition but for finals specifically (and according to this book), it's Stan Wittman. While tearing it up in the Gippsland league, the club secretary got a tip-off on the way to work about him and, after some convincing on Wittman's end, started at Melbourne in 1924 as the Centre Half-Forward and immediately made an impact. This was especially true in finals, getting or almost getting Best-on-Ground honours in 3 finals including the 1926 victory (alongside captain, dual-Brownlow medalist and Aus Sports Hall-of-Fame Ivor Warne-Smith but missing star centreman Bob Corbett).

Another Gippsland product who did well in finals at the time was Charlie Streeter. Streeter's football journey didn't start until he was 25 (thanks to serving in Gallipoli in WWI) but hit the ground running in a side that went winless in 1919, the year before he joined. The defender would be in his 30s by the time the Fuchsias got back to finals but age hadn't reached Streeter yet as he was named in the Best for all 3 finals of the 1926 series.

	Score	1928 SFR	1928 SF	1926 GF	1926 PF	1926 SF	1925 PF	1925 SF	1915 SF	1902 SF	1900 GF	1900 PO	1897 3rd RF	1897 2nd RF	1897 1st RF
Streeter, Charlie	30			7	10	6	7
McGinis, Fred	30										10		10		10
Corbett, Bob	30				6	8	9	7
Wittman, Stan	28			9		9		10
Wardill, Dick	26										7	10			9
Warne-Smith, Ivor	25	9	6				10
Collins, Jack	24		10		7	7
Moodie, George	24									9	9	6
Thomas, Ted	23	6	9				8
Herring, Maurie	21												6	9	6

Now there's only 1 era of Melbourne finals to go over and it doesn't matter how you rank these players...

...there are a few players from the 1936-64 era, or the ranking is out of order, or both.

FootyGuy13 · Jun 22, 2023

So despite how much we've seen with the current crop of Melbourne players in finals, how much we remember of the 90s era and how much was written about those who played 100 years ago, nothing can compare to the 2 eras that occurred from 1936 to 1964 unless you look at other clubs. 42 finals were played in this time, including 23 over 11 seasons from 1954 to 1964, some players played their entire careers always making finals. It's no wonder that so many spots from that above leader-board have yet to be filled, people had ample opportunity to score points here. Didn't do well? Always next year!

There are 2 eras here, Norm Smith as a player era and Norm Smith as a coach era. However, due to the mere 6-year gap between the two time periods as well as the 1 final appearance in between, there is a bit of an overlap with the players, so I'm just going to go over it in 1 post. These are the players who for nearly 60 years were our most recent Premiership stars and so it's interesting to see who this book has being the best player of the Demons' Golden Era, and going off the scores there is a standout player.

I don't know how many people in recent history have played in 12 finals, but Jack Mueller being named in the Top 5 12 times sees him stand head and shoulders above the rest, scoring 107 points. With 41 points from Grand Finals playing from Full-Back, Ruck and Forward Pocket, Mueller could play anywhere, dominate anywhere and all this minus 2 fingers. Serving in WWII in the middle of winning premierships, as well as coming out of retirement to get Melbourne over the line in 1948, Jack Mueller should be in the conversation of Best Finals Player (though that depends on how accurate you think this book has been) for bringing his best to the big stage in September.

The best player from the 50s era (and there were a lot of contenders, is between 2 people. Since Ron Barassi Jnr is been deservedly talked about since even before he started playing for the Demons) the name Brian Dixon also comes up a few times alongside Barassi's. Named in the Team of the Century on the wing opposite to Flower, and in some places more well-known as a politician, Dixon joined Melbourne the year the club started the 11-year finals streak. While Dixon's kicking was considered his only weakness, his tenacity and ferocious attack to win the ball more than made up for any downside in his game. Unfortunately, there was no Best Grand Final player at the time as Dixon was repeatedly named amongst the best in most Grand Final appearances, even in losing Grand Final.

There are so many people I could go over that scored more than enough points to be relevant to this discussion but I'll just give the table to look over to see if there was anyone that was underappreciated in these rankings.

		1964 GF	1964 SF	1963 PF	1963 SF	1962 SF	1961 PF	1961 SF	1960 GF	1960 SF	1959 GF	1959 SF	1958 GF	1958 SF	1957 GF	1957 PF	1957 SF	1956 GF	1956 SF	1955 GF	1955 SF	1954 GF	1954 PF	1954 SF		1950 SF	1948 GFR	1948 GF	1948 PF	1948 SF	1946 GF	1946 PF	1946 SF	1941 GF	1941 SF	1940 GF	1940 PF	1940 SF	1939 GF	1939 SF	1937 PF	1937 SF	1936 PF	1936 SF
Mueller, Jack	107																								Mueller, Jack		9	7	10		10	10	9	8	10	7				9		9		9	Mueller, Jack
Dixon, Brian	82	9	9		10	9	8		7	8	7					8			7						Dixon, Brian																				Dixon, Brian
Barassi, Ron Jnr	80		6					9			10				10	6	7	9	6	9		8			Barassi, Ron Jnr																				Barassi, Ron Jnr
Johnson, Bob Jnr	65								6		8	10	8		9	7	8		9						Johnson, Bob Jnr																				Johnson, Bob Jnr
Williams, Don	61												9	8	6	9	6				7		9	7	Williams, Don																				Williams, Don
McLean, Ian	55										9		6	9			10			7	8	6			McLean, Ian																				McLean, Ian
Cordner, Denis	53																	7	8	10		10	10		Cordner, Denis	8																			Cordner, Denis
McGrath, Shane	51																								McGrath, Shane		8		8	10	8	7	10												McGrath, Shane
Mithen, Laurie	49					8			9	10		9		6								7			Mithen, Laurie																				Mithen, Laurie
Adams, Frank	45	10		6	8		6						7					8							Adams, Frank																				Adams, Frank
Lord, John	43				9		7	10	10						7										Lord, John																				Lord, John
Baggott, Ron	41																								Baggott, Ron										9	10	7				7	8			Baggott, Ron
Beckwith, John	40											8	10	7			9	6							Beckwith, John																				Beckwith, John
Beames, Percy	39																								Beames, Percy									7		9			9	7		7			Beames, Percy
Smith, Norm	38																								Smith, Norm		10	9	7								6			6					Smith, Norm
Wartman, Ray	36																								Wartman, Ray														7	10			9	10	Wartman, Ray
Spencer, Stuart	30																	10	10		10				Spencer, Stuart																				Spencer, Stuart

Fun little thing I thought up before the start of the season, always wondered how the different Melbourne eras stacked up against each other and we found out that not everyone who writes history books about the footy always has the correct opinion. I hope people found this interesting and I hope you have a good day.

A11dAtP0w3R · Aug 3, 2023

Community leader Headless could you pin this thread please

Petty first votes of the season. Can Viney hold on in an upset?

FootyGuy13 · Sep 7, 2023

Okay, so 3 things. 1: People keep talking about how no team has won a Premiership from 4th since the AFL started using the current finals system. While that is true, let's also point out that a 4th-placed Premier wasn't exactly common in the 20th century either. Okay, it happened twice in the 90s (1997, 1992), but then you have to go back to the 1960s (1969, 1965) for the occurrence to appear during the VFL days. Followed by 1949, 1945 (won by Carlton at Carlton) and 1916 (when only 4 teams played). 7 times in the League's history has 4th placed gone all the way in finals; 3rd placed has done it 7 times in the past 20 years. So winning a Premiership from this position will be an uphill battle based on recent and overall history.

2: Congrats on Jack Viney on being the best player during the last quarter of the Home-and-Away season for the first time in 8 years. It's always fun to see who ends up being the form player at the back end of the season and with Oliver coming back into the side, it was going to be interesting to see how the inclusion would affect who would win this. In the end, the results reflected what's been going on in the overall standings.

Which brings us to 3: With somewhere between 2 and 4 finals to be played (we did finish 4th so there's no better time than now to expect disappointment), only 3 people can mathematically win the 426 this year. Trent Rivers would need games won and good form to challenge the lead, it's pretty much down to Christian Petracca and Jack Viney to either get a 3rd or 1st 426 win. Plus, what better time is there than finals for the Mr. September duo to fight for the victory? There's a good chance whoever is the Finals MVP wins the 426, and both these guys have been Finals MVP before (Viney in 2018, Petracca in 2021). Of course, it could be someone else who dominates this time around, I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Anyway, thought I'd give an update on how the season is panning out. The Top 3 is almost confirmed, anyone could still finish the season in the Top 10 and there are still games to be won. Let's see how far into September we get before the winner can be confirmed.

Scythe94 · Sep 7, 2023

Appreciate you as always, FootyGuy13! Just a quick one – the text votes don't match the table for the Saints game:

Round 17 v Saints
10 - Ben Brown (63)
9 - Jake Lever (39)
8 - Lachie Hunter (18)
7 - Tom Sparrow (16)
6 - Clayton Oliver (12)

The table has:
10 - Steven May
9 - Christian Petracca
8 - Christian Salem
7 - Tom Sparrow
6 - Jack Viney

Just in case that impacts your tallies at all (doubt it does)

FootyGuy13 · Sep 15, 2023

The second verse was the same as the first, we've once again gone from premiership hopefuls to kicking ourselves out of the Final 4 and it can now be announced that because there are no longer enough games or enough points to bridge the gap between 2nd and 1st that the winner of the Nick "426" Smith Memorial Trophy for 2023 is...

JACK VINEY

His 8-game scoring streak from Rounds 13 to 21 helped Viney win his first 426 after missing out is his Best-and-Fairest year of 2016. I'll now have to find the time this week to do the full analysis of the season (I was so close to having to choose between paying attention to a Birthday Party or paying attention to a Prelim Final) but for now, there's still votes to give out to see who will be this year's Finals MVP and I'll see you Tuesday.

Headless · Sep 19, 2023

FootyGuy13 said:
The second verse was the same as the first, we've once again gone from premiership hopefuls to kicking ourselves out of the Final 4 and it can now be announced that because there are no longer enough games or enough points to bridge the gap between 2nd and 1st that the winner of the Nick "426" Smith Memorial Trophy for 2023 is...

JACK VINEY

His 8-game scoring streak from Rounds 13 to 21 helped Viney win his first 426 after missing out is his Best-and-Fairest year of 2016. I'll now have to find the time this week to do the full analysis of the season (I was so close to having to choose between paying attention to a Birthday Party or paying attention to a Prelim Final) but for now, there's still votes to give out to see who will be this year's Finals MVP and I'll see you Tuesday.

Last eight years have been:

3 Gawn
2 Oliver
2 Petracca
1 Viney

Very interesting. Thanks, FG13!

FootyGuy13 · Nov 30, 2023

Alright, I usually get this out right after the last game is played but through a combination of disappointment, procrastination and everything that happened over October, better get this out now before the new year arrives.

So which straight sets exit hurts more between 2022 and 2023? At least we didn't forfeit 7 4-goal margins throughout the season but the losses this year were like watching a train slowly creep towards an inevitable crash. While, on the outside, finishing inside the Top 4 again should be something to celebrate but on the inside, we still don't know if we're underachieving or overachieving compared to our successful 2021 year. History shows that might continue into next year but for now, let's look at who finished in the Top 10 for 2023...

Who would've had on their 2023 Bingo Card that Jack Viney would win the 426 this year? As good as he has been over the years, the current era has been dominated by Petracca, Oliver and Gawn while Viney in the past had to fight injuries and the form of others just to reach the Top 5. This is only the second time Viney has gotten a podium finish and the first time he's reached a triple-digit score in a season. This is highlighted by a run of games from Round 13 to Round 21 which, by itself, would've gotten Viney up to equal 3rd and coincided with some of the best football Melbourne played all year. Unfortunately, both had to come to an end but at least Viney still has something to show for it.

In 2nd place, we go back to the usual programming with Christian Petracca's 4th-straight Top 2 finish. His score of exactly 100 points is the lowest of those finishes, even compared to the shortened 2020 season. That aside, it was still a good year for Petracca with plenty of other second-placed finishes in a quarter of the games. Aside from almost pulling off a Jack Trengove-style victory, Petracca also jumped Oliver to be the best Demons player over the last 100 games (in case those 4 Top 2 finishes didn't make it obvious). We'll see how that battle goes between the two as the seasons come and go but for Petracca, he is currently our best player over the past 5 years. Be happy about this or go support another club.

Now Trent Rivers hasn't been at Melbourne for 5 years, nor is he anywhere near contention to jump Petracca. However, footy is played on a year-by-year basis and this year, Rivers had their break-out year after only having 1 scoring game in the past 2 seasons. Rivers having more midfield time has led him to be, once again, the best player from the 2019 draft which is quite the feat considering part of the reason he was drafted was to convince Luke Jackson to stay. Rivers even managed to score more than Steven May in a season where the 3 pillars of our 2021 defence have started to form cracks. While May failed to score in the first 8 rounds of the season, after he started scoring, he was only 1.5 games behind being our best over the remaining 17 matches. This includes being our Finals MVP this year in a sign that it wasn't our backline that gave us another couple of finals losses to teams May says we were better than.

A tie rounds out the Top 5 and it's two players who were more off than on when it came to what we've come to expect from them but still had good enough periods of the season before circumstances got in the way. Max Gawn gets named first as what is now universally seen as poor planning got in the road of Gawn bouncing back from a down 2022 year. On the other hand, Gawn also broke a record in the 426 by getting a 35th 10-point game, surpassing Nathan Jones for having the most career Best-on-Ground games. The person Gawn tied with also had to take the little wins they had as Clayton Oliver was on their way to winning another 426 when dual injuries saw Oliver go from winning to almost out of the placings. No scores after Oliver came back from the injuries and it now seems fitting that Gawn and Oliver managed to finish on the same score, as it gives Gawn one more avenue to babysit.

Anyway, there's something I've learned when it comes to looking at the history of the 426 and it's that the Melbourne Board loves it when a 1st or 2nd year player starts to show some promise. This results in a teenager nearly every year flying under the radar and getting more points than what should be realistic. Nathan Jones and Jack Trengove winning as 19yos are prime examples, as are Marty Hore in 2019 and Trent Rivers in 2020. For 2023, it's Judd McVee who managed to get a Top 10 finish on debut. McVee was a consistent and reliable set of hands this year off half-back and, although on paper you wouldn't call them a Top 10 player, a 7th-place finish tells everything about how the board views McVee. Although McVee also finished Top 10 in the Bluey Truscott so maybe it's the opposition fans that are out of touch.

This year was Jake Lever's 2nd highest-scoring season, which is impressive since he didn't score from Round 3 through to Round 21. It surprised me when it was pointed out that Lever has only had 1 good season with Melbourne, even this year fell just short of that mark. While Lever's best games are usually the best individual Dees games of the season, it's also telling that there is a long wait between seeing those performances. The same can be said for 9th-placed Kysaiah Pickett, who had 3 Best-on-Ground games out of 4 scoring games. Pickett was either going big or going home, well in this case going big or getting suspended as we found out how Uncle Byron would go playing in today's AFL through Kysaiah. 2 players who should have a lot more on the table and have the time to show it.

But Michael Hibberd doesn't, having ended his career this season with a 3rd Top-10 finish. Add this to the list of players I didn't expect to have a form boost this season, Hibberd scored 10-point games around the 2 Sir Doug Nicholls Round matches and finished as the 32nd Dees player to have 200+ Career points in the 426. While he came to Melbourne under a black-and-red controversy cloud, Hibberd will always be remembered by us as a Dees player and a reliable half-back flanker. This is starting to sound like an eulogy but hopefully, we find a good replacement quickly to fill the massive spot Hibberd has left behind.

That's the Top 10 of the Leader Board talked about, here's who won the minor awards.

The Cameron Bruce Fast Starter Award
Every season starts with so much hope and is usually killed off in the first quarter of the Home-and-Away season. It was during this part of the year that people weren't happy that Oliver was doing well in the 426 but that didn't stop Clayton from getting to be the best player in the first 6 weeks of the season. This is the 2nd time Oliver has gotten the Fast Starter Award and it's crazy that his good luck stopped not long after Round 6.

	Total	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6
Oliver, Clayton	33		6	10	7	10
Viney, Jack	24				6	8	10
Langdon, Ed	23			8		9	6
Grundy, Brodie	19			9	10
Gawn, Max	16	9					7
Lever, Jake	16	7	9
Brown, Ben	16	6	10

The Nathan Jones Late Bloomer Award
Melbourne had a pretty good end to the season (aside from that one game) and it shows with the Top 3 in the Late Bloomer Award also being the Top 3 for the 426 overall. This isn't the first time Jack Viney has been the best player at the tail end of the Home-and-Away season but unlike 2015, the points Viney got here helped him build a lead going into finals ahead of the favourite to win the 426, Petracca.

	Total	R19	R20	R21	R22	R23	R24
Viney, Jack	33	9	8	7			9
Petracca, Christian	26			9	9		8
Rivers, Trent	26	8			10	8
Pickett, Kysaiah	20	10		10
Brayshaw, Angus	20	6			8		6

Most Best-On-Grounds
What got Viney the 426 win was the 3 Best-on-Ground games in the middle of the season, plus getting both 10-point scores in the 2 marquee games. What was surprising though was who finished 1 game behind Viney with equal 5th-placed Gawn and 9th-placed Pickett getting 3 BOGs. This is probably a result of how inconsistent some players/the team as a whole were for the entire season.

Viney, Jack	4	R6 v Tigers	R13 v Magpies	R15 v Cats	R16 v Giants
Gawn, Max	3	R8 v Suns	R18 v Lions	QF v Magpies
Pickett, Kysaiah	3	R1 v Bulldogs	R19 v Crows	R21 v Kangaroos
Rivers, Trent	2	R9 v Hawks	R22 v Blues
May, Steven	2	R17 v Saints	SF v Blues
Oliver, Clayton	2	R3 v Swans	R5 v Bombers
Hibberd, Michael	2	R10 v Power	R11 v Dockers
Petracca, Christian	1	R12 v Blues
Lever, Jake	1	R23 v Hawks
Fritsch, Bayley	1	R24 v Swans
Chandler, Kade	1	R7 v Kangaroos
Grundy, Brodie	1	R4 v Eagles
Brown, Ben	1	R2 v Lions
Petty, Harrison	1	R20 v Tigers

The Finals MVP Award
Then we have the Finals MVP, with 2 games where were so close to getting a spot in a Preliminary final but fell within a goal of victory due to <insert whatever your excuse is here>. I suppose these players are the least able to be blamed for the straight-sets exit, with Steven May doing what he does best (on the field). Too bad 1 defender doesn't make an entire team, although McVee and Bowey helped out in places with Neal-Bullen and Gawn also getting points at the other end of the ground.

	Total	QF	SF
May, Steven	17	7	10
Neal-Bullen, Alex	12	6	6
Gawn, Max	10	10
McVee, Judd	9		9
Bowey, Jake	9	9

Petracca, Christian	425.545
Viney, Jack	418.879
Gawn, Max	317.545
Rivers, Trent	298.879
May, Steven	257.879
Pickett, Kysaiah	177.545
Oliver, Clayton	176.545
Chandler, Kade	143.545
Lever, Jake	132.879
McVee, Judd	121.879
Grundy, Brodie	115.795
Fritsch, Bayley	108.879
Hibberd, Michael	104.780
van Rooyen, Jacob	96.545
Brown, Ben	86.000
Hunter, Lachie	81.545
Melksham, Jake	78.000
Petty, Harrison	76.000
Sparrow, Tom	63.545
Bowey, Jake	60.545
Salem, Christian	58.333
Neal-Bullen, Alex	55.545
Langdon, Ed	50.545
Brayshaw, Angus	49.545
McDonald, Tom	30.500
Spargo, Charlie	24.000
Smith, Joel	20.000
Tomlinson, Adam	17.333
Headless	12.000
Jackson, Luke	12.000
The Adelaide Crowd	6.000
Butters, Zac	4.000
Hinkley, Ken	4.000
The Melbourne Crowd	3.000
Schache, Josh	1.545
Handballing	1.000
FootyGuy13	1.000
Woewodin, Taj	1.000
Jordon, James	0.545
Harmes, James	0.099
The Coaches	-4.000
Not-Handballing	-98.000

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