AFL Grand Final Grand Final 2021 - Melbourne vs Western Bulldogs - Sat, Sept 25 - 5:15pm AWST / 7:15pm AEST

[Rowan18]

Our players weren’t full of themselves necessarily, they were just too satisfied with winning one flag. Maybe it was the emotion of winning such a close game, maybe it was the travel burden. Either way, they weren’t able to find the motivation and self-belief needed to win multiple flags.

Read some of the post-game quotes from not just Melbourne’s players but their coaches and officials too. They’re hungry for more flags and they know they’re good enough and young enough to do it. That’s not necessarily overconfidence, just an accurate assessment of where they’re at. The contrast couldn’t be sharper

Let's wait and see how they get through the pre-season. One of their competitive advantages this year was their fitness, however they are losing their fitness boss to Adelaide. He also has a record of building teams up to an elite level over a few seasons, only for soft tissue injuries to then bite.

I'm also raising my eyebrows a bit at Goodwin's partying with his players. I've never seen a senior coach jump in like that as one of the boys. After the game he was parading the trophy around more than the players and looks like he has been out drinking with them since. No big deal that he's havin fun, but it seems that most coaches like to keep some distance for when they have to start making the tough decisions once the next season starts.