Your Favourite Non-Flag Season

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2011, 2015, or 2005.

The brand of football we played in 2015 was incredible. We were an impressive Hawthorn knockoff that year. Possession football, switching, slicing and dicing forward presses and zones with crisp short passes.

2011 was a huge surprise after being down and out for 3 seasons. It was an epic season where the remnant veterans from the 2003-2007 period blended with the new blood. We had a killer forward press, and had GOAT level talls all across the field. Dean Cox/Natanui is probably the best ruck combo ever. Josh Kennedy, Jack Darling, Quinten Lynch worked incredibly well. Lynch would push up onto the wings and take powerful contested marks.

2005 we had a GOAT tier midfield, a rock-solid defense, and an abysmal forward line. This made for exciting games where our superstar onballers routinely had to overextend themselves, because of a lackluster offensive troop. We generally didn't blow out teams, so most games were rather close.
 
As a neutral the last team I band-wagoned was Adelaide in 2017. They were the last team that could rip apart a good team with high scoring and were bloody entertaining (obviously Richmond prevailed that year and are a much better overall team in retrospect but aren't as offensively minded).

For North Melbourne probably 2012 when we stormed home to finish 8th. Had no expectations heading into the season. Was exciting to see the team improve and give hope (false hope in the end) for the future.
 

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2011 was amazing as the old and the new blended together so damn well. Schofield, MacKenzie, Shuey, Naira, SSelwood, Darling & Gaff all arrived onto the scene. Kerr, Cox, Glass, Butler, Waters, Embley, Nicoski were all rejuvenated and firing.

2015 was just a fun year. We beat every team and had some epic wins. The grand final sucked arse but hey, it wasn't totally unexpected unfortunately
 
This season for sure. Carlton still a rabble, the Dons not much better (but recovering) and Collingwood imploding, while we're a (possible) threat for a 3peat. Ah life... :wineglass:
 
2015.

Not For Walsh’s tragic death, but how we responded.

Still managed to make the finals and win one after missing the finals the previous year.

1993 was a good ride too, despite the ending.
 
Too young to remember 2003, so I'm going for a slightly left-field one in 2010.

Had a pretty unproven list tipped to struggle, played a fun brand of footy that at least at home was pretty potent. Close to a surprise prelim.

Also considered 2016 but * losing so many close games.
 
2005. The Eagles had a great year finishing minor premiers and Ben Cousins becoming the 2nd Eagle to win the Brownlow following Chris Judd’s win the previous year.

Just we couldn’t get over the line in the Grand Final against the sentimental favourites.
 
ioppolo said:
2011 was amazing as the old and the new blended together so damn well. Schofield, MacKenzie, Shuey, Naira, SSelwood, Darling & Gaff all arrived onto the scene. Kerr, Cox, Glass, Butler, Waters, Embley, Nicoski were all rejuvenated and firing.

2015 was just a fun year. We beat every team and had some epic wins. The grand final sucked arse but hey, it wasn't totally unexpected unfortunately
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Lynch also had a really good season playing that high forward role.
  • Ranked 8th in Inside 50s Per Game
  • Ranked 5th in Total Inside 50s
  • Ranked 6th in Total Marks
  • 16.1 Disposals Per Game (10.9 kicks, 5.2 handballs)
  • 6.5 Marks Per Game
He was instrumental that season. Took so many powerful contested marks on the wing, quickly kicking it long to our potent forward line. I feel like it's something we missed after he left. With guys like Waterman and Allen, we've got some of that back. Even Brander's size on the wings has been valuable I feel.
 
1993. Played some great football that year and should have made it to the GF. Still gutted about that loss to Essendon in the PF. Tony Modra playing at Footy Park was like The Beatles playing in town.
 
2010-13 was exciting

Dimma's early years

Bold attacking gameplan

the emergence of our youth (Martin, Cotchin, Riewoldt, Rance, Edwards, Houli, Grimes, Grigg)

Playing in finals for the first time in 12 years (bad ending tho)
 

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1993 is probably my favourite season of all time, more enjoyable than our Premiership winning years of 1996 and 1999.

After a terrible start in the preseason and the departure of our Coach, we played some of the most entertaining football I've ever seen. We took it up too and generally beat more credentialed teams with a fast, brash and at times chaotic style of football that few could match. It wasn't until injuries late in the season that we started to fall away but even then a win in the final round and we would have finished Minor Premiers.

1993 was the only season (until last year) since 1969 which was less than 22 regular season games, but it is the only time in history where three players from the same team kicked 60+ goals, Longmire (20gms, 75gls.29bhs), McAdam (17, 68.43) and Carey (19, 64.44). Add Mark Roberts (21, 47.14) to the list and North had one of the most exciting forward lines in the history of the game, almost impossible to stop, it took until round 14 for a team to hold all four players to under 5 goals (McAdam kicked 4.4). The season fizzled in the finals, but the games against Collingwood at Victoria Park, Essendon at the MCG and West Coast at the WACA are still some of the best games I've ever seen.
 
owen87 said:
2016.

Watching a VFL standard side, that had no rights to win a single game, or even get close, was one of the more weirdly enjoyable seasons I've watched.

Having absolutely 0 expectations of any form coming in to the season meant any positive was drastically amplified.
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VFL bit harsh but definitely the worst side in the comp. That Melbourne win was one of the best feelings I’ve gotten when watching a home and away game.

In a similar vein 2017 was really fun to watch seeing the old guys come back to play with those we unearthed in 2016.
 
Ambrosia said:
VFL bit harsh but definitely the worst side in the comp. That Melbourne win was one of the best feelings I’ve gotten when watching a home and away game.

In a similar vein 2017 was really fun to watch seeing the old guys come back to play with those we unearthed in 2016.
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Winning that Melbourne game was totally unexpected, and the team got a standing ovation after a loss against North Melbourne. Was a strange but enjoyable year.
 
93 & 94. Being an old South Melbourne supporter, I remember sitting at home almost every Sunday watching the swans on TV and thinking they will eventually come good.

Any close game or an occasional win was like winning the premiership.

All my mates who I played football with would bag me out and would even say I was the only South/Sydney supporter they knew.

When success finally did come, it seemed every second man and his dog was a swans supporter (bandwagoners), I don't know where they were in 93 and 94.
 
2018
  • We came back from a premiership an even better side, all the teething/kinks to the system worked out from the year before
  • Riewoldt takes home his 3rd Coleman
    • Passed 600 career goals
    • Kicks 10 @ Metricon! Thrilled to go see it
  • Rioli's rundown of Saad not long after return from his injury
  • Edward's brilliant dreamtime toepoke
    • Capped off a BOG performance on his way to an AA year
  • Higggins GOTY
  • Short double deja vu w/ some great Huddo commentary "Short with a long!" "Embarassing for Collingwood but brilliant by Richmond!"
  • Dusty kicks career high 6 goals as we hold the Lions to their lowest ever score
  • Smashed Mebourne's old most consecutive wins @ the MCG record, and in the very same year it had never been so difficult to get a win at that ground, with for the first time ever the 4 MCG tennants all finishing in the year's top 5.
  • Vlaustin putting the step ladder on Buddy
  • Dusty brilliant goal and game in the QF
    • Commentators b4 the match being like yeah yeah we don't hold it against any of you who thought Richmond were better .... but (shakes heads wisely as huge grins split faces) you never know with Clarko... in the top 4.... FInAlS.... what can he pull out of his arse that'll magic the Hawks into an 6 goal better side?
Fair dinkum work from the pies 2 weeks later ofc, still, the journey was great and worth rewatching.
 
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Definitely 2018. Was living in the overseas at the time so couldn't watch all the games but kept checking in and being amazed by how we seemed to have become good again. Loved the way we played with a lot of heart and team ethos in the absence of any really decent key position players at all for large stretches of the year.

Also was fortunate enough to get back and get a seat at the PF. I'd been meant to fly back overseas but was rejected at the boarding gate for booking the ticket with a slight misspelling. Probably my favourite footballing memory. Crowd was unreal that day. Woke up at about 5am local time to watch the next week :$
 
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