Barracking for the Dees
When I was born, Dad put me into a Melbourne Jumper and that was that; from then on I became a Melbourne supporter, just like my old man. As soon as I could talk, one of my first words was "Demons". As soon as I could walk, the only thing I was seen with was my Melbourne Demons football. As soon as I could sing, the only song I knew was the club anthem, which I practised many times locked up in my bedroom.
Going through primary school, I went and watched many 'Dees' games with my Dad. This was always the highlight of the week for me. Every Monday morning when we had to write in our ‘school weekend journals’ or even write a story for class, I would write about each match. It got to the point where my primary school teacher had to report to my Mum that I should try and write about something other than footy for once.
To this day I still have a very clear memory of the year 2004, the year Essendon beat Melbourne in the Elimination Final. This was the first final I had ever seen my team play in and I was very excited. The eagerness I had, slowly turned into great nervousness as I watched James Hird dominate Melbourne in the midfield, helping them get over the line by five points, knocking the ‘Dees’ out of the finals. At the end of the game I was so upset that I started crying. I had never cried watching the footy, even if we did lose, but the game and Melbourne mean so much to me that I couldn’t contain the tears.
After recovering from the Elimination Final in 2004, I was hoping the new year would hold better memories, which they did to some extent. The Dees beat the Bulldogs in round 21 after the siren and Essendon in round 22 to have another crack at the Elimination Final, this time playing Geelong. The signs were good and Dad and I were both so confident that he decided to take me to the MCG to watch the game. It was the first ever final I went to watch, but it turned out to also be the last, with Geelong defeating us by a massive 55 points. Another finals loss hit hard and I hoped that the following year would lead to a finals win.
Surely 2006 was going to be the year! Our list was nearly at its peak and after the two finals losses, the boys would come out firing. We ended up with 13 wins a draw and eight losses, putting us into the Elimination Final again. This time we would be playing St Kilda who we had beaten by 13 points earlier in the season. However, after losing the last two Elimination Finals I was nowhere near as confident. Melbourne ended up winning this final and I still to this day remember it as being the best feeling in the world. The following week led to more pain though, with the Demons losing the Semi Final to Fremantle. Out of the finals again, our last crack at the Grand Final for a while.
My predictions from 2006 were right, with Melbourne going from seventh position on the ladder to a disappointing 14th in one year. It was a rebuilding stage now for Melbourne now with all our senior players retiring, and we lost our coach and captain in the same year. From 2007 onwards it did not improve, the Dees finishing in last position two years in a row.
The rebuilding stage feels like it never started in 2007, with the highest spot on the ladder just 12th over seven years. It had been pretty hard supporting the team recently, as the current form has shown. Melbourne won just four games in 2012, three of them being against the two new sides in GWS and Gold Coast.
Round 1, 2013, going into a new season with a new coach and a new list, seemed a positive sign for Melbourne. Going into the game against Port Adelaide at the MCG favourites, Dad and I were very excited and our expectations for success were very high, so we decided to go out and watch the game. We arrived at the MCG three minutes late, and to my despair Hartlett had kicked the ball from the centre bounce, straight to Westhoff for an easy goal in the opening minutes of the game. I remember cracking the joke to Dad, “We may as well head home now”. At the time this was just a joke. We did not know what was about to unfold. At half time, we were only down by 29 points down, and though we were still in with a shot. But what was about to happen was one of the most disappointing things I have ever witnessed in my lifetime of being a supporter of the Melbourne Football Club. We scored one goal and three points to their eight goals and 12 points for the remainder of the game. The end margin was a 79 point buffeting. It was not just the margin the upset it me, it was also the lack of intensity and how it seemed like they just didn’t care and stopped trying. At the end of the game I sat in my seat behind the goals, stunned and speechless. The train ride home would be the quietest I have been on in a while.
It took some time to get over the result, with a few of the boys at school giving me grief about the loss, but I kept thinking "It is only round 1, big opportunity this week against Essendon who we beat last year". I was very wrong. In fact, it was the first ever Melbourne game that I went to bed at half time and didn’t talk to anyone for the remainder of the week. A 146 point loss would do that to someone. I was so upset that I didn’t want to go to school on the Monday and even thought about changing clubs.
This year particularly has been the hardest year for me being a Melbourne supporter, with just one win against GWS - which was not an easy win either. The loss that really hit home for me this year was against Gold Coast, a third year team which I had locked in as an easy win. To my disappointment we lost by 60 points, showing no effort or determination in the second half. It was an embarrassing loss and I had no idea what to think about the future and the state of the club.
The thing about AFL football, is that your team's result on the weekend can change your whole mood throughout a week. Everything we do and talk about, week in and week out, is football and our fantasy is about how our teams will win the Grand Final one day. It may sound very sad, but the Melbourne Demons are basically my life. Everything I do and talk about involves the team, with my room covered in posters and pictures of the players. However, the most challenging thing about it for me as a supporter now, is that I don’t have an opinion anymore. All my pride for the club has been lost and when people ask me which football team I barrack for the response is often, “Melbourne”, with a soft tone in my voice. When meeting a new person one of the first questions often asked is, what team do you support? Something I really want to get back is a great sense of pride in the team I support. It has got to the point where I don’t wear my Melbourne jumper to training and don’t watch the full games. There is only one player on the list that has kept me barracking for the Demons - Nathan Jones. His determination and intensity at the footy is amazing and it keeps me wondering how good the team would be if they all took a leaf out of Nathan Jones' book.
In saying this, there are still some positives - Melbourne’s ‘spine’ will be just as good as any other AFL club next year if not better, just lacking depth in the midfield. The ‘spine’ is each key positioned player, with Tom McDonald being able to hold full back, James Frawley centre half back, Nathan Jones the centre man, Chris Dawes the centre half-forward and Jesse Hogan the full forward. If Melbourne can get their selections correct in this year's 2013 draft, who knows what the future will be? Hopefully a very bright one, so I can jump back on the Melbourne Demons bandwagon again.
Chris Tetaz is a year 10 student at Trinity Grammar School in Melbourne. He plays football for the school team and for Camberwell in the Yarra Junior Football League.
Comments
Dave COLLETT 27 July 2013
Hang in there good buddy. I follow South Adelaide in the SANFL who coincidently won their last flag in 1964, the same as the Demons. South are perennial easy beats but they are my team & I will support them no matter what.
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