The spirit of ’26 – one hundred years on…

Nigel Dawe

I don’t think I’ve ever commenced a single piece of writing in my entire life not knowing exactly where to start. The topic of Melbourne’s 1926 premiership win however (today being exactly 100 years since Sir Albert Chadwick led our team to that season’s flag) presents me with such a selectional dilemma.

The pin-up literary figure of that same period, F. Scott Fitzgerald, wove into his now 101-year-old novel The Great Gatsby: “No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man will store up in his ghostly heart… Life is much more successfully looked at from a single window”. And that single window, for mine is the year 1926. A year upon which the roaring ‘20s peaked, not just across the globe, but at the MCG on grand final day for our Melbourne Fuchsias, or Redlegs – as they were then interchangeably known.

That we beat Collingwood by near-on 10 goals, isn’t the most delightful facet of a day that commenced with heavy rain before the clouds parted to produce brilliant sunshine, and a premiership win – the club’s first since 1900. But if the Magpies had won the 1926 grand final, they would have strung 5-premiership wins together, instead of the four they managed from 1927 through to ’30. They shouldn’t have got past us in the prelim final of 1928 though (a game that resulted in a draw, which should have been a Melbourne win, as a point was awarded to the Pies after the 3-qrt time siren) the following week, the black and whites went on to win the replay by 4-points.

Who can guess what the footy gods are thinking, if they think at all, let alone if they ponder the construct of posterity, when they make provision for, or just simply turn a blind eye to such things. Once a final siren sounds, that’s it, there’s no turning back – history becomes written, and the full stops therein are as outright and irreversible as the forward march of time. That nothing can be re-lived, if not altered in the slightest, is as old as the oldest utterance in Western culture: “[For] no man ever steps in the same river twice.” We can revisit the same riverbank, by all means, as often as we like, but we can never wade into the same waters to change anything, once they’ve played out.

Relatedly, I grew up in Broken Hill, a town some seven hours away from the nearest beach, and I was a member at one stage of the 3rd Broken Hill Sea Scouts (an irony that wasn’t evident to me at the time) but one that has now assumed a full-blown Monty Python-like aura in my mind. But it was during this ‘nautically’ inspired phase of my childhood that I conceived of eventually owning a yacht called ‘The Spirit of ‘26’. A yacht I still hope to one day own, and plan to one day sail into the eternal sunset of my love for the Melbourne Demons.

That Melbourne beat Essendon in the 1926 preliminary final (one player down after Bob Corbett was king hit behind the play at half time. He later snuck back onto the field in the dying moments of the game in an absolute quadruple-vision daze, with his head draped in bandages). A team first gesture, and an overall team effort that led to a 3-point win and one that gave rise to the stainless-steel notion of The Spirit of ’26. Ensuring that no player got suspended for the club in the two seasons leading up to that year’s grand final, provided an additional gloss and mystique to a team that still personifies discipline and selfless commitment.

As we reflect and breathe life once more into the legend and legacy of the club’s most infamous premiership win, one hundred years on; it is fitting that the origin of the word ‘spirit’ comes from the ancient Greek term for ‘breath’. And the gust of fresh air that thoughts of ‘26 rekindle in the hearts (and lungs) of Melbourne fans is something we should savour and surely give voice to, for as long as the game is played.

AFL FANS ASSOCIATION: “GIVING FOOTY FANS A VOICE”

The AFL Fans Association (AFLFA) launched its 2026 National Fan Survey, giving AFL supporters in Australia and around the world the opportunity to have their say on the issues that matter most to them.

Now in its fifth year, this is the biggest AFLFA fan survey yet, following recent meetings between the AFLFA and the AFL’s Chief Operating Officer, Head of Umpiring, Head of Fixturing and Head of Broadcasting.

These discussions have helped shape the issues covered in this year’s survey, alongside the concerns and priorities the AFLFA hears directly from fans.
“This is a special survey for the AFLFA,” said AFLFA President Ron Issko.

The 2026 survey covers a broad range of issues, including umpiring and rule interpretation, fixture scheduling, broadcasting, ticketing and affordability, the match-day experience and other issues affecting fans.

The survey also includes club-specific questions, helping the AFLFA build a detailed picture of supporter sentiment for each club across the competition.

HAVE YOUR SAY – AND YOU COULD WIN $500

Fans who complete the survey will go into the draw to win $500, with five additional $100 prizes also up for grabs.

Take the 2026 AFLFA National Fan Survey here 

The survey is open to all AFL fans, wherever they are in the world. Whether you attend matches every week, watch from home, follow your club from interstate or overseas, or simply have a passion for Australian football, the AFLFA wants to hear from you.

The AFLFA will publish the key findings from the survey and use the results in its ongoing discussions with the AFL.
“This is your opportunity to tell us what’s working, what isn’t, and what you believe could make the game and the fan experience better,” Ron said.
“Every response helps us build a clearer picture of what AFL supporters want and gives us stronger evidence when we advocate for positive change.”

About the AFL Fans Association

The AFL Fans Association is the national voice for AFL supporters, advocating for the interests of fans and working to ensure supporters have a meaningful voice in the future of Australian football.
AFL Fans Association membership is free and fans are encouraged to join at www.aflfans.org.au
More information: AFLFA President Ron Issko 0488 068 555 | media@aflfans.org.au

The finality of finals & all things final…

Nigel Dawe

THERE is something about the month of September, and absolutely one hundred times over, when those Demons of ours make the cut. The cut that makes us a part of that dream state we call ‘the finals’. Albeit the final four weeks of the season, in all its wish-woven drama and colour.

My attention always turns to the past though, to those that have gone before us, and not just those that have played the game we love, but games ‘per se’ right back to ancient Rome. I can’t help but think that if we were to bring a citizen from antiquity back to life to watch what we call “sport” in this day and age, they’d be puzzled. Try telling said individual that our key forward has just been rubbed out for three games because he ‘accidentally’ felled an opponent.

Don’t get me wrong, society has improved in so many ways, but to our ancient fan, who went to the Colosseum so as to see fierce combat of the most unflinching kind; being stood down for accidental contact with an opposition player, would be utterly inconceivable. And as a result, they may well have yelled: ‘Dum vivimus, viviamus” – or “While we live, let us live!”

The Roman word for gladiatorial fighting was “munera” (which meant a duty, or gift offered to the dead in the form of brutal armed combat). At best what they’d see today at the MCG would be referred to as “ludi”, or a term that was used for shows and public games. Very light entertainment might even be the most apt way to describe what we see, as spectators today.

It is also quite eerie to think that our modern-day word “arena” comes from the old Roman word for “sand”, which lined the surface of their stadiums. So, it could be aptly considered, that the ghost of many an old gladiator more than prowls the boundary line and fringes of our loyalties and fascinations.

That said, Saturday night will become the 43rd postseason we’ve been a part of, and the 95th time a Melbourne side has entered the finals cauldron, on 54 of those occasions our team have left with a win, and twice with a draw. Steven King will also become just the 11th coach to take our side to a final, out of the overall 35 people that have stepped up since Alex “Joker” Hall first assumed the role as head coach in 1907.

At the top of the ‘pointy end’ of the coaching tree at Melbourne is Norm Smith, a club icon who coached the side in 23 finals matches (for 16 wins, and 6 premierships). The next best September practitioner for the Demons was Smith’s own coach, “Checker” Hughes – a man who called the shots in 18 finals matches (for 11 wins, and 4 premierships in total).

We’ve only played the Blues nine times in a final before (winning six of them), and the last time we met up in such surrounds was in 2023, which saw them win by two solitary points – it was also our last September outing. That final was the fourth in succession which our team had lost (being the first time a Melbourne side had ever bowed out of two consecutive postseasons, in straight sets) after having won the premiership in 2021.

But those are just the numbers, the figures that rise and then settle on the unchangeable pages of history, referred to and known mostly only by fans. Players and coaches on the other hand, are far more concerned with the cut and thrust of the here and now. Because once that opening siren sounds and the ball is bounced, old stats, scores and facts mean absolutely nothing – entire ledgers are swiped clean in seconds, clearing the way for the expanse of fresh new accounts.

That some things never change, albeit ever-pertain to the ‘white heat of battle’ in finals, our first coach Alex Hall advised (in 1946) long after he’d exited the fray: “Try to understand where the player ahead of you wants the ball, so that he can give his best. Try to help the man who must take delivery of the ball from you… Always remember that the speed of a ball properly kicked will outstrip the fastest player yet produced. So, kick the ball – don’t run with it. Conserve your energy and serve your side better. Beat your opponent in the race for the ball. Get clear of him, then drive it on to a team-mate. That is winning football.”

A style of football that has stood up, and proven itself for Melbourne, many times over.

In the Spirit of ’26 & the riddle of Dunbar’s shop…

Nigel Dawe

WHEN I think back, so many of my personal life highlights have related to historical moments, albeit moments resurrected, or rediscovered and brought back to life in some way. Another equally recurring consideration of mine has been the actual word ‘history’, and how it should be more referred to as ‘ourstory ’ – because it is thanks to the efforts of so many people, that we know anything at all about the stories that have occurred prior to our own lifetimes.

Having won a competition 20-years ago to name East Darling Harbour – Barangaroo, I can honestly say that full credit for the name goes to the historian Inga Clendinnen, who wrote a book called Dancing with Strangers, in which she devoted a whole chapter to this fascinating Gadigal woman.

A woman who once struck a soldier with a stick in defence of a convict who was being whipped by the aforementioned soldier. But if not for Clendinnen’s book I would never have known of Barangaroo, or this defiant inter-racial story that truly captures the essence of a person that I then made it my outright mission to get celebrated in such a way.

About 10-years ago I again experienced a similar ‘shared’ development, whereby thanks to an information request I lodged at my local Clarence Valley library for the address of the law firm that the early colonial poet Henry Kendall worked at while he lived in the Grafton area in the 1860s. A period that coincided with his most productive one as a poet.

And to all of ‘our’ surprise, a week after my request I was informed that Kendall had worked at the site of the modern-day Heart and Soul café, the same café that I held regular monthly book groups in! Fittingly, with the aid of a fellow book group member, we created an antique framed tribute for the café to feature, which included the following passage by Kendall from a poem of his titled, The Old Year:

“There begins a something that time cannot break.
The past and the future are joined by a chain,
And memories like that must ever remain.”

Which leads us nicely into the connection now with our Melbourne Demons, or more-so the premiership celebrations on the day of our side’s victory against Collingwood on 9th October, 1926.

Over the years I’ve heard much mentioned about how our drought-breaking art deco boys ventured from the ground that day after the official celebrations – singing ‘It’s a Grand Old Flag’ – all the way to Hugh Dunbar’s shop in Bentleigh. Which is straightforward and dandy, you might say, until you endeavour to find the location of Dunbar’s said commercial abode – he of course being the star Centre Half Back in that premiership-winning side.

The trail becomes rather destination-less thanks to street numbers not being assigned to shops in that era (and they subsequently were not assigned until the 1930s), thus the exact whereabouts of Dunbar’s shop (which was a dry goods and confectionary store) has long since drifted from living memory. As such, it has remained unknown to club history enthusiasts for decades, seeing the last member of that premiership-winning side – Stan ‘Bunny’ Wittman, died in 1994.

Until now that is, and all largely thanks to Anne from the Glen Eira Historical Society, whose exhaustive trawling of myriad different resources and source materials, was able to ascertain for us that Hugh Dunbar’s shop was located at the modern-day address of 377 Centre Road, Bentleigh.

Which is currently the location of a Laser and Skin clinic called – The Skin Boutique. There being more than a ‘layer’ of irony to this, should this business have been there 100 years ago, they would’ve surely had their work cut out, trying to freshen the appearances of a football team that were still gloriously caked in the grand final mud of the MCG.

That said, I can see a framed commemorative team photo of Melbourne’s 1926 glory boys, gifted and raised somewhere in our Bentleigh Boutique come the actual centenary on the 9th of October… so our team might once again fill this space with their spirit of place

1926 links on Demonland

“The players ended their night at the Dunbar family milk bar in Bentleigh. Hugh Dunbar had been preceded as a Melbourne player by his older brothers Edgar and Harold.”

“1926 – A Stirring Success” – Ian Munro – Demonland

1926 – Contenders Again – Ian Munro – Demonland

The Spirit of Twenty-Six – WJ – Demonland

Liv Purcell – our sponsored AFLW player in 2026

The NSW Demons have recommitted to sponsoring Liv Purcell in 2026.

Liv returns to the team after recovering from an ACL injury and played in the match sim v Richmond and the practice match v Port Adelaide.

The AFLW’s 11th season starts with Melbourne’s first match on Thursday 13 August when we play Hawthorn at Princes Park.

Join us in sponsoring Liv again in 2026

JOIN NOW

Sponsorship members will share in the following benefits:

• Invitation for two to the Season Launch on Thursday 6th August
• Invitation for one to a mid season event with all players
• Invitation for one to the AFLW Best & Fairest

Buy your share now and support Liv and the AFLW Dees in 2026.

JOIN NOW

Go Dees
Sally