No matter what the season or how it’s going, a great mark has the potential to bring out the sun, make life brighter and live on endlessly, a part of storytelling and identification for players and supporters alike.  Over the seasons, Melbourne has had a wide range of high flyers, great grabs and marks that make their mark.  Below are just a few, from the days of black and white photography through to now, when the universal appeal of a great grab is as strong as it ever has been, a linking thread between yesteryear and this week.

Jack Mueller
One of the classics, this soaring effort by Melbourne big man Jack Mueller was detailed in the Sporting Globe Football Book of 1946:  ‘Melbourne forward methods – Norman Smith, full forward, has led up the field. Centre half forward, Ron Baggott, has doubled back while resting ruckman Jack Mueller (No. 12) chips in to take a wing mark right on the goal line.  Bert McTaggart is the Footscray player.’  Mueller, who played despite losing two fingers in an industrial incident before his career had fairly started, donning a glove thereafter, was – both figuratively and literally - a massive figure in the competition over two decades, who had a major role in the Club’s 1939, 1940, 1941 and 1948 premiership wins.


 

Robert Flower
It was said of Robert Flower that he had the ball on a string, and this photo from 1987 – Flower in graceful descent while Michael Tuck and Ray Jencke remain just too far away – is ample evidence of the magic he could weave.  Season 1987 was the season of ‘Do It For Robbie’, and while the whole Club galvanised to see its first finals series since 1964, Flower did much of the work to get there, revelling in the best season he had enjoyed in 272 games and his first finals series since debuting in 1973.

Steven Stretch
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, there was a common theme – Garry Lyon being used as a stepladder for great marks taken by his teammates.  This effort by Steven Stretch was just one of a gallery that displayed his aerial skills throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s.  While he wasn’t flying high, the former West Torrens wingman made sure that No. 18 was on constant display, his agility and long kicking a feature of the side’s resurgence of that era.


 

David Schwarz
Of all the seasons played, all the highlights provided and all the setbacks endured by Schwarz, 1994 was surely a year to treasure.  It was said by the AFL:  ‘Arrived as a genuine AFL star centre half-forward in 1994, playing every game, including a couple of finals ‘blinders’, and was rewarded with a third in the Demons’ best and fairest.  High leaping, aggressive and mobile.  Suffered knee injury in pre-season which required reconstruction....’  There it was in just a few sentences – the uncertainty of the future offset by the brilliance of 1994, when Schwarz not only took the most marks in the competition, but also kicked 60 goals and was dominant in a thrilling finals series.


 

Shaun Smith
When he took the Mark of the Century, high flying Shaun Smith wasn’t at the MCG in front of a huge crowd.  Instead, he was at the Gabba, which was partially under reconstruction, under lights, in front of 11,842 spectators.  It was the last round of 1995, and Melbourne was in a classic ‘must win for finals’ situation.  Mission impossible though it was – Brisbane triumphing by 21 points – Melbourne’s season ended with some redemption.  With a solitary camera flash capturing the moment, Smith climbed endlessly, reaching the shoulders of captain Garry Lyon, then taking that memorable grab.  It was a moment to treasure.


 

David Neitz
This mark, taken by David Neitz, was seen firsthand by just 12,690 at Optus Oval.  It was 1997, and a remarkably tough season.  Neitz himself was victim of a shocking jaw injury, and was out for six weeks.  While Melbourne suffered a 38 point loss to the Bulldogs, there were still some highlights, from Jeff Farmer’s four goals to this impressive leap by Neitz, rising high over the shoulders over Steve Kretiuk to create an early piece of No. 9 folklore.

Jeff Farmer
The ‘Wiz Mark’ of 1998 captured all the exuberance and enthusiasm of a Melbourne side headed for finals after a three year drought.  It was the last match of the home and away season, September action was assured, and the MCG was the perfect place to be.  In front of 76,387, Melbourne’s 140^th birthday was marked by a cavalcade of Club legends, before Jeff Farmer took to the skies – once more over Garry Lyon – to put the seal on a win highlighted as Stephen Tingay’s 150^th game.  With Neitz and Farmer scoring five goals apiece to lead the way in exiling Richmond to ninth place and an ignominious 76 point loss, this was a day to remember.  We tilted our heads to the heavens and watched the replay, Farmer’s flight engraving itself as a moment to remember in a wonderful day from a fantastic season.


 

Russell Robertson
While Robertson has a huge gallery of marking images to choose from – and given that his marking prowess was what grabbed the ‘Almost Footy Legends’ attention early on – it was worth giving him the final call on a range of diving, flying, sprawling and assorted acrobatic offerings over more than a decade. His personally nominated best ‘by far’ is this amazing offering – a full on launch, not grabbed during the depths of winter, but before the season proper had even started, when Melbourne took on – and defeated – West Coast in the pre-season Wizard Cup quarter final.  As well as this amazing mark, Robertson kicked a brilliant goal, making sure the day overall was one for the highlights reel.


 

Jeremy Howe
Since 2001, the AFL has made weekly nominations for the official goal and mark of the year.  While Melbourne hasn’t taken the honours on the goal kicking front as yet, marking is different.  Following season wins by Michael Newton in 2007, and Liam Jurrah in 2010, young Tasmanian Jeremy Howe took flight and eclipsed all challengers.  With his amazing Round Eight grab over an unsuspecting Heath Grundy, Howe sealed his win in the 2012 Mark of the Year competition.  Suspended in mid air for seeming hours, he caught the crowd in his spell, landing safely - football in hand.  This was just one of Howe’s eight Mark of the Year nominations scored during 2012, with two of these nominations being shortlisted in the top three before the final announcement was made.  Howe has continued to make his high flying mark ever since, giving gathered spectators a definite thrill, even in recent lean seasons.