Max Gawn wants an AFL premiership in 2022, not back-to-back flags.
It's splitting hairs, but it's how the Melbourne captain is dealing with the weight of expectation after the Demons ended their 57-year premiership drought.
Since their epic grand-final win over the Western Bulldogs at Perth's Optus Stadium, much has been made of Melbourne's determination to win a flag in front of the Demons faithful at the MCG.
Gawn loves that they now enjoy respect, but notes this is a whole new season.
"It's difficult to win one. Not necessarily that terminology - in terms of back-to-back. I just see it as winning," he said.
"I just want to win this year. Obviously that means back-to-back, but I don't process it in my goals as 'I want to go 'back-to-back'.
"I process it by saying 'I want to win in 2022'. That makes it obviously a little bit easier to deal with.
"But we have expectations this year, which is exciting. It can be daunting for some, but I see it as really, really exciting."
Likewise, Gawn was amused when Melbourne players were spotted training at their Gosch's Paddock training ground within days of returning from Perth.
He notes many AFL players, regardless of where their teams finish, would have a similar regime.
"This is a bit of weird narrative, around players returning - Gosch's Paddock makes it very public," he said of the public park.
"But I would say (it's) every team.
"It's a shorter pre-season, we had to start - that's when our program started.
"I personally love the narrative of guys coming back because it pushes everyone, it pushes the whole team to get better. And I love Tracc (Christian Petracca) - I know he was one who was seen and he was training his arse off.
"But it's a weird narrative."
Melbourne will open the season in a week's time with the grand-final rematch at the MCG and Gawn is eager to resume the rivalry with the Bulldogs.
"The Western Bulldogs one, I love how it's not manufactured," he said.
"It's not necessarily what people call big clubs ... it's just two clubs who are well-performed at the moment, who have been meeting each other in some really hot games.
"Watching Libba (Tom Liberatore) and Jack (Viney)- I'd buy a ticket to that.
"There are battles around the ground. It's going to be good fun."
