But the following story should bring some realism back into the equation, particularly when taking into account Melbourne’s year.
Recently, one of the club’s newest players, Leigh Williams, was confronted with his own mortality.
And while all who love the red and blue have endured a trying 2012, when you consider what Williams had to go through, it paints a much clearer picture of it all.
In all the incredible stories, which have surrounded the club this year, nothing has compared to the passing of club great Jim Stynes. But what Williams went through was dramatic and far outweighed any name football-related or sponsorship issue for example.
Not quite 21 - Williams celebrates this milestone on Saturday - he suffered viral encephalitis (an infection of the brain), which resulted in serious hospitalisation for two weeks, as he explained.
“I got told it was meningitis and encephalitis, which was basically combined, and it was swelling on the brain and on top of that it was shingles,” he told melbournefc.com.au.
“The shingles virus was mainly on the brain as well.”
The incident triggered when Williams was watching Melbourne’s round five clash against St Kilda at the MCG on April 28.
After overcoming a groin and back injury, Williams was resting up in preparation for his third senior VFL match for Casey the following day.
But after suffering a migraine on Anzac Day, Williams’ illness took a dramatic turn for the worse, when he felt pins and needles down his right hand arm and leg.
“I couldn’t get any sleep for three days and then on Saturday when we were playing the Saints, I just went a bit downhill from there,” he said.
“It was about 9.30pm, when I started to deteriorate a bit and I lost all of my feeling in my right-hand side of my body.
“At first I thought [my girlfriend] might’ve been leaning on my arm and I got a dead arm, but then it was getting worse and I lost my speech. My girlfriend [Jenny] ended up calling the ambulance … and I went to the hospital.
“That was the most frustrating part - not being able to respond to the ambos and they were asking questions. I could understand them, but couldn’t spit the answers out.”
Williams was taken to Maroondah Hospital and later transported to Box Hill Hospital, both in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs. He was then placed in an induced coma for “probably 40 hours”.
“I remember being sedated and being transported. But I didn’t even know I was in Box Hill. I remember all of it on Saturday, until I woke up on Monday, so I don’t remember anything from the induced coma,” he said.
“It was all day Sunday and then I woke up on Monday ... for a period of time, it was a bit shaky and close.
“I was in an induced coma and on life support for a bit, and I was not breathing. Obviously it was pretty close, but it probably ended up being a good thing in the end that I was able to get out of it so quick.”
Remarkably, the setback hasn’t fazed Williams, who was selected at No. 59 in last December’s NAB AFL Rookie Draft.
“In terms of how I feel now, I feel fine. I feel back to normal,” he said.
“Even last week, I started to feel better. At the moment, I’m just getting fatigued towards the end of the day.
“In terms of playing footy, that’s in the hands of Misso (Dave Misson) and the docs. But at the moment, I’m on light cardio stuff and this week I’ll just be easing myself back in the program a bit.”
He is also confident there won’t be any lasting effects.
“It just depends on how I recover and how I’ve been recovering, so they’ll have to ease me into it. So there won’t be any long-term ramifications, in terms of chronic fatigue or anything like that,” Williams said.
The first-year Demon said he had received great support from his mother Cassandra, girlfriend Jenny and the Melbourne coaches, players and staff during his ordeal.
“She (Mum) was very overwhelmed early on and once it got better in the first week, she was a bit more relieved and able to go back to work,” he said.
“Same with my girlfriend - she did a 60-hour stint [at the hospital], so she was in hysterics. I was at her house when it happened.
“It was good to have a few of the boys come in and [receive] all of the text messages. Because we’re not winning at the moment, all of the boys are sticking together, so it’s been pretty good.
“They’ve (the coaches) all been really good and they’re not putting any pressure on us to set the world on fire, but there is a self expectation to get out there.”
In terms of how long it will take Williams to play football again, the 193 cm tall forward is aiming for a June return.
“It’s still hard to tell at this stage, but I feel probably a month would be a realistic goal,” he said.
“It’s been three weeks without any exercise, so being in hospital and not eating for six days [didn’t help], so there is some catching up there.
“Maybe a month or six weeks is realistic.”
Despite his major health scare, Williams said it hadn’t altered his outlook on life too much. Instead, he has incredibly taken it all in his stride.
“I can’t say I’ve really thought about it to be honest,” he said.
“I’ve just been taking it day-by-day and thinking about footy a fair bit. If anything, I’ve been frustrated by it a bit.
“At the time, I didn’t really know what was going on, so I wasn’t fully aware. Looking back on it, it was pretty close.”
It’s been an eventful six months for Williams, since he claimed the last place on Melbourne’s list, endured two separate injuries and then this illness.
Despite these setbacks, he is relishing being on an AFL list and is determined to make the most of his opportunities after kicking 88 goals with Norwood last year.
“It’s not the start I was looking for, but I’m still happy to be here and I’m loving it here,” he said.
“I’ve been pretty unlucky at the moment.”
No question. But he is also lucky to be alive. And that takes precedence over everything.
