You could almost feel the mixture of genuine empathy and outrageous spite beginning to build in the seconds after Jack Darling juggled and ultimately spilled a straightforward chest mark that seemingly killed off any hopes of a West Coast revival.

The burly Eagle had his 'Herschelle Gibbs moment' as he let slip an uncontested mark deep in the forward line. At the time – nine minutes into the third quarter – the Eagles trailed by 25 points and were on the charge.

Darling was probably wishing he had a shovel and could dig a hole and hide. But in cyberspace there was simply nowhere to go.

TV reporter Tom Steinfort summed it up thus: "Standby for 'Jack Darling dropped the World Cup' tweets..." And his prediction was on the money.

Others had a measured view knowing that in grand finals, where incidents are subjected to micro-analysis, Darling runs the risk of being defined by his 'dropped catch'.

"Poor Jack Darling will be replaying that dropped mark for the rest of his days #AFLGF," scribe Andrew Stafford offered.

Some footy fans turn to memes with one image of a "deer in the headlights" looking particularly apt.

ELLIE GOULDING

Performers are on a hiding to nothing when they accept the AFL's invitation (and money bags) to perform on Melbourne's biggest day and there's nowhere to hide if the punters think they haven't cut the mustard.

English singer-songwriter Ellie Goulding was the target of the one accusation that cuts to the heart for musicians: lip-syncing.

Keyboard warriors were quick to come after Goulding after she took centre stage on the famous turf about one hour before the opening bounce.

One footy fan on Twitter was quick to turn to that familiar complaint after the league once again lobbed for international acts.

"There are hundreds of Aussie bands that wouldn't even think of lip syncing, yet the @AFL continue to ignore fans. #AFLGF," 'Boomer' tweeted.

To her credit, Goulding went after her accusers directly, not shying away from the apparent 'audio issues'.

"Love it when people think I lip sync, what a rad compliment; Now where does one find a good veggie restaurant in Melbs," was her blunt offering later on Twitter.

Unsurprisingly, she got plenty of support.

In an apparent acknowledgment that the equipment may have let her down, Goulding also retweeted the following from musician Joel Farland: "Despite the sound issues, @elliegoulding sang like such a boss just then. Her voice."

CYRIL RIOLI

It didn't take long for Cyril Rioli to stamp his influence on the grand final. And social media lit up as footy fans knew a Norm Smith Medal winning-performance was in the making.

Seemingly finding space and running clear of opponents with ease, the crafty playmaker had a hand in many of Hawthorn's crucial early goals, and many were wondering: who's on him?

So often these days a bookmaker hits the mark, summing up a situation perfectly. One corporate outlet simply had to post a photo of a slow-moving turtle with the accompanying words: "Exclusive footage of Shannon Hurn trying to run with Cyril Rioli." You had to laugh.

Rioli's outrageous form and commentator Bruce McAvaney's unashamed love of the nimble Hawk gave pundits the perfect platform to speak out.

"Anyone who wants to claim Cyril Rioli is 'their man' is wrong. Cyril is only Bruce McAvaney's man. No-one else's. #AFLGrandFinal," Glenn Osborne tweeted.

Like Darling's dropped mark, it was game over.