AFLW Round 1 - Melbourne V Brisbane

[Sir Why You Little 37,034]

Hey we kicked 1 goal...

[beelzebub 23,364]

Really sounds like the team has no clue....not no talent...no clue.

I read DeeSpencer with interest. Sounds like we stuffed up here. 

[dazzledavey36 54,889]

What i will add is that we missed a golden opportunity to sign Darcy Vescio as a marquee playee. Daisy was the right decision but the decision to sign Mel Hickey who is 30 years old was poor. Darcy is also from my hometown and i have seen her player for years and she is a dead set freak. You only have to see the way she turned it on friday night to see what a superstar she'll be. She is the type of player that will bring fans through gates and her along with Daisy would have been the perfect face for MFCW. 

I am also very bias as her father is my neighbor and best mate who is currently helping me renovate my house.

[beelzebub 23,364]

Just now, dazzledavey36 said:

What i will add is that we missed a golden opportunity to sign Darcy Vescio as a marquee playee. Daisy was the right decision but the decision to sign Mel Hickey who is 30 years old was poor. Darcy is also from my hometown and i have seen her player for years and she is a dead set freak. You only have to see the way she turned it on friday night to see what a superstar she'll be. She is the type of player that will bring fans through gates and her along with Daisy would have been the perfect face for MFCW. 

I am also very bias as her father is my neighbor and best mate who is currently helping me renovate my house.

As valid as any view ?

[waynewussell 5,738]

I've seen our VFL team struggle at Casey Fields in conditions like this. I've seen the VFL team squander first use of the breeze/blizzard, then struggle to get back on top. Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe two Brisbane goals resulted from 50 metre penalties, the second of which was evidence of a pedantic umpire who has no sense of the spirit of the game (not uncommon I'm afraid). It was evident in the practice match against the Blues that our forward line was our weakness... or our ability to convert from forward entries. That will need to be addressed. However, who would have expected a wet slog in early February when they were drafting athletic, pacey women rather than big, strong players (Collingwood, Brisbane, Freo). We were out muscled in conditions that favoured our opponents... end of story. A great start to the future of our Women's team!

[Salems Lot 2,529]

We were poor. Seemed to lack system and as others have said, no forward structure.  Interestingly highlighted in the preview for the game.

[DeeSpencer 25,687]

32 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

What i will add is that we missed a golden opportunity to sign Darcy Vescio as a marquee playee. Daisy was the right decision but the decision to sign Mel Hickey who is 30 years old was poor. Darcy is also from my hometown and i have seen her player for years and she is a dead set freak. You only have to see the way she turned it on friday night to see what a superstar she'll be. She is the type of player that will bring fans through gates and her along with Daisy would have been the perfect face for MFCW. 

I am also very bias as her father is my neighbor and best mate who is currently helping me renovate my house.

I assume the marquee selections were done in 2 rounds. Or even in a snake draft. We had to pick Daisy first given by all reports she's the best player in the game. 

Then if we picked her first I presume we weren't going to get the best of the remaining Victorian players.

I'm not sure how they preferenced the marquee picks but the other 3 Victorian teams went with 1 midfield (of inferior quality to Daisy) and then added 1 quality goal kicking forward. I agree we really needed a forward. 

The conditions were terrible and the delivery poor but I think Vescio would've found a way to kick a couple of goals today, especially running in with the breeze and outsmarting her opponents. She looks super clever.

[Demon Jack 6,909]

Great opening round of the Women's AFL in terms of attendance and promotion. I know the league is incredibly young but it was a bit of another story in terms of performance. 

[RalphiusMaximus 6,048]

While we lack quality forwards, it was poor delivery and constantly kicking to the pocket that cost us. We had a missed set shot from about 20m out at one stage and late in the first quarter one of the mids had the wind at her back and declined the shot, instead looking to pass off and kicking into the Mark. Very wasteful play.

On the other side, the umpire gave Brisbane three goals, two from those 50m penalties and one from a shocking free kick. I will admit that the second 50 was legitimate if harsh, but the first one and the free were terrible.

Edited February 5, 2017 by RalphiusMaximus

[dees189227 12,391]

unfortunately we played in unlucky conditions. The other games were in perfect dry conditions. We got hit with rain and lightning making it hard. But what I have liked this round is no stupid melees or kicking the ball backwards. It seems the teams just get the ball and kick it forward. 

Just need to bounce back next week against the pies. 

[The heart beats true 18,123]

Let's not overreact. It's a very small sample and the conditions were unbelievably difficult.

(Who am I kidding? It wouldn't be Demonland without a post game melt down. I guess this is equal opportunity 'supporting'. Welcome to it Ladies!)

[Maldonboy38 6,402]

I have been really impressed with the attack on the footy and the intensity, a bit disappointed with the skills. But all in all I am enjoying it much more than I thought I would.

But I definetley have a favourite player  (do we use the term woman-crush?) No 30 Richelle Cranston is quick, good skills and hits a pack like Rod Grinter. Covered in tattoos with dreadlocks is not my look of choice, but just might keep my eye on her. 

Edited February 5, 2017 by Maldonboy38

[beelzebub 23,364]

Did the Lions play in "alternative' conditions ? 

[Adam The God 30,239]

3 hours ago, hardtack said:

Depends on how exposed they are at that ground and how serious an electrical storm is there I would imagine. I seem to recall that golfers and soccer players (recently?) had been injured due to playing in electrical storms. Perhaps it's best to be cautious regardless of gender?

As long as it's applied to everyone I'm all for it. 

2 hours ago, demon4eva said:

Typical Melbourne style. The tried her best and was best on grounds. Very undisciplined, gave away two free kicks ended up in goals. Kicked to nobody or kick to someone who is about to be tackled. No structure. No passion. Going to be an embarrassment. Got my AFLW membership lastnight. I should have waited till today.

I thought they set up the wall really well, but as you say they too often kicked blindly and seemed to lack structure, because players didn't or couldn't work hard enough to support. That said, I thought we dominated the numbers around the football. We just struggled with our poor disposal and decision making. It was like watching Melbourne 2013-2014ish.

[Old Bear 388]

2 hours ago, DeeSpencer said:

I'm annoyed. I don't think we've got the coaching appointment right. Hiring a TAC coach who's never coached women's footy and then trying to play a zone system when the game just needs players spread out in position and to win one on ones. None of our best players are forwards and it's clear you need a gun forward to kick 2 or 3 goals to score in this game.

More than that though, I'm annoyed it's at Casey. 

The Dogs and Blues are getting bumper crowds at their traditional suburban homes and it has to be a boost for the entire club. Plus the players can train where they play. I don't know if our girls had even been to Casey before today? 

The place is an absolute dump. It never has decent conditions for footy. Never. A solid enough crowd turned out but how many where Melbourne supporters and what was achieved by playing it in the middle of nowhere?

Poor decisions and lack of infrastructure has seen us being unable to capitalise on all the hard work done in previous years.

Agree only had to drive a few klms but absolutely hate that part of town,too many people too little infustructure 

If only Goffs dream of a city in Albury Wodonga was able to be realised

We wouldnt have shit holes like the City of Casey

[frankie_d 1,471]

Mrs Frankie was under the weather, but received a leave pass, fired up the Frankie-mobile, got my passport stamped at Warrigal Rd, and wandered off to Casey fields. Some observations

1. Don't park in the Field - got bogged, drenched
2. All the players - both sides - unarguable commitment to the contest, not one shirked the issue. Would have put some of Melbourne AFL players to shame in our athletic-stick-figure phase
3. Each side had about 3 players with OK or better skills. Even before the rain, more that half of both teams were not up to scratch  - not surprising - most of them are very good athletes, and brave, but not footballers. Most middle school teams would have more skill.
4. The deluge came. At 3/4 time out coaches came out with whiteboards etc, and each line coach was waving arms in the air, making meaningful zone/positions/advanced stuff movements.
5. What they needed was a coach saying "It's very wet, the ball is a piece of soap. Move the ball forward immediately you get to it. Don't look for the handball or the short kick. Keep your structure up forward and don't be sucked up the ground."
6. There was no such coach.
7. We got spanked. 

I will reserve my thoughts about Casey Fields for when I have emerged from hypothermia and the Frankie-mobile emerges from under its three in layer of mud.

8. We need a coach who will coach to our strength. We need better skills.

Sigh.

[tbrookes3 11]

I noticed that Daisy had what appeared to be a hearing aid on one ear. Does anyone know if she has a hearing issue?

[DeeSpencer 25,687]

10 minutes ago, tbrookes3 said:

I noticed that Daisy had what appeared to be a hearing aid on one ear. Does anyone know if she has a hearing issue?

All (or most) of the Dees players were fitted with a little device behind their right ear. It was to measure head/neck impact. Glad that we are doing something cutting edge. 

Also now I've calmed down a bit I really liked Lily Mithen. What a little gun at 18. She'll be a player.

[RalphiusMaximus 6,048]

2 hours ago, beelzebub said:

Did the Lions play in "alternative' conditions ? 

They had an alternative umpire. 

[Little Goffy 14,530]

4 hours ago, Old Bear said:

Agree only had to drive a few klms but absolutely hate that part of town,too many people too little infustructure 

If only Goffs dream of a city in Albury Wodonga was able to be realised

We wouldnt have shit holes like the City of Casey

Don't get me started.

If I had my way, there'd be a fast rail link going Brisbane-Sydney-Melbourne-Adelaide with about half a dozen 250k cities and another half-dozen 100k cities strung along in between.

Oh, wait, you meant the other guy. Sorry.

[poita 3,902]

So disappointing that the pioneers of women's football at this level have so badly butchered their entry into the elite competition. Two games played for a total of two goals scored is just pathetic.

I didn't watch either game, but you have to assume that we've completely botched the draft, which is incredible to me. We have been scouring the country for talent for years for our exhibition matches, but other clubs have done a much better job of building a team (as opposed to a collection of players).

I'm interested to see what sort of equalisation methods are in place for this competition, particularly given that expansion is basically certain to happen in the next year or so. How does a poor team catch up to the pace setters without a significant influx of talent from somewhere?

Oh, and playing games at Casey is just plain dumb. Surely there is a better option, even if it means using Punt Road or Princes Park.

 

[Bluey's Dad 3,419]

For those decrying the scorelines - remember they play x 15 minute quarters for a total of 1 hour of game time.

Men's game is currently what, about 25 x 4, so an hour and 40 minutes, sometimes almost 2 full hours.

If you take the women's scores as men's half time scores (based on the time comparison above), then the score line isn't nearly as bleak as it sounds. It's still not great, but it's nowhere near as bad as some are making out.

 

My opinions on the Melbourne Game:

- Casey was an idiotic decision
- Although Daisy is clearly a champ, her turnovers cost us dearly
- Paxman is good
- O'Dea had good stats but I didn't really notice much actual impact by her until the last quarter
- We were overall a better team, but made some massive very costly mistakes that lost us the game. Our midfield especially seemed to work better than theirs, but our forwards were terrible. Several great plays and clearances by the midfield group were squandered (although a lot of the time the forward entry was poor as well).
- Pretty much everyone struggled in the wet, but even so, the skills need work (worth noting they are not yet professionals like the men, they have day jobs)
- Commentary was off-putting. Overuse of the word 'elite'. Constant stories instead of commentating the action. In a game like this where the public would only know a few players, it was vital that they describe the play and who's impacting on what. IDGAF who grew up on a dairy farm. Leave the puffery for the breaks.
- The players went hard and I enjoyed that aspect of the game, the tackling was excellent
- Our coach apparently was the Oakleigh Chargers coach? Really? That's the best we could do?

 

I don't like our chances to take out the flag, especially with our forward line, but by the looks of it we should be able to build something for next year.

 

[beelzebub 23,364]

1 hour ago, poita said:

So disappointing that the pioneers of women's football at this level have so badly butchered their entry into the elite competition. Two games played for a total of two goals scored is just pathetic.

I didn't watch either game, but you have to assume that we've completely botched the draft, which is incredible to me. We have been scouring the country for talent for years for our exhibition matches, but other clubs have done a much better job of building a team (as opposed to a collection of players).

I'm interested to see what sort of equalisation methods are in place for this competition, particularly given that expansion is basically certain to happen in the next year or so. How does a poor team catch up to the pace setters without a significant influx of talent from somewhere?

Oh, and playing games at Casey is just plain dumb. Surely there is a better option, even if it means using Punt Road or Princes Park.

 

Mirrored much of your thinking in the match report.

We've botched this so far. Plays with head how so inept ( these days )

[Bluey's Dad 3,419]

1 hour ago, beelzebub said:

Mirrored much of your thinking in the match report.

We've botched this so far. Plays with head how so inept ( these days )

Agreed. There should have been at least 2 fewer teams, and built from there.

The AFL also botched the venues pretty badly, as well as not televising each game on FTA. Channel 7 has what, 4 digital stations? Can't tell me there's no space.

TV coverage from proper grounds is also far superior. Watching the Casey game on TV was difficult when the ball was on the far side of the ground.

The whole undertaking deserved more thought.

 

As a side note, my 3 year old daughter came into the room whilst I was watching. She asked where the 'footy boys' were. I told her this was girls footy. She was very excited and tried to watch. Managed 5 minutes before going off to play with her play-doh, but he reaction was really nice to see :).

My son showed the same interest with the girls' game as he does the boys' - nil. Pretty sure the Max Gawn height chart he was sent last year scared him off.

[LuckyPhil 2]

So who was playing for the Dees in the number 12 jumper yesterday?  No number 12 listed in the published team list and according to the club number 12 was one of the numbers not assigned to anyone.  There was definitely a number 12 on the field. Mystery woman?