AFLW: Rd 5 vs West Coast

[Rodney (Balls) Grinter 10,925]

Well done to our girls.  Building a really good season towards a solid finals position.

Would love to see this headline repeated again in a few weeks!

 

[WERRIDEE 5,537]

Really love the way the team is going ATM. Don't know what happened at St.Kilda the sooner we forget about that one the better. Love Goldrick's run and carry, Pearce is all class, Zanker is an excitement machine, Newman has pace to burn, O'Dea is a bull and Paxman is a star. 

Keep it up girls we may well see a premiership.

[58er 6,669]

1 hour ago, WERRIDEE said:

Really love the way the team is going ATM. Don't know what happened at St.Kilda the sooner we forget about that one the better. Love Goldrick's run and carry, Pearce is all class, Zanker is an excitement machine, Newman has pace to burn, O'Dea is a bull and Paxman is a star. 

Keep it up girls we may well see a premiership.

It's the type of maturing of many being  in the system now for four years plus new talent that can at least nail opportunities that up until this season have been left squandering.

Yes there is a chance of a flag as we put real pressure on the opposition more than other teams and our defence had held up remarkably all year.

All done with about 23/25 girls and the rest out injured. Team first mantra very strong is also our base.

[Rodney (Balls) Grinter 10,925]

2 hours ago, WERRIDEE said:

Don't know what happened at St.Kilda

Wouldn't be MFC if we didn't drop that game that we shouldn't have and couldn't really afford to.

Critical we win upcoming games against Freo and Carlton now.

[Meggs 598]

Yes Carlton next week at Traeger Park and the following week at Fremantle Oval are Conference B 8-pointers.

Yesterday it was still tight up to half-time but that 3rd quarter showed we have enough class and run and carry game-style to win most games.

Paxman was absolutely everywhere, Goldy is as mad as a cut snake but very effective (Frostball?) and that steal then handover to McEvoy (who kicked it Gaelic-style and who played her best AFLW game) was magic.  Lots of solid contributors in the win such as O'Dea, Birch, Hore, Hanks and Scotty.  Agree with others that Zanker has star quality.  Nice to see Lily back too.

After their slow start to the season, I thought Cunningham seems to be finding more of the footy and, in the second half, Newman too looked like she was rediscovering her old self.  And wasn't Tex Perkins a beauty, she adds to the class of the team (i.e. can kick and handpass...).    Not sure how Perkins, Cunningham and Parry can all play in the same forward line together but I'll leave that to Mick.

And nice percentage, 214.3%, go Demon girls

 

[Straight Sets Simon 23,113]

Was Perkins cut from Adelaide?

I thought she was good there.

[FarNorthernD 5,861]

3 hours ago, Clint Bizkit said:

Was Perkins cut from Adelaide?

I thought she was good there.

Yes, delisted by Adelaide. From the AFL site. Given her talent you’d think if she fixed her mobility issues she could be anything. She is only 27yo so could still have a lengthy career with us 
 

Sarah Perkins (key forward; delisted by Adelaide)

A star in the first AFLW season, Perkins (pictured above) struggled to crack a strong Adelaide line-up this year, spending most of the season playing for SANFLW side Woodville West-Torrens. Has genuine footy smarts and good goal sense, but mobility can be an issue at times.

https://womens.afl/news/17845/second-chance-beckons-for-delisted-free-agents

[poita 3,902]

I was at Casey Fields on Sunday and I was certainly happy with a 10 goal win after an underwhelming first half. Melbourne is very capable of challenging for the premiership this year if they can keep their better players on the park and playing well, but they still need to learn to play four quarters against all opposition. 

Re Perkins, I can't believe she hasn't done more to get herself fit as she otherwise has all the attributes to be a good player at this level. Unfortunately she is not eligible to play again if we get players back from injury. I thought she helped take pressure off Cunningham and Hore, and she is a better kick from long range than most of our players.

As an aside, the crowd was really disappointing and there was little atmosphere. Clearly playing an interstate side and the lack of a contest didn't help, but I thought we would have had more people there. Perhaps another sign that we are getting very little out of this arrangement other than $$$ from the local council.  

[Dees_In_October 3,509]

On 3/10/2020 at 9:15 AM, poita said:

I was at Casey Fields on Sunday and I was certainly happy with a 10 goal win after an underwhelming first half. Melbourne is very capable of challenging for the premiership this year if they can keep their better players on the park and playing well, but they still need to learn to play four quarters against all opposition. 

Re Perkins, I can't believe she hasn't done more to get herself fit as she otherwise has all the attributes to be a good player at this level. Unfortunately she is not eligible to play again if we get players back from injury. I thought she helped take pressure off Cunningham and Hore, and she is a better kick from long range than most of our players.

As an aside, the crowd was really disappointing and there was little atmosphere. Clearly playing an interstate side and the lack of a contest didn't help, but I thought we would have had more people there. Perhaps another sign that we are getting very little out of this arrangement other than $$$ from the local council.  

Yep, I'm pretty much as dedicated as they come for our AFLW team, but I still go to Casey with dragging feet. It always feels like there are only Melbourne supporters there from that side of Clayton onwards. The team probably hasn't gained as much traction among our traditional supporters as it has for the inner city clubs. The plus is that it felt like the majority who were there were young families. Lots of little Demons running around and I remember when that was a rare sight.

As to the game, well there's not much more to say about a good win against a clearly inferior opponent. I was glad they were able to put down the pedal in the second half and get the percentage boost, as this has been our downfall too many times. As an aside, the girls looked like they were having so much fun out there, which of course is easy when you're smashing a team, but I thought it was a good energy boost in what's been a tumultuous year so far for the list. The way they got around Perko was great and Mithen's selflessness in forgoing another attempt at her own first goal for a teammate's is hopefully a reflection of the team ethos.