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AFLW: Rd 01 vs Gold Coast

FarNorthernD
FarNorthernD
in AFLW Melbourne Demons

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Looking tired

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    Lauren Pearce BOG I thought. Paxman superb as usual, Mithen and Hanks also played well. Great to see Cunningham return to form after her rotten year last year.

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    Is there anything finer than hearing the Grand Old Flag being sung with passion on a Saturday afternoon? I think not!?

    P. S. Hope to hear it often this year. Can never tire of it. Truly is the best song.

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    • Like 10
    2 minutes ago, Dame Gaga said:

    Is there anything finer than hearing the Grand Old Flag being sung with passion on a Saturday afternoon? I think not!?

    P. S. Hope to hear it often this year. Can never tire of it. Truly is the best song.

    Hate to disagree with DG. But Tigers have easily the best song.

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    • Shocked 3

    When we looked down and out in the last part of the third and in first half of last it was Lauren Pearce who kept us in it. What a superb ruckwomen she is. The young Mcnamara looks like a real find.

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    • Like 9

    Positives:
    - McNamara: She does a mountain of running, gets to the right spots and whilst her disposal needs work it's decent enough. AFLW Eddie Langdon in year 1 pretty much.
    - Hanks: I think that was her most prolific midfield display. Her footy smarts and skills are a step above and she'll find more space as the team gets more cohesive
    - Paxy: Yep.
    - Reinforcements: Downie should come back and give the backline more height and defensive ability. Anyone know what's up with Gay and Lampard? A couple more Irish girls to get in to the side as well

    Negatives:
    - We got lucky with the free kicks and 50's delivering easy scoring chances. Without them the game is closer
    - Over handballed around the packs especially early
    - Few too many are still very one sided and can only cough the ball out when tackled
    - Rushing inside 50's. Scott was a culprit. When they trust the forwards to win one on ones it works better
    - Forward pressure. Thought it was ordinary and they possibly had to swing Heath forward. 4 talls, Scott and Hore is top heavy. Petrevski got one lucky holding the ball but generally looks a step behind. 
    - Birch had a shocker

    Neutrals:
    - Bannan and Fitzsimon both showed a bit without having great days. Bannan might take time but I can see the upside and Fitzsimon has some smarts and they trusted her to rotate on ball
    - I'm still not convinced by Cunningham and Parry trying to share the full forward role. Both a little one dimensional. Cunningham had her good moments but can't rely on marking it over the top as much as she wants to. Was nice to see her punch occassionally
    - Lil Mithen, great warrior, but needs to be less reliant on taking tackles and hacking the ball out.

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    • Like 1
    9 minutes ago, dl4e said:

    When we looked down and out in the last part of the third and in first half of last it was Lauren Pearce who kept us in it. What a superb ruckwomen she is. The young Mcnamara looks like a real find.

    Be careful of the PC. Shouldn't that be Ruck person?

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    It seems to me that the female footballers generally are very good at taking marks even under pressure but terrible at picking the ball up off the ground even when under minimal pressure.  Do others agree and if so any idea why?  The ground ball takes more time which gives time for nerves to affect the player, or is it that it is just a harder skill?

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    • Like 1
    44 minutes ago, old dee said:

    Hate to disagree with DG. But Tigers have easily the best song.

    You really are a killjoy at times OD 

    Think he meant the real enjoyment of the song is the winning!!!

    I'll take Grand Old Glad any day and don't  rate the other songs at all Hate to hear them.

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    • Thanks 1

    39 minutes ago, old dee said:

    Be careful of the PC. Shouldn't that be Ruck person?

    Stuff the PC old dee. She is a women and that is the end of it.

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    25 minutes ago, sue said:

    It seems to me that the female footballers generally are very good at taking marks even under pressure but terrible at picking the ball up off the ground even when under minimal pressure.  Do others agree and if so any idea why?  The ground ball takes more time which gives time for nerves to affect the player, or is it that it is just a harder skill?

    Some of the marking is very good and yes I’d agree the ground balls by comparison are poor.

    The tackle pressure is huge. And the ball bounces around a lot because there’s a lot of hacked kicks and smothers.

    Apart from that I’d say there’s still a lot of basketballers and netballers used to catching a ball more than picking one up. Meanwhile even those who have come through the juniors haven’t dealt with nearly the same pressure. Men’s draftees take time to make the adjustment to the massive leap in pressure too. 

    Hanks stands out because she has excellent ground ball technique. She goes low and hard and is comfortable evading on either side. It should improve as more natural footballers come in to the system. 

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    • Like 3
    13 minutes ago, 58er said:

    You really are a killjoy at times OD 

    Think he meant the real enjoyment of the song is the winning!!!

    I'll take Grand Old Glad any day and don't  rate the other songs at all Hate to hear them.

    Don't disagree 58 but the Tigers have the best song IMO.

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    9 minutes ago, dl4e said:

    Stuff the PC old dee. She is a women and that is the end of it.

    You won't get an argument from me dl4e.

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    1 hour ago, DeeSpencer said:

    Positives:
    - McNamara: She does a mountain of running, gets to the right spots and whilst her disposal needs work it's decent enough. AFLW Eddie Langdon in year 1 pretty much.
    - Hanks: I think that was her most prolific midfield display. Her footy smarts and skills are a step above and she'll find more space as the team gets more cohesive
    - Paxy: Yep.
    - Reinforcements: Downie should come back and give the backline more height and defensive ability. Anyone know what's up with Gay and Lampard? A couple more Irish girls to get in to the side as well

    Negatives:
    - We got lucky with the free kicks and 50's delivering easy scoring chances. Without them the game is closer
    - Over handballed around the packs especially early
    - Few too many are still very one sided and can only cough the ball out when tackled
    - Rushing inside 50's. Scott was a culprit. When they trust the forwards to win one on ones it works better
    - Forward pressure. Thought it was ordinary and they possibly had to swing Heath forward. 4 talls, Scott and Hore is top heavy. Petrevski got one lucky holding the ball but generally looks a step behind. 
    - Birch had a shocker

    Neutrals:
    - Bannan and Fitzsimon both showed a bit without having great days. Bannan might take time but I can see the upside and Fitzsimon has some smarts and they trusted her to rotate on ball
    - I'm still not convinced by Cunningham and Parry trying to share the full forward role. Both a little one dimensional. Cunningham had her good moments but can't rely on marking it over the top as much as she wants to. Was nice to see her punch occassionally
    - Lil Mithen, great warrior, but needs to be less reliant on taking tackles and hacking the ball out.

    Agree with all of that DS

    A good win to start the season and plenty of positives. We’ll have to play another 2-3 games to get a proper read on our form but the other negatives for me were:

    • Same day travel. Started sluggishly and ran out gas in the last. If the Suns had more belief I reckon they could have run us closer.
    • Zander not imposing herself and seems to be lacking in confidence. Dropped an easy mark in the 4th near the top of the square. She’s got the talent but doesn’t show it consistently enough. She reminds a little of the Weid in this regard.
    • Shelley Scott couldn’t get going at all.

    Looking forward to getting along to Casey next weekend to cheer the girls along and to see a live game of footy. It’s been too long.

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    For the first couple of seasons, the AFLW frustrated me, but that's all changed.  I now respect and enjoy it for what it is, and look forward to it as an exciting prelude to the AFL season.  A close game involving the Dees has me on the edge of the lounge, and after a win, I sing the song almost as loud as I do for the men.

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    55 minutes ago, Better days ahead said:

    Agree with all of that DS

    A good win to start the season and plenty of positives. We’ll have to play another 2-3 games to get a proper read on our form but the other negatives for me were:

    • Same day travel. Started sluggishly and ran out gas in the last. If the Suns had more belief I reckon they could have run us closer.
    • Zander not imposing herself and seems to be lacking in confidence. Dropped an easy mark in the 4th near the top of the square. She’s got the talent but doesn’t show it consistently enough. She reminds a little of the Weid in this regard.
    • Shelley Scott couldn’t get going at all.

    Looking forward to getting along to Casey next weekend to cheer the girls along and to see a live game of footy. It’s been too long.

    Zanker did kick our first with quality forward craft, dropped a few as the game went on and the knee jarring might’ve got to her. She’s close to tearing a game apart and her ground level and ruck abilities make her really valuable. It will frustrate if she misses chances but I think she’ll put it all together soon.

    Scott was still involved in some nice patches but was just messy.
     

    I think if we get a bit more pressure from the smalls we’ll have the confidence to go direct and can stretch teams. 5 might be hard to fit in like today, but minimum we’ll have 4 talls that will be hard to stop. 

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    1 hour ago, Deeoldfart said:

    For the first couple of seasons, the AFLW frustrated me, but that's all changed.  I now respect and enjoy it for what it is, and look forward to it as an exciting prelude to the AFL season.  A close game involving the Dees has me on the edge of the lounge, and after a win, I sing the song almost as loud as I do for the men.

    I have to say I agree with you Deeoldfart. Well I managed to watch about 20 minutes of the game. Usually last 5. The skill levels and scoring has improved. Not sure why but I just don't feel commited, might be that they have been around 3 years vs 60+ for the men. Or perhaps it is because I watch on TV that I don't enjoy anywhere near as much as going to a game.

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    I thought the girls looked a bit lethargic early on with the travel, but that 2nd and 3rd quarter was sensational and could be the difference between us making the finals or not. This was exactly the type of game we should have won in seasons 1-2 but we would drop & then missed finals narrowly.

    Great to hear the song again, and I teared up a bit with the three debutants in the middle of the circle. Love that they sing the song on the ground.

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