1 minute ago, dl4e said:

I had us written off at half time. A great second half.

I was also a member of that club! But I should have remembered that our girls don't give up that easy.

This game was very eerie to the men's game against Brisbane last year..

1 hour ago, Kick_It_To_Pickett said:

Just remind them not to bounce. Practice the solo or touch the ball on the ground. Cost a goal. 

Yep and how many times do you think they have played in steamy, slippery Qld conditions ? I've seen Victorians in the mens comp struggle and do the same thing in those conditions.

Have just posted the VOTES thread on the AFLW board.

Lots of opinions in this thread, please give your 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 over there and have your say!

Tayla Harris, just wow!  Right up there with the most influential game I’ve s seen from any player in the AFLW.

Excellent win. Although with a big rest advantage making a huge difference.

Credit to Mick Stinear for good coaching adjustments, but a worry why we thought the existing plan would work. Nor do I think 6 behind the ball and way too much corridor kicking at half forward will work.

But: 

Bannan FF - tick
Paxy wing - tick
Daisy spare back - tick

Gillard as Harris Andrews will work long term too. Reads the ball very well in the air.

Liv Purcell is the solid built mid we’ve been crying out for too. Needs time to get back to full fitness but she’ll be huge for our midfield.

1 hour ago, DubDee said:

WTF. Was that 50 for?!?

I wasn't sure either. I thought that the player on the mark was listening to the bench and the umpire was asking her to go back a metre. I didn't think that the player heard the request and was standing perfectly still

What are the odds of the same player having a kick after the siren against the same opposition twice? Assume the free was for holding the ball against McGee she was pretty unlucky, but the result is the same both times!

Purcell looked like a really good midfielder to add to our depth. 
Zanker was almost non-existent.

Good coaching from Mick Stinear to move Daisy to defence and shift Bannon from the wing to deep in the pocket to offer another tall foil so Harris wasn't continually triple teamed.

West continues to improve, she just needs to have a bit more confidence in her own kicking, should never have handballed to Hore from only 15 metres out from goal. Hore was also quiet again.

Pearce of the Lauren variety continues to influence the coalface, her ability to make second efforts at ground level after a stoppage are first class, as is her ability to take the ball from the ruck and throw it on her boot (the latest example this week lead to Harris' 2nd). Parry tried it a couple of times when filling in  in the ruck too.

Gillard was pretty impressive for a first gamer, can only get better for the experience, her height will be welcome in an undersized backline since Downie retired. 

Hanks, Paxman both continue to rack up possessions and metres gained in the engine room, as does McNamara on a wing.

What a great win!

3 hours ago, Chook said:

I don't trust our ability to fly in fly out, so I'm expecting some underwhelming performances from the girls tonight. Hope I'm wrong.

Didn't prove me wrong until they did.

Great win by the girls…and Tayla Harris is a monster, but the thing I love most is her attitude - she's clearly committed to being a great teammate and working hard.

5 minutes ago, defuture15 said:

I wasn't sure either. I thought that the player on the mark was listening to the bench and the umpire was asking her to go back a metre. I didn't think that the player heard the request and was standing perfectly still

She definitely was over the mark. Usually they let that go. But sounds like the ump was calling her back and she didn’t move. Stiff but there if the ump was clear and loud  

1 hour ago, BDA said:

Daisy has been very good this half. I think she needs to play defence full time

I thought the move into the backline really straightened us up when we needed it.

15 minutes ago, Chook said:

Didn't prove me wrong until they did.

Great win by the girls…and Tayla Harris is a monster, but the thing I love most is her attitude - she's clearly committed to being a great teammate and working hard.

Yeah you can see in her post-match interviews that she's been given a really clear message about her role and it's given her confidence just to do her thing.

57 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

This game was very eerie to the men's game against Brisbane last year..

I reckon the whole season so far is very similar to the blokes last year.

We're playing well for half a game most weeks and just getting the job done without being great.

You can see Daisy, Paxman, Bannon, Lauren Pearce, West etc just building into the season and slowly gaining confidence. We could find another gear yet. 

Time for Zanker to switch on.

Harris, what a set of hands she has and just hard at it.

Loved Bannons running goal. Two Lions players stopped to watch if it would bounce through. She just kept running into the goal square to make sure it went through.

Great win (and a stupid free at the end)

Go Dees

Holy guacamole, just finished the replay after working late, my poor heart! A plucky, hard fought win with a lucky, BS finish. Great comeback deserving of victory. 
Go you good things 🔴🔵

Is the AFLW being umpired by first timers or something? The umpiring in that first quarter was horrendous... 

I don't understand why Parry is rucking. Zanker should be doing it, especially now that Purcell is in the team for more midfield depth. It gets Zanker in to the game and gives us an extra midfielder around the ground, provides a different look when Pearce is resting.

Getting more from Zanks is one of our big question marks right now.

The other one is how to use Daisy. The forward pocket stuff has kind of run it's race. I don't think she's got the speed and run to take an opponent down back anymore, that's why she went forward to begin with, but could she just play as a spare back and then drift wherever she needs?

That would be fairly defensive and different to the usual plan but given we can't seem to hold teams with forward pressure anyway and are a risk of leaking goals maybe we need to get funky?

What a see-sawing game.

Like other I have to say the umpiring on throws, holding and high are horrendous in most AFLW games, but this was the worst I've seen for awhile.  It's like it was amateur night for the umps, on the decisions they made and missed (A lot more misses).

Brisbane were on and should have put us away by qtr time, 2nd at the latest.  Total pressure and controlling the game (Plus our continual fumbles, humility or pressure?).  Only moving Daisy back gave us some structure and movement.

But like all year, we reset and the second half we got on top.  Was this because of a change in effort/attitude by the team.  One hopes.  But did Brisbane simply tire?  Didn't seem so, they were still running well, but we had stepped up.

Harris amazing, though she a terrible post game interviewee, not really much to say and always looks like a deer in headlights. (Needs media training).  But her footy does the talking.

As the odds for the same player after the siren, it was a nice off the boot but luckily outside her range.  I wonder what was going through her head, like not again! 

But we have beaten a team in the top group and it was a well fought win in the end and should give the team confidence. 

 

 

MELBOURNE 0.0.0 1.0.6 4.4.28 5.5.35

BRISBANE LIONS 1.3.9 3.5.23 4.5.29 4.8.32

GOALS

MELBOURNE Bannan Harris 2 West 

BRISBANE LIONS Bodey Conway Farquharson O'Dwyer

BEST

MELBOURNE Harris Paxman Bannan D.Pearce, Hanks McNamara

BRISBANE LIONS Bates O'Dwyer Bodey C Svarc Pullar Dawes

Great win really impressed with the debutants in Purcell and Gillard. What a game from Harris and L.Pearce.

Wow - Daisy has improved her kicking so much. Now need someone to work with West to do the same (and learn to use her right boot too).

22 hours ago, DubDee said:

Must be hard for the girls playing Monday night in Brisbane. Most would have full time jobs. Not sure what the AFL is thinking 

Gee just as well we aren't a WAFLW team or been affected by Covid so far.

Really to "query" the draw for us is being so precious and shows no understanding of how the AFLW has survived on a floating fixture frequented with many midweek matches snd four day breaks abounding. 

Our opponents are playing their third game in 9 days That is  "really  hard" !!

And I don't subscribe to the view that the majority are Full time employees. More like a mix of full and part time workers and uni students still on holiday.

The weather would be the hardest factor in playing in mid summer particularly in Qld ( humidity) and WA (extreme heat ) so again our girls have not been the hardest hit. 

Thank  goodness they have the mantra of any where any time and they put in a sensational and courageous effort to get over the line. 

No talk of any thing being  too hard for our girls. Well done. You have now proved you are well in the fight for the flag. 

 

10 hours ago, DaveyJones'sLocker said:

Gutsy win

And a gutsy call from the umpire 😐after what looked like a throw in the build up to that play

A throw then a non fee kick on the siren

8 hours ago, Darkhorse72 said:

What a see-sawing game.

Like other I have to say the umpiring on throws, holding and high are horrendous in most AFLW games, but this was the worst I've seen for awhile.  It's like it was amateur night for the umps, on the decisions they made and missed (A lot more misses).

Brisbane were on and should have put us away by qtr time, 2nd at the latest.  Total pressure and controlling the game (Plus our continual fumbles, humility or pressure?).  Only moving Daisy back gave us some structure and movement.

But like all year, we reset and the second half we got on top.  Was this because of a change in effort/attitude by the team.  One hopes.  But did Brisbane simply tire?  Didn't seem so, they were still running well, but we had stepped up.

Harris amazing, though she a terrible post game interviewee, not really much to say and always looks like a deer in headlights. (Needs media training).  But her footy does the talking.

As the odds for the same player after the siren, it was a nice off the boot but luckily outside her range.  I wonder what was going through her head, like not again! 

But we have beaten a team in the top group and it was a well fought win in the end and should give the team confidence. 

 

You have heard Clarry speak to the media?, not everyone is at ease speaking publicly.

9 hours ago, defuture15 said:

I wasn't sure either. I thought that the player on the mark was listening to the bench and the umpire was asking her to go back a metre. I didn't think that the player heard the request and was standing perfectly still

If she doesn't hear the ump we all know that's  fatal. 
Bench  must be careful Toallow players to Concentrate on the game if this was the case.