A GAME CLEAR by Dees In October

In great Indigenous Round atmosphere at Casey Fields, a season-defining battle loomed for the Demons against a somewhat under-the-radar Kangaroos outfit. The teams have had some close encounters, with the equivalent fixture last season an absolute cracker under lockdown lights. Returning for Melbourne were Sherriff and Gay, replacing the omitted Fitzsimon and Magee.

Dees fans tuning in to the broadcast were met with Melbourne royalty, in ex-men’s captain Nathan Jones taking up a special comments role. How amazing that two of our recent club captains have called each other’s games. Nice also to see MFC President Kate Roffey in attendance as well as the involvement of Krstel Petrevski in the design of our jumper and some of our players’ indigenous art-themed boots.

FIRST QUARTER

A good start was again the plea from Melbourne fans, and this time the players avoided leaking early goals. As always, the Casey wind was a key character, this time in a particularly gusty mood. The ball ping-ponged between the arcs early, with the Dees unable to make deep wind-assisted inroads, while the Roos’ attempts to exit saw the ball repeatedly drifting out. Heath took up a defensive forward role against a crucial cog for North in Kearney (possibly explaining the omission of Fitzsimon). A big blow to the Roos seemed to occur five minutes in as their ruck Emma King limped off, only to return later unscathed but perhaps limited.

Bannister out-marked Goldrick to set up the Roos first real chance. She kicked long and strong, but the ball dropped in the wind and was further denied by Gillard on the goal line. Consequently, Melbourne was able to roam out of the shadows and onto the sun-drenched outer wing for the first time. After a good mark from Sherriff, a bouncing ball from a Daisy kick goalward eluded everyone until Bannon trapped it in the pocket. Her snap was on-line, but the wind said, “Nah”, and everyone was left confounded as the ball plummeted abruptly and staggered wildly into the behind post.

In the next play, Parry willed her way through traffic and drove the ball forward where Hore marked and converted. Parry soon backed that up with a solid grab on attacking 50 and a neat kick inboard to Paxman, who looked corridor as well, drawing a 50-metre penalty from a Roo cutting across to shut down that option. A gift of a goal resulted. North threatened to reply immediately with a quick clearance, only to be halted by Gillard with safe hands. A messy exit eventually saw Sherriff poke a rushed kick directly to Bruton, who lined up directly in front. Again, Gillard stood tall to touch the fading ball on the line.

SECOND QUARTER

Now it was time to see what the Roos could do with the wind. North had a quick answer to that question, with the always dangerous Garner finding space on Hanks to kick a forward stoppage gem. Hanks look disappointed but was straight back at it, determined to strike that offensive/defensive balance in a critical match-up. In this quarter, the Roos ratcheted up the intensity and looked on the verge of outmuscling us. Still, Melbourne was eventually able to find some space, with Goldrick dashing up the middle and passing to Harris who launched a mark of the year contender. In that classic “just took a great mark” style, unfortunately she wasted her kick.

In a similar fashion to the first but in reverse, North was preventing Melbourne from making deep forward entries. A chance for Purcell went begging, and North was able to move forward, aided by Goldie being penalised for holding a ball that she’d made every effort to get rid of. Undeterred, she went back in again in the next contest and was again penalised, though fairly this time. Abbatangelo failed to read the wind with her shot, and the Dees executed a classy transition out of defence through Lampard, Hanks, Bannan and Scott. The latter hoofed it forward, where Zanker made a good contest, and some strong forward pressure by Paxman earned her a free kick – cue some disproportionately enthusiastic celebrations from McNamara! In what was becoming a theme of the game, Paxy’s shot fell just short, though Zanker made a valiant effort to reel it in on the last line.

As the sun set on the half, literally and figuratively, North’s Gilroy conceded a crucial 50-metre penalty for failing to hand the ball back. Frustrating for them for sure, but the umpire has to pay it, and we’ve certainly been victim of similar cross coder blunders ourselves. The cost for the Roos was high, with Harris kicking a carefully judged and very valuable goal into the wind. The clock ticked down, the Roos squandered another shot and Daisy dropped back to steady the ship.

THIRD QUARTER

The third started well, with some clever manoeuvring by West, Zanker, Hanks, L Pearce and Mithen creating a quick entry forward. This provoked some panic in North’s defenders who (the umpire reckoned!) held down an elevating Harris. A goal in the first minute was the result. Harris was soon lining up again, after receiving a 50 due to Garner mouthing off to the umpire – keep giving them up, and we’ll keep taking them!

The Roos got lucky, though, with a behind keeping them in it. Next up, a shocking kick by Paxman turned the ball over in the corridor, leaving Birch and Gillard scrambling to defend. Gillard toiled hard but ended up diving on the footy. The subsequent free kick was sprayed by the Roos player, one of many for them who looked unsure in front of the big sticks.

A diving effort by Gillard a moment later effected another North score attempt and Melbourne pounced, sweeping the ball from deep in defence – not exactly cleanly, but with great persistence and the involvement of several players cascading down the field. The move culminated in a bit of dash from Bannan, who passed to Heath. The defensive dynamo’s eyes lit up for a rare chance at scoreboard glory. But … she hit the post.

Things looked a little grim when Zanker, who was just beginning to go into rampage mode, went down with a painful ankle injury (known as a “zankle”) and was helped from the field. North was going in with brutal intensity and winning the ball relentlessly but failed to hit targets or make any meaningful progress as the Dees held their structure.

FOURTH QUARTER

While Melbourne had accumulated eleven inside 50s to two in the first quarter, it took North until three-quarter time to reach the same figure. For a team that’s struggled to make the most of inside 50 dominance in recent times, to be denied many at all really suffocated their chances and left them a lot of work to do. Meanwhile, Melbourne seemed happy to get numbers down back to the contest and cling to their 17-point lead. Zanker resurrected herself (the zankle not being structural) to play out the final term, the story of which was an epic defensive effort from every Demon, as North piled on the forward entries.

Aside from a ripper goal from Ashmore, who left a desperately chasing Daisy in the rear-view mirror, the Roos’ key players weren’t able to muster smart plays when it counted. Timely marks in defence by Gay and McNamara and a few big efforts from Birch were crucial. With the margin ten points with ten minutes remaining, I was fairly confident of our ability to scrap it out. Despite some tired kicks and decisions towards the end (and a failure to even look like scoring a final blow), a real team endeavour carried the team through some nervous moments. Unlike in most games this season, we were able to get on the scoreboard early then keep it ticking over just enough to retain control, for a win that solidified our position in the finals race and marked a twelfth victory in a row at Casey Fields.

STATS & STAND-OUTS

Riddell put on another prolific display for North, with 30 disposals, but faded in the second half. Paxman and Mithen (28 each, both with 16 kicks) were consistently impactful, always there for the outlet handpass and making things happen with the ball. A side story of this game was the battle of the only five-time All Australians, Paxman and Kearney. While previously they’ve faced off in the middle, Paxman was damaging on the wing while Kearney was in her new role as a handy half-back, symbolic of the evolution of the competition but also the continued relevance of these two stalwarts of the old VWFL (the precursor to AFLW and VFLW). Paxy won the day, getting in everything, while Heath (8 tackles) held Kearney to a career low 11 disposals, well down on her season average of 19.

Garner and Bruton were the other main disposal leaders for the Roos (19 and 17), while Purcell (15) and McNamara (14) rounded out the Dees’ contributors. A solid representation of Demons around the 10-disposal mark signalled an even effort from Melbourne’s middle tier of players. L Pearce won the ruck with 16 hit outs and 3 clearances, while Purcell had 4 clearances and 7 tackles. Harris was again a huge presence, her two goals making it at least a goal in every game for Melbourne thus far, as she drew level in the league goalkicking stakes.

Special mention to Gillard, who was barely of draftable age for this season, but has been impressive with her game sense, composure, and second efforts in some high-pressure situations.

In the end, the Roos made up an early deficit to edge the Dees in inside 50s but couldn’t take their chances. Melbourne gained a slight ascendency in uncontested possessions (115 to 97) and had another game of marking dominance (38 to 22). The Roos laid on solid tackling pressure (83 to Melbourne’s 61), but our players were able to withstand this and made their first use count. Each team received 15 free kicks, although the Demons were certainly well served by the positioning of theirs and capitalised on the ill-discipline of their opponents.

MELBOURNE 2.0.12 3.1.19 4.3.27 4.3.27