THE TON by Dees in October

A trip to the west is never an easy proposition, but it was Fremantle who faced the most adversity in getting onto the park.

They lost five players to the dreaded protocols, two just an hour before the game, necessitating the call-up of a player they hadn’t seen since preseason. Melbourne fielded the most experienced team in AFLW history (665 total games) against the youngest Fremantle team since its inaugural season. While the Dockers had three debutants, the Dees were bolstered by the returns of Colvin and Fitzsimon, with Parry and Gillard making way. With all those qualifiers duly recorded, and the quality Freo were missing, by my reckoning that would account for about a six to eight goal disadvantage. The demolition that was witnessed at Optus Stadium was something else.

Before we jump in, special mention to the Western Demons and members of the Freo cheersquad for their efforts in providing a banner for our team, and to Kate Hore for her 40th game.

FIRST QUARTER

The last thing anyone wanted while enjoying some footy escapism was another East and West conflict, yet here we had West lining up for Melbourne and East for Fremantle. For the sake of said escapism and out of respect, I’ll resist the temptation to subject readers to a continuation of this metaphor! The first several minutes told little of the rout to come. I was eager to see how Goldrick would counter Houghton’s X-factor status, and the signs weren’t good initially, with the Dockers spearhead looking dangerous. Her second goal attempt crumbed by Tuhakaraina to open the scoring. Despite this, in retrospect, there were clues that we were in rare form, with West reading Freo ruck’s tap, Zanker charging forward of the centre circles in space and Daisy effortlessly rescuing half volleys from her bootlaces. The latter got Melbourne on the board, spoiling Harris’s opponent and then making perfect position to kick the Dees’ first.

Compounding Freo’s personnel issues, they lost a player to concussion. Then, in an important play that set the defensive tone, Colvin doggedly pursued the speedy Houghton, allowing a previously open forward line to be swiftly crowded by Melbourne defenders and a hard-running McNamara. With a few minutes to quarter time, Zanker was rewarded for a strong tackle and kicked to the hot spot, where Harris got a good run at it, marked and slotted the goal. In the next passage of play, Goldrick streamed through the middle, only to kick to the advantage of her Irish compatriot in Tighe. Luckily, she couldn’t reel it in, and the ball spilled to Hore. Positioned 45 metres out, off a few steps, she launched a left foot snap that carrier a good 30 metres before bouncing through. She looked mighty pleased with herself, as well she should, and the Dees were two goals up.

SECOND QUARTER

Fremantle found some time with the footy and a few early opportunities in the second. Still, Colvin and Gay were steadfast in defence, while Heath’s chase and tackle were typically tenacious. After one such run-down earned a free, the Dees neatly picked their way from half back via short kicks, starting slow to control possession. Five marks later, Harris turned up the speed dial and again turned provider for Daisy, who scored her second. Not long after, in another amusing role reversal, Paxy tapped to L Pearce on the 50 arc, and the Dees persisted through a scrap to find Hore as the only player in the clear. Her snap fell short, but with lightning reflexes, Scott snatched it and kicked truly – or so it seemed. Daisy was adamant it was touched, but with no goal review in AFLW, the Dockers had no recourse.

If it wasn’t already apparent that things were going well, soon after a Freo player sized up L Pearce, tried to step her, and was simply denied. At one point, both Pearces and Paxman were shown taking a breather on the bench, a sure sign we were in a comfortable position. When Fremantle finally did get a chance to score, they were rushed, no doubt feeling pressure was imminent. From the kick-in, Melbourne marched down the field, a coast-to-coast goal going begging only when West’s kicking let her down. The Dees had it well and truly locked in though, and another Melbourne goal was inevitable, this time through the roving skills of Bannan. The next clearance was poetry in motion, in particular Hanks’ perfectly weighted handpass to Purcell beelining it off the front of the stoppage. Harris retained her status as a mere mortal by missing what should have been a certain goal. As such, when Bannan registered another behind, it was a 3.5 return for the quarter. With percentage crucial, focus now turned from victory to taking full toll.

THIRD QUARTER

It was an inauspicious start to what turned into a Demon rampage. Fremantle looked keen to exert themselves physically, but Melbourne just handed back the same treatment. Before long, they’d wrested control back and Bannan was on a trademark run, her opponent in her dust. She took a bounce, drew a player and selflessly delivered Daisy her third goal on a platter. From there, it was a procession, with everyone getting in on the act as Melbourne slammed home 7.1 for the quarter. Melbourne explored every avenue to goal, running the Docker’s depleted backline ragged. The rest of the onslaught comprised a goal to Hore, two to Daisy (to make five), one to Sherriff (shifted forward in another show of versatility) and two in a minute to Paxman.

Of course, credit should also go the work up the ground: absolute dominance in the centre (even for a period with Scott rucking and Zanker out of the midfield rotation); untouchable ball movement; and players positioning themselves selflessly in waves of red and blue to do the one-percenters and secure a path to goal. Special mention to a strong, brave mark to Goldie, a disciplined smother by Bannan, some good turns of speed by Colvin and a classy kick by Paxy hard up against the boundary to set up Daisy’s fifth. Fittingly for a player who’s given so much, Paxman’s first saw Melbourne surpass their previous scoring record of 70 points, kicked against Fremantle in the inaugural season.

With two minutes to go in the quarter, and a 71-point margin on the scoreboard, the absolute desperation shown in defence was a sight to behold. They refused to concede, battling it out in numerous one-on-ones as though the game was on the line, before clearing defensive 50 and leaving the opposition demoralized. At some point during the carnage, Zanker went off with quad tightness, her withdrawal from the game a precautionary luxury conferred by our scoreboard dominance.

FOURTH QUARTER

As the commentators noted the 77-point margin at the resumption of play, it was clear we were in uncharted territory. The big 100, once a seemingly unattainable target for the league, let alone our team, was well within reach. The “we’re in the zone” vibe continued, with Gay taking a bit of a speccie to start the term. Daisy almost snagged her sixth, then bobbed up with a timely bump to allow Hore to snap her third.

Halfway through the quarter, Fremantle finally got some ball movement going and Miller was rewarded for her persistent effort with a goal. Between the Dockers’ first goal and their second, though, Melbourne had piled on fourteen unanswered. Amazingly, Harris had kicked just one of them, but she was rewarded for her contribution around the ground, including nine marks, with two in the last. With her second goal, she became the first player to kick 17 goals in an AFLW season, went two goals clear in the league goalkicking race, and took Melbourne to the highest ever score in AFLW history, surpassing the benchmark of 98 set a mere seven days ago by Brisbane. Shortly after, Harris stepped around two Freo defenders to claim another mark. The result, her third goal, saw Melbourne pioneer the league’s way into the triple digits.

The Dockers mustered another major in the dying stages via a classy finish from the debutant Machlachlan, but they had little else to celebrate. For the Demons, a glance at the scoreboard at any stage after halftime might have been cause for complacency, but there was absolutely none of that here, just a ruthless four quarter effort and a memorable win on hallowed turf for the MFC.

STATS & STAND-OUTS

Melbourne dominated in every facet of the game, racking up 303 disposals to Fremantle’s 192, at 68% efficiency. The Dees had 53 inside 50s to the Dockers’ 14, came out on top in contested (133 to 107) and uncontested (172 to 85) possessions, accumulated 56 marks including 14 to 2 contested and 23 to 1 inside 50.

West had 7 clearances and topped the disposals for the first time in her career with 24, a stat she shared with a relentlessMithen. Purcell was close on their heels with 23, while Hanks and L Pearce had 21 apiece. Miller had a captain’s game for Fremantle with 22 and 9 tackles, while East was the only other Docker in the top 10 for disposals. L Pearce notched up 18 hit outs and 7 clearances (for which she’s 3rd in the league).

Hore, coming off a lean patch of goal-kicking, had her persistent efforts rewarded with 3 majors, plus 17 disposals.Hore and Harris are ranked equal 2nd for league score involvements, and D Pearce is ranked 3rd. Hore is also equal 5th in the season’s league goalkicking, sharing the position with Daisy, who became Melbourne’s record-holder for most goals in a game with 5 (12 current and former Demons have kicked 3 goals in a game). She joined four other players in competition history who have kicked 5-plus goals (amazing, considering this brought her career total to just 17!). Daisy also had 17 disposals, 12 score involvements, and 5 marks, in an all-time performance from an icon of our club. 

Meanwhile, Harris now sits 4th on Melbourne’s all-time goal kicking list, behind Hore, Scott and Cunningham. She is also one of just three players in the league with over 40 games who have an average over one goal per game, the others being Vescio (the first player to 50 goals) and Phillips (46 goals). Harris is second on the all-time list, just three goals shy of 50.

Our half forward line functioned much better, with Scott in particular finding some good lead-up footy as well as contributing in the ruck. As the commentators rightly pointed out, not playing in a wind turbine brought foot skills to the fore; the lack of pressure on the ball carrier didn’t hurt either. Special mention to Paxman’s first time kicking multiple goals in a game, earned through hard running off the wing. The output of the midfield was remarkably even, maintaining control whichever combination of Hanks, West, Zanker, Purcell and Mithen was at the feet of L Pearce.

The backline didn’t have a whole lot to do, with Birch probably left hungry for some intercepts. Colvin was key when the game was there to be won, and Gay and Lampard drifted up the ground to cut off multiple dumped kicks.

Credit to Gemma Bastiani (@glbastiani) and Swamp (@sirswampthing) for some of the stats contained in this report on a game that left the record books well thumbed. A few more: The Demons' seven goals are the most goals a team has ever kicked in an AFLW quarter. The first 100+ score in a V/AFL game was 107 points by Melbourne in 1897 (15.17); the first 100+ score in an AFLW game was 107 points by Melbourne in 2022 (16.11). Collectively, across the men’s and women’s teams, our club’s last three outings at Optus Stadium have netted us 372 points FOR and 127 points AGAINST.

Yes, everything went right for us. But we had a team ready and willing to capitalise on the opposition's misfortune, and this season was always going to be a test of depth (as it was for us early in the season and could easily be again). Our players had come to play, expecting a hard-fought contest, and they showed no mercy.

MELBOURNE 3.0.18 6.5.41 13.6.84 16.11.107

FREMANTLE 1.0.6 1.1.7 1.1.7 3.1.19

GOALS

MELBOURNE D Pearce 5 Harris Hore 3 Paxman 2 Bannan Scott Sherriff 

FREMANTLE Maclachlan Miller Tuhakaraina

BEST

MELBOURNE Hanks D Pearce Bannan Mithen Paxman 

FREMANTLE Miller East Verrier Tighe 

INJURIES

MELBOURNE Zanker (quad tightness) 

FREMANTLE Sergeant (head knock), E. Antonio, K. Antonio and O'Driscoll (Health and Safety Protocols) replaced in the side with McMahon, MacLachlan and Western 

REPORTS

MELBOURNE Nil

FREMANTLE Nil

CROWD 2717 at Optus Stadium 

NEXT ROUND Carlton at Casey Fields with top spot beckoning.

THE LAST WORD You can only play the team in front of you.