MCG MAGIC by Dees in October

[Demonland 71,868]

There was nervous expectation and plenty of joy in the air as a line of spectators snaked around the MCG, ready for the first AFLW match at the game’s most famous venue. For Melbourne fans, the beloved stadium is a second home, where stories become legends etched into our club’s folklore, so this was a moment to savour. As I took my seat at the MCG for the second day in a row, the overriding feeling was, “We aren’t at Casey Fields anymore, Dorothy.”

Special mention, of course, to Karen Paxman, who reached her 50-game milestone in a big-time game befitting of her contribution to our foundation years. She’ll always be the first to play 50 games in the red and blue.

FIRST QUARTER

The game kicked off under light drizzle that soon set in, unfamiliar after a blistering summer season. Brisbane builds their game around contest and pressure—with one-percenters being a point of pride in their 2021 premiership—so the first aim was to match them. Hanks had tough Lions stopper Svarc as company, while L Pearce made her presence felt with an unrewarded tackle, the start of an ongoing theme. Yet for all the poor umpiring in the game, perhaps the most impactful non-decision went against Brisbane early, right in front of goal, with Goldrick having so much of Bodey’s jumper she may as well have hung it in her wardrobe. The kick-in saw Melbourne transition neatly to the wing before the ball got caught for much of the quarter in a vigorous tug-of-war between the arcs.

All signs flashed “DANGER” as Wardlaw broke away into an open fifty with five minutes remaining, but Heath made up significant territory to stop her in her tracks. The rest of the backline was equally committed as the Lions pressed late. As such, the quarter-time margin of one point after Davidson’s post-siren shot fell short was a good outcome. Nerves were settled, rain adjustments made, everyone had resigned themselves to the lottery-style umpiring and our team had plenty of scope to improve.

SECOND QUARTER

The quarter got off to an inauspicious start with L Pearce infringing clumsily on Wardlaw in a ruck contest metres from Brisbane’s goal. Luckily, Wardlaw’s kick was ill-directed, but it was soon all hands on deck as the Lions mounted repeated attacks and built the wall outside fifty. A big spoil from Paxman opened up the far wing, and after a one-two with Scott, she booted it into fifty where Bannan was denied a trademark dash by an unlucky bounce. Still, the ball was at the right end, and a lightning re-entry via Paxman delivered it to the hotspot, where Bannan crumbed and snapped truly. First AFLW player to kick a goal on the MCG? Alyssa Bannan of the Melbourne Demons! The Lions’ Smith soon added her name to the list, via a quick transition from a run-down tackle on Lampard, indecisive as she weighed up attacking fifty options.

In the last five minutes, neither team able to gain much ground. Notable were Goldrick’s kamikaze attack on the footy (rewarded for a foot to the face), a timely spoil by Lampard, Daisy’s telling kicking penetration, body on the line stuff by Gay (briefly winded) and a textbook tackle by Colvin (unrewarded). Less enthusing was Scott being repeatedly outpointed by Tahau and Brisbane’s ability to find unpressured kicks going forward. As the clock wound down, Colvin had another big moment, leaving her opponent to gather cleanly from her bootlaces. That led to a Bannan mark on fifty with seventeen seconds to go. She went to the hotspot, but there was seemingly nothing doing. Enter McNamara, who put in the hard yards to tackle and win an after-the-siren shot. The result was a let-off, and scores were level.

THIRD QUARTER

Bodey of the Lions had the first good look forward, courtesy of a run-down tackle on Goldrick. Birch spoiled Wardlaw’s marking attempt, but the Lions persisted, and Davidson executed a classy finish to put Brisbane a goal up. Things looked shaky as Brisbane powered through the next centre clearance, but again Birch stood up, while those around her stayed calm when several efforts to clear failed. A strong mark to Scott provided the right avenue. Then Hanks put the ball towards Daisy, who spoiled, gathered and left a would-be tackler cold before placing the footy where every Dees fan wanted it: out in front of Bannan. She accelerated, arched her back and made sure of it. Harris’s suggestion to her teenage teammate to check out the replay on the scoreboard was a one-percenter of a different kind. All eyes were on the crumbers at the next forward stoppage, but L Pearce was having none of that. She cleverly identified the space ahead of the stoppage and authoritatively slammed one through straight out of the ruck; a bearded fellow in the MFC players’ box surely looked on with appreciation. The two goals in a minute turned a six-point deficit into a six-point lead.

After a short stalemate, the Dees again trapped it forward, with Heath, Gay and Zanker all chopping off exit attempts. Their kicks forward left a bit to be desired, and eventually Brisbane cleared through a mark to Wardlaw who went to space. Melbourne was suddenly in a desperate defensive scenario, and it was game of inches stuff as they battled to prevent a major, with Heath again pivotal. Daisy read the D50 exit like a book to get the ball up the wing where Bannan, momentarily beaten, put in a massive second effort that freed up Zanker. Upfield, Scott put her body on the line and a hard-running Bannan linked up with Fitzsimon forty metres out. She didn’t have the distance and knew it. A vibe of trepidation turned to jubilation as McNamara stole a Lion handpass from the resultant contest and craftily tumbled home an evasive dribbler that had a little bit of destiny about it. The Dees lasted out the quarter, with Mithen standing bravely under the footy to win a free and deny Brisbane any last-second opportunities.

FOURTH QUARTER

If there’s one thing this team loves, it’s getting out to a not-quite-comfortable lead and then spending the last quarter defending it just well enough to snare the win. Two minutes in, though, everything looked bright under dry skies. The ball spilled out of a crunching contest, and crucially, all Demons involved kept their feet and reacted quickly, with Bannan the obvious frontrunner to receive Fitzsimon’s hurried kick. Sensing Bannan’s pole position, Daisy and Harris focused on the chasing Lions, ready to pick off any speedsters in pursuit. Of course, Bannan was already off to the races, and kicked her third. Melbourne, hungry for more, soon threatened again, running in waves through the midfield in a glimpse of the dominant overlap that was a feature of their rampaging Optum Stadium outing.

To their credit, the reigning premiers upped their pressure and controlled possession in the next phase of the game. Midway through the quarter, Daisy’s shift back signalled a refocus towards negation rather than attack. The Lions finally got something to show for their efforts, somewhat ironically via Daisy’s opponent in Campbell. The margin was now ten points with six minutes remaining. A magnificent lunging smother from Scott, another ruck goal attempt by L Pearce and Heath standing tall to take a grab from the subsequent kick-in had me feeling confident as arms flapped all around in the universal gesture for “calm it down.” 

Calm it down they did not, however, with risky play and dubious decision-making abounding, including Heath opting to go quickly to a Lion-infested forward line, Mithen choosing a far-too-central kick from half-back and Hore’s attempt for down-the-line safety falling short, directly into the hands of Davidson. Consequently, Bodey got on the board with thirty-six seconds to go, finally taking her last-gasp opportunity after missing two prior after-the-siren attempts against the Demons.

The jittery expressions of the Melbourne fans shown on the broadcast mirrored my own at the ground. My nerves soon turned to bewilderment as I saw Daisy gesticulating wildly to the umpire. Turns out, a captain’s job never done, she was appealing for enforcement of a five-six-five free kick, the Lions having been warned earlier. In a nightmarish turn, that absolute gift was turned to dust when L Pearce, trying to hit up a stress-free pass to a Demon on the wing, was bamboozled by Lampard drifting across her kick. The Lions edged the ball inside 50, but desperation all round saw Melbourne prevail by four points. And with that, we booked our first AFLW Grand Final and added another entry into the MFC’s MCG history.

STATS & STAND-OUTS

The showing was even across disposals and disposal efficiency, reflecting two fairly evenly matched teams. It wasn’t a day for marks inside 50 or set shots, so the savvy ground-level goal-sense of Melbourne’s goalkickers was crucial to capitalise on their inside-50s (31 to 35). The Lions won the contested possessions and tackles (131 to Melbourne’s 123; and 99 to 73, respectively) but weren’t able to turn this into effective attack. The hit-outs were a one-sided affair, with Brisbane claiming 39 to 14 (including 33 to Hickie), but Melbourne were more impactful where it mattered, benefiting from 30 clearances to Brisbane’s 21.

Bannan once again put her name in lights with three remarkable goals. L Pearce had 9 clearances, plus 15 disposals, some timely marks and that handy ruck goal. Paxman marked her milestone with a prolific performance, quelling the influence of O’Dwyer and sharing the #1 disposal ranking with league Best & Fairest favourite Bates. Mithen gave a typically steady contribution with 14 disposals and 5 tackles, while McNamara was back to her energetic self, combining underrated toughness with dynamic footy smarts, her goal sealing her win in a tightly fought contest with Conway. Daisy had several moments of pure class, notching up 14 disposals.

Hanks (13 disposals, 3 tackles, 2 clearances) was right amongst it when the match was there for the taking, Gay had 10 tackles and 4 clearances, often running with Bates, while Purcell was solid with 7 tackles and 4 clearances. Zanker reverted to the second ruck role and was solid without being outstanding in the first half before gaining steam in the second. Heath continued her impressive form, again denying the electric Hodder and having an impact of her own. Meanwhile, Goldrick did the hard stuff, and shined with her intensity.

For the Lions, Davidson looked the most likely marking target on the field. Dawes and Anderson contributed strongly, with 15 and 14 disposals apiece, and C Svarc put in a pile of work to rack up 17 tackles. Brisbane’s main success was cutting Harris out of the game, haunted no doubt by her contested marks fest last time. Yet despite many contributors, the Lions never mustered their lively, free-wheeling best, in large part due to the defensive efforts of Melbourne’s mids and backs, in tenacious one-on-ones and through well-organised structure, marshalled by leaders Lampard and Birch. The latter was also instrumental in keeping Wardlaw accountable.

Special credit to the leadership group and coaching staff who managed the team over three weeks of delays and uncertainty to have the right energy and attitude for preliminary final success.

MELBOURNE 0.0.0 1.2.8 4.2.26 5.3.33

BRISBANE LIONS 0.1.1 1.2.8 2.3.15 4.5.29

GOALS

MELBOURNE Bannan 3 L Pearce McNamara

BRISBANE LIONS Bodey Campbell Davidson Smith

BEST

MELBOURNE Paxman Bannan McNamara Colvin Lampard Mithen L Pearce D Pearce

BRISBANE LIONS Conway Anderson Dawes Bates Monahan Grider C Svarc Tahau Ellenger

INJURIES 

MELBOURNE Nil 

BRISBANE LIONS Pullar (concussion)

CROWD 6,436 at The MCG

NEXT - GRAND FINAL Two-time premiers Adelaide Crows at Adelaide Oval, 12.30 AEST, Saturday April 9.

THE LAST WORD Keep your eye on the red and the blue!