Great time. Take in the game, enjoy some beers afterwards and still be home in time for dinner

Feels like a long time since I attended a Saturday afternoon game. I'm looking forward to it

when did we last lose to North?

  On 12/11/2022 at 09:45, Anti-Saint said:

when did we last lose to North?

Only ever lost to them once (from five encounters). That was in 2019 at Casey Fields, a 4-point loss.

Always tight matches. Winning margins of 4, 2, 9, 10, 2. 

so we wanted Dump Rd to win?

tks WCW 

North have gone under the radar this year due to their tough draw and low ladder position, but they are absolutely a top 4 side. Their only losses were to Melbourne (2 pts), Adelaide (14 pts) and Brisbane (7 pts). They've won 1 final on defense and 1 on attack, so they seem to be getting everything working at the right time of year. 

We are going to need to play well to win this one (and kick a lot straighter than we did in round 2).

  On 12/11/2022 at 09:45, Anti-Saint said:

when did we last lose to North?

The first time they played us, they beat us by less than a goal.  Since then it's been all us.

Got my tickets!

Feeling a bit nervous...but if we bring our best, we can do it.

  On 12/11/2022 at 09:13, BDA said:

Great time. Take in the game, enjoy some beers afterwards and still be home in time for dinner

Feels like a long time since I attended a Saturday afternoon game. I'm looking forward to it

Do they still exist?

I haven't been to Princes (Princess?) Park in years but I'm excited to go back there on Saturday. Cleared my work schedule and bought my ticket today

  On 14/11/2022 at 06:42, Demon4Life said:

I haven't been to Princes (Princess?) Park in years but I'm excited to go back there on Saturday. Cleared my work schedule and bought my ticket today

I went there for the vfl grand final. Prior to that it was when the blues played there so a long time between drinks. It reminded me how poor the old VFL grounds were and Princes Park was one of the better ones. I hope the weather on Saturday is better than on VFL GF day I almost froze to death. 

Edited November 14, 20222 yr by old dee

  On 14/11/2022 at 06:42, Demon4Life said:

I haven't been to Princes (Princess?) Park in years but I'm excited to go back there on Saturday. Cleared my work schedule and bought my ticket today

It'll be my fifth outing there this year.  First time was Bulldogs v GWS game for Round 1 of Season 7 (a past student was debuting for Bulldogs), second game was the VFL GF, third game was Melbourne v Carlton, fourth was the Qualifying Final against Adelaide.  

  On 14/11/2022 at 06:47, old dee said:

I went there for the vfl grand final. Prior to that it was when the blues played there so a long time between drinks. It reminded me how poor the old VFL grounds were and Princes Park was one of the better ones. I hope the weather on Saturday is better than on VFL GF day I almost froze to death. 

Are you going to Saturday’s game, OD?

You’d like to think that mid-November means it won’t be freezing but here we are! This is currently my suburb…

The VFL GF was memorable for the great win, but also for the arctic blasts and sideways rain. Instead of being directly behind the goals as usual, we elected to be in the stand behind the goals but still got just as wet despite being under a roof. Good times.

 I wouldn’t rule out snow at this point. 😂

  On 15/11/2022 at 04:30, WalkingCivilWar said:

Are you going to Saturday’s game, OD?

You’d like to think that mid-November means it won’t be freezing but here we are! This is currently my suburb…

The VFL GF was memorable for the great win, but also for the arctic blasts and sideways rain. Instead of being directly behind the goals as usual, we elected to be in the stand behind the goals but still got just as wet despite being under a roof. Good times.

 I wouldn’t rule out snow at this point. 😂

"arctic blasts and sideways rains" - sounds like home sweet home at Casey Fields 🤣

An interview with our coach. Mick is his typical composed self and plays the straight bat as usual, but some interesting bits and pieces here:

https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/the-w-with-sharni-and-sam/episode-thirteen-mick-stinear/101652428

Interview starts 20:30

Topics include:

- Tackling the week off

- Mick's views on finals home ground advantage & North's performance vs. Richmond

- Demon spirit (mentioned 1,000 times haha)

- Harris's recruitment and integration into the team

- GF location, the current state of the league

- Is this Daisy's last season?

You may not know the answer to either of these questions @WalkingCivilWar but you are no doubt the best informed of anyone here. 

1). Do you know how Georgia Campbell is progressing? She was seen as bit of a father/daughter steal and given the #1 jumper but, from the outside at least, seems to have stalled?

2). Maggie Caris. We have a fair bit of height in the side - L Pearce, Zanker, Gillard, Harris - who all can play ruck to varying degrees. It could be hard for her to get a spot in the team. Do you know if they are looking at playing her in other positions? She seems like a talent and it would be a shame to lose her due to a lack of opportunities and

3). Not really a question but I reckon Gillard could become one of the competitions dominant players in the next couple of seasons. I’m guessing she won’t be holding down a back pocket next year. Any chance of becoming a CHF/forward ruck do you think? 

 

Edited November 16, 20222 yr by FarNorthernD

  On 16/11/2022 at 00:29, FarNorthernD said:

You may not know the answer to either of these questions @WalkingCivilWar but you are no doubt the best informed of anyone here. 

1). Do you know how Georgia Campbell is progressing? She was seen as bit of a father/daughter steal and given the #1 jumper but, from the outside at least, seems to have stalled?

2). Maggie Caris. We have a fair bit of height in the side - L Pearce, Zanker, Gillard, Harris - who all can play ruck to varying degrees. It could be hard for her to get a spot in the team. Do you know if they are looking at playing her in other positions? She seems like a talent and it would be a shame to lose her due to a lack of opportunities and

3). Not really a question but I reckon Gillard could become one of the competitions dominant players in the next couple of seasons. I’m guessing she won’t be holding down a back pocket next year. Any chance of becoming a CHF/forward ruck do you think? 

 

My limited knowledge probably would’ve barely sufficed. So I called my go-to on all things W. There’s nothing this guy doesn’t know about the comp. His answers:

GC - she's progressing well, played against Carlton in PreSeason and did well. Came in against BL when Tayla was out. Conditions didn't suit her. Hard for her to get a shot in forward line due to players like Tayla, Banno, Daisy, Kate. The #1 isn't really a big deal these days in AFL, doesn't hold any value (except at Port Adelaide) and with Tegan Cunningham retiring, the #1 was an open jumper

MC - similar story with Georgia. Would also be stuck behind a few if tried forward. And if thrown back would still be stuck behind Birch, Gillard etc. yes it would be sad to lose her due to lack of opportunities but this shows our depth currently

TG - most improved by far in season 7. Looked out of place in first few games but now is one of the best defenders in the game. Amazingly, she was drafted as a forward/Ruck. With the way that AFLW only have 5 in the forward/Defence, there isn't really any set positions like CHF, FP it's more just about getting the match ups right. One week she could be playing deep (with Birch higher up) another week it could be the opposite and the next could have both up or both back

Gosh I hope we win and get through to the GF. Daisy deserves to get a premiership, not only her but the other foundation players who started season 1 with us and have remained loyal. 

Some media for a couple of our rising stars. We've all become big fans of Mackin this season:

https://www.womens.afl/news/114435/the-whirlwind-trip-that-brought-b-to-the-dees

Mackin also on the podcast with Mithen, McNamara and West this week, a fun chat and lots of talk about her transition to Aussie Rules - the story about her first training is amazing:

https://omny.fm/shows/lil-ben/lil-lize-s-blaithin-mackin

Chaplin has been a solid contributor, persistence has really paid off:

https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/1248221/two-years-in-one-chaplin-s-rise-in-the-red-and-blue

Her talk about the VFLW season made me reflect on the opportunities for games our players have had this year, even those that haven't necessarily been in the AFLW team consistently. Big leap from previous years after Covid wiped so many VFLW games in particular. As much as I like the idea of having the seasons at the same time so one can feed into the other, this year's never-ending season has clearly worked to accelerate development for players like Chaplin, Gillard, even West.

One thing that has impressed me about Gillard @FarNorthernD and @WalkingCivilWar has been her willingness to move up and back to make sure she is in position, whether that's tracking her poster, guarding spsce, covering a loose player etc. I felt she's held up the anchor in defence role quite well.

Her marking hasnt quite been as good as expected for her height, but I think that will come with strength and experience, and she's better than expected beneath her knees for one of the tallest out there.

A Really great prospect!

Bring it on Baby

  On 17/11/2022 at 12:17, deanox said:

One thing that has impressed me about Gillard @FarNorthernD and @WalkingCivilWar has been her willingness to move up and back to make sure she is in position, whether that's tracking her poster, guarding spsce, covering a loose player etc. I felt she's held up the anchor in defence role quite well.

Her marking hasnt quite been as good as expected for her height, but I think that will come with strength and experience, and she's better than expected beneath her knees for one of the tallest out there.

A Really great prospect!

*Jules is super agile for a 190cm girl. And only 18yo so there’s plenty of time for her to fill out and then use her body like Edo and Tayla eg. As you say her marking is bound to improve with strength and experience but she’s played every match this season and has been very reliable in defence. A great get!

*She actually embraces Jules as a nickname, rather than Julia (Gillard) 🙂

Pumped for tomorrow’s match! Our girls are in the best headspace ever. That’s according to (for one) Paxy, and she’d know! The team cohesion is abundantly obvious and the confidence is palpable. It’s astounding what that level of confidence can, and will, do. Not cockiness, but confidence in themselves individually as well as in each other.

Last Saturday I was pretty much the last person to leave Princes Park after the open training session (true story) coz… talking.😁

As I cut across the immense parkland I saw the entire team and coaches sitting cross-legged in a circle under a huge tree, laughing and mucking around and having so much fun. This sight more than any other made me think, Oh we’ve SO got this!

For tomorrow’s banner the Club let us decide what goes on both sides. So ideas were being bandied about but one phrase was common in all of them… DEMON SPIRIT. 

GO DEES!!!

❤️💙❤️💙