What a chokey club we are at the moment 

  On 12/11/2023 at 08:46, Dee Viney Intervention said:

The way we played today we could have played anywhere and would have got beaten. Having said that if I am the City of Casey I would be disappointed that after all the investment they have made in a facility for the Melbourne FC especially the AFLW program and they have elected to host a final elsewhere and turn their back on their own home ground. 

It’s not just “elsewhere” that they chose. It’s Ikon. And to say they’ve turned their back on their own home ground is a little melodramatic. Up until today we’ve never lost at Ikon. The amenities at Ikon are better than at Casey. Casey only seats 350 people, that’s in the solitary stand and that’s reserved for players and their families. Casey is not conveniently located, it’s out in the middle of nowhere with no shops or restaurants or even a train station nearby. There’s no easy way to get to Casey on PT. Casey offers no protection from the elements, particularly the wind.

Understandably the players want more people to attend, hosting a final at Casey flies in the face of this. Casey is not fit to stage an AFLW game let alone a final. 

  On 12/11/2023 at 09:47, WalkingCivilWar said:

It’s not just “elsewhere” that they chose. It’s Ikon. And to say they’ve turned their back on their own home ground is a little melodramatic. Up until today we’ve never lost at Ikon. The amenities at Ikon are better than at Casey. Casey only seats 350 people, that’s in the solitary stand and that’s reserved for players and their families. Casey is not conveniently located, it’s out in the middle of nowhere with no shops or restaurants or even a train station nearby. There’s no easy way to get to Casey on PT. Casey offers no protection from the elements, particularly the wind.

Understandably the players want more people to attend, hosting a final at Casey flies in the face of this. Casey is not fit to stage an AFLW game let alone a final. 

Don’t entirely disagree with what you have said. But with all due respect we have chosen to play a home final at a ground that is not our home ground. We also have a pretty good winning record out at Casey and if I am the away team I wouldn’t be too disappointed playing at a neutral venue. 

  On 12/11/2023 at 07:18, whatwhat say what said:

Third game this year where we’ve been overawed physically by the oppo 

Yes. Worrying signs. Crumbling under pressure.  Physically beaten again in the contest.  Dees need to get the fire back and quick !!

The million dollars has gone to their heads.

That was actually a pathetic performance 

Cats flu ?

Three games in a row now where we have been beaten by physical pressure around the ball. 

Mick has not learnt that Shelley, while great at tackling, cannot actually get the ball or dispose of it.  Likewise Lily. 

So why put these players in the middle? 

Last week no Paxy, this week no West.  We miss the grunt needed in the engine room. This is finals football, not the free running open game which we love. 

And it is the same around the ground.  Finals is physical and we lacked the willingness to play that way. Small wonder we had zero contributions from our forwards, especially when we had to move Kate Hore into the mid to cover the holes there.   

Kudos to the Irish contingent, Blaithin, Aimee and Sinead, and Hanks, who tried the whole game to show the side what was needed. 

Edited November 12, 20231 yr by george_on_the_outer

  On 11/11/2023 at 06:04, old55 said:

Brisbane d. Adelaide - great result.  Now we require 3 wins in Melbourne.

We will play in Brisbane in Prelim if we win I think. 

We've got massive problems in every part of the ground at present, but it is the forward line that is the most bewildering.

We have four genuine leading / marking options (Harris, Hore, Zanker & Bannan) and not one of them leads or plays in front. It's horrible to say, but Bannan and Zanker have played as though they are scared of getting hurt in recent weeks. If they can't get a cheap kick out the back, they are simply not interested. It's definitely not a talent issue, but there is something awfully wrong down there.

The number of times a North player took an uncontested mark five metres in front of a Melbourne player inside our 50 was phenomenal, noting that we actually won the inside 50 count despite kicking just one goal. That's partly on the woeful disposal of some of our midfielders, but playing in front is something you learn in the under 8s.

Fitzsimon was clearly our best forward yesterday, and I'd probably rate her game as 3/10. At least she was prepared to provide some effort and physical pressure. The rest were witches hats.

  On 12/11/2023 at 21:14, george_on_the_outer said:

Three games in a row now where we have been beaten by physical pressure around the ball. 

Mick has not learnt that Shelley, while great at tackling, cannot actually get the ball or dispose of it.  Likewise Lily. 

So why put these players in the middle? 

Last week no Paxy, this week no West.  We miss the grunt needed in the engine room. This is finals football, not the free running open game which we love. 

And it is the same around the ground.  Finals is physical and we lacked the willingness to play that way. Small wonder we had zero contributions from our forwards, especially when we had to move Kate Hore into the mid to cover the holes there.   

Kudos to the Irish contingent, Blaithin, Aimee and Sinead, and Hanks, who tried the whole game to show the side what was needed. 

Worst MFC game ( AFL or AFLW )  since a couple of 100pt thrashings in 2013!

George got it correctly.

Poor selecting and even worse coaching. West out a disgraceful selection. Some didn’t put in and were soft at the ball.

Hiw many fumbles Handball ashtrays and missed chest and overhead marks missed. Yes due to pressure but we used to lap that up.

Reckon the last time we played well was vs Kangas at Ikon. Pity we couldn’t get a change to Casey on a windy day this week to stuff the Cats skills up. 
Looking for a big response and return to some form. 

 

  On 12/11/2023 at 21:20, poita said:

We've got massive problems in every part of the ground at present, but it is the forward line that is the most bewildering.

We have four genuine leading / marking options (Harris, Hore, Zanker & Bannan) and not one of them leads or plays in front. It's horrible to say, but Bannan and Zanker have played as though they are scared of getting hurt in recent weeks. If they can't get a cheap kick out the back, they are simply not interested. It's definitely not a talent issue, but there is something awfully wrong down there.

The number of times a North player took an uncontested mark five metres in front of a Melbourne player inside our 50 was phenomenal, noting that we actually won the inside 50 count despite kicking just one goal. That's partly on the woeful disposal of some of our midfielders, but playing in front is something you learn in the under 8s.

Fitzsimon was clearly our best forward yesterday, and I'd probably rate her game as 3/10. At least she was prepared to provide some effort and physical pressure. The rest were witches hats.

Well posted P. 

  On 12/11/2023 at 20:47, Satan said:

Cats flu ?

Can’t rule out illness. Just saying. 

  On 12/11/2023 at 21:20, 58er said:

We will play in Brisbane in Prelim if we win I think. 

Yes and it will be in Springfield. 

Will be devastating to have Straight Sets Simon and Straight Sets Stinear together at the same time.

We need the Dub to lift.

Well done to the folks coming to this thread just to hang shiit on Goody.

  On 13/11/2023 at 01:58, Dee Zephyr said:

Well done to the folks coming to this thread just to hang shiit on Goody.

A special shout-out to those who do so having never shown interest in the W comp.

Edited November 13, 20231 yr by WalkingCivilWar

That was a filthy performance, but even if I was a bit surprised that West got dropped I don't know if she'd have helped. I'd bring her back next week but our problem was that North knew exactly where the panic, hack kicks were going to land, so somebody with questionable kicking would have just fed them more chances to counter. What we needed was aerial contests in the forward line, I don't expect them to regularly pull down contested marks but at least bring the ball to ground instead of letting the opposition mark unchallenged and launch the other way.

Haven't watched the replay (and won't) after being at the ground so not sure if there's a reason but I hated Harris going in the ruck and Pearce playing out of the square at the start of the second half. She took that great mark but is an awful set shot so you're losing both a good ruck and a prominent (albeit well down on her best) forward for what gain?

I'm not writing us off for the year, but interested in the thoughts of better judges about what we can do to get the forward line going again. Aimee Mackin is lively but green as grass, and I don't think Gall is the answer. Is there a change that can free Hore to play longer forward, or something more left-field like using Gay in the Sherriff role? And we really could do with finding a crumber in the trade/draft period.  

  On 12/11/2023 at 19:18, dees189227 said:

The million dollars has gone to their heads.

That was actually a pathetic performance 

Yep, it’s amazing what $8,000 can do to one’s playing ability. 🙄 

I went yesterday and quite few games throughout the year. The girls have taken on a similar plan/problem as the boys in that it’s a contest defence strategy that feeds into offensive play. Early in the year it’s 60/40 split in defence and offence and it’s enjoyable football to watch. But as the finals come closer (see rd 8 last Nth game) the defence becomes almost 80/20. Players don’t run forward to make contest in our 50 they set up ready to defend turnover. The dump kick is to a 3 on 1, the kick out is to tall on edge of square, where apponant sits our side of contest and pass it side ways to open us up. We set defensively ready for the ball to come back into 50 here too. The Irish girls were great yesterday but they are poor kicks and were the ones putting ball inside 50. The smalls aren’t even used as options with short passes. Work rate looks horrible but maybe it’s defensive discipline. I hope it turns around but we look cooked! 
 

The game was entirely played on the northern side. We didn't try to switch and when the ball did come out the southern side the Mackin sisters on the wings couldn't capitalise - fumbled too much.

Alyssa Bannan is quite frankly hopeless in the contest. She dominates weak opposition. We'd be better served playing her on the fat side wing and switching. She can outmark and outrun any opposition winger.  They did move her there in the last qtr but we didn't use her.

  On 13/11/2023 at 03:33, old55 said:

The game was entirely played on the northern side. We didn't try to switch and when the ball did come out the southern side the Mackin sisters on the wings couldn't capitalise - fumbled too much.

Alyssa Bannan is quite frankly hopeless in the contest. She dominates weak opposition. We'd be better served playing her on the fat side wing and switching. She can outmark and outrun any opposition winger.  They did move her there in the last qtr but we didn't use her.

Bannan is just plain hot and cold.  She kicked three in the prelim against Brisbane in '22 season 1 and was instrumental in sparking us against the Crows in the qualifying final in '22 season 2.  She can perform against the good teams, but she either plays a blinder or hardly touches it.

I was hoping that by this season she might start to show more consistency, but maybe that's just the type of player she is going to be. 🤷‍♂️

 

FULL OF PRIDE FOR THIS MFC SIDE

IT’S DEMON SPIRIT INTENSIFIED

 

Down is SA for the weekend doing a big birthday and winery weekend. 

Saw the score before the replay, so didn't bother watching.

Geez we've dropped off a cliff in the last few games. We looked cooked.

The only positive I can see is the opportunity for Mich and the team to pull transform their game and find a way to bring clean attacking footy back into the play.

Not confident but fascinated to see if they can turn this horrible form around 

  On 11/11/2023 at 14:44, Craig T said:

Fair enough, but then how does Sabrina Frederick get away with her loosely tied back dreadlocks?

Saw Westy today at Gosch’s. I asked her about Frederick and Westy said she is exempt from the braids rule on cultural grounds.

Westy’s happy with her one braid on either side of her head and the loose ponytail. She’s adopted this as her GameDay ‘do.

Yep, I’m getting to the bottom of the important things in footy, the things that matter most. 😂

Heard rumor half a dozen Demons impacted by Covid. 
Any truth re this rumour.