The 40,000 seat $319 million redeveloped Kardinia Park Stadium was nowhere near capacity last night but the strong, noisy contingent of Melbourne supporters led by the DeeArmy journeyed to Geelong to witness a high-quality battle between two of the best teams in AFLW.  

The Cats entered the arena to the blasting sounds of Zombie Nation and made a hot start kicking the first 2 goals. They brought tremendous forward half pressure, and our newly renovated defensive unit looked shaky.

The windy weather windy and drizzling rain made conditions tricky for both teams.

Prespakis, Morrison and Amy McDonald were again the stars for the Cats.  It was very physical out there.

Mick Stinear noted that our practice match form was scratchy. So, it was a relief when the Dees were able to match the Cats intensity, amping up their own pressure.

Debutant Grace Beasley was introduced midway through the first quarter and immediately impressed with her deft handballs and physicality. What an encouraging first game!

Loz Pearce was outstanding in the ruck all night and took full advantage of Geelong not playing a recognised ruck. Notwithstanding, Kate Darby and Gabbi Featherston were competitive for the Cats.

Kate Hore again demonstrated why she is considered one of the best players in the competition. Kate was on fire 🔥 with 2 classy goals to get the Dees back on terms by quarter time and finished the game with 23 possessions and 3 goals. You have to admit she’s getting better all the time.

Apart from Grace Beasley, forward Ryleigh Wotherspoon and back Grace Hill also debuted. Both were quieter but did their bit, having some moments from which they can build on.

Tayla Harris hurt her shoulder in the first half and then again in the third and was taken from the ground for the duration. She will have scans next week.

The drizzling stopped as the second half began but it remained very windy.  

The new midfield mix worked well:  with Liv Purcell recovering from injury and Westy at Hawthorn, Goldrick took on the ball chaser and extractor role brilliantly, supporting Hanksy and Lily Mithen (team high 8 tackles). Sarah Lampard did really well matching up on Amy McDonald, who was the Cats leading contested disposal winner. With Hore at times and debutant Beasley in the middle, Mick was happy with the collective performance.  

Eliza McNamara was in everything and demonstrated her courage with 13 contested possessions.  

How Blaithin Mackin transitioned to AFLW with virtually no pre-season, having just finished an injury-interrupted Gaelic Football Season was incredible. Her indefatigable running, reading of the play and passing foot skills under pressure were sublime. She was our leading possession winner plus she kicked a great goal.  B you were awesome.

The refurbished defence: Paxy has taken over Maddi Gay’s half back sweeper role and looked right at home.
 

Maeve Chaplin has stepped into the Birch role. Our number 13 is a good intercept mark, has deep kicking skills and courage. Chappy impressed on the night, maintaining her practice match form.

 

Tahlia Gillard was Tahlia Gillard. Tahls is becoming one of the best key defenders in the comp. Heathy was fantastic on the night applying pressure everywhere, landing 6 tackles. Gaby Colvin will be better for the run as she, Grace Hill and the backs build connections.

Moment of the match: With Dees supporters stressing, wanting the siren to sound in a tensely close match, it was a shock when Geelong won a free kick in the last minute directly in front of goal.

 

Surely it was a charity free!

 

No, Paxy had inadvertently breached a seldom used rule for time-wasting by not handing the ball back directly to the umpire. Ex Dee Jaqui Parry scores and it’s a 2-point game.

Supporters were kept on edge for the 46 seconds until Beasley clears the ball and the siren sounds.

Dees by 2 points 😎🔥⭐️🥰

Full time: Dees 6.6.42 defeated Cats 6.4.40
 

The opening weekend of Women’s footy has showcased the improving skill and tackling pressure. It was a really entertaining match to watch, with stats very evenly matched.  

This away win for the Dees was an important one with the tough draw ahead.  

We congratulate Daisy Pearce on her first win in her first game as coach of West Coast Eagles.

Coaches and next week: Melbourne Coach Mick Stinear said it was a tough, physical game and the Cats had his team on the backfoot at the outset.  

 

Really pleased with how his team fought back, they deserved the win. A confidence booster for the playing group. He praised Kate Hore’s game and versatility but ideally, he prefers her to play forward. He highlighted that Sinead Goldrick’s, Grace Beasley and Sarah Lampard’s strong midfield performances allowed Kate to spend more time forward.

Geelong coach Dan Lowther referred to his teams shaky practice match form so was pleased with how his side began and their forward half pressure. A strong first half but his side couldn’t quite sustain it in the second half.  He gave full credit to Melbourne. He said Kate Hore with 3 goals and 20+ disposals was the difference. The Dees are a great team still. We agree Dan 😊.
 

We head to Casey Fields for the next two weeks. 

 

Firstly Brisbane, the reigning premiers, next Saturday morning at 11:05am and then North Melbourne, last year’s runners up.  

 

A big fortnight coming up.

Happy Father’s Day to all Dee Dads. Enjoy your day and go Dees!

MELBOURNE 2.0.12 2.2.14 5.4.34 6.6.42

GEELONG 2.2.14 3.2.20 5.2.32 6.4.40

GOALS

MELBOURNE Hore 3 Goldrick B Mackin Zanker

GEELONG Parry 2 Bowen Kearns Kenny Morrison

BEST

MELBOURNE Hore B Mackin Pearce Mithen McNamara Goldrick

GEELONG Prespakis Am McDonald Morrison Bowen Webster Parry

INJURIES

MELBOURNE Harris (shoulder)

GEELONG Kearns (chest/rib)

CROWD 3,838 at GMHBA Stadium

 

Elite is the correct description.  Kate is a star ⭐️ 

7 hours ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

...and that gap will only widen!

Attendance figure now available and I’m surprised that the figure was below 4k given the stature of the game. 

The Demons have such a tough fixture this season - it seems almost unconscionable that the AFLW fixes the draw that way.

22 minutes ago, Whispering_Jack said:

Attendance figure now available and I’m surprised that the figure was below 4k given the stature of the game. 

The Demons have such a tough fixture this season - it seems almost unconscionable that the AFLW fixes the draw that way.

And an 11am start next week.

No doubt it's something to do with not clashing with the afl finals, but at an 11am start?

Poor.

4 hours ago, binman said:

And an 11am start next week.

No doubt it's something to do with not clashing with the afl finals, but at an 11am start?

Poor.

Not sure how the AFL expect to build a bigger profile for the game with that.

And then north at 5pm the week after yeah?

4 hours ago, binman said:

And an 11am start next week.

No doubt it's something to do with not clashing with the afl finals, but at an 11am start?

Poor.

Ima hafta sleep in the bushes outside Casey on Friday night to see an 11am start 😅

38 minutes ago, Brownie said:

Not sure how the AFL expect to build a bigger profile for the game with that.

And then north at 5pm the week after yeah?

North at Casey 1:05pm start.

Banno’s 50th this week. We have a surprise in store for her but I can’t share since she may read Demonland (despite some posters on here who refuse to believe players read DL). Suffice to say, our banner crew among others will be wearing our love for Banno for all to see 🥰

9 hours ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

Ima hafta sleep in the bushes outside Casey on Friday night to see an 11am start 😅

Yep, looked at the public transport, which is always a slog at the best of times, but due to my current location in the northern suburbs, plus the train replacement buses from Dandenong to Cranbourne, I will need to leave home no later than 7:10am. 🙄

Kate Hore is a superstar