delighted to see the Crows beaten. My least favourite AFLW team.

What an uplifting game! The players' pride in the jumper was evident and they work so relentlessly for each other.

A little tidbit I heard somewhere, I think in the Hanks and Viney presser a few days back, was that a large majority of our W list paid their own way to a voluntary camp in NZ in the offseason. That's not preseason - that's the uncontracted period where no one's getting paid. Such great commitment from our players and our program. Props to Tyla for making mention of this, in her usual understated way, to show what our team's about.

A lot to like about the game itself. Hanks and Purcell - awesome. Heath would be loving the new HTB interpretation. Zanker's flubbed GOTY was a fun moment of levity and to be honest, as ridiculous as it was, I appreciate her moxy in making the attempt. Several players worked their way into it and will be better for the run. Great to get Kate through. Debutants all had their moments and contributed. Especially enjoyed Mahony's forward pressure. Our weakened backline held up well enough, though I wonder about more difficult challenges ahead; hopefully the cavalry will arrive. If you think structurally about the effect of having Gillard, Gall and Harris (for half) out of the game, that's not nothing.

Tayla, such rotten luck. I'm sure every care will be taken, and hopefully all is well.

34 minutes ago, BDA said:

delighted to see the Crows beaten. My least favourite AFLW team.

Did you watch? How did the Saints look?

5 minutes ago, Dees_In_October said:

Did you watch? How did the Saints look?

i watched the second half. Crows were inaccurate, kicking 2.7, which ultimately cost them.

They had sufficient ball and i think won the I50 count 18-5 in the last. but brute force couldn't get it done today.

saints tackled hard and made the most of their opportunities. They structured up well also

6 minutes ago, BDA said:

i watched the second half. Crows were inaccurate, kicking 2.7, which ultimately cost them.

They had sufficient ball and i think won the I50 count 18-5 in the last. but brute force couldn't get it done today.

saints tackled hard and made the most of their opportunities. They structured up well also

It does feel like Adelaide have come back to the pack a bit, but sounds like they let that one go. Still, St Kilda could be on the rise, so hopefully our girls will be switched on.

1 hour ago, Dees_In_October said:

Tayla, such rotten luck. I'm sure every care will be taken, and hopefully all is well.

Some sort of eye injury. She was taken to hospital but by all accounts she should be ok to play on Saturday.

Midfield really dominated the longer the game went. And even then I thought Liv was fairly scratchy, Hore barely played midfield and no Goldy. Mackin deep back too. Pearce clearly managed in the ruck too, Campbell with plenty of game time.

Forward line was very good even without Harris and missing Gall. So reinforcements to come there. Wotherspoon not picked? Mahoney added some grunt, she'll be a good midfielder in time but does a nice job as that contested half forward. Meatball Pisano looks much more confident in her attack on the footy and could've had 2, didn't miss by much. That left boot will find it's aim if he she keeps finding the ball.

Backline probably got lucky with a couple of Dogs posters but they looked very good considering they were missing I think 3 first choice players in Gillard, Goldy and Denby Taylor. Possibly Colvin too.

Was a patchwork backline really around Chappy. Mackin offered something different down back. Lampard not perfect but provided some stability.

Then 3 new (or close enough to) as part of the back 6. Saraid Taylor - interesting, not perfect but a good athlete and has a dip. O'Hehir - very interesting. Raw, is going to need a lot of development but her running and long kicking for her height is appealing. I can see what they're going for.

But the biggest shock of the night was Laela Ebert, she looked like one of the classiest players on the field and did enough defensively too. 19 years old and an injury replacement pick up? That's a steal.

1 hour ago, Dees_In_October said:

It does feel like Adelaide have come back to the pack a bit, but sounds like they let that one go. Still, St Kilda could be on the rise, so hopefully our girls will be switched on.

The change will draft rules. Essentially until now they were a "State" AFLW team as all pretty much all the good SA player just nominated for SA teams only, with virtually all going to the Crows until port arrived. Not that is gone (Thank god) and all girls draft go nationwide when picked.

So I expect they will become less dominant as their first few drafts age out. Yeah dislike them too as the rules really favoured them and gave them those early cups with a massively distorted drafts.

Loved the game from Purcell, she was a big loss early last year. Loved Heath just a firecracker her tackling is elite. Hanks is well and truely back to her best now that her mate Purcell is back.

In: Goldrick

Out: Johnson

Love to see Goldrick back her run and carry is important.

B: O'Hehir, Taylor

HB: Chaplin, Lampard, Goldrick

C: McNamara, Purcell, Paxman

HF: Fitzpatrick, Harris, Bannan

F: Hore, Zanker

FOLL: Pearce, Hanks, Heath

IC: Campbell, Ebert, Pisano, Mahony, Mackin

19 hours ago, Deestar9 said:

Fantastic game..have watched this team & been a member since inception. The growth is amazing & exciting. Should have opened the season with the Dees..they showcase the improvement of women’s football. It isn’t the men’s game ..it’s a different game but so exciting because we are now seeing the girls who have played since they’re 6 yrs old transitioning into experienced players. Shocking the timing of our game ..just impossible for me to go to MCG & then out to Mission Oval but the AFL is useless on most things unless you’re the big 4 in Victoria..but get behind our girls..you’re in for a great ride

They're a joy to watch and follow their progression.

That was a fantastic win last night beating a solid team with a stack of key personnel out for us.

I've said it before but I think the club is nuts not using Mick Stinnear to work with the blokes as well.

The women just play for each other. Their culture and passion they show is just fantastic.

It's Something that's faded a lot since 2021 for the men.

He also seems to be a great GameDay coach.

I'd love to see the new mens coach get him in to be part of the men's coaching team at least on a part time basis.

On 16/08/2025 at 21:21, dees189227 said:

Hanks is a 🌟

Up there with Maxy and Koz as my favourite dees player.

Total gun.

18 hours ago, darkhorse72 said:

The change will draft rules. Essentially until now they were a "State" AFLW team as all pretty much all the good SA player just nominated for SA teams only, with virtually all going to the Crows until port arrived. Not that is gone (Thank god) and all girls draft go nationwide when picked.

So I expect they will become less dominant as their first few drafts age out. Yeah dislike them too as the rules really favoured them and gave them those early cups with a massively distorted drafts.

They also had total, unrestricted access to the NT in their first few years as well. Got them Danielle Ponter, Stevie Lee-Thompson and multiple others.

21 hours ago, darkhorse72 said:

The change will draft rules. Essentially until now they were a "State" AFLW team as all pretty much all the good SA player just nominated for SA teams only, with virtually all going to the Crows until port arrived. Not that is gone (Thank god) and all girls draft go nationwide when picked.

So I expect they will become less dominant as their first few drafts age out. Yeah dislike them too as the rules really favoured them and gave them those early cups with a massively distorted drafts.

This annoyed me so much in those years when we just couldn't quite beat them, and it was like, yeah, we're competing against several other Vic teams for talent. We had to do some creative recruiting, which thankfully our program had good people who went above and beyond to do (certainly there were other Vic clubs at the time that weren't so committed, with long-term effects still apparent). And Adelaide's unfettered access was NEVER talked about as a huge factor in their success. I understand why that was the case, and let's face it, the AFLW has never been the most equalised league, occasionally to our advantage, but still.

I did always enjoy how the Dees "waited" until all 18 teams were in before winning a flag, just to do it properly 😉 If we ever get to every team playing each other once, I hope we win that one too.

Seems Tay is A-OK…

Promo shot today.

18 hours ago, Brownie said:

They're a joy to watch and follow their progression.

That was a fantastic win last night beating a solid team with a stack of key personnel out for us.

I've said it before but I think the club is nuts not using Mick Stinnear to work with the blokes as well.

The women just play for each other. Their culture and passion they show is just fantastic.

It's Something that's faded a lot since 2021 for the men.

He also seems to be a great GameDay coach.

I'd love to see the new mens coach get him in to be part of the men's coaching team at least on a part time basis.

Yes, and having people working across both programs is also crucial in retaining coaches in our AFLW program. I'm sure Mick is doing ok, but certainly the assistant and development coaches need to supplement their roles elsewhere for it to be financially viable. Ben Brown is an example of someone we lost to the women's team, and the club, because the club couldn't provide that.

5 minutes ago, Ghostwriter said:

Seems Tay is A-OK…

Promo shot today.

The eye must be ok if they let her fly that chopper 😁

18 hours ago, WERRIDEE said:

Loved the game from Purcell, she was a big loss early last year. Loved Heath just a firecracker her tackling is elite. Hanks is well and truely back to her best now that her mate Purcell is back.

In: Goldrick

Out: Johnson

Love to see Goldrick back her run and carry is important.

B: O'Hehir, Taylor

HB: Chaplin, Lampard, Goldrick

C: McNamara, Purcell, Paxman

HF: Fitzpatrick, Harris, Bannan

F: Hore, Zanker

FOLL: Pearce, Hanks, Heath

IC: Campbell, Ebert, Pisano, Mahony, Mackin

Would like to find room for Gall but not sure how...

On 18/08/2025 at 16:23, Dees_In_October said:

Would like to find room for Gall but not sure how...

I think she might need to bide her time. She will eventually be in the team she's important for the future. Wortherspoon also unlucky not to be in the side.

This is gold

Demonblog.com

TL:DR Melbourne Football Club

Dees are hosting the Saints at Casey this Saturday at 3:05pm. Gates open at 2pm. The DA will be putting on a sausage sizzle so bring an empty belly! Yes, there are other food outlets, but our food is cheaper and more delish than theirs 😋

Come and support the W!!!

Good luck to all attending in winning the 10k!

Would be cool if one of us got it.

Heaven forbid it's a Saints fan.

4 hours ago, Dees_In_October said:

Good luck to all attending in winning the 10k!

Would be cool if one of us got it.

Heaven forbid it's a Saints fan.

Probably go to a Saints fan attending their first ever AFLW match. 😠