3 hours ago, deanox said:

Which is rubbish. When has the lower placed side ever got the benefit?

Not sure you ever get "day of the game" preference, but we should have got Casey instead of Ikon. Apparently a Channel 7 override....

Looking like Crows next week.

Straight sets a definite possibility

You will always struggle to win this game when you don't have Chaplin, Purcell, Zanker and Goldy and your best mids in Hanks and Fitzsimon don't have great games, Paxy is useless for 3/4 and Bannan has no impact.

Then your tackles don't stick, you fumble all game and you kick for goal like the men's team.

No surprises in the result.

34 minutes ago, whatwhat say what said:

edit: understand you meant the the womens can go x2 as well

Is it possible that our club could have 2 coaches in the men’s & womens with 2 straight sets exits .. such a Melbourne way

MFC losing a final despite having more scoring shots and the opposition rubbing salt in the wounds with absurd accuracy.

Never seen that before…

I think the Crowd of 3711 would have fit in at Casey.

What an absolute disgrace, that the side that finished 2nd, was denied a home ground final, when it had nothing to do with capacity, but rather a broadcaster preferring another ground.

That is actually beyond a disgrace, it is amateur hour.

2 minutes ago, Demonsone said:

Is it possible that our club could have 2 coaches in the men’s & womens with 2 straight sets exits .. such a Melbourne way

One coach would just freeze. The other coach at least moves the limited chess pieces he has.

We just need our key personnel back.

I'm sure we'll end up shafted with Zanker missing next week somehow.

The women have done incredibly well to finish second.

We weren't that far off even though we were short and didn't play that well.

The effort by most of the players out there today should be commended.

We're still in the hunt.

Goldy, Chaplin and Zanker would have made a huge difference today if they were out there

Edited November 9, 2025Nov 9 by Brownie

19 minutes ago, Redleg said:

I think the Crowd of 3711 would have fit in at Casey.

What an absolute disgrace, that the side that finished 2nd, was denied a home ground final, when it had nothing to do with capacity, but rather a broadcaster preferring another ground.

That is actually beyond a disgrace, it is amateur hour.

They got their preferred result though. So it worked.

It's been covered up by thrashing [censored] teams, but our forward line is too tall*. Let's see what happens next week if Zanker doesn't play, but there's too much reliance on marks. We need somebody who can either pluck goals from thin air and/or apply defensive pressure. Pisano hasn't set the world on fire yet, but they drafted her at pick five and extended her contract to 2027 for a reason, what's the point of her ending the season playing half-[censored] scratch matches?

(* If Zanker stays, I think Bannan might be the odd one out. She's got a few years on Harris, but none of the versatility.)

1 hour ago, Big Gun said:

We have a much younger side overall and it showed a bit today. They will be much better for experiencing a hard finals game and with continued smart recruiting, especially with running mids, I’m very optimistic for our future. Put Chaplin, Purcell, Zanker and Goldie in today and may have been quite different.

Well said.

We're very young - while at the same time playing a few old stagers who are right at the very end and pretty banged up. The draw was really easy, but it was a good effort to maintain consistency and finish second. And I think a really strong effort to play out a tough game against a brutal Brisbane team with stars on every line and not let it become a big loss.

Players like Campbell, Gillard, Gall, Wotherspoon, Mahony, O'Hehir and Rigoni are all under 23. Add in Ebert (whose non-selection still puzzles me) and Lily Johnson who seems on the edge of our best team - both 19. All contribute, but as you'd expect from very young players, not all can do it for four quarters (Gillard can).

Very interested to see how we go against Adelaide next week. Straight sets would be devastating but it's so hard against larger, more mature teams.

2 hours ago, DubDee said:

we are giving away blatent free kicks!

Taylor with 2 howlers that turned the game

horrible defending that Q

The first free was after a shove in the back to Tahlia. Second was there but can go both ways. Third was ‘a forgivable mistake’ by the umpire. Wrong call but they called what they saw. Frustrating game against a thuggish team. Let that be their brand, wouldn’t want to win a flag playing the way they do.

41 minutes ago, Brownie said:

The other coach at least moves the limited chess pieces he has.

...and he did the right thing with Zanker.

She didn't look good when she went off and despite passing the concussion test the eye test won.

Good on you Mick for looking after your players.

Please let today deliver lessons for next week, not learnings.

1 hour ago, Demonsone said:

Is it possible that our club could have 2 coaches in the men’s & womens with 2 straight sets exits .. such a Melbourne way

Mm. Maybe. I couldn't really think of two more unalike coaches, though.

Went to ikon today. Disappointed with the result. Very clear that we are miles off the pace of the competition in terms of skill. Sounds familiar.

Our inability to kick goals from relatively easy spots on the ground was frustrating. In contrast, Brisbane couldn’t miss. The second half, in particular, the Lions midfield completely dominated us. Their ability to break from centre square and link handballs was the difference. We just look scrappy all over the park. You get two or three chains and then it falls apart. Bannon has been a real let down this year. I don’t know what is wrong, but her ability to burn off opponents and get them on rebound seems non-existent.

Final thought…umpiring in the 2nd Q turned the momentum. So many contradictory decisions. Most of the bad decisions made by the blonde female umpire who was on the wrong side of the play and guessed most of the time. The free dire you in front of goal for a push in the back probably the worst of the lot.

1 hour ago, Supermercado said:

It's been covered up by thrashing [censored] teams, but our forward line is too tall*. Let's see what happens next week if Zanker doesn't play, but there's too much reliance on marks. We need somebody who can either pluck goals from thin air and/or apply defensive pressure. Pisano hasn't set the world on fire yet, but they drafted her at pick five and extended her contract to 2027 for a reason, what's the point of her ending the season playing half-[censored] scratch matches?

(* If Zanker stays, I think Bannan might be the odd one out. She's got a few years on Harris, but none of the versatility.)

Harris had 2 possies after 1/4 time.

Bannan has been ineffective this year.

Zanker out could have been the difference.

Didn’t help not having Chaplin, Purcell and Goldy as well, against a full strength Lions team.

41 minutes ago, Trident22 said:

Went to ikon today. Disappointed with the result. Very clear that we are miles off the pace of the competition in terms of skill. Sounds familiar.

Disagree. We are not miles off the competition for skill at all. Assume you didn’t watch any other games this weekend. Even with the good draw we still finished second. Yes, today Brisbane were too solid, well drilled and experienced for us but we are a much younger team and had a few key outs to players we just can’t afford to lose.

Majority of their team have been playing together for years. Large chunk of our team are only playing their first or second season and still learning the ropes and requirements of footy at the top level. At our best I really think we can compete with every team in it, North included. Challenge is to perform at that level for four quarters and respond when the best teams lift. Our girls are not the finished product yet.

Their midfield was too deep for ours today and just ran over us. They stuck their tackles and were just too good for us in the end. But no way are we miles off the pace of the competition in terms of skill. I watched all four finals and our game was the best by a mile.

It would be great in terms of development if we could topple the Crows next week and then have a crack at North.

Win or lose, with continued good recruiting, I am really optimistic the Club is setting this team up for sustained success over the coming years.

Go Dees!!!!

1 hour ago, Big Gun said:

Disagree. We are not miles off the competition for skill at all. Assume you didn’t watch any other games this weekend. Even with the good draw we still finished second. Yes, today Brisbane were too solid, well drilled and experienced for us but we are a much younger team and had a few key outs to players we just can’t afford to lose.

Majority of their team have been playing together for years. Large chunk of our team are only playing their first or second season and still learning the ropes and requirements of footy at the top level. At our best I really think we can compete with every team in it, North included. Challenge is to perform at that level for four quarters and respond when the best teams lift. Our girls are not the finished product yet.

Their midfield was too deep for ours today and just ran over us. They stuck their tackles and were just too good for us in the end. But no way are we miles off the pace of the competition in terms of skill. I watched all four finals and our game was the best by a mile.

It would be great in terms of development if we could topple the Crows next week and then have a crack at North.

Win or lose, with continued good recruiting, I am really optimistic the Club is setting this team up for sustained success over the coming years.

Go Dees!!!!

Maybe miles off was hyperbole. We have a number of individuals who are though. Whether that’s age or not, I think it rings true. Brisbane were able to pinpoint kicks on the 45 to open the ground up. They were super slick by hand. In contrast, we rely heavily on a few who have good skill, but are ultimately let down by an inability to transition the ball by foot, and our final kick inside 50 was too often to the disadvantage of our forwards. Yes, not having Zanker up there contributed to this. Structurally though, we sucked too far up the ground and when we’d win it back we had no numbers inside 50. High aerial balls to contests when we did. The misses from good spots on the ground are also skill errors.

2 hours ago, Redleg said:

Chaplin

Chaplin was a huge loss for us today.

Probably our most consistent for the season, we missed her strength over the ball, her kicking and rebound.

I think time has caught up with Paxy unfortunately. She couldn’t keep up with O’Dwyer on many occasions.

This is who came to the match yesterday…

Missing from the pic are Fritta, Tmac and Luker

8 minutes ago, #11-TonyAnderson said:

I think time has caught up with Paxy unfortunately. She couldn’t keep up with O’Dwyer on many occasions.

Might there have been a case for 'management'? She was in 'youthful', and skilful, form earlier in the season, I thought.

You simply need…

Your best team on the paddock. Chaplin, Purcell and Goldrick, plus Zanker out. That’s top line talent missing.

Accurate goalkicking. That was a huge difference v Lions, indeed all season our accuracy has been poor.

29 minutes ago, spirit of norm smith said:

Your best team on the paddock. Chaplin, Purcell and Goldrick, plus Zanker out. That’s top line talent missing.

It's more than that 'norm', with Harris (struggling to get involved) & Mackin (carrying injuries) they are our power players.

That left us with Fitzy, Heath & Lize to carry the heavy load.

Hanks has had to carry way too much and it showed.

Hore was brilliant but when they shut her down we had nothing.

50 minutes ago, spirit of norm smith said:

Your best team on the paddock. Chaplin, Purcell and Goldrick, plus Zanker out. That’s top line talent missing.

I think someone like Aimee Mackin would have been good too.