As per the title!

I'm sure @Ghostwriter will bring us news from the night of nights and the general vibe of the group. A fairly eventful off-season so far!

https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/1939742/2025-daisy-pearce-trophy-all-the-winners

Coaches' Award | Tahlia Gillard 
It was a tough start to the season for Gillard who was sidelined for the first five matches due to a knee injury. However, once the tall defender had her opportunity to make a mark on-field, she embraced it wholeheartedly, earning her the 2025 Coaches’ Award.

Returning to her best footy in no-time, Gillard was a pillar of strength in Melbourne’s backline. Across her 10 matches for the year, she averaged a career-high seven intercepts and 13 disposals, out-marking many of the league’s best forwards.

Despite her height, standing at 190cm tall, she became known for her rundown tackles this season, her most notable tackle coming in the dying minutes of her side’s semi-final win over Adelaide. It was a moment that will be forever etched in the minds of many Dees fans.

Best Young Player | Maggie Mahony
Mahony arrived at the Dees just 12 months ago and has quickly made an impact in the red and blue, named as this year’s Best Young Player. Making her debut during Round 1, the gritty small forward has gone from strength-to-strength with every opportunity at the top level.

Playing an important role inside 50, Mahony has become valued across the season internally for her never-give-up attitude. Her talents truly hit the main stage during finals, where her hard work culminated in standout displays across November.

Demon Spirit Award | Megan Fitzsimon
The Demon Spirit Award is given to the player that demonstrates the club’s values both on and off the field and no one epitomised this more in 2025 than Megan Fitzsimon.

This is the second consecutive year that Fitzsimon has taken out the award, a clear example of the kind of impact the 23-year-old has on the club. While she has consistently shown her value as a teammate off the field, this year in particular saw her reach new levels to her on-field Demon Spirit.

Taking on more midfield minutes, Fitzsimon embraced this new challenge, hitting career-high numbers on the stats sheet while remaining as her cool, calm and collected self. She averaged 17 disposals, six tackles, four score involvements and tallied a total of five goals.

Stinear Honoured with Life Membership

MELBOURNE Football Club’s inaugural AFLW coach Mick Stinear has added to the rich history of the club, receiving life membership at the Daisy Pearce Trophy on Sunday evening.

melbournefc.com.au

Stinear honoured with Life Membership

Melbourne’s inaugural AFLW coach has been honoured with Melbourne Football Club Life Membership

Third Place

Speedy winger Eliza McNamara capped off her stellar season with a third-place finish, ending the count with 88 votes.

This is her highest career finish since first arriving at the Dees in 2020.

The gut-running winger has seen a steady rise to her career since first arriving at the Dees in 2020. Continuing to add more to her game with each season, this year saw her develop her strength at the contest, while further excelling in her endurance and skill. She averaged 22 disposals and five intercepts.

She thrived in her new role as part of the leadership group, driving standards and growing her leadership skills at just 23 years old.

Edited 18 hours ago18 hr by Dees_In_October

Second Place

Melbourne vice-captain Tyla Hanks came in second place with 108 votes. This is the second consecutive year that the midfielder has finished in the top two, having won the award on two occasion prior.

Hanks’ 2025 saw her put together one of her most consistent campaigns in her career, her reliability becoming the key to her game. Known for her sharp skills, the 25-year-old used this asset to excel both as a tough inside mid and a silky mover outside the contest.

She hit career-high numbers across the board averaging 23 disposals, seven tackles and 4.5 inside 50s. She capped off her year with a maiden All Australian selection and finished third in the league’s best and fairest count.

Edited 18 hours ago18 hr by Dees_In_October

First Place

MELBOURNE AFLW Captain Kate Hore has won her fourth consecutive Daisy Pearce Trophy.

The thirty-year-old was honoured for her fantastic 2025 campaign, topping the count with 117 votes at the event held on Sunday night.

Edited 18 hours ago18 hr by Dees_In_October

2025 Daisy Pearce Trophy – Top 10

Kate Hore – 117 votes

Tyla Hanks – 108 votes

Eliza McNamara – 88 votes

Megan Fitzsimon – 87 votes

Maeve Chaplin – 84 votes

Tayla Harris – 81 votes

Shelley Heath – 76 votes

Alyssa Bannan – 75 votes

Saraid Taylor – 72 votes

Lauren Pearce – 71 votes

22 minutes ago, Dees_In_October said:

2025 Daisy Pearce Trophy – Top 10

Kate Hore – 117 votes

Tyla Hanks – 108 votes

Eliza McNamara – 88 votes

Megan Fitzsimon – 87 votes

Maeve Chaplin – 84 votes

Tayla Harris – 81 votes

Shelley Heath – 76 votes

Alyssa Bannan – 75 votes

Saraid Taylor – 72 votes

Lauren Pearce – 71 votes

Shows you how much I know, Alyssa Bannan came in 8th place just one vote less than Shelley Heath 🤷‍♂️. And beat Eden Zanker

Edited 16 hours ago16 hr by FarNorthernD

1 minute ago, FarNorthernD said:

Shows you how much I know, Alyssa Bannan came in 8th place just one vote less than Shelley Heath 🤷‍♂️.

She must have been doing what the FD asked of her.

35 minutes ago, Dees_In_October said:

Stinear Honoured with Life Membership

MELBOURNE Football Club’s inaugural AFLW coach Mick Stinear has added to the rich history of the club, receiving life membership at the Daisy Pearce Trophy on Sunday evening.

melbournefc.com.au

Stinear honoured with Life Membership

Melbourne’s inaugural AFLW coach has been honoured with Melbourne Football Club Life Membership

I'm really happy to see this and mentioned in his retired thread that I think he's well deserving.

It was a no brainer.

Congratulations Mick.

Anyone speak to zanks?

So much fun! 🥳🥳🥳

Kate’s speech about Mick had almost everyone in tears, including Mick. His wife Rachael was holding his hand all the way through. Geez Mick is a special human being and the bond he has with the girls is beautiful.

Gabby’s speech was super sweet and really heartfelt. Edo didn't make a speech but there was a lot of love in the room for her.

Our Pres and CEO were there as well as our former Pres (Greeny) and his predecessor Kate who is still an avid W fan. It was so good to see her. I’d forgotten how enthusiastic her hugs are… I may or may not have a couple of cracked vertebrae. 😅

The girls all looked INCREDIBLE. Some of them were unrecognisable, literally unrecognisable. They were like Hey Ghosty! Big hugs, and me just staring blankly at them. And that was before any alcohol had been consumed.

The whole vibe was starkly different to last year’s B&F. There was a genuine feeling of hope and optimism and a pervading sense of BRING ON SEASON 11 👊🏼

21 minutes ago, dees189227 said:

Anyone speak to zanks?

I walked to the venue with Edo and Nikita (her partner). Edo didn’t say much but Nikita didn’t hide her delight in “finally going back home.” Nikita said they both hate Melbourne (the city) so leaving it was always gonna happen.

Congratulations to Kate and Tyla on their excellent seasons, but that top 10 shows once again that there is a pretty big gap between our list and North Melbourne's. We have two genuine stars and a number of quality role players, but we definitely lack the spread of top end talent that we need to win a premiership.