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Above everything else, that was an incredibly physical match, up there with any men's game I've ever seen. Womens' footy between two good sides is now at the point that it is legitimately exciting in its own right as a spectacle and a great representation of what Australian football is all about.

The addition of Mackin and Goldy to the round one side makes us stronger. Also the experimentation with Heath during the season gives us a lot more versatility. ...and almost forgot giving Harris a run in the ruck has been a great move.

An added bonus for our family, the little bloke just got a gig for an Auskick grid game at half time tonight. He’s pumped!

Our forward line has been much more potent this season than season 6. It was Adelaide's defence that beat us twice last season, including the grand final. We had 9 goal kickers last week, so our forward depth is our strength, particularly with Hore playing her best footy at the moment, and Harris continuing to be Harris. Banners is just growing stronger each week, for her youth she's scary to oppositions. If we're able to counter their backline we're okay. I also think the key to their attack is Ash Woodleigh (hurts me to say that, given she used to be a Demon). With Gillard, Birch, Heath playing at their peak, and the inclusion last week of Gay, we need to minimise her impact. Our midfield is incredibly strong - Paxman, Purcell, Mithen, Hanks, L Pearce are dominant forces. Plus I'm loving the impact Mackin has made on the team, she's a beast. Zanker and Lampard for some annoying reason tend to go unnoticed by media commentators, I reckon Zanker was one of the best on ground last week. But hey, if their understatement means the opposition don't consider their impact, that's their loss, because they both have the ability to impact the game. I think we're okay :)

Absolutely pumped. Feeling a lot like I did last year with the men's - a few butterflies, but mainly excitement and confidence that we're going to bring our A game and do the business. As Goody told the players before the PF last year: "Just be us. Just be the way we've been all year ... and the game will be ours."

Thanks Demonland for the best coverage of the match in the current (wilderness) part of the land where I’m temporarily residing. No TV, no access to AFL site presumably because of demand, no radio coverage because of the Cricket World Cup. Well done Demonland and all Demonlanders who contributed to my evening. And of course, thanks to our wonderful AFLW team, which appears to have made a remarkable comeback! Now it’s time for a Cognac.

Fun Fact: Just 113 AFL players took as many bounces in the entire 2022 season as did Alyssa Bannan in that single run down the wing. Don't know how many times in the history of any level of Australian football there has been a player start a run inside the defensive 50 and finish it inside forward 50.

We do our most important player absolutely no favours by (a) playing him in meaningless mid season games when he is clearly injured and (b) kicking the ball on his head and letting him be smashed by ten blokes all day long. Max is clearly the best ruckman in the competition but we need him to be at his best in September, not May. If that means he plays 18 games next year and rests for four, so be it. PS. He is not a forward and probably never will be.

I feel even more confident with every passing week. We’re formidable. We go in hard, absolutely fearless. I just can’t see us losing.

A bit of a domino effect from the midfield getting beaten at the clearances and lack of pressure up the ground. Hibbo has been a fantastic pick up and servant for the club and Melk, whilst not a Hibbos level has still been a good pick up

64kg? At that weight he’s an OH&S concern in the wind at Casey.

Of course the biggest joke of all: How many premierships have Collingwood won in the last 64 years? (answer 2)! How many premierships have Melbourne won in the same period? (answer4)!

Us all right now: Gutsy win after a glacial start. They were running wild by the end. Crowd was pumped! Main thoughts: - How was Mithen still standing at the end of that game and, in fact, chatting without a care in the world with fans on the boundary, Thought she was a goner early! - Bannan. Some of the most breathtaking (and heart-in-mouth!) footy you'll see. At the point now where the crowd eggs her on, although that step around the mark was just next level. When she controls that last disposal on the run more often, look out. - Tackling pressure after quarter time. Could name many examples here, but Kate Hore on the wing, epic. Midfield worked super hard to turn the game, all the usual suspects. Heath rapidly becoming one of those. - Chaplin, Birch, Gillard all with some great moments as we wrestled back control. Lampard cool in a crisis. Mackin has absolutely no right to be as good as she is, months into her football career. Goldie tough as nails but with that speed, a rare combo. - Daisy had an almost game with the footy but still so many of those little things and the leadership that's not quantifiable. - By the last quarter, we simply outworked them, even in contests where we were severely outnumbered - never say die stuff! - Have no idea what went on late in the last (on the other side of the field) but it seemed spicy! GO DEES!

Just got home from the game. Wonderful fight back by the girls after a horror start; by halftime we had the game looking like a ‘Melbourne game’ and went on from there. Went total fan boi post game and got a bunch of players autographs for my kids. 😍🤩 And somehow ended up having a chat with Kate Roffey - very nice lady. Asked me questions about my support for the Dees, etc and was genuinely engaged, no bull[censored]. When I congratulated her on helping bring success to the club, she said ‘we’re nowhere near done with yet, these girls need a flag next’. Then she stood in that race and embraced every single player coming off the field; they ran to her. Now that’s true leadership right there. Onto the prelim. CARNADEEGRRRRLS!!! 😍❤️💙

we've outscored the Crows 47-6 since quarter time. We're murdering them,

In fairness to Hibberd, he gave Cameron a decent touch up in both home and away games during the year. Unfortunately Hibberd like many others during that Brisbane final, were poor and badly exposed.

Handy highlights package. How’s the long goal from the boundary? Didn’t always have the shirt tucked in?

Really nervous about this game. In the GF the beat us by shutting down our space and stopping our ball movement by not going directly for the ball but going the tackle instead, especially in their F50. Even without Phillips and with a proppy Randall they will be a formidable force if we aren't ready for and have counter tactics for their high pressure game style.

Finn Emile-Brennan Height: 181cm Weight: 62kg D.O.B: 07-05-200 STRENGTHS + Kicking 
+ Speed 
+ Rebounding IMPROVEMENTS: - Strength/size 
- Versatility “Finn Emile-Brennan is a Melbourne Next-Generation Academy member, and a small running defender. He has some outstanding traits that catch the eye, but at 64kg, the Dandenong small still has a way to go to compete against senior bodies. One benefit of Emile-Brennan's game is that he is quite often the chosen distributor, with his kicking ability among the best of the crop. At times, Emile-Brennan can bite off more than he can chew by looking for that 45-degree pass, and he is inconsistent in terms of his impact per game, but when he is on, he can certainly influence a match. He has that speed and evasion combination, but the fact he is quite light and raw, as well as not having played much outside the defence, the Vic Country representative is expected to slip outside the first 40 picks. That is good news for Demons fans, who should be able to add Emile-Brennan to the mix if Melbourne opt to do so. He has high upside for his strengths, and though likely a long-term prospect, he still competed for Vic Country at the AFL Under 18 Championships. Naturally he is a very outside player, with just three of his 32 possessions at the carnival being in a contest, but he fortunately uses it well when given time and space.”

I thought that was a real breakout game by Mackin tonight. Goldy is one of my favourite players for pace and taking the game on but Mackin was just at another level for breaking the lines. The game isn't as skillful as the blokes but I've really loved watching our progress over the last few years. We're as tough as nails and just going in hard and running for each other. Some fantastic passages of play tonight. Really fun to watch us strangle a good team and break the lines once we settled down after the first. It's great we've got the week off now to rest and reset. There's a few niggling injuries in the team by the looks and that week off will really help. We should have a fitter faster team to have a crack at the flag this year.

Loz Pearce clearly wasn’t right, full credit to Harris rucking so much. Hopefully the week off sorts Loz out. Our mids who have been bullied by the Crows for years really got on top. Purcell and West super in tight. Hanks and Mitho getting inside and out and Paxy in the high half forward role. I liked the use of Hore on ball if she’s struggling forward and I think they even sent her to Marinoff to clamp her late. Plenty of improvement too, with missed chances in the first and third especially and some uncharacteristic mistakes by some of the defenders.

Bannan is the smartest player in the AFLW

Huge game by Lampard tonight

I can't get out of my mind that some marketing genius got paid $$ for coming up with the gimmicky promotional idea of "23 in 23", meaning 23 rounds of football in 2023 and now the AFL is trying to retrofit the schedule to fit the idea.

And how many Grand Finals have each played in and lost over the same period?

Our performance in Round 1 in Adelaide his year was one of the best performances from our womens team ever. Top 5 for sure. We matched Adeliade on the inside and were much better going inside 50. We beat them resoundingly. We will win this game because we are the better team and because of that fantastic Round 1 win, know we can beat the Crows The girls will perform. No doubt in my mind. They remind me of how the men were tracking coming into finals in 2021. They have belief Dees by 15 points

This is true, Kat. The sweetest girl off the field. And that’s where the sweetest is left… off the field. 😈

Put Blaithin Mackin on her, she'll sort her out :)

Must have been one hell of a horse to win carrying both Childs and yourself!!

Again "Rooey" signing on so soon after our beneficial trade period is a great plus. Amid all the hype there are a number of very salient factors about this young footballer. 1. He is serious about a career in the Red and Blue, the 2 extra years says that. 2. So far he has as far as we know been in less than 12 months a model recruit with no fuss bravado or ego to overtake his learning and developing lessons. 3. JVR does far more than kick goals. He has some very useful football traits and tricks to add to his determination and attitude and aggression. 4. Marking is only one highlight but his 2nd and 3rd efforts, tap ons handballs and tackling are all part of his package, more like the fashion of a midfielder. 5. Two things other D/Lers have highlighted are that he hasn't played A GAME YET ( and why not? ) and a likeness to our previous potentially ( till he suffered countless ACL knee reconstructions ) that restricted him to a shadow of his former glory and not as the potential equal of Wayne Carey on the field! 6. I don't care about either of the above two opinions as it has no bearing on JVR and how good he is or how we are handling his development. 7. He will make it despite any of the hype from us if he is good enough for all the right reasons he appears to have to succeed. 8. Jacob is also a well performed ( in Colts and WAFL and ANC Under Age) ) as a key defender at Full Back so he is versatile as well. 9. Thankfully No one has posted He's only 192cms (or is it 194 or above now? only 195 plus succeed these days in KFP or KDF ) which as we know is rubbish. Give me a well rounded 194 cm KPP rather than a gangly 200cm Who can be pushed out of position or hasn't got great other skills than marking! 10. Lastly JVR will hit the gym like never before and a boy will become a man before our eyes ready to take on the world. Not just perform a role on our forward line to finish off a puzzle that might just be with other 2023 improvements the catalyst to our expected sustained success over the next 3/4/5 years. No PressureJVR!! 11. Let's hope injury and luck treat JVR fairly for our future footy watching enjoyment and aspirations.

Look who’s playing her 50th tomorrow! LOL someone suggested we all tuck our jumpers into our pants tomorrow night as an homage to Eden. Everyone laughed, me included. Outwardly that is. On the inside I was thinking only if you put a gun to my head. 😑 Hashtag Harry Highpants is NEVER a good look. Ever.

Why can’t the Collingwood police ever solve any murders? Coz there’s no dental records and everyone’s DNA is the same.

For some reason I like a forward line of JVR, Schache or Petty, Fritter, Kossie and support cast with Max and Trac visiting on occasion.

Jack Dyer claimed he was responsible for the longest ever kick in VFL history when he accidentally roosted one from the Glenferrie wing onto a passing goods train and the footy ended up in Lilydale.

It will be a lemon, can only be one Frank Drebin.

I actually think they've become a better side since then, too. Their performance since the Bulldogs game has been flawless. Whereas Adelaide have not been their strongest coming into the finals, although that can be attributed to the absence of Chelsea Randall.

She's brilliant, awesome girl. And yes, the sweetest girl off the field, like they all are

Or, perhaps, Frank Spencer?

I’m surprised Randall’s been rushed back in. Especially since they’ve got the double chance. This could prove to be a foolish choice (🤞🏼🤭).

That’s the first thing I noticed! And as bad as it looks, if ever she was to run out with her jumper not tucked in, I’d run onto the field and tuck the bloody thing in for her myself! 😆JK. Except not JK

While it is good to see the players hard it at it already I wonder about the wisdom of it. There was a fair bit of evidence that we kept the training up in the 2021/2022 pre-season and even Max said it was like 2021 and 2022 rolled into one long season. This seemed to impact our ability to play out games after the mid point this season.. Acknowledging the short break after the GF contributed to this but not sure we had the balance right last year. Hope this year we have learnt from that and re-balanced the training regimes.

Some footballers are just born to be great and are never satisfied with where their career are at despite his accolades so far. Looks ridiculously fit.

Updated for JVR 2 year contract extension until 2025. Based on the list that @Demonlandpublished above Tomlinson is now shown as OOC in 2024. I searched for Schache's contract status at the Bulldogs and it seems he was OOC in 2022 so we have given him a one year contract. josh-schache-contract-western-bulldogs-forward-signs-new-deal I will update the number of games played when I do the final version for this year after the draft.

IKON is not in Adelaide. We've had some good wins at IKON, I don't think it's a disadvantage for us to play there.

Because of the way our list is looking we won't pick up anyone as a DFA, but might look to rookie list someone. For mine, if we're looking for some back up in the ruck, but also someone who won't impede the development of our Category B rookie, then Josh Walker is our best bet. Can play ruck, forward or back, so we can play him wherever needed at Casey. Low cost, max value rookie selection in a shallow draft pool.

Not a joke as such, but a very clever back page headline from the HS (circa late 1950s iirc). It came after a very meritorious Melbourne victory over the Magpies: ” Today’s Magpies, Tomorrow’s Feather Dusters” I loved it way back then, and I still do!

This is a training venue. We are talking about practice. If this were the NBA, teams would be paying us rent to play at the G. You are talking about practice! Practice. Not the game. Not the game that I live and die for. Not the game. We’re talking about practice.

Bloke goes into the Lexus Centre to see what it's all about. Goes into the social club there and orders a beer. Standing next to him at the bar is Dane Swan! Bloke says: "Hey Swanny. Ya wanna hear a Collingwood joke?" Swan says, "Lissen mate. See the bloke next to me? That's Jordan de Goey. He don't mind a fight, just sayin'. An' see the bloke next ta him? That's Alan Didak, an' he likes hangin' 'round wiv bikies. Ya still wanna tell that joke?" Bloke says, "Nah, not if I'm gunna have to explain it three times."

A woman in Collingwood named all eight of her children Bradley. She did this so as when they’re playing outside and she calls them to come inside she just needs to yell out, ‘Bradley!’ When asked what if she just wants one of them to come inside she said, ‘I call out their surname.’