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Gillard was superb down back marking everything.

I have never seen a more disciplined, professional, better coached team of any gender in my life. This group blows me away. AWESOME!!!! What I see is, the players attack the contest with purpose. It's not a reaction. but a plan. They seem to know exactly what to do and why. Superb coaching and superior footy IQ from players and Coach.

Westy still off her game but our mids stepped up and matched it with a good midfield. Gillard was back in peak form, Goldy had more positive moments and Wilson was a find. I reckon that’s the best our forwards have ever sustained pressure. Certainly this year. Wave after wave of tackles and smothers. Loved Zanker’s game in the second half coming up the ground as an outlet.

So who exactly is the best defensive team in the league? 😉 Tahlia Gillard gets better every week and Shelley Heath is putting a really excellent long-term body of work together. That was a chaotic game and we handled it very well.

The culture that our women’s team have going is made up of many components. One part of that is the passion the Demon Army have for this team. If your team has a banner and the other doesn’t, you are already ahead of the opposition before the game even starts. Good on you WCW and your Demon Army companions

Shelley Heath is a little jet 💪

I'd rather 6 & 11 over just one top three pick, but if there's a world where we can grab Norf's pick 3 & 17 or something to that effect in exchange for 6 & 11, I'd probably prefer to take that route. Obviously this only happens if it enables Norf to grab pick 1 though. None of the highly touted guys expected to be available at our first pick seem super exciting, maybe with the exception of Caddy who would be a bit of an awkward fit. Sanders looks like he'll be a good player but doesn't provide any real point of difference, doesn't look like he can play anywhere else other than midfield either. Do we want to take a KPD with our first pick? Won't impact next year and we've gone tall two years running with JVR & Jefferson. Understand our hand may be forced with our second pick however given the Petty situation.

indeed. an off season of disappearing threads

I have decided that Sanders and the key tall prospects are too boring, and that Caddy is too boom or bust Trade up and grab Duursma, McKercher or Watto

Nice to have a gameday to look forward to after all the off-field nonsense we've been dealing with lately. Reckon our superior fire power will get us across the line but it will be a tough contest. Dees by 10 points In the other big game hoping the Lions can do us a favour against the crows.

B/B+ is right for us. We landed three money ball players for various needs that at worst offer positional depth at best have upside to make our 23 better. We cleared 3 non top 23 players requiring top 23 wages off the books. We protected our first current and future pick and moved up into the range we think has most quality. I look at all of the deals done for our needs and cost and the only ones I would have liked for us is Flynn (who chose WC to be number 1 ruck) or Sweet (who chose going to his home state). The other deals for cost (McKay) or contract length (Schultz) for the player value for need for us were not for us.

And ...

Tyla Hanks. She’s a star ❤️❤️❤️

Wilson saved 2 goals

Not to mention the cap space now available will allow us to restructure existing contracts to front-load them, allowing us great cap flexibility in the future.

Just came home from the new Training ground. There were a lot of people there, including Eddie.

In the second of the Indigenous rounds at Narrm’s favourite home ground, Ikon Park, expect the crowd to be buzzing with anticipation for this huge clash of two of the best skilled teams in AFLW. The Saturday night match sees the best offensive team take on the best defensive team and to the winner goes the spoils of a Top Two spot on the AFLW Season Eight premiership ladder. The extended quarters, interchange rotation limits, and our elite fitness, have allowed the Demons to now average the equivalent of 12.5 goals a game while North has the stingiest defence conceding only three goals per match. Narrm has three players in the top seven of the goal kicking table. The reigning premiers have won the previous five clashes but it’s always a nail biter and we should expect Saturday to be no different. Get along if you can and support our team. During the week Meggs read an AFLW article about the biggest improvers in Season Eight. They listed two Adelaide players, North’s Mia King, and Brisbane’s seasoned winger Sophie Conway (really?). So Meggs went poring through our list and reckons they missed Irish sensation, Blaithin Mackin. Blaithin’s career disposal average prior to 2023 was 8.6 per game and this year is 13.7. Tackles were 1.4 are now up to 2.4 per game and meters gained is 160.9 up to 315.9. A star is B! Selection this week Midfield maestro Paxy Paxman, utility Maddie Gay, first ruck Loz Pearce and defender Gab Colvin all return for the big clash. Unlucky to miss are Rhi Watt and Charlotte Wilson. Lampy has fractured her wrist and will miss at least three matches. Megan Fitzsimon is omitted and has been quiet in her three games so far in 2023. North Melbourne has named an unchanged team for this week. Our opponents, North Melbourne Tasmanian Kangaroos Considered by many as the league’s best player, Jasmine Garner will be pivotal for the Roos on Saturday. Her midfield sidekicks include the indefatigable Ash Riddell, the clever Jenna Bruton and inside bull Mia King. They are a group highly respected by the Demons brains trust. Mick maybe sends Heater to run with Ash? Their defence is missing vice-captain Nicole Bresnehan, but defensive leader Emma Kearney, has good support in talls Ferguson, Wright and Shannon. The North key marking forwards Kate Shierlaw, Tahlia Randall and Emma King have been getting great supply from the midfield. This group will be a handful for Libby Birch and her crew. Only two weeks ago we learned how damaging strong goalscoring mids can be with Marinoff and Hatchard. O’Loughlin and Eddey and handy smalls. A huge challenge awaits on Saturday. Meggs view The weather forecast says gusty winds for Saturday and 16-18 degrees. It will be a fantastic battle between two of the elite AFLW midfields. If we can match their intensity and get our hands on the ball first and out to our runners, we should be able to kick a winning score. Meggs expects Irish player Erika O’Shea to pick up the in-form Alyssa Bannan. While both are speedsters, Erika is quicker so Banno will have to use her smarts as well as her skills. North rucks Kim Rennie and Emma King are top notch, and we should expect a great battle against the veteran Demon Loz Pearce and the young and emerging talent Georgia Campbell. Where we win this game is our forward craft overwhelming their strong backline. Containing our leading goal scorers Zanker, Hore and Bannan is a mighty challenge for North and they can only hope we suffer from inaccurate kicking. Another challenger to put to the sword. A big effort please. If we win and Brisbane beats Adelaide we go top of the ladder! Go Dees! Melbourne by 5 points THE GAME Melbourne v North Melbourne at Ikon Park, on Saturday 21 October 2023 at 7:15pm (Melbourne time) HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 5 wins North Melbourne 1 win At Ikon Park Melbourne 1 win North Melbourne 0 wins The Coaches Stinear 4 wins Crocker 0 wins MEDIA TV - Fox Footy, Kayo. Mobile – AFL Live Official App Radio – Check your local guides THE LAST TIME THEY MET Melbourne 5.3 (33) defeated North Melbourne 2.4 (16) in the Season Seven Preliminary Final at Ikon Park, on 19 November 2022 On a blustery Saturday afternoon where the conditions affected marking skills and the ball bounced unpredictably, the Mighty Dees stuck fat against a determined Kangaroos outfit to break away with two last quarter goals to none to win by 17 points. The winning margin was an all-time high between these two teams. From the outset the Preliminary Final was a fiercely fought contest with Melbourne unable to find the ball in space. North really amped up their one-percenters and tackling pressure and played an extra player behind the ball, making it difficult for Melbourne to score. With the Dees up by five points at the main break, North came out and dominated the third quarter holding Melbourne scoreless. The ball spent 82% of the time the Roos’ forward half but they could only muster 2 points. Bella Eddey had their best opportunity, but her reverse torpedo missed to the right. It was only 3 points the difference at ¾ time. With the game still in the balance, Daisy Pearce stunned the crowd with an amazing last quarter goal to book the Demons into consecutive grand finals, while simultaneously Deestroying the hopes of the North Melbourne supporters. MELBOURNE 2.0.13 3.1.19 3.1.19 5.3.33 NORTH MELBOURNE 1.0.6 2.2.14 2.4.16 2.4.16 GOALS Melbourne: Fitzsimon, Mithen, Sherriff, Hore, D.Pearce North Melbourne: Randall, E.King BEST Melbourne: Paxman, Mithen, Hanks, Heath North Melbourne: Kearney, Garner, Riddell, Wright INJURIES Melbourne: Harris (left shoulder) North Melbourne: Nil Reports: Nil Crowd: 5,592 at Ikon Park THE TEAMS NARRM B L Birch T. Gillard HB S. Goldrick S. Heath M. Chaplin C B. Mackin T. Hanks E. McNamara HF A. Bannan C. Sherriff L. Mithen F E. Zanker K. Hore FOLL L. Pearce E. West P. Paxman I/C G. Campbell G. Colvin M. Gay A. Mackin O. Purcell EMG M. Fitzsimon R. Watt C. Wilson IN G. Colvin, M. Gay P. Paxman L. Pearce OUT M.Fitzsimon (omitted) S. Lampard (wrist) R. Watt (omitted) C.Wilson (omitted) NORTH MELBOURNE B E. Shannon J. Ferguson HB E. Kearney S. Wright E. O'Shea C A. Smith M. King T. Gatt HF B. Eddey A. O'Laughlin K. Shierlaw F E. King T. Randall FOLL K. Rennie J. Garner A. Riddell I/C J. Bruton T. Craven N. Martin L. Pullar R. Tripodi EMG H. Bowey L. Burke E. Gavalas No change Injury List: Round 8 Pax Paxman (concussion) available Tayla Harris (hamstring) test Maddie Gay (managed) available Loz Pearce (shoulder) available Gaby Colvin (Achilles) available Sarah Lampard (Wrist) 3 weeks

I assumed with Hawks taking Ginnivan and their lack of key backs that they would shifty attention from Watson to Curtin. If not though he Bradbury’s to us and we would be silly not to swoop. In saying that I think there is still more likelihood we push up to 3 and jag Duursma in some form of Nth, WC three way deal.

My Saints mate - who is an avid but astute fan - reckons Jack will be good for us.

By the by, dazzler, i wanted to clarify that leaving aside the issue of the impact of drugs on disadvantaged communities i wanted to make 1000% clear i think that as a society we should be doing everything in our power to reduce the likelihood all children (ie young people up to age of 18 and even a bit older) use drugs and alcohol whilst still children and their brain is still developing. The research on brain development has come a very long way since i started in community services and it is now clear that use of any toxic substances, including alcohol, hugely negatively impacts the developing brain - which research suggests continues to develop up to aprox 25 (and beyond but much more incrementally). And i'd like to add that the work you are doing is so, so important. There is no more important work. I often wondered when i was doing resi work, by far the hardest and most demanding work i have ever done, if i was making a difference. Quite a few years later i was in homelessness and a kid from one of the units became a client of service. Great kid. Hadn't seen in him since working with him. And when he saw me he beamed and talked at length about stuff we had done together stuff and things i had said to him (that i could barely recall saying). He told me that i had indeed made a difference and he very much took on board some of my advice (i wish my own kids would!). Said that he always loved that he could tell i liked and respected him - despite the bat**** crazy stuff he often got up to (and it was crazy). Said that had been really important to him. From that day on, when supervising staff doing direct service who were worried they weren't making a difference i used that example and reinforced that we may never see it, but it's there. Big and small. Thank you for the difference you are making in the life of the young people you care, support and advocate for. We need more dazzlers.

From House of Footy 2023 AFL Draft Rankings: October Edition

Jack Billings is definitely worth a try ahead of Harmes and Jordon.