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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

Not gloating (except so gloating it’s nuts) but I’ll be on my usual cheer squad duties tonight, that is, after I’m done hobnobbing in the Pavilion Function Room at Ikon thanks to @Katrina Dee Fan who kindly offered me a ticket in her place as she can’t attend tonight (enjoy Paul McCartney, Kat!). I’ll deign to chat to any Demonlanders who might be at the match, so long as my posh (new) friends don’t see me doing so. 😁 LOL the folks at the function won’t know what hit ‘em. 😂

indeed. an off season of disappearing threads

Thanks, FND. We do what we do purely out of love for our team. But it’s always nice to know we’re appreciated. I know some might think it’s just a banner, no biggie. But the girls tell us all the time how much it means to them. Katie and Tyla mentioned it yet again at the AFLW function on Thursday in their speeches. They also love the guard of honour every week. We sometimes have such a long G.O.H. it’s quite the spectacle. There’s no limit to the number of people allowed on the ground at suburban venues and boy, do we go all out. 😁 We actually feel bad for oppo cheer squads who can’t muster enough people to make and/or get a banner up. North are genuine contenders yet they have to ask for helpers. If I wasn’t on our banner crew I’d help them tonight. Even in the men’s at our match vs North in Hobart they asked for our assistance. We ended up taking over 🤭 such is our enthusiasm and the camaraderie of cheer squads. Anyways, tonight’s match is a true test for us. I’m confident we’ll win. The mighty Dees by 16 points. Zanks to kick a hatful (as my mate @layzie would say 😁).

Shelley Heath is a little jet 💪

Great question. For mine the McClelland is of the utmost importance at this stage. If we’re not minor premiers, while interstate finals suck, it doesn’t mean too much. The million dollars on the other hand… edit: scratch that. Go Lions!!! edit (again): I’ve decided I want the McClelland AND a premiership. Is that too much to ask?

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.

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

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

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 ...

Pretty sad that they need to post this. But at least they have a banner for their girls, many of the clubs don’t. 😔

I'm with you @Palace Dees. I was thinking the same thing in the last quarter. Battle for top position and we were just incredibly relentless. Both in our tackling and defense but I also loved our attacking. Until we iced the game, every opportunity we had, we seemed to just turn and play on. We just kept moving the ball forward as fast as we can. This is the best Melbourne team I have ever witnessed in my life time. Better than our 2021 premiership team. I'm off to the culture thread. How cool was it to watch them laughing and dancing as they left the field after destroying a decent opponent. Btw. We're in northern NSW and would love to see them play Brisbane in two weeks time. But we don't know when or where they'll be playing. @WalkingCivilWar any ideas?

North played to stop playing but we stopped them getting out. Our entire defensive unit was amazing. Girls like Chaplin Wilson, how hard Fitzy goes in great coach. great work ethic. not pretty. we move on

a win is a win. we were tough and competitive without being particularly polished. Thought our mids were good, Gilliard very solid defensively and Kate Hore with some class. North have no ambition. Big disappointment tonight. They are hard to beat but offensively offer little. Its been that way for a few years. They're not a contender this year. back on top with 2 rounds to go. The season is hotting up. go dees

Good win North had our measure in the first quarter but after that. I thought we were going to get outmuscled like the Adelaide game but I was so wrong

Tyla Hanks. She’s a star ❤️❤️❤️

Wilson saved 2 goals

Seems it’s gone the way of the Joel Smith tests positive thread aka the Demonland Bermuda Triangle.

Gee, that Bris vs Adel game was a ripper. The top AFLW teams are great to watch, especially us! The standard just gets better and better. Amazing what opportunity produces in society, eh?

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.

Well looks like another very quiet off season.

Are we a very good team, or a very, very good team? We will find out this evening. I think we are the latter! Dees by 10 points.

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.

What an incredible welcome to country that was. I've only had a little bit of time with elders, that fella covered so much from what I've learnt from them. Mentioning children born on their land are considered part of their country and from their country is beautiful. Loved it.

I watched a lot of TAC Cup and state footy in 2014-15 with a friend who was working for a Melbourne based club as a talent scout. Any comparisons between Caddy and Charlie Curnow are way off. Caddy doesn’t have the explosiveness nor the ability below the feet like Curnow did back then. I thought Curnow was Kouta II. I also thought Harry McKay was a future all-Australian CHB and that Weitering was overrated. Anyway… Not to say we shouldn’t draft Caddy, rather the Curnow comp is not a good one in my eyes.

Yes we have

I just saw the result of the Lions game!! That makes tonight's game massive. A chance to go top of the ladder in a comp where the top team gets home advantage for the grand final is HUGE

Lions do us a favour (although did their best to throw that game away). Now we need to take care of our own business later this evening.

@adonski”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”. That’s because he’s a midfielder. Class. Smart. Skilled. We don’t want him anywhere else. We have plenty of hybrid small half forwards or small half backs. We need a potential A grader young midfielder coming through. Everybody knows I am picking Sanders at 6 if available (or Curtin) and either OSullivan or Wilson at 11 if available.

I'm actually going tonight. Haven't been to a women's game in years. But it's great that we are scoring really high now and looking foward to seing Bannon hopefully dominate.

That's sort of my suggestion, but I would hope we would get one of 15, 17 or 18 back, not 23.

Crows fan site getting excited that Sanders will fall to them. ‘Tell em they’re dreamin’ 🤣🤣🤣

IMO, North are giving up the most in my proposed deal, maybe WC could contribute 23 and we could throw in 42 back. North have enough picks already so 23 and 42 aren't much value to them. https://www.zerohanger.com/afl/afl-draft-order-2023/ WC give 1 + 23 get 2 + 6 + 42 - result: 2, 6, 37, 42, 58 North give 2 + 3 get 1 + 11 - result: 1, 11, 15, 17, 18, 57 MFC give 6 + 11 + 42 get 3 + 23 - result 3, 23

I dont think we or he see him as a flanker longer term. We should be looking for our next elite addition more so than a few quality players. If we make the move JT clearly thinks its worth it and he has the runs on the board for that to be enough for me. I have seen enough of his set of attributes to think its likely the thinking.

Nice bloke jack Mueller...used to say "how good would I have been with 5 fingers". ( Only had 3 on one hand. I believe kicked 8,6 and 6 goals in the PF,GF and GF replay in 48?

We are no chance.

From House of Footy 2023 AFL Draft Rankings: October Edition

He has had to deal with the fact that the Saints took him at Pick 3 and the Bont went at Pick 4. StK fans have never cut him any slack and have ridden him hard.

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

For anyone wanting to sit with us at the match tomorrow night, we won’t be behind the goals as we usually are. Reason being yesterday the players who attended the function were asked where they prefer having us situated. They are happy just having us there (💖) but commented that when we sit in the pocket or on the wing they can hear us really clearly. Therefore we’ll be sitting next to the players’ race (near gate six) which is where the home cheer squads have been sitting for a few matches year. I sat there when I was an honorary member of the SunScreamers (Gold Coast cheer squad) for a day at the VFL Grand Final this year. 😁 It’s a great section and the best part from our POV is that we won’t be watching through the giant netting behind the goals, and that we won’t have the enormous Carlton logo directly in our line of sight. 🥳

Well dazzler, I for one think yelling racist abuse is way, way worse than taking recreational drugs. Incomparably worse. For one thing yelling racist abuse is, at least in my opinion, morally and ethically unacceptable. In my opinion recreational drug use is neither. Of course drug misuse is damaging to communities, particularly the most disadvantaged. And the most disadvantaged of all are Aboriginal communities because of endemic systemic racism, which is underpinned by the sort of casual racism they are forced to endure (as bad as it is, the issue isn't really Walker yelling racist abuse at a local footy match - it's that he thought it was socially acceptable to do so). Drug misuse is a symptom. And for many a form of logical self medication. Recreational drug use harms the individual choosing to use them. Yelling racist epithets harms the person being subjected to the abuse, anyone who hears it and the society as a whole. And Aboriginal people. Made 100 times worse when it is someone people admire and put on a pedastool like Walker. You seem to be conflating drug use and drug misuse. Of course if drug use becomes misuse it can cause untold harm on communities, particularly as you say disadvantaged communities. And you are 100% correct there are many communities ravaged by drug misuse. I assume you have the same views on alcohol? That recreational alcohol use is worse than yelling racist abuse? I have worked in the community services sector for over 30 years. For many years I worked in residential care with the kids you work with now. Damaged, traumatised kids removed from their families for their own protection. I have worked in child protection, the youth drug space (rehab units), needle exchanges, harm reduction, youth refuges, family services, family violence, public housing and homelessness (family, rough sleeping, crisis). On a personal level I was a young fella in Melbourne during the heroin epidemic in the 80s and early 90s. The Herald Sun had a daily overdose count such was the devastation and the music scene I was part of as a punter was devastated by the dragon, as were close friends. I know the damage drugs can do. But i can categorically say that in my experience NOTHING comes close to the damage alcohol does. Nothing. It's alcohol and then daylight on the scale of harm its misuse causes to kids, families and communities. Particularly the most disadvantaged ones.