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Wowee, what a day! The kids and I arrived at the ground and were welcomed towards the great club activations at the gates: girls got their face painted, spun the wheel and won prizes and got to record a little motivational message for the players. They seemed annoyed when I suggested we go get some seats and watch a footy game, they were having too much fun. Scored a nice spot on the wing, slightly under cover, next to a group of girls who were good mates with Tyla Hanks and happened to be primary school teachers - very handy with taking some heat from 2 x 7yos prone to incessant question asking during a football match. The game itself was a turgid affair riddled with frustratingly poor kicking on our behalf; Norf had a real dig. We can thank our defence yet again. It was great how we withstood their barrage of inside 50s but jeez, we should have been a few goals down at 3q time. Then, that Daisy goal. Like a divine hand grabbed that ball on the sky an guided it on the wind through the big sticks. The crowd went completely [censored] nuts. Was good energy today. Then the kids and I muscled our way to the fence hoping for a high five or autograph. Then we watched Tyla Hanks, as though in slow motion, make a beeline for my girls and handed them the signed footy! (Maybe her teacher mates gave her a tip off) Onya Hanksie! Also got autographs from Kate Hore and Fitzy! The girls were utterly starstuck 😍. Then 3x scarves out the car windows with Grand Old Flag at HIGH volume out of the forth, all the way home. Now onto the Grand Final at Isotopes Stadium. Go you mighty [censored] Dees girls. You’re winning a lot of hearts, young and old. ❤️💙

Just gonna spew out my thoughts as usual! First of all, credit to North. They’re a better team than many recognise and but for some wasted chances could easily have taken this one. It was finals footy in a lot of ways: not necessarily champagne football, just two sides who happen to match up very well on each other. Absolutely critical for us was the straight set shot goalkicking of Fitzsimon and Sherriff at pivotal moments. They coolly took their opportunity when many others in this league would have faltered. Gay won some really crucial contests. Paxy did Paxy things (shout out to the guy yelling, “Go Karen!” throughout the game, much to my amusement). Big game from Hanks, just so clean and relentless in mopping up. Mackin also impressed with some beautiful long kicks and “right place, right time” marks, reflecting hard running. Mithen—these days, you know what you’ll get from her. Mistakes, yes, but always energy and hardness. After a shaky first half, Gillard didn’t put a foot wrong. That resilience is so good to see. Zanker was quiet then sacrificed her game and worked into it. Birch looked a bit off early and was a good barometer for how swirly the wind was, as even she was misjudging the ball drop! Some quieter games from a few of our big names and some uncharacteristic mistakes—but many lifted in the last. At times they tried to force chains of possession that just weren’t on and made some bad decisions with ball in hand. Our forwards connection was poor, and some structural difficulties due to Tayla being limited didn’t help. The kudos for this win, though, has to go to the defensive effort under an absolute onslaught in the third. Getting trapped like that in D50 is obviously not ideal, but sometimes you have to make do with what you have and then take your chances when they come—and to have retain the belief that you can make that happen. Which we did in the last. Of course, against the best opposition…the chances might simply never arrive. The enduring memory I’ll have from this game is seeing a player, midway through the last, turning through traffic and then snapping a wonderful, match-sealing goal. From the legends stand, I couldn’t quite make out who it was moving with such agility and executing such a classy finish. Hore maybe? Nope. Could it be…Daisy! Moving the best that she has in a while and with such a pure kick after missing so many targets throughout. Cue a standing ovation from a very pumped up crowd.

When Young Jackson first came to Melbourne there was a spontaneous reaction. As soon it became clear in his debut year he was so energetic and athletic in action. His third quarter spark on the Grand Final Park silenced the Doggies' bark. Though none of us can accept blame when he chose to turn his back on fame. To return to old Freo for a pot of gold so Mum can curl his hair with ribbons of aurelio reo.

Let’s keep political mudslinging out of this. Last warning. You want to take a dig at a political party or politician you will get an automatic 3 month ban on this website. Lifetime ban for your second offense.

Still, I have always had the distinct impression we hitched our star to Tom Lynch, who then ended up going to Gold Coast a pick earlier. Lucas Cook was a hastily-hatched ill-considered back-up plan based off his AA credentials and little more. But we were also hamstrung by the lack of quality alternatives available once our preferred choices were gone.

I am surprised Gillard wasn't mentioned in our best players. I thought she repelled many attacks.

Damn, where they want to build that stadium is where I park my car for work every day. What a personal inconvenience.

So for the time being it’s LSW (Limping) CivilWar? Recover quickly!

No doubt I'll face the charge of being insensitive, but I must admit WCW, I found the mental image of a deranged ranga being mummified in crepe paper so sidesplittingly funny I almost spilled my shiraz.

If having a body for 44 years has taught me anything it’s that the current inhabitant never speaks fondly of the former tenant.

Like Tayla Harris, I'm sure you'll get up for the Grannie WCW. Also, seeing it's the last AFLW game next week I'd like to thank you for the great insight you have provided to Demonland on the AFLW and all things MFC. You always have a positive slant on things and I love reading your posts. We are lucky to have you. ❤💙🍷🏆

Impulse bought a flight at the final siren. Never been more worried about 'venue subject to change'.

I was at the game, and it was VERY windy, affecting the standard greatly. So Dees fans shouldn't be too worried about the low standard footy leading into the GF. I have since watched the replay on TV , and it' s not nearly as obvious on TV how difficult the conditions were. Also, i was surprised when one commentator said that North would have the wind in Q4. I'm dead sure it was easier kicking to the Royal Parade end.

Great game but the girls, but now they would rue that 1 point :( We can winner anywhere and we tend to like QLD. The game yesterday was great with the pressure and the backline held up very well. They'll need to be on their best next week. I think we'll be better prepared compared to our H&A game against them, they smothered us and we could get our game going for 4 qtrs.

I'm glad it looks like Tassie will finally get a team in the AFL and its well and truly overdue. I share the concerns of some others with the unevenness a 19 team competition creates with the bye and and also the lack of talent to support 19 teams. The solution IMO, is three fold. 1. Reduce list sizes to approx 35 and have clubs able to play anyone on their VFL/SANFL/WAFL teams in the seniors if they have too many injuries. 2. Bring in a 20th team. Whether one based in Northern Australia, a third team out of Perth or maybe somewhere like Canberra or Newcastle are the best potential options I'm not sure. But 20 teams would be best. 3. Two divisions, whether you want to call them premier division and secondary division or premier and national? The premier could be 12 teams where everyone plays eachother twice. Top 6 make the finals for a 4 week finals series like they had from 91-93. While national could be 8 teams where everyone plays eachother three times (21 times) meaning the AFL can do their stupid magic round with that competition. Finals for this competition can be top 4 in a three week finals series which means it would likely conclude Semi Final weekend of the Premier division. Every year the wooden spooner of premier division is relegated while the premier from National is promoted. This could IMO be the best way to combat an uneven competition and the uncompetitiveness of some teams.

From the Herald Sun this morning: MELBOURNE Picks: 13, 37 Mick Ablett says: After a disappointing exit in the 2022 finals series, expect a statement to come early in 2023. With the most potent ruck duo arguably since Dean Cox and Nic Naitanui, the Demons’ engine room will get plenty of supply. Targeting some firepower to assist Bailey Fritsch and Kysiah Pickett is paramount and the only area Melbourne has to address before another September assault. Draft Prediction: Matt Jefferson could come into calculations for their first pick. He averaged 2.2 goals during his NAB League season, along with kicking a standout seven goals straight against Western Australia in the under-18 national championships. At 195cm he is a strong lead-up forward. Sam Gilbey should be on the board at their second pick and would provide some class by foot off halfback.

Herald Sun now reporting that Melbourne coach Mick Stinear said after the game Tayla Harris had played the game out in pain but would be good to go for the AFLW decider. “Yeah a bit of discomfort during the game we took her out of the ruck and tried to use her as a weapon forward,” Stinear said. “She’s OK, certainly a bit of discomfort during the game but I can’t see her missing next week, she’s tough.”

Just a quick injury report, don’t worry, not any of our players, just a clumsy cheer squad member who got tangled up in the multitudes of crepe paper while helping to carry the banner (with [censored] heavy poles still attached) off the field. She went down and the big burly comrades up front didn’t realise she was entangled and just kept running. She sprained her ankle quiet badly. Yeah ok, it was me. 🙄 I sucked it up and carried on, though. But the adrenaline wore off ages ago and now I’m sporting an ankle that looks like a grade three’s science project. All good though since I have wine! And wine fixes everything. 😁 Future me is gonna hate present-day me. 😬

It was fever pitch in the last, especially when we comfortably knew we were going through. Thank you for acknowledging. 💕 As someone said on here earlier it was embarrassing that North supporters outnumbered our supporters, but their cheer squad was no match for ours!

Have been watching more and more of this on telly and decided to go to my first aflw game today - great fun. The standard is terrific, particularly in terms of toughness and intensity. Took the 2 yo for his first real AFL outing. Wish he had some of the girls toughness gee whiz

West Coast took Jack Williams as Kennedy’s long term replacement, so can’t see them or us taking Jefferson. On another note and in keeping with our forwards. I had to drop into the Claremont football Club today, JVR was in the gym doing some conditioning, they started introducing him to me. I said mate lifelong Demon, you don’t need to tell me who this bloke is. Shook his hand and wished him luck for the season ahead.

bringing in tasmania ultimately does nothing for the game's coffers now, a 19th and a 20th team... it's inevitable that if they bring in the thylacines then a third wa, far nq, or newcastle and surrounds 20th team is an inevitability it won't be canberra as without that region gw$ have even less support than they currently do

Also no teeth, definitely Pies supporters!

thanks for more info. i was just going off google maps (at the time i looked) 😆

Bringing in a twentieth team to solve the problem of nineteen teams underscores how impractical the nineteenth team is. Locating it in NT would be a disaster as the population of the largest city is barely 170k. Assuming we can't get rid of a Melbourne team, Adelaide or Perth is the logical spot but watch the two existing teams in each of those cities scream about cutting into their market. The unfortunate reality is that no one has a solution to the rolling bye that will not involve a significant change to the competition. A quick look at the VFL ladder fiasco shows what happens when teams are all over the place on numbers of games played. Mad as Hell's idea of relegation of the 19th team is of course the mathematical solution but finance wise I just cannot see relegation working for most clubs. (Would a player be entitled to a free trade form a club that is relegated. Who funds the minimum player payments of the team when it is relegated and for how long. Do they continue on the same stadium deals? The issues just continue.)

If Jefferson goes before our pick I can see us trading down into George territory and pick up an extra pick which could be another future pick.

Metricon unavailable because already booked for concerts and a festival etc. Springfield has a capacity of 8000 (only 600 in the grandstand) which would be inadequate if it was here (in Melb). But since it’s up whoop whoop they’ll be lucky to get 5000 imho. So from the point of view of the AFL, it’s perfect. 🙄

It’s still likely to have 1- Lions (f/son) Ashcroft 2- GWS :Cadman 3- Kangas : Wardlaw 4- Kangas : Tsatas 5- Bombers : Sheezel 6- Suns: Humphrey 7 - Hawks : Ginbey 8- Cats: Clark 9- Eagles: Busslinger 10- Saints: Mckenzie 11- Carlton: Phillipou 12- Bulldogs: Hollands 13 - Eagles: Allan 14- Dees… leaves us with a Hewitt or Jefferson choice. (we should bid on Davey or Fletcher if no other clubs have pushed that button) . I’d prefer Phillipou, Hollands or Allan but I’m thinking they’ll be gone. Hewitt is that tough skilled midfielder who is ready to play. His inside determination and good speed are AFL quality already. Sure we have a strong midfield but this kid adds more strength. Jefferson is the type of player we need but he’s a few years away in terms of physical readiness. Plays like the King brothers as the tall gangly key forward. May be tempting as a local lad. Brayden George and Gruzewski are the probably the wildcard options for our 1st pick.

Well done & good luck girls… Whats the Afl thinking playing a GF at a suburban ground with 10k capacity, understand Gabba not available due to Cricjet , what about the Suns ground if Etihad which is neutral ground

Good story on Sam Gilbey on AFL website. Certainly was a top 15 chance at the start of the 2022 year before firstly glandular fever and then a broken leg meant we saw little action from him this year. His left foot skill and delivery is not unlike Hayden Young or Jack Scrimshaw type. Taller 6’2” half year. Interesting to see if he drifts and is available around the mid 30s. Could be a nice “Hibbo replacement” if JT was a fan.

you'r not eddie everywhere are you, mah? joking aside, some good lateral thinking there

That's if you go at 3 in the morning. It's a [censored] place to get to and hot as hell out there.

Slowly coming around to Jefferson the more I've thought about him in depth and the position he players and just watching his video's. My only concern is that if we were to select him, his career would pan out more as that floating 3rd tall then a key positional FF or CHF. Similar to how Jack Watts career panned when we all hoped he was going to be that traditional key forward that we lacked since Neitz retired.

Matthew Jefferson will play many great games for the Red and Blue if selected🤩

Not 100% sure on this but most likely it’s AFLW members. Probably up to 10 tickets per AFLW barcode. My Demon Army BFF is quite confident it won’t be a sell-out and she knows about these things just like she knows anything and everything AFLW and AFL. 🙂 The capacity is 8000. Our match yesterday drew under 6000 (two Vic. teams). Bris vs. Adel PF drew 2553. So it’s safe to say it won’t sell out.

It's the land of the Indigenous tribe that the ground is located within. Boy oh boy WJ haven't you noticed the last few game details with this on under the grounds ordinary address!!

Until a few minutes ago, I had never heard of “Tulmur” and I still can’t find it on a map. Strange place to hold an AFLW Grand Final.

Not only is this behind a firewall but judging from the names of the authors, it also seems to be connected to the Herald Sun and Murdoch Media. So if you happen to already have a subscription to the HS (as I do via my wife’s account) then you still need to subscribe to this lot. Clever marketing but I’m not buying.

Went along yesterday, had a great time with 18yo son (who suggested we go) The ball movement by our team was silky and both teams defence was excellent. Lots of young women in the crowd which was great to see but had to tell an old boofhead to pull his head in when lecturing a couple of young people about "the history of the game" "It's women like you!...." spare me days!!

Anyone know about the members ticketing? Is it Melbourne AFLW members or Melbourne AFL and AFLW members? I'd be spewing to miss a ticket.

Just finished watching. We really took a while to get our rhythm but we got there. I thought Paxy was just bloody huge today. Inspirational. We're two and a half hours drive from some weird construction site of a footy field for the granny. It could be the first flag I see a Melbourne team secure live in the 55 years I've been alive. I can't wait. Let's do it girls. A team to be really proud of.

I have to confess to not getting on board with the AFLW much. Not out of sexist belligerence that you see from the blokes on facebook, but because I just haven’t made the time. The PF was the first game I’ve watched this year and the standard of the game is through the roof compared to previous years. It’s amazing what a few years of training in a professional environment and actually having a pathway to get there makes. Saw the hallmark of a really good side in the second half. North were completely on top but the damage on the scoreboard was minimal, then we crushed them in the last. Got goosebumps with Daisy’s sealer. Looking forward to the granny.

Joke of a spot to hold the Grand Final. AFL should hang their heads in shame. Ony hope there are no injuries due to the premature surface.

Disgrace they are playing this high profile game at an amateur venue but of respect please

The Lions are an excellent team and the conditions will favour them. Tough ask but whatever else happens we'll give a good account of ourselves. Gotta match the Lions on the inside. They beat us up around the contest last time out. Purcell and West going to have to have big games. If they get the ball on the outside and start running at us they are hard to stop. Wardlaw very important for them. I reckon Gilliard will get that job. Will be very special and emotional if Daisy can lift the cup next Sunday. Come on Dees. You can do it

Seeing what Carlton have built at Princes’ Park for ‘the home of AFLW’ is ridiculous. All the money has gone to Carlton and there hasn’t been a single upgrade for the fans. The place is even more decrepit than it was in the 90’s. The way for us to get anything built is to fabricated a politically beneficial cause. The best part of it is it doesn’t even have to be true!

I bet they stole that football.