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MEGGS’ 2025 AFLW SEASON PREVIEW TEN-HUT! Ten seasons. Eighteen teams. With the young talent pathway finally fully connected, Women’s Australian Rules football is building momentum and Season 2025 promises to be the best yet. In advance of Season 10, the AFL leadership has engaged in candid discussions with all clubs regarding strategies to boost attendance and expand fan bases. Concerningly, average attendances in 2024 were 2,660 fans per match, with the women’s game incurring an annual loss of approximately $50 million. The AFL is looking for improvements such as: • scheduling more fan-friendly timeslots, consolidated at selected suburban venues. • holding the Grand Final every year in the last weekend of November. • enhancing the ‘on-field’ product with clubs instructed to transition the defensive tackle-fest and focus on fast-flowing outside game plans. A handful of teams are already primed for this, including the Mighty Demons. Season Format & Fixture Shake-Up • 12 rounds over 12 weeks, followed by 4 weeks of finals. • Season kicks off Thursday, August 14 with Carlton vs Collingwood at Ikon Park—a throwback to the inaugural lockout game. • The AFLW opening rounds overlap with rounds 23 and 24 of the AFL men’s season, with fixtures staggered to avoid clashes. Five Key Things to Monitor in 2025 1. Melbourne vs Western Bulldogs – R1 Hampson–Hardeman Cup under lights 2. Razor Ray returns to AFLW umpiring bringing his trademark flair and quirkiness 3. Fremantle vs North Melbourne – R3 will the Kangaroos make it 15 wins on the trot to break Melbourne’s existing 14 game winning streak (R5 2022-R5 2023)? 4. 50 Game Milestoners – #24 Megan Fitzsimon (45 games) #22 Eliza McNamara (44) will hopefully join the 50-game club in rounds 5 and 6 respectively. 5. Geelong vs Melbourne – R12 two top teams tuning up for finals at GMHBA Stadium Team Spotlight: Melbourne FC Demons Fixture Highlights: After last year’s ‘fixed-ya’ fixture and finishing 9th, the AFL has given Melbourne an easier draw. The Demons have not been drawn to play home and away games against three of the leading contenders: • reigning premiers North Melbourne, • heavyweight Adelaide, and • 2024 finalists Hawthorn. We play our first ever games for premiership points against Port (R5) and Sydney (R10) and travel interstate for the Port Adelaide, Fremantle and Brisbane matches. With five games at Casey Fields (the Field of Dreams) and one game at Ikon, it is a friendly fixture and won’t harm our prospects for a top 4 finish. List Changes • Outs: Lily Mithen (Gold Coast), Delany Madigan (delisted), Grace Hill (delisted). • Ins: Molly O’Hehir (speedy tall halfback), Maggie Mahony (competitive small mid), Milly Dethridge (promising hockey cross-coder), Laela Ebert (skillful defender). Injury Watch • Tahlia ‘Jules’ Gillard (MCL) – out for half the season and will be sorely missed. Given our early-season opponents, we may hopefully be able to cover her absence. • Grace Beasley (ACL) - recovering well and expected to return during 2025 • Gaby Colvin (MCL) - out for the beginning of the season. • Jacinta Hose (back) - out for the season (replacement: Laela Ebert) • Aimee Mackin (ACL) - out for the season (replacement: Denby Taylor) Meggs’ Season 10 Predictions • Premiers: North Melbourne – the first team to go back-to-back. • Top 4: North Melbourne, Brisbane, Melbourne, Geelong. • Leading Goal Kicker: Kate Hore (again), closing in on 100 career goals (currently 78). • League B&F: Jasmine Garner (finally the year?) • Smokey: Sydney – stars return and bounce back to finals. • Flopper: Despite the best efforts of boom recruit Lily Mithen, the Suns to struggle in 2025. • Dees_In_October to change her name to Dees_In_November Meggs’ Final Word Having watched a bit of VFLW and the AFLW practice matches this year, you can see that our core group of best players are set for a great season. While we have several injured and recovering players, our team list is deep and strong so there should be no excuses from our inspirational coach Mick Stinear. Mick has coached 87 career games (with an impressive 71% win-rate). With 12 home and away games, just one finals match would see him reach the ton. Wouldn’t we all love to see that! Meggs will be back with a preview of Melbourne’s Round 1 clash under lights at Mission Whitten Oval. Until then—get excited as the Dees are primed and ready to deliver in 2025 and keep the #demonspirit alive.

The 2025 season might well be petering out for our AFL Men but it all starts again for the AFLW competition. We are enthusiastic about the forthcoming season for Mick Stinear's Demons, who are among the highly favoured contenders for this year's accolades, following a challenging fixture last year and a notable incidence of injuries. Demonland is again fortunate to have Meggs writing for us on all things MFC AFLW. Meggs’ season preview will appear shortly on this thread to give exposure to the team on our home page and then will be moved to the AFLW Melbourne Demons Board. We also hope to get enough support from Demonlanders to have a Player of the Year Award for our AFLW team. Melbourne’s first game for 2025 is against the Western Bulldogs at Mission Whitten Oval Footscray on Saturday 16 August 2025 at 7.30.

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The next coach of the Melbourne Football Club faces the challenge of teaching his players how to win games against all comers. At times during this tumultuous season, that task has seemed daunting, made more so in light of the surprise news last week of the sacking of premiership coach Simon Goodwin. However, there were also some positive signs from yesterday’s match against the Western Bulldogs that the challenge may not be as difficult as one might think. The two sides presented a genuine football spectacle, featuring pulsating competitive play with eight lead changes throughout the afternoon, in a display befitting a finals match.The result could have gone either way and in the end, it came down to which team could produce the most desperate of acts to provide a winning result. It was the Bulldogs who had their season on the line that won out by a six point margin that fitted the game and the effort of both sides. It was a stark contrast to the most recent encounter between the two teams in Round 21 of last year when the Bulldogs decisively defeated the Demons by 51 points at Marvel Stadium. At the time, Melbourne was struggling, appearing sad, sorry, and broken as it limped towards the end of the season Yesterday, the Demons presented a vastly different picture. Following a slow start, they steadily regained momentum and, in the third quarter, showcased exceptional form as they swiftly transitioned from defence to offence, scoring seven goals and secured a ten-point lead heading into the final break of the match. That style of play was emblematic of Goodwin’s unfinished work in progress from the contested style that is no longer in vogue or as effective as the game has continued to evolve since the club won its flag under him four years ago. It might well be the making of the club as younger, faster players of the ilk of Caleb Windsor, Harvey Langford and others begin to come to fore. Yesterday however, it was not to be the day for a winning result. Once again, another strong All-Australian bound ruck display from Max Gawn was the catalyst for the momentum shifting third quarter. Clayton Oliver put in his best performance of the year and Christian Petracca rose to the occasion after a slow start to his game. Apart from their usual heroes, the Demons benefited from a display that they’ve been waiting for from Harry Petty. He kicked two goals but also importantly, provided a number assists and clever taps to the advantage of his fellow forwards. Jai Culley, Harvey Langford and Daniel Turner all had their good moments during the day with the latter providing strong assistance to a defence led by veteran Tom McDonald that had its work cut out in curbing the Dogs’ forward line stars in Naughton and Darcy. First gamer Jed Adams who waited for almost three seasons and more than fifty games at Casey had some good moments in defence and Blake Howes added some spice when he came on as sub in the last quarter. It was a fine start to Troy Chaplin’s coaching career. He made a few good moves and has certainly done his future prospects no harm. He certainly played a role in helping make the annual Pink Lady day for breast cancer an event to remember, unlike the dour display put on by the Tigers and the Saints a day earlier. And for the Melbourne Football Club some good signs for the future after a tough week. MELBOURNE 3.4.22 4.6.30 11.9.75 15.9.99 WESTERN BULLDOGS 3.6.24 5.10.40 9.11.65 15.15.105 GOALS MELBOURNE Fritsch Melksham Petty 2 Chandler Culley Gawn Howes Langford Petracca Pickett Turner van Rooyen WESTERN BULLDOGS Naughton 5 Darcy Richards 2 Bramble Cleary Garcia McNeil West Williams BEST MELBOURNE Gawn Langford McDonald Oliver Pickett Rivers WESTERN BULLDOGS Richards Naughton Bontempelli Liberatore Dale Darcy INJURIES MELBOURNE Windsor (hamstring) WESTERN BULLDOGS Vandermeer (head) REPORTS MELBOURNE Nil WESTERN BULLDOGS Nil SUBSTITUTIONS MELBOURNE Blake Howes (replaced Tom Sparrow in the fourth quarter) WESTERN BULLDOGS Riley Garcia (replaced Jedd Busslinger in the third quarter) UMPIRES Robert O'Gorman Simon Meredith Tom Bryce Peter Bailes CROWD 34,733 at The MCG

In the end, it turned out to be a routine 35 point win to Hawthorn but for three quarters, Melbourne was the better side in a game ruined by poor umpiring. They didn't even reward the obvious free kick to Kozzy who was tripped up in the goal square at a crucial stage of the game. MELBOURNE 2.3.15 4.10.34 6.13.49 7.14.56 HAWTHORN 3.3.21 5.5.35 7.8.50 13.13.91 GOALS MELBOURNE Langford 3 Pickett 2 Sharp Sparrow HAWTHORN Gunston 3 Chol Watson 2 Breust Ginnivan Meek Moore Ward Weddle BEST MELBOURNE Langford Bowey Gawn Pickett Petracca McDonald HAWTHORN Worpel Jiath Gunston Sicily Ward Weddle D’Ambrosio THE TEAMS MELBOURNE B J. Bowey, S. May, J. McVee HB C. Salem, T. McDonald, T. Rivers C X. Lindsay, C. Petracca, E. Langdon HF K. Chandler, B. Fritsch, T. Sparrow F C. Spargo, J. van Rooyen, K. Pickett FOLL M. Gawn, C. Oliver, H. Langford I/C M. Jefferson, H. Sharp, D. Turner, C. Windsor SUB K. Tholstrup EMG B. Howes, A. Johnson, B. Laurie IN M. Jefferson, C. Oliver, J. van Rooyen OUT J.Melksham (managed), H.Petty (concussion), J. Viney (concussion) HAWTHORN B C. Jiath, J. Weddle, J. Sicily HB J. Battle, J. Impey, M. D'Ambrosio C K. Amon, J. Ward, H. Morrison HF B. Hardwick, N. Watson, D. Moore F J. Gunston, M. Chol, C. Macdonald FOLL L. Meek, J. Newcombe, H. Hustwaite I/C L. Breust, J. Ginnivan, F. Maginness, J. Worpel SUB B. Macdonald EMG S. Frost, N. Reeves, J. Serong IN K.Amon OUT T. Barrass (managed)

The rain had been falling heavily in south east Queensland when the match began at Springfield, west of Brisbane. The teams exchanged early goals and then the Casey Demons proceeded like a house on fire in the penultimate game of the VFL season against a strong opponent in the Brisbane Lions. Sparked by strong play around the ground by seasoned players in Charlie Spargo and Jack Billings, a strong effort from Bailey Laurie and promising work from youngsters in Kynan Brown and Koltyn Tholstrup, the Demons with multiple goal kickers firing, raced to a 27 point lead late in the opening stanza. A highlight was a wonderful goal from Laurie who brilliantly sidestepped two opponents and kicked beautifully from 45 metres out. But in the blink of an eye, the raging fire was doused by a sudden sprinkling of rain. Momentum was lost completely, the Demons seemingly stopped to a standstill and the Lions roared to an 11 point lead. In about 17 minutes of play from late in the first term until midway through the second, the Lions amassed six unanswered goals. The situation had all of the hallmarks of the senior team’s capitulation to St Kilda but in this game, the Demons had time on their side, and a little bit of luck came in handy to welcome what, at times might have been looked up as an unlikely victory. In the first instance, they got themselves off the floor, to recover and regain the lead with goals from key forwards in Aiden Johnson and Luker Kentfield only to give it back with an after-the-siren goal to mark half time. The revival came about in part as a result of Tom Fullarton’s strong marking at centre half back and the assurance of defenders Tom Freeman and Wardell Lual, both of who have been underutilized at Casey this year. After half time, it became a scramble to the win with the game poised at level pegging as scoring dried up for both teams in the so-called premiership quarter, following which things looked glum for the visitors midway through the last quarter when two quick goals gave Brisbane a nine point lead which appeared to be a handy buffer in the conditions. The Lions had the home crowd, they seemed to be teaming better and had the advantage of the umpiring. Fortunately, Casey managed to reignite the fire with a goal to Johnson before Jack Billings missed one he should have kicked and finally Mitch Hardie ran into an open goal and give the Demons a five point lead at the 32 minute mark. The game not yet over. The Lions went forward and were awarded a free from about 20 metres out on an angle but this time the shot taken after the siren went wide of its mark and the Demons hung on to a four points win which puts them in eighth place with only next week’s game against top team Box Hill to go before the finals. Special mention must be given to emerging forward Luker Kentfield who led the way with a goal in each quarter and who has been impressive after missing all of this year’s pre season with a severe illness. He and Matt Jefferson will give Melbourne’s new coach plenty of scope for works in progress over the next year or two as will the likes of Kolytn Tholstrup (21 touches and six tackles), Kynan Brown (22 and four tackles), Taj Woewodin (21 and six marks). Bailey Laurie (20 and four tackles) was also busy and Riley Bonner stood out as the top possession winner with 29. Tom Campbell and his understudy Will Verrall had a great battle with former Casey ruckman Oscar McInerney who is fighting for a spot in the AFL finals. It was another strong game from top draft contender Willem Duursma but father-son prospect Kalani White who was used sparingly was quiet. CASEY DEMONS 5.3.33 7.6.48 9.9.63 12.11.83 BRISBANE LIONS 2.1.13 8.6.54 9.9.63 11.13.79 GOALS CASEY DEMONS Kentfield 4 Johnson 2 Billings Brown Hardie Jefferson Laurie BRISBANE LIONS McFadyen 3 Gallop 2 Craven Fazldeen McCarthy McInerney Meekin Ryan BEST CASEY DEMONS Fullarton Spargo Brown Kentfield Laurie Duursma BRISBANE LIONS Mclnerney Annable Zakostelsky Brain McCarthy Craven

Guys, as fascinating as the discussion is perhaps move it to the What the New Coach needs to fix? Thread Please keep this thread to news and discussion on the new coach.

Yep. They were pretty bad.

Do you want to mention them so that we can discuss on the podcast?

The Demons return to the MCG this time as the visiting team where they get another opportunity to put a dent into a team's top 8 placing when they take on the Hawks on Saturday afternoon. Who comes in and who goes out?

The Demonland Podcast will air LIVE on Monday, 11th August @ 8:00pm. Join Binman & I as we dissect the Dees disappointing loss to the Western Bulldogs. Your questions and comments are a huge part of our podcast so please post anything you want to ask or say below and we'll give you a shout out on the show. Listen LIVE: https://demonland.com/

Captain Max Gawn has an unassailable lead in the Demonland Player of the Year award. He leads from Kozzy Pickett, Christian Petracca, Jake Bowey & Clayton Oliver. Your vote please; 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 & 1

The Demons lacked some polish but showed a lot of heart and took it right up to the Bulldogs in an attempt to spoil their finals hopes ultimately going down by a goal at the MCG.

ON FIRE by KC from Casey The rain had been falling heavily in south east Queensland when the match began at Springfield, west of Brisbane. The teams exchanged early goals and then the Casey Demons proceeded like a house on fire in the penultimate game of the VFL season against a strong opponent in the Brisbane Lions. Sparked by strong play around the ground by seasoned players in Charlie Spargo and Jack Billings, a strong effort from Bailey Laurie and promising work from youngsters in Kynan Brown and Koltyn Tholstrup, the Demons with multiple goal kickers firing, raced to a 27 point lead late in the opening stanza. A highlight was a wonderful goal from Laurie who brilliantly sidestepped two opponents and kicked beautifully from 45 metres out. But in the blink of an eye, the raging fire was doused by a sudden sprinkling of rain. Momentum was lost completely, the Demons seemingly stopped to a standstill and the Lions roared to an 11 point lead. In about 17 minutes of play from late in the first term until midway through the second, the Lions amassed six unanswered goals. The situation had all of the hallmarks of the senior team’s capitulation to St Kilda but in this game, the Demons had time on their side, and a little bit of luck came in handy to welcome what, at times might have been looked up as an unlikely victory. In the first instance, they got themselves off the floor, to recover and regain the lead with goals from key forwards in Aiden Johnson and Luker Kentfield only to give it back with an after-the-siren goal to mark half time. The revival came about in part as a result of Tom Fullarton’s strong marking at centre half back and the assurance of defenders Tom Freeman and Wardell Lual, both of who have been underutilized at Casey this year. After half time, it became a scramble to the win with the game poised at level pegging as scoring dried up for both teams in the so-called premiership quarter, following which things looked glum for the visitors midway through the last quarter when two quick goals gave Brisbane a nine point lead which appeared to be a handy buffer in the conditions. The Lions had the home crowd, they seemed to be teaming better and had the advantage of the umpiring. Fortunately, Casey managed to reignite the fire with a goal to Johnson before Jack Billings missed one he should have kicked and finally Mitch Hardie ran into an open goal and give the Demons a five point lead at the 32 minute mark. The game not yet over. The Lions went forward and were awarded a free from about 20 metres out on an angle but this time the shot taken after the siren went wide of its mark and the Demons hung on to a four points win which puts them in eighth place with only next week’s game against top team Box Hill to go before the finals. Special mention must be given to emerging forward Luker Kentfield who led the way with a goal in each quarter and who has been impressive after missing all of this year’s pre season with a severe illness. He and Matt Jefferson will give Melbourne’s new coach plenty of scope for works in progress over the next year or two as will the likes of Kolytn Tholstrup (21 touches and six tackles), Kynan Brown (22 and four tackles), Taj Woewodin (21 and six marks). Bailey Laurie (20 and four tackles) was also busy and Riley Bonner stood out as the top possession winner with 29. Tom Campbell and his understudy Will Verrall had a great battle with former Casey ruckman Oscar McInerney who is fighting for a spot in the AFL finals. It was another strong game from top draft contender Willem Duursma but father-son prospect Kalani White who was used sparingly was quiet. CASEY DEMONS 5.3.33 7.6.48 9.9.63 12.11.83 BRISBANE LIONS 2.1.13 8.6.54 9.9.63 11.13.79 GOALS CASEY DEMONS Kentfield 4 Johnson 2 Billings Brown Hardie Jefferson Laurie BRISBANE LIONS McFadyen 3 Gallop 2 Craven Fazldeen McCarthy McInerney Meekin Ryan BEST CASEY DEMONS Fullarton Spargo Brown Kentfield Laurie Duursma BRISBANE LIONS Mclnerney Annable Zakostelsky Brain McCarthy Craven

It's Game Day and the Demons will be running out on the field with a new Head Coach, albeit a caretaker, for the first time in 3,060 days when they face the Western Bulldogs at the MCG today. What do you want to see from the Demons in the first match of the Post Simon Goodwin era?