Demonland

Correct me if I'm wrong but we would need to get polaxed next week to still not finish on top?

Foundation teams Fremantle and Melbourne clash early Saturday afternoon at the Demons’ fortress at Casey Fields in this penultimate round of the 2023 home and away season. It’s Shelley Heath’s 50th game this week and there is not one Melbourne supporter who doesn’t love Heater. The way she goes about it at 160 cms, big smiles and then takes on some of the biggest names in AFLW reducing them to shadows of their former selves. Her tackles are a joyful work of art to be savoured. Heater earned 1 coach’s vote last week for her efforts running with one of the league’s best players in Jasmine Garner. Meggs presumes Mick voted for Heath, but he cannot believe that North coach Darren Crocker gave Jazzy 1 one vote for her game. Gosh, Emma Kearney and Erika O’Shea were much better choices for him if he wanted a North player. Our group really jelled and felled North Melbourne last week and held them to a miserable 1-point for the last 3-quarters. Incredible team defence Dees. Such a driving force from Hanksy and Liv Purcell, with Tahlia Gillard an impenetrable wall with her punching and marking. Fremantle, who were Season Six preliminary finalists, haven’t defeated any team in the eight this season and their form line suggests nothing different will occur on Saturday. Selection this week Some were debating whether Tayla Harris is in our best side. Well to Meggs there is no doubt Tayla brings so much to this team. Selfless, incredible physical presence, arguably the best contested mark in the league, kicks the ball a mile, just makes a contest when it looks impossible. So, if Tay’s fit, she’s selected for sure. The selection committee will also have to decide whether to bring back Gaby Colvin at the likely expense of Charlotte Wilson. Willo was excellent last week in defence especially in the third quarter. Will there be mystery injury of the week? Maeve went down nastily last Saturday but we presume she’s good to go. A tough cookie is Maeve. Our opponents, Fremantle For Fremantle the bad news is that Ebony Antonio is out for the Season. Freo have a couple of tests for Round 9 in Amy Mulholland and the experienced Sarah Verrier. Irish export Aine Tighe is a tall, athletic, rangy player who has taken to AFLW and is really exciting to watch. Her pace and skills allow her to be such a dynamic forward and certainly a hard one to match up on. The Dees brains trust has a conundrum. Who has the pace and size to run with Aine? Expect it won’t be Birch but Gillard or more likely Goldie or Gay. In the midfield they have league champion Kiara Bowers, skipper Hayley Miller and Irish newcomer Orlagh Lally who was impressive last week against the Saints. Dana East was busy too. Ruck Mim Strom has impressed this year and will test Loz Pearce and Georgia Campbell on Saturday. Freo are 4 wins 4 losses and won well at home against St Kilda last week. Meggs’ view No rain is forecast for Saturday, and it will be sunny, a coolish 17-19 degrees with gusty winds. Meggs is heading down the Monash and anticipates a Dees victory but expects Freo to bring a committed effort. Hopefully our contested ball work and slingshot run and carry game style will prevail. It would not surprise if one of our top-drawer forward titans kicks a bag on Saturday. Having three league leading goal scorers in your side (Zanker, Hore and Bannan) must give Mick Stinear supreme confidence that his team can always kick a winning score. Watch out in the 4th quarter. Freo’s defenders will have their work cut out for them for sure. A little percentage boost won’t hurt our minor premiership aspirations so let’s win and win well. Keep our eyes on the prize. Go Dees! Melbourne by 38 points THE GAME Melbourne v Fremantle at Casey Fields, on Saturday 27 October 2023 at 1:05pm (Melbourne time) HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 5 wins Fremantle 2 wins At Casey Fields Melbourne 2 wins Fremantle 1 win The Coaches Stinear 0 wins Webb 0 wins MEDIA TV - Fox Footy, Kayo. Mobile – AFL Live Official App Radio – Casey Radio 97.7 fm from 12:35pm. THE LAST TIME THEY MET (Round 6, Season 7) Melbourne 10.6 (66) defeated Fremantle 5.6 (36) at Fremantle Oval, 2 October 2022 The Dees were unconvincing for 3 quarters as Fremantle at home were highly competitive and only down by 4 points at the 4-minute mark of the last quarter. Melbourne’s skilled ball movement and marking superiority proved too powerful in the last quarter with 4 unanswered goals to win by 30 points. This placed the Dees 5-1 and inside the top-four with Brisbane, Adelaide and Collingwood. Kate Hore starred with 3 classy goals, while midfielders Tyla Hanks (21 disposals and 5 clearances) and Liv Purcell (26 and five) set up the attacking chains that proved to be the difference in that final quarter. Eden Zanker and former Docker Sabreena Duffy kicked two goals each. Champion player Kiara Bowers (26 and eight inside 50s) and their captain Hayley Miller (17 and five clearances) were the best for the Dockers. MELBOURNE 2.1.13 5.2.32 6.3.39 10.6.66 FREMANTLE 2.1.13 3.2.20 5.3.33 5.6.36 GOALS MELBOURNE Hore 3 Duffy Zanker 2 Harris Pearce Purcell FREMANTLE Bowers Franklin Kauffman Miller
 Tighe BEST MELBOURNE Hanks Purcell Hore Zanker Paxman Harris FREMANTLE Bowers Miller, East Tighe O'Sullivan INJURIES MELBOURNE Nil FREMANTLE Nil REPORTS MELBOURNE Nil FREMANTLE Nil THE TEAMS MELBOURNE B L. Birch T. Gillard HB S. Goldrick M. Gay M. Chaplin C B. Mackin T. Hanks E. McNamara HF A. Bannan L. Mithen E. Zanker F M. Fitzsimon K. Hore FOLL L. Pearce E. West S. Heath I/C G. Campbell P. Paxman O. Purcell C. Sherriff C. Wilson EMG G. Gall J. Ivey R. Watt No change FREMANTLE B E. O'Driscoll P. Seth HB R. Roux S. Gibbs M. Scanlon C J. Low G. O'Sullivan O. Lally HF H. Miller L. Pugh M. Kauffman F S. Wielstra K. Bowers FOLL M. Strom D. East A. Stannett I/C J. Flynn M. Hyde T. Mulder A. Mulholland A. Runnalls EMG E. Fiedler A. Hetherington M. Tuhakaraina IN A. Mulholland S. Wielstra OUT A. Tighe (knee soreness) M. Tuhakaraina (omitted) Injury List: Round 9 Gaby Colvin - Achilles | Test Tayla Harris - Hamstring | Test Aimee Mackin - Ankle | 1 Week Sarah Lampard - Wrist | 2 - 4 Weeks

Bad words are subjective. Posters might not think it is rude when referring to others as idiots but posters most definitely take offence when it is they that are being referred to as the idiot. Believe me anytime someone on this site was called an idiot they complained. It was easier for moderating purposes to censor the word. And here I was thinking you called him an [censored]. I will let this one slide because you are the only poster with an aqua colouring to your name. 😜

Can you point me in the direction of the thread. I did a search beforehand and couldn't find anything. Sorry I'm new here.

Please keep this discussion on topic and please do not discuss any issues in regards to the board or legal issues at the MFC.

There was buzzing in the grandstand, for the word had passed around that the mighty Crows had fallen during the day. It had opened up a glitch for one of the two teams on the pitch to sit alone atop of the array. By the end of the night, it was Narrm, with our trademark #DemonSpirit, just too good for too long and BACK ON TOP, on percentage, of the AFLW Season Eight premiership ladder. It was an impressive defensive display by Narrm at its favourite home ground, with North scoring a solitary point after quarter time. The modest crowd numbers would have disappointed the powers that be but nevertheless, it was a pleasure to feel the twilight atmosphere at Ikon and witness the football spectacle on such an immaculate playing surface. The majority crowd were Narrm supporters who Meggs is sure thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Vice-Captain Tyla Hanks was clearly the best player on the ground and should earn the 10 coaches votes this week. The media heaps praise on coaches votes leader Jas Garner (who is typically outstanding) but she won’t vote this week thanks to Shelley Heath’s monumental containment effort. Liv Purcell too was prolific too with her characteristically strong performance. The Dees really spread the load having 13 different players with more than 10 possessions while North had only 9. Meggs had Hanks, Purcell, Hore, Mithen, B. Mackin, Gillard and Heath as the best players but there were quite a few others that could have been mentioned. It was said that Libby Birch looks comfortable behind the microphone and her defensive group was truly excellent on Saturday. Now having secured top spot, they need to maintain it by knocking off Freo next week at Casey and then defeat Brisbane in Round 10. If they do, we the minor premiership, Dr McLelland Trophy, a handy $1m plus first dibs on a home grand final. This season is so much fun to watch, hope you are enjoying it too. In terms of the game: Wurundjeri elder Uncle Bill Nicholson Jnr gives a rousing welcome to country, Emma Kearney with Mia King wins the coin toss and finally we are underway. Q1 Lots of talk from the commentators about how to stop Jas Garner. It doesn’t take them long to work out that the Narrm Coach Mick Stinear has sent Heater (Shelley Heath) to blanket her. North with some good pressure score the first goal by Irish player Niamh Martin, her first in AFLW. Meggs notices Fitzsimon, a late inclusion, picking up goal-sneak Alice O’Loughlin. A 50-metre infringement by Erika O’Shea leads to Casey Sherriff taking her shot from 30 metres and she nails it. All square. Isn’t it great to see Paxy back out there? Hanksy seems to be everywhere. The Dees fail to clear the ball and it ends up with North’s Tess Craven who kicks a long bomb from 45 metres to take the lead. ¼ time: Dees 1.1.7 Kangaroos 2.1.13 Q2 Maeve Chaplin is tackled by Amy Smith, sister of Joel, and goes off hurt. Soon Kate Hore takes a ripper contested mark 25 metres out and converts. Kate you star! The Dees are starting to win the ball and run and carry. Some exciting passages. Heathy is having a great quarter. Kate then gets on the end of good run but hits the post. Thankfully we see Chappy ready to come back on. She’s one tough cookie. Georgia Campbell wins a ruck infringement and goals. A very happy team celebration ensues. A good quarter from Narrm and Paxy confirms that it’s a hot contest out there. ½ time: Dees 3.4.22 Kangaroos 2.1.13 Q3 Narrm continues to apply team pressure. Hanksy outclasses everyone from a ball up, showing off her speed and skill, to kick a brilliant goal. With the first four inside 50s for the quarter it feels like Narrm is in control. But then the final few minutes of the quarter are played out in North’s forward half. Charlotte Wilson with stoic defence has some of her best moments in a Narrm jumper. No score for North that quarter. ¾ time: Dees 4.5.29 Kangaroos 2.1.13 Q4 Narrm proves yet again they are the 4th quarter specialists by keeping their opponents goalless. Gilliard taking lots of contested marks while Purcell, Hanks, Heathy and everyone are buzzing and making it impossible for North to get back into this game. Eventually Zanker takes a strong contested mark and superbly goals from 40 metres out and it is game over Roos. Dees 5.7.37 Kangaroos 2.2.14. Coaches and next week Narrm Coach Mick Stinear said it was a really tough game of footy and we showed effort for four quarters. He was particularly pleased with the strength of our team defence and our ability to maintain the ball in the forward half. He wasn’t worried about the lack of scoring, citing a couple of misses on the goal line. He praised Shelley Heath for her run-with roll on Jasmine Garner, using her speed to limit Jas’ usual output. North coach Darren Crocker said his team tonight was not the real North Melbourne, that’s not the way we want to play. He said to Narrm’s credit they put North under a lot of pressure and his team couldn’t move the ball like they have against lesser sides. Next week we are back at Casey Fields to take on Fremantle at 1:05pm Saturday 28 October 2023 while North journey to the City of Churches for another testing Top Four clash against Adelaide next Sunday. NARRM 1.1.7 3.4.22 4.5.29 5.7.37 NORTH MELBOURNE 2.1.13 2.1.13 2.1.13 2.2.14 GOALS NARRM Campbell Hanks Hore Sherriff Zanker NORTH MELBOURNE Craven Martin BEST NARRM Hanks Purcell Hore Mithen B Mackin Gillard NORTH MELBOURNE Riddell Kearney M King Garner O'Shea Ferguson LATE CHANGES NARRM Aimee Mackin (ankle) and Gab Colvin (Achilles) replaced in selected side by Megan Fitzsimon and Charlotte Wilson NORTH MELBOURNE Nil INJURIES NARRM Nil NORTH MELBOURNE Nil REPORTS NARRM Nil NORTH MELBOURNE Nil UMPIRES Howard Morgan Simmonds CROWD 2,704 at Ikon Park

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

ADELAIDE Ben Keays Brodie Smith Elliot Himmelberg Rory Sloane Taylor Walker BRISBANE LIONS Darragh Joyce Jarrod Berry Ryan Lester Hugh McCluggage CARLTON Caleb Marchbank Matt Cottrell COLLINGWOOD Jeremy Howe Oleg Markov Scott Pendlebury Steele Sidebottom Will Hoskin-Elliot ESSENDON Andrew McGrath Dyson Heppell Todd Goldstein FREMANTLE Bailey Banfield Corey Wagner Ethan Hughes Matt Taberner Sean Darcy GEELONG Brandon Parfitt Cam Guthrie Gary Rohan Jack Henry Jake Kolodjashnij Jed Bews Mark O’Connor Mitch Duncan Rhys Stanley Tom Stewart Tom Hawkins Zach Guthrie Zach Tuohy GOLD COAST Alex Sexton Ben Ainsworth Darcy McPherson Jarrod Witts Levi Casboult Nick Holman Sean Lemmons GWS Adam Kennedy Callan Ward Harry Perryman Isaac Cumming Nick Haynes HAWTHORN Blake Hardwick Conor Nash Harry Morrison Luke Breust MELBOURNE Jake Melksham Josh Schache Tom McDonald NORTH MELBOURNE Bigoa Nyuon Cam Zurhaar Liam Shiels PORT ADELAIDE Charlie Dixon Quinton Narkle Todd Marshall Travis Boak Willem Drew RICHMOND Dion Prestia Dustin Martin Dylan Grimes Jack Graham Kamdyn McIntosh Noah Cumberland Toby Nankervis ST KILDA Jimmy Webster Josh Battle Liam Stocker Seb Ross Tim Membrey SYDNEY SWANS Harry Cunningham Lewis Melican Ollie Florent Robbie Fox Will Hayward WEST COAST EAGLES Andrew Gaff Elliot Yeo Jamaine Jones Liam Duggan WESTERN BULLDOGS Jason Johannisen Tom Liberatore Tim English