kev martin

Great for Tasmanian, apparently a stadium with a roof. Hope they get the necessary support from the AFL et al. I assume a team and the stadium will not be ready until 2025, even 2026. Will they get a magic round?

I would have thought they had a vested interest in promoting the AFLW game. Seems getting a small advantage (home), no crowds, minimal atmosphere and no corporates is the priority. Hope Adelaide do them.

Into a full sim. Finally they took a knee and Stinear talked to them for quite some time. Go Dees

After some sprints they split into 3 squads and their simulations were played in a 35 meter by 80 meter field. Congestion and very challenging game. Sherrif has een running some laps. Hopefully like Heath on Tuesday who has now joined the full squad. Duffy walking the boundary. Watt is with the rehabbing team now. The main squad has split into their lines. Paxman with the forwards. Mackin with the mids. Lampard and Heath with the backs.

Marty (volunteer for MFC), tells me AFLW training will be on from 6.45 pm at Gosch's. He also mentioned that the men will begin training, mainly at Gosch's from the 28 or 29th of this month. Into their warm-up, which finished with a bit of, grab the sash from a player through a small group, of british bulldog type. Into three groups. Line kicking, stoppages/smoothers/handball and takling, and a hanball game 4 on 4, with rotations to each station. Colvin and Mcnamara working together, kicking and small run throughs. Sherrif working wth a coach doing precision passes. Duffy handling the balls with a coach. Beautiful evening.

That will be a showcase for the women's game.(sarcasm) The tv broadcast will look like a country game. The crowds will be discouraged to attend, if that is where a GF ends up, wow (no glamour in it). May even, negatively effect attendees and interest to, AFLW next season. The women will have a difficult product to perform in and sell, if they can't get a premier stadium. At this stage in AFLW development they need the crowds, atmosphere and an exciting build up.

Which ground are the AFL putting forward? The article has a pay/fire wall on it.

The impression I got from tonight's training was how supportive they are of each other, their competitive nature, with a strong will to win, even the little stuff. I liked how Libby Birch and Tayla Harris compete and then discuss skills with each other. Karen Paxman, with her warrior bandage works hard and trains with enthusiasm and ego. Daisy does so much talking and giving to others. Hanks, Purcell and Mithen run very hard, always backing up and finding their way to the next contest. Bannan does well below her kness and creates turnovers with pressure, always hunting the ball. Zanker works hard up and down the field, making space and causing her defender to struggle as she leads back into the goal kicking area. Goldy and Mackin have a very professional approach, intention to get better. After most had left the field, they drilled Fitzsimons roving from the ruck of Lauren at stoppage to snap goals. I also noticed Brown working one on one with a coach. She has a beautiful kick, and hands (taking a mark).

Training finished with some goal kicking. Two squads in competition, Happiness the overriding emotion. Go Dees.

Shelley Heath was not with the main squad. Hoping she is fine. Was moving well when doing some one on one with Stinear.

Yes, beautiful, like a carpet.

They finished up with a chat and some social games, like paper/scissors/rock, in the centre of Gosch's Boisterous, happy and in it together. Oops not quite finished, they go into their lines (forward, back, mids) and do more drills. Perhaps not exact with lines as they are a bit mixed.

Into two squads again. This time playing more back-line transition through the centre to a forwad. While the other one drills starting on the wing. Roffey and a few administrators also in attendance.

They are now playing a half field game, one team is the coaches and assistance in the bibs. Seems mainly about finding a connection with the forwards.

Duffy only helping, Colvin one on one kicking, and Fitzsimons rehabbing. Fitz has now joined the squad. Perhaps just a test. Finished the warm ups with a competitive relay. They want to win! They split in half. One half play a two team frisbee game and the others kicking drills, then they swap.

Squad is out, first on is Daisy. Lots of noise then the whistle brings them to the line. Last in is Katy Hore.

Down at Gosch's, training cart has turned up. Heath having some one on one kicking with Stinear. Windy, cold, minimal rain.

AFLW administrators are really showing how disorganised they can be. Not giving the women much time to reorganise their time and work commitments in order to play this seasons AFLW. Not giving a heads up to Casey àbout having an early starting fixture, so the change rooms would be available for the finals. Not being able to find an oval for Brisbane to play a home grandfinal. Allowing Richmond to dictate where they play their final and not use an oval that can accommodate a larger crowd. Do the women know when the next season starts and finishes?

Down to the wire, good 3 minutes

Tough first quarter, and in the second we said we are not going to take it anymore! We didn't handle the early pressure, were well beaten at stoppages, and lacked any system going into the forward 50. Concerned about our need to break tackles, but eventually we were able to do it. Our tackling was great, though we were not rewarded by umpires for it. Zanker took a while to get into it. Loved the way Hanks reads the play, thought our best was her and Purcell. How about Bannan, take it on, wow. Others who played well were Mithin for her role of closing down others and the number of hard hits she took, also Lampard, Macklin, Gillard, Chaplin, Sheriff, Daisy, Paxy, Lauren, West, and Goldy. Taylor gets a hard run from the umps. First Quarter, blocked when in mark contest, pushed in the back when rucking and a hit to her head. Doesn’t complain, just keeps going harder. Great coaching again, Hore, to on the ball and used as an outside carrier really messed with the Crows set up. He got the match ups right after the first, and closed down their ball getters/movers. Loved that he talked to Mithin at half-time, maybe about how to avoid the tackler and to prioritise tagging. Hore needs to goal when out front, know the moment, a 12 point turn around and gave them a sniff. Well fought after that, by the team. The Crows didn't like it, LOL, (somebody did belt Randall) we gave them no room, our pack running and tackling hurt them. Birch loves her footy. Chaplin looks to be the talker at the start of the second, all buying in. Good win Dees.

Our tacklers have been hitting them hard and repeatedly. I expect this to continue as we pressure the ball carrier and they panic and hear the footsteps. Look out Randall.

Quote from Meggs, " Mick Stinear, the Demons coach, wants his team to continue to live in the moment, take their chances for goal and play out the full four quarters. Ikon is a happy ground for Melbourne and our game plan will flourish in a more pristine environment than the travails of Casey Fields." i think if we take our chances for goals well, we win. Last few games we have played for the four quarters, give them nothing, fight, fight all game. We have also been playing mainly in our forward 50 area. I assume this is where the game style will change for us. They need to be ready to fight all over the field. The backline has been great at repelling the opposition's forward forays easily. I believe this is where we could also win or lose it. They will have to work hard on Friday. I want Gillard to play close to her opponent and for Birch to read the play and go after the intercepts. They have been very good at launching attacks from the defensive arc with lots of precision balls, spread, and aggressive use of the corridors. Be interesting to see if they back themselves for the entire game, or go into their shell if it doesn't pay off, and some errors and turnovers happen. Our midfield has been great this year and I expect them to keep on, keeping on. Our field marking including the forwards has been an advantage for us, keep clunking them Dees. Can't wait to see some of our runners break the lines. Play smart Dees, and as Stinear said, "play in the moment" Go Dees.

Saw the team selections https://www.womens.afl/news/113307/qualifying-final-teams-crows-captain-back-after-rapid-recovery We go in unchanged. Great for our cohesion. Adelaide have Randall returning. Hope she is underdone, as she is an important player for them when she plays. A powerhouse, who can play back or forward.

I hope not. Would much rather have them play somewhere close to MCG. Casey is such a difficult venue to get to and the conditions don't help for showcase footy. To change venue at the end of season stills seems strange to me. Would have liked to get Ikon for our tor training purposes and develop as a home base. As for building contracts. Would assume plenty have written in them circumstances that allow for delays, etcetera. The contractor definitely has it, so assume the contractee has it as well. I am not a legal, but start and finish dates are generally flexible. So priorities to the mens team! The womens fixture was brought forward, so the contract was going to be finished before late January (last years women's fixture start date). So the men start the season about late March. Finishing the sheds by late February would not be a great sacrifice for the men, as they could use Gosch's as a temporary venue.

Could have delayed them. Only needed 4 weeks.