Kev

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.

They say that a finals campaign is a new season. Hoping we get to use the Carlton facilities for our training sessions, so we can create a home ground advantage at the 2 or 3 finals games, and really set ourselves to "boom". Move in there and push Carlton out for a while. I'm sure that won't happen. Casey fields just doesn't work for us. Too far to travel, poor public transport, and usually challenging conditions, though it definitely has a home ground advantage. Interstaters must hate all that travel, and the open environment. Why did they start the renovations before the end of AFLW season? (Disorganised, disrespectful or the board thought it was appropriate.) Oh well, anytime, anywhere. Go Dees.

We really have had most of the games our way. No score board pressure and our tackling have forced the errors in our opposition. We have been playing freely. It will be interesting if the opposition start scoring well and they don't panic when we come at them. The yips could easily take over if we start panicking. Hoping winning form gets our confidence high and we continue the fast, hard and attacking game. Would hate to see us drop the bundle. Though we possibly will need to try some tempo footy if we start losing control. We also have been playing in poor environmental conditions. It will be interesting to see how we go when skilled play is easier to do. They say finals are won by pressure and the backline. In this we have been doing very well. I think we are on a mission, we will be too, disciplined, resistant, hardened and strong willed.

Great home and away series by the MFC AFLW team. Even a blow out game like today had plenty of drama and entertainment value. One point, loved that they got themselves into a place where they nearly did it. How was Taylor? Nearly made it happen, Lauren with her snap out of the ruck, the same, and Daisy going for the percentage play instead of aiming to bring home the chocky's. We have so much to like about our team. Our ball movement is aggressive, and must worry the other teams. Skills by foot and hands, our attacking back-line who intercept and trust each other. If not Birch, then it's Gillard, with support from Lampard and Gay. The engine room with Purcell, Hanks and West. Our talls doing lots of ground play and the one percenters. We take marks all over the ground (Birch, Taylor, Zanker, Hore) and we have a few who take it on with run and pace (Bannan, Goldy, Zanker, Lampard, Heath). Then there's Paxy who has grown as an outside runner, Heath is just getting better and her role play along with Mithin continues to stop the opposition. We tackle hard and give others very little space, that pressure ensures turnovers. The kicking of Taylor, Gay, Hore and Gillard is beautiful. There's still growth as we are a young team with, Chaplin, Fitzsimmons, Macklin, Sherrif, holding their own Get our goal conversion right and we dominate. Finals footy now, Go Dees.

Does anyone have what score we need to top Brisbane's percentage?

Eagles started to play early in the 2nd and we were able to get our control back. Our quick play on, move the ball from half-back has been great Birch, Zanker, Taylor and Gillard can be added to our better players. Missing too many shots/snaps on goal.

Tough conditions with that wind. Doing well with us controlling the game, we hunt the ball and the opposition. Plenty of ball movement by hand, the women can trust each other as there is always an outside runner. We are wrestling in our forward 50 where the game has been played. Need to create a bit more space in there. Paxman, Lampard, Hanks, West, Goldy, Lauren and Purcell leading the way.

Essedon has a fair bit of mongrel about them. I can see them being the first AFLW team to get the melee fines, when other teams start the even ups after reviewing them and saying let's take the fight up to them. Good last quarter against the wind.

6.30 pm on a Sunday and the game is still on. Has that happened before? Chaplin so close to her first and doing well.