Craig T

Yeah, reading the article I got the distinct impression that the trip to Casey was a significant factor in his decision. And I don't blame him.

Agree. I think Georgia C has the makings of a good athletic, goal kicking ruck.

Yeah, how much longer? It's not as if the new coach can walk straight in as soon as they are appointed and be on top of things, there needs to be some settling in period, getting to know the players, team dynamics, etc. The longer this is delayed the less time they'll have to really start to get to work. Unless Shae is appointed, of course. On this line of thinking, I saw that one of the rule changes for the coming season will be the "jumping centre bounce", for want of a better term, that has also been introduced for the men. https://www.afl.com.au/aflw/news/1479704/four-rule-alterations-announced-ahead-of-2026-aflw-season "At centre ball-ups, rucks cannot cross the centre circle line and engage with their opponent prior to contesting the football". This is a real issue for Loz Pearce. I love Loz but her jumping days are well behind her, but she was smart enough to realize under the old rule as soon as the umpire threw the ball up she could run across the centre circle and body her opponent. In body on body ruck contests, as you always get for around the ground stoppages and boundary throw ins, she's as good as there is, so she was still able to be effective at centre contests. But she can't do that now and will get jumped all over by most of the younger rucks. I guess it means Georgia C will have to be the centre queen, but then how will Loz be used? Will she start on the ground, say in the forward pocket, and then take over rucking duties as usual, with Georgie going forward or leaving the ground while someone comes on? Or will Loz sit on the bench for each centre bounce, and then run on as soon as the game restarts, with Georgia running off? If Loz is still going to be an important part of the team there will need to be a significant accommodation due to this new rule. And surely the new coach would need to be part of this.

I think the poor turnout of fans at the prelim was at least part due to us not developing our base to begin with. Yes, being in a prelim should pull plenty of the casual fans, but if the hardcore numbers aren't what they should be that doesn't help. And playing the vast bulk of our home games at Casey won't meaningfully grow our numbers. It's always instructive to say "what if the men.....". Well imagine if all but one of the men's home games were played at such a remote location, and despite having a great winning culture from go to woe attendance numbers weren't great. I know where much of the blame would be leveled. As for alternative venues, that's been discussed at some length previously, with several good suggestions, so I'm not going to go over that ground (ha!) again, except for drawing one comparison. In round two last year we played St. Kilda at Casey, and despite it being our first home game, the whole helicopter ball drop incentive, and the fact the Saints had just beaten Adelaide in round one, 2152 people showed up. The following week we played Collingwood at Vic Park, and the crowd was 2794, an increase of 30%. And being there I can tell you most of them were Dees fans. So I'd venture to suggest that ANY inner city venue would be preferable. But I will say that from my own experience, I've had enough. I've traveled out to Casey for the vast bulk of our games since 2017. I do so by public transport as I prefer to leave the car for my partner should she need it. From the inner city it's usually a seven hour round trip for an 80 minute footy match, and often more if buses are replacing trains. If I was living in country Victoria and I wanted to watch my team play in Melbourne that's fair enough, but having to give up that much time to attend home games for a team that geographically is literally minutes from where I live is ridiculous. And as I said previously, with no real explanation from the club as to any meaningful reason why it might be beneficial for anyone involved.

I know it is stating the blindingly obvious but playing at Casey is not helping develop a strong supporter base or promote the team. But the fact the club seems perfectly happy with this and has, to my knowledge, never tried to justify the reason is illuminating.

Given to this point most AFLW players across the comp would only have had a male senior coach they might not yet be in the best position to make a valid comparison.

Brewer hasn't been particularly successful at VFLW level, taking over a team that had finished 10th in a twelve team comp, lifting them to 8th, but then dropping to wooden spooners this year. I know he's been part of the AFLW coaching team, but I hope it's not going to be a case of an "experienced" man, irrespective of the level of success he's had, getting the gig over a woman who's been equally impressive at the assistant level.

".....Jemma Rigoni departing the club to take up an opportunity with Collingwood." So.....delisted? Or she chose to go and we let do so without attempting a trade?

Hmmm. Can't but help get the feeling now Carlton have Bohanna, Scholz, S. McKay, etc., Austin is basically a cast off.

I guess the only leverage we had was that she really wanted to go to Freo, or WA at least. If a deal wasn't done I don't think she'd have wanted to take her chances in the draft.

We have to remember how the voting system works. I'm guessing every player gets a certain number of votes every game, and under that system if you miss matches it really pulls you back. Zanker effectively missed two matches, so no (in the game she missed) or minimal (in the game she was concussed early) votes in those games. It makes it hard to catch up when players who are even having average games are still getting votes. Same with top ten finishers Heath, missing most of the Collingwood game and one other match completely, and S. Taylor, who missed a few with her hammy. Bannan played every game. If you look at votes per game the top ten would look quite a bit different. The biggest hit was probably to Chaplin, who finished only four votes away from third after missing two games. But it's still probably a fairer system than 3-2-1!

And get a free Mazda.

You're right. We got shafted. 😠

Was actually Daisy, just after we won the flag if I recall correctly. The average person wouldn't have known exactly what she was referring to until Emma Kearney, unbidden, came out all defensive and criticized Daisy for making the comment. In the men's game, yes. But not in the women's, apparently.

I was just about to post the same thing. Also helps you keep the player once you've got them. Not many youngsters in their early twenties want to give up a free car.

Gabby's a great person. Her last few years have been cruelled by injury. I now have a hope she might go back to Darebin and play a few season with the Falcs. 😁

Yes, I've been eyeing her for a while. Originally a Melbourne girl who "mysteriously" nominated Queensland as her destination in her draft year. She might want to come back home. Provided the AFL doesn't get in the way, of course. 🙄

If they have Shae Sloane lined up to take over make the announcement immediately. Don't leave it hanging and allow any potential uncertainty to lead players to consider a move elsewhere.

Slightly off topic, but just a thought that crossed my mind. If Carlton win tonight (and I know Brisbane are warm favourites) it will be the first time there have been two Victorian teams in the AFLW Grand Final. As such would the league consider playing the match at docklands? I’m pretty sure the reason they would say no is that docklands needs to attract a certain number of fans to break even due to its high running costs, and they don’t trust the AFLW Grand Final to reach that number. A bit of internet research has suggested that number is 20,000. However I assume that is based on a men’s home and away match, which has an adult ticket price of $27, whereas the cost of an adult ticket for the AFLW Grand Final is $35. As such the break even crowd for the women’s GF should be around 15,500. Given Princess Park has attracted over 12K of its supposed 13K capacity for the last two Grand Finals featuring a non-Victorian club, I would think there’s a fair chance you’d get your 15.5K for two Vic teams. Certainly enough of a chance to take the risk, I would think. If the AFL actually wanted to take the opportunity to maximize exposure for the biggest game of the AFLW season, of course. Oh, and it seems docklands is free next weekend.

I've heard Shae Sloane is regarded as a candidate for the vacant coaching spots. If Mick leaves, will Shae be more inclined to stay and take our senior position?

Sadly life has gotten in the way. ☹️ But if we are still alive next week............life will have to take a back seat.

Will do everything in my power to be there!

Yeah, I thought Denby was pretty good last week. Was a bit shaky in her first game back from injury a few weeks ago but she's gotten better with each game.

Gee would love to have Liv Purcell available........

GA is all we ever get!