Meggs

Thnx heaps for doing this. ps Fitzy is 22

Done. Saints are mathematically out of finals contention, losing by a point to the Doggies in Ballarat today.

No Kate Hore or Gaby tonight 😦 https://www.afl.com.au/news/1248443

We all can agree with this statement. Brisbane doesn't play Hawthorn (current ladder position 2), Richmond (5), Fremantle (6), Port (7) or Essendon (8) this season and their 7 wins so far were against Adel (3) and 6 teams not in the eight. It has indisputably been a soft draw compared to the Dees who play every team in the eight other than Port. But we're at the pointy end of the home and away season and going alright. Two more wins plz and hoping that Essendon have hit the wall. Go Dees.

Meggs was similarly concerned before the match but we had nothing to worry about. Liv, Paxy and Edo were great contributors today!

Thanks 58er. You raise a lot of good points. We certainly need a discussion on the composition of the current team list and outlook for list managment. We will struggle in our upcoming games against Adelaide, St Kilda, Richmond and Hawthorn. A tough 4 games in 15 days with the last in the humidity of Cairns! GWS and Collingwood are not going so well either which improves our chances in these games. However our injury list doesn't have many players returning this season. Meggs wasn't sure what a 'tattling' player was? Recommend you watch the highlights of last Thursday's Geelong v Hawthorn game at GMHBA if you have access to Kayo. The Hawks have some super young talent.

Yes, a season defining injury list. Beasley, Blaithin and Edo added, Paxy and Rigoni as test hopefully coming off, plus we have a timeframe for Liv. CTTG mentioned that Melbourne is in top up territory… we await Todd P’s next move. Meggs suggests Casey BnF and VFLW team of the year member, Meg McDonald. A Tyabb bred ball winning midfielder.

Dees only have 2 emergencies for Saturday, youngsters Johnson and Madigan. A condensed draw with 3 games in 10 days will surely see more injuries. The AFL may have kicked an own goal here. Collingwood similarly suffering from lack of player availability. If we are allowed to add further injury replacement players, Casey BnF winner Meg McDonald, while not quick, is a ball magnet with AFLW experience and would enhance our current list balance.

Final team changes: As predicted, North Melbourne has regained Alice O'Loughlin (suspension) and Erika O'Shea (knee). Lucy Burke and Niamh Martin are the omissions. Melbourne has made just the one unforced change. Georgia Gall a young 183cm lead up forward comes in her 3rd game replacing the promising utility Ryleigh Wotherspoon. Gally was possibly spotted in the Arden Street crowd last Sunday and hopefully learned something she can put to good use against our opponents this week. If she can hold her marks or earn a free, her long left foot boot is a real weapon. Wotherspoon has been quieter than her practice match form and will have been given things to work on. She will be back soon, no doubt. See ya Sunday at 1:05pm

BOM weather forecast for the Cranbourne area at 11am tomorrow: A fine and sunny 14 degrees (but feels like 11), with winds gusting up to 24 km/hr. Now doesn't that sound enticing? See y'all there at Casey Fields for Banno's 50th and a huge game! ps: hopefuly the M1 traffic is flowing

The list seems a little top heavy to Meggs. Especially now we've lost speedster Aimee Mackin and gun mid Liv Purcell. There are 4 designated rucks on our list (Pearce, Campbell, Watt and Hose). Mick also regularly throws Harris and Zanker into the ruck at times plus we have Georgia Gall, training as a lead up marking forward. Replacement players should be quick, mobile, contested ballwinners, not more one-paced talls. Predicting that Mick brings in Georgia (Gall or Campbell) for Tayla. But would prefer to see Pisano or Johnson.

Poor Liv. Suffered nasty facial fractures and concussion in the last quarter of the practice match against Port Adelaide. https://www.afl.com.au/news/1201179 She’ll miss a sizeable chunk of the season. A huge blow for the team too. Best wishes Liv for a full and rapid recovery.

Tim, you can find the squad for today's game: https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/1630367/squad-set-dees-selected-for-port-match MELBOURNE is set to face Port Adelaide for the first time in AFLW history. The Dees will travel to Alberton Oval on Sunday to meet the Power in an official practice match. For the final hit-out before Round 1, Melbourne has named a 24-player squad with a combination of fresh and experienced talent bolstering the side. Paxy Paxman and Gab Colvin will be travelling to Adelaide for their first game of the pre-season, having missed last week’s match simulation against Carlton due to injury. Fans will once again get a look at an array of new Demons with Ryleigh Wotherspoon, Alyssia Pisano, Denby Taylor, Grace Hill and Grace Beasley all selected for the Sunday game. Delany Madigan and Lily Johnson have been named as emergencies. The practice match will consist of four 15-minute quarters (with time on) as per the regular in-season game set-up. For supporters unable to make it to Alberton Oval, the match will be live streamed here from 11:30am (AEST) tomorrow. Link to the livestream: https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/1628768/live-stream-port-adelaide-v-melbourne

https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/1623227/new-faces-on-show-in-first-demon-tune-up

VFLW Season 2024 Review MFC has posted a Casey Media article on Season 2024: https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/1609918/vflw-2024-season-review By the numbers VFLW Season 2024 was a 14-game season. Casey ended the season in 8th place (out of 14 teams). With 5 wins, one draw and a percentage of 62.4%, Casey ended up just 1 game but a whopping 51.2% outside the Top-6. An experimental fixture included a ‘5-game incursion’ by GWS and Sydney against the other teams playing 14 games. Stacked with AFLW-listed players GWS (415.3%) and Sydney (345.5%) won (mostly) by huge margins which distorted every team’s percentage. Casey lost to Sydney by 85 points in Round 5. VFLW finals North finished 4th during home and away but won 3 straight finals games to be the 2024 VFLW premiers. North trounced Essendon in Week 1 and then defeated minor premiers, Williamstown, to through to the Grand Final. Western Bulldogs (who finished 2nd) did it the hard way, losing to Willy in Week 1, then defeating Port Melbourne in the Semi Final, then turning the tables on Willy in the Prelim. The Grand Final between the Kangas and the Bulldogs had both groups of supporters on edge. North got out to 31-point lead midway through the 2nd quarter but the Doggies bit hard and drew level by ¾ time. However North kicked 2 quick goals early in the last quarter to eventually win by 20 points. Casey Season highlights Round 3: last gasp defeat of eventual premiers North at Arden Street by 3 points. Several AFLW-listed players helped out that day. Lampy was simply outstanding in the midfield. We got to see Lily Johnson, Ryleigh Wotherspoon and Delany Madigan in action. All three impressed with Wotherspoon instrumental in kicking the ball deep to Joanna Lin who marked and converted for the win. Round 4: defeat of reigning premiers Port Melbourne at Casey Fields by 23 points. With 8 AFLW-listed players, Casey was super competitive on this day. Sarah Lampard again starred with great support from Tahlia Gillard in the ruck and Meg McDonald busy in the midfield. Round 7: draw against the eventual 2024 minor premiers Williamstown at Casey Fields. On that day the Casey' coach's 17-year-old daughter, and Oakleigh Chargers player, Charlotte Brewer, made her VFLW debut. With 18 disposals and 7 tackles she really impressed on the wing against a super physical team in Willy. Charlotte is the granddaughter of Melbourne 121 game / 196 goal half-forward Ross Brewer. Season overview Coach Matt Brewer rued the number of injuries, lack of depth and available talent at times during the season. He challenged the playing group with a new game style this year and says it will be a learning curve for the team over the coming years. Meggs was really impressed by young players, ruck Lauren Jatczak from Northern Knights and small Tylah Burn who was racking up the possession numbers prior to suffering a syndesmosis injury. The coach also mentioned promising youngster Alexi Kasteliotis who debuted in 2024. Offseason recruiting targeting leg speed across the ground will help. 2023 offseason AFLW recruits, Meg McDonald (Richmond), Joanna Lin (Collingwood), Sarah D'Arcy (Richmond), were all instrumental in driving Casey forward. Meg McDonald would have to be a heavy Casey B&F favourite. It’s hard to believe she is not on an AFLW list. Retirement Ex AFLW Dee Sammie Johnson, who was a tower of strength all year, has announced her retirement. She will be missed, and we wish her well. Goalkickers Talented Irish player Niamh O'Neill finished 6th in the VFLW goalkicking table with 15. While dynamo small forward Jo Lin kicked 10 goals from 10 games. AFLW-listed players at Casey As part of their off-season management, 12 Melbourne AFLW-listed players donned the Casey jumper during season 2024 (games): Alyssa Bannan (2), Georgia Campbell (1), Maeve Chaplin (1), Georgia Gall (3), Tahlia Gillard (3), Grace Hill (3), Lily Johnson (5), Sarah Lampard (2), Delany Madigan (4), Jemma Rigoni (4), Saraid Taylor (2), Ryleigh Wotherspoon (4) AFLW preseason It’s only a month before Melbourne’s first match of the 2024 AFLW season against the Cats on Saturday, 31 August 2024, at the upgraded Mordor (GMHBA) Stadium. The team has been busy integrating lots of new faces at training, Goldie is back from Ireland, and it will be fascinating to see how our team lines up in the upcoming practice games (especially the backline). https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/1598499/aflw-practice-matches-announced Practice and match simulation games have been announced Friday 9 August (5:00pm AEST), Melbourne returns to IKON Park to take on Carlton, the first time the teams have gone head-to-head since Round 5 in Season 7. Sunday 18 August (11:30am AEST) the team plays Port Adelaide at Alberton. This will be the first interstate club trip for a number of first-year players. This match will be live-streamed on the club’s site. Go Demons!