Dees_In_October

It's got to be done, so... 6 Hore 5 Hanks 4 McNamara 3 Chaplin 2 Harris 1 Colvin

That would have been some kind of an underserved victory if we stole that one! To be honest, I was a bit nervous about this as our first travel game. Credit to Port Adelaide. Their pressure was great and they made us play their game. At times, some of their players simply looked hungrier. Cons: Over-used the footy badly, fumbles galore Forward connection clearly left behind in Melbourne Woeful, inaccurate goalkicking Backline exposed – would have loved Gillard out there Are we seeing the end of Pearce? Positives: Good fight back, got the run and carry going, then more direct Honestly, winning that one after playing that way would probably not have been beneficial in the big picture Kate Hore is one hell of a competitor When we play teams with a physical presence and the ability to put proper pressure on the ball carrier, things tend to fall apart. Often our ball carriers were fumbly and then left stranded without that second layer of support. The Purcell-shaped hole gets larger the greater the quality of opposition – and there’s just no obvious fix for that in an immediate sense. Hanks is putting in some season but she's a 20% better player with Purcell there. To make finals we need 6, possibly 7 wins total. So, 3-4 more. We underestimate West Coast at our peril.

Avg. games experience of teams as selected: Melbourne: 40.4 Port: 36.1 Age breakdown of selected teams: Melbourne: 9 (aged 18-22); 8 (22-29); 4 (30+) Port: 14 (aged 18-22); 2 (22-29); 5 (30+) Top 5 avg. disposal efficiency (avg. disposals) Rnd 1-4*: Melbourne: Chaplin 77.3% (17.8); Hanks 71.3% (28.5); Zanker 70% (14.0); Hore 69.8% (20.5); Paxman 63.4% (18.5) Port: Goody 71.0% (13.0); Brooksby 61.8% (14.5); Lamb 59.7% (13.0); Syme 58.7% (15.2); Scholz 50.8% (16.8) *Players with 3+ games and averaging 13+ disposals In this game: - The Dees play Port for premiership points for the first time, leaving the Swans as the only opponents we haven't faced in AFLW. - Kate Hore overtakes Lily Mithen as the games record holder for Melbourne (83 games). - Megan Fitzsimon plays her 50th game. In 2025 so far, she has 33 tackles, the equal-most in our team and equal-10th in the league.

Port Adelaide v Melbourne at Alberton Oval, 2.35pm ACST PORT ADELAIDE In: K.Lamb, J.Evans Out: C.Hammond (finger), L.Paterson (omitted) MELBOURNE In: Nil Out: Nil

Soon we might be able to select a full team from our actual list. An embarrassment of riches! And (touch wood) have no forced changes for this weekend.

Injury List 9/9 Gillard (knee) – 1-2 weeks Goldrick (shoulder) – 1-2 weeks D.Taylor (foot) – 2-3 weeks Lampard (calf) – 3-4 weeks Beasley (knee) – 5-7 weeks B.Mackin (knee) – 6-8 weeks ______________________________ Purcell (knee) – season Hose (back) – inactive A.Mackin (knee) – inactive

Hope that's the case for Lampy. Jacinta, bit of a forgotten player! Hopefully gets a good go at it in 2026.

Averaging 43% TOG, definitely an anomaly. Considering we've had Harris, Purcell and Heath all out of games relatively early, the rotations have presumably been limited at times. I wouldn't say we're running out games well. Maybe it's something they want to work on in these early rounds by pushing through?

This was one of my favourite moments of the day. Just went for it! Wouldn't mind seeing a Rigoni v. Bannan race. Saraid - 15 disposals at 93% efficiency. Always making a contest, then making good decisions. Mahony is another one putting in a lot of effort out there, not always rewarded just yet, but good signs. Nice spread of goalkickers today as well. Well, you won't enjoy the part in the replay where, if I heard correctly, the commentator mistakes LJ for Fitzy, only for her to pass to... Fitzy. Making it "Fitzy passes to Fitzy". Oops. Injury watch, we must remain ever vigilant: Hoping that Chaplin pulled up ok after going off late in the game?

6 Hanks 5 Hore 4 McNamara 3 Chaplin 2 Heath 1 Fitzsimon

Yeah the girls!

NARRM In: G.Colvin Out: A.Pisano (omitted) RICHMOND In: R.Miller, S.Hosking, M.McKinnon, L.Brazzale Out: K.Dempsey (managed), M.Beruldsen (omitted), K.Brennan (injured), E.Yassir (omitted) Avg. games experience of teams as selected: Narrm: 39.4 Richmond: 42.2 Again we put our faith in our youngsters, with a median age of 23 compared to the Tigers' 26. We welcome back Gabby Colvin, who at 34 years of age is on game number 34, and a very welcome addition. Top 5 total clearance winners, Rnd 1-3: Narrm: 10 Hanks, Purcell; 9 Hore; 8 Fitzsimon, Pearce Richmond: 14 Conti; 13 McKenzie; 6 Bacon, Kelly, Egan Top 5 total i50s, Rnd 1-3: Narrm: 12 McNamara; 10 Zanker; 9 Hanks; 8 O'Hehir, Mahony Richmond: 18 Conti; 10 Shevlin; 9 McKenzie, Kelly; 8 Bacon Top 5 total metres gained, Rnd 1-3: Narrm: Hanks 1,315; Chaplin 1,109; McNamara 973; O'Hehir 863; Paxman 786 Richmond: Conti 1,071; McKenzie 891; Shevlin 656; Dempsey 635; Brennan 615

It can't be good for training either, trying to test stuff out without the non-playing players as oppo. I guess the funds aren't there for additional players. And for a fit list (if only we could be so lucky!), it's just more players sitting idle with no proper reserve competition during the season. I also get the sense that assistant coaches are already putting in a lot of voluntary time just to serve the current list size - players at other clubs report access to assistant coaches being limited. Maybe lowering the number of injuries needed for replacements to come into effect would be another way of dealing with the issue, without so many of the resourcing impacts.

Red and blue carpet.

So, absolutely best case scenario, we get back Colvin, then Lampard and D.Taylor in a month or so... I wonder what the deal with Goldrick is, still no timeline. It sounded season-ending originally, now they say their doing contact tests or something?

Thanks everyone for your responses. I know the vast majority of Dees fans are on the same page about this, but I think some of us here have tried to hold back on too much talk about it, to give the club the best chance to make it work. But Round 2 and the positive experience of getting to Vic Park (wow that sounds weird to say) was kind of the final straw on that for me. And I do want to add that the atmosphere at Casey itself once you eventually get there has always been top-notch (aside from some really weather-affected games where it felt like there were tumbleweeds blowing by). A huge, huge part of the great vibe has been the commitment of our cheer squad, literally from day one, in being there week in, week out, putting up a proper banner (unlike many clubs in AFLW), engaging with young fans, etc. And the club puts on a great day out. Once you're actually there, it's the most family-friendly vibe of all the grounds I've been to for AFLW, with maybe only Moorabbin coming close. If you've ever gone to a footy game with young kids and struggled to keep them seated for the whole game, the vibe at Casey Fields is built for that exact situation. All that said, for me, the trek is wearing thin. It's getting harder to get others interested in attending, even those who've enjoyed it before. They say they love the girls, love the vibe, it's just too far. And I'm not even close to putting in the kms that others here are! It's unfortunate, because I know that attending is the best way to support the league, so that it can move up to better venues, so it's a bit of a viscous circle.

Saturday, September 6th, 12:35 pm. Casey Fields.

A bit of discussion about this in the Round 3 thread, but I thought it worth putting in its own thread, since it's an ongoing topic. At Vic Park yesterday, I reckon about two thirds of attendees were Demons. I'd expected a battle to find a pocket of Dees to sit with, safe from Collingwood types, but there was no issue - Dees everywhere! I might be being a little generous with that ratio, but if it's anywhere near accurate, that puts the Demon fan attendance at an away game at almost double compared to Casey in Round 2, a home game where the club pulled out all the stops to get a big number. The fact that it was Round 24 vs. no game for men's this weekend might play a part. And neither are exactly earth-shattering attendance figures. But still. Time and again, aside from the earliest seasons, our healthiest crowds have been at "home" games played at Ikon and away games at other inner city venues. Every effort has been made to draw a crowd to Casey, and it's not like we typically perform badly there - in fact, in seasons past we've dominated and put on some of the league's best footy at the time, even when it was blowing a gale. But does anyone else feel like a ceiling has been reached there? Anecdotal, but based on the people seated around me on the wing at Vic Park, many were Demons fans who hadn't seen the AFLW Dees live recently or at all. How many first-time fans are we getting out at Casey these days? Certainly in Round 2, there were many bewildered St Kilda fans making the trip for the first time...and likely never again. I acknowledge that the club has made improvements at Casey, with better seating and facilities. Parking becomes a bit of an ordeal once it hits about 2,500 people, though it rarely does. And people wouldn't mind putting up with that if they hadn't had to travel ages in the first place or if there are public transport options. So, what's the alternative? Obviously, everything is focused on the Caulfield plan, as it should be. But that's purely a training facility. I know that there are partnerships and commitments made at Casey, so maybe that's just how it has to be? Or can we do deals to play home games at other venues, like at Ikon in the past? If that's an option, should the club take it in future seasons? Or is it better to have a "home", even if only the most committed fans will go there?

I'd hoped to watch the replay before commenting, having seen it live, but no dice. Anyway, yeah, we stole that one. So many mistakes. Dropped marks, fumbling, bizarre decisions with ball in hand. We lacked that run and gun, and the Pies were onto it (credit to them). Do we persist, given the the personnel situation, or tweak it? When it came to the crunch, the class and desperation of Hanks, Chaplin, Hore, McNamara and Bannan led the way. Aided by the Pies’ inability to put the game away, of course. Harris was also huge in the air on a day when we saw costly, uncharacteristic, spilled marks from Hore, Gall, Zanker and Campbell. Would have loved to have had Heater on Bonnici in the second half. Glad she's seemingly ok. Shout out also to our young brigade who toughed it out. At one point our backline was: S.Taylor (6 games), Wotherspoon (11), Ebert (3), O’Hehir (3) and Rigoni on debut. As a wise man repeatedly said, there were learnings. On O’Hehir, she’s gotten better in every game of her short career so far. Keep that trajectory and the sky's the limit. Love that bit of dash and long kick; is fairly accountable defensively as well. Rigoni competed hard and it was just so good to see her out there—supported by a big contingent of family, friends and ex-Demons including David Schwartz, who I saw seated at the cheer squad end when I went to grab a drink at quarter time. On the venue – love it. Actually, I think I'll make a separate thread about this, because it's something we all have views and ideas about, and it's probably the biggest off-field topic for this team.

Thanks for this update, it was very concerning. Really glad that every precaution was taken - as Mick basically said, health (and Heath!) is more important than footy.

Interviewer - "Have you kicked 7 in a game before?" Noah Yze - "I don't think so. I've kicked 10."

Ooooozzzeeeee!

Yze, Brown, Woewodin, White, Rigoni. It's throwback central around the club of late! Go Casey! Bring it home.

Avg. games experience of teams as selected: Narrm: 37.3 Collingwood: 34.8 More than half Narrm's named team is aged 22 or under, with a median age of 22 compared to the Pies' 24. Meanwhile, Paxy, the only player left on our list born in the '80s, becomes the third Narrm player after Kate Hore and Lily Mithen to crack 80 games in the AFLW.

In Round 3 we celebrate the debut of Jemma Rigoni. Selected at Pick 29 in the 2023 Draft, Jemma is the Dees' second father-daughter. Guy Rigoni debuted age 24, playing 103 games from 1998-2005, including the 2000 GF, as well as then-VFL affiliate Sandringham's three-peat (2004–2006). Described as an athletic and versatile defender and winger, Jemma has faced some injury setbacks (post the 2024 season, she was the only active player yet to debut), but now gets her chance! melbournefc.com.auRigoni makes her mark | Daughter of star AFL Demon to debutJemma Rigoni will make her debut against Collingwood on Sunday