Dees_In_October

Compared to the GF team earlier this year: IN: Gillard, Chaplin (debut), Johnson (club debut), Ivey (club debut) OUT: Scott (traded to Geelong), Goldrick (injured), McNamara (injured), Colvin (injured)

Update to our club win record at the end of the men's H&A seasons. Has remained steady at 80%: AFL Men's = 16/22 AFL Women's = 10/12 Grand Finalist VFL Men's = 17/18 VFL Women's = 12/17 Prelim Finalist

Not quite a smile, but it's the vibe of the thing!

The list is complete, with Ella Little signed as an injury replacement player to replace McNamara. From https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/1201679 - Little, who hails from Millicent in South Australia, earns her opportunity after impressing for Woodville-West Torrens and as an overage player in the NAB AFLW National Championships. The 19-year-old is a strong-bodied utility and has most recently been working on her craft as an inside midfielder. She is known for her clean hands, both in the contest and aerially. Little was overlooked in the AFLW Draft earlier this year and has since been training with the Adelaide Crows as a train-on player. AFLW list manager Todd Patterson said the signing was reward for Little’s perseverance. “Ella is a versatile player, who has experience playing as a medium-tall forward and has recently developed as an inside midfielder.”

Agree with all of the above! Not much to measure against but a comfortable and enjoyable hit out (especially in retrospect given the absolute stress in the game to follow). They tried a few things positionally and seemed like plenty of new faces got a run. Only blight was the injury to Harris (ankle?). She was testing it out at half time and was running so hopefully nothing catastrophic. Highlight for me was Blaithin's goal. The team-wide celebration said it all. Bring on Round 1!

Scratch match vs. Essendon at the Hangar today From Twitter- MELB 12.12.84 ESS 6.4.40 Incomplete goalkickers list: Harris Bannan 2 Sherriff Fitzsimon Mithen Purcell Campbell Injuries: Duffy was helped from the field at 3 QT time.

Needs an update. There's a nice space for it!

While we wait to hear about an injury replacement player for McNamara, some trivia:

Sounds like a freak accident! Spinal is never a word you want to hear. I'm glad the surgery went well, though it sounds like a long road to recovery. She's had some bad luck already, with that nasty concussion early in the final last year. A super talented player and obviously a well-liked club person.

The Lever chant was brilliant! Also love the big white letters and the sign from the Pink Lady game "We love you Mum" - a nice touch. While we're keeping the positives flowing, I've also always been really impressed by the Demon army presence at AFLW games. These days at Casey in particular they create a strong home game atmosphere.

Good point re: Casey availability. Must be something like that, coupled with the men's season reducing other time slots available. I knows there's talk of moving the Round 1 game between Hawks and Bombers from Port Melbourne due to the small capacity. Obviously that won't be an issue for our game given the time slot. In general, though, I think they've handled the crossover between the seasons fairly well, with little danger of clashes for likely finals contenders. Just imagine a proper 17-game H&A season, with home games alternating each year. Super fair. But then what will we complain about? Haha.

Tough draw, as expected. BIG game first up. Not sure why we're playing a home game in Port Melbourne. To give Dees fans on the other side a chance to attend? Nope, Friday arvo, so no one will attend (first week of men's finals explains the time slot but not the venue). Also continue to find it an amusing quirk that we're still not fixtured to play Geelong. That'll be no match-up for four years and five seasons by the end of 2022. The teams we play and their 2022(a) ladder position: Adelaide (1st), North (4th), St Kilda (13th), Brisbane (3rd), Carlton (8th), Freo (5th), Western Bulldogs (7th), Gold Coast (10th), Essendon (n/a), West Coast (14th) The teams we don't play and their 2022(a) ladder position: Collingwood (6th), Geelong (12th), GWS (9th), Hawthorn (n/a), Port (n/a), Richmond (11th), Sydney (n/a) To put a positive spin on it, we'll have a contest every week and if we get there, we'll have earned it.

BUT IN A GOOD WAY 👹

Confirmed! List complete and a bit of a steal I think to finish it off. Duffy at Harris's feet is a nice prospect.

It's a pass for the last pick. To re-cap, that brings the list to 29: 23 existing, Wilson (Carlton), Ivey (Geelong), Mackin (rookie), Chaplin (pick 44), Johnson (pick 49), Gall (pick 72). Not counted are Colvin and Watt, both on the inactive list. Time will tell, but as of tonight we can say we've picked some future champions of the mighty Dees!

It's not an AFLW draft without a bit of cross-code action. Interesting pick, one for the future.

While we wait for the next pick, another Casey Demon selected. This time it's Charlotte Blair, who put together some good games after coming up from the NAB league. She goes to Collingwood at #56.

The Dees are going with the devils they know, in a good way. Definitely some handy back-up and one that will stand up physically to AFLW.

Welcome back! Has been going great guns at Casey. Didn't realise she was quite so young either.

A long wait for the Dees to get in on the action with picks 44 (24), 49 (27), 72 (39), 79 (43). But some good news from the first rounds with a few Casey players picked up: 22. Hawthorn - Lucy Wales (Casey Demons) 32. Essendon - Stephanie Wales (Casey Demons) That was some good predicting on the Wales twins by you, @Meggs

With Casey's VFLW season over, thought I'd update this. Obviously, been a bit of a dip since, but 82% is still impressive across four leagues. Finals are included: AFL Men's = 11/14 AFL Women's = 11/13 Grand Finalist VFL Men's = 12/12 VFL Women's = 12/17 Prelim Finalist

Casey's best VFLW season yet has come to an end, going down to the Southern Saints in the Prelim Final. CASEY 1.0.6 1.06 1.1.7 2.3 (15) SOUTHERN SAINTS 1.2.8 3.3.21 5.5.35 5.5 (35) GOALS: McCrossan Mitchell DISPOSALS: Chaplin, Wales 19, Hogg 17, Johnson 16, McCrossan 14 BEST: Chaplin, S.Wales, Hogg, Grant, Johnson A disappointing end to the season, but the loss was certainly not due to lack of effort, exemplified by Johnson's astounding 15 tackles. But it was what the Dees were able to achieve with the ball compared to their opponents that proved a challenge. Casey started well, dominating the first quarter and hitting the scoreboard via some good crumbing and a nice snap by McCrossan. The Saints hit back late in the first, and the game turned in their favour, as they showed better composure with a wet footy despite plenty of pressure from Casey. Chaplin was again a big contributor, while Grant did her best against a talented forward line. Hogg and Johnson lead from the front as usual. S. and L.Wales both fought hard while Mitchell made the best of limited opportunities, rewarded with a late goal. Stats Stand-outs S.Wales - 19 disposals, 5 marks, 4 tackles, 12 hit outs Chaplin - 19 disposals, 4 marks, 6 tackles, 8 clearances Hogg - 17 disposals, 4 clearances Johnson - 16 disposals, 15 tackles, 2 clearances McCrossan - 1 goal, 14 disposals, 6 tackles Mitchell - 1 goal, 12 disposals, 3 marks, 5 tackles Fairchild - 11 tackles L.Wales - 22 hit outs NEXT: The AFLW draft is Wednesday 29th, so best of luck to all Casey ex-Dees in the mix. This season has seen several players recruited from Casey and snatched up from the fringes of Melbourne's list. By the time finals rolled around for VFLW, there'd been a fair bit of talent gone from the team. That's the nature of the competition, and it was great to see so many players get an opportunity at VFLW level, several for the first time. The development happening at the club is clearly of a good standard and the year-on-year improvement despite a disjointed 2020 and 2021 has been solid. Onwards and upwards!

More info re the Wales twins in case you missed it @Meggs https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/1150993/two-sets-of-two-inside-casey-s-twin-stars

Didn't get a chance to check out the Semi Final before someone spoiled the score for me! Which didn't exactly motivate me to watch... ESSENDON 1.1 7.3 9.6 11.10 (76) CASEY 0.3 0.3 0.3 1.3 (9) GOALS: Dowler DISPOSALS: Grant, Brown 15, Chaplin 14, Harasimiuk 13, Hogg 12, S. Wales 11 BEST: Chaplin, Grant, Hogg, Brown, L. Wales, Harasimiuk, S. Wales Here's the MFC report for a game I think most will be quick to move on from! https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/1153019/vflw-dees-fall-short-of-bombers Indisputable that Essendon are a strong team building towards AFLW, while Casey fielded a side to reflecting its VFLW program. As predicted, it looks like the lack of forward targets to generate set shots (a theme of the season) was shown up here and Essendon were clearly superior around the ball and with more firing power up forward. NEXT: Prelim Final v Southern Saints, ETU Stadium Port Melbourne, 4:05pm, Sunday 26 June. This is to win the chance to meet Essendon again in the Grand Final.

Her highlights look like what we've come to expect from the Irish recruits: speed, line-breaking ability and plenty of run. Maybe a bit of that X-factor we need in the forward half if all goes well. Lots of praise from Irish fans responding to the news. "Super star" "super footballer and athlete" is how they describe her. And AFLW Ireland has helped out with the pronunciation: Looking forward to watching what Blaithin can bring in the red and blue.