Dees_In_October

Round 1 v Western Bulldogs Match report Casey appeared stronger over the footy and better organised early, getting out to a two-goal lead before the Bulldogs found some space to hit back. They profited off some quick ball movement off the turnover, while Casey generally looked better by foot. The second quarter was a bit of a stalemate, with both teams having their fair share of it. Casey’s goal came off the back of steady ball movement from end to end. The Dogs came out firing in the second half with a quick goal, but the Dees then kept the ball trapped forward for an extended period. When the ball did leak out, a double 50—brought about initially due to a Goldrick-wary Bulldog entering the protected area—resulted in a shot on goal for Woolcock, which fell short and was snaffled by the Irishwoman Burke who kicked truly around the corner to put Casey in front. A delightful three-bounce run down the middle by Heath soon after was a match highlight. Meanwhile, Casey was in control, though not yet on the scoreboard, with a three-point lead heading into the final change. Casey had much of the possession early in the last. When the Dogs did get it forward, the Demons were desperate. At the other end, however, many chances went begging without landing the final blow. There were some nervous moments when the Bulldogs went forward late, but a centring kick from Heath with a minute to go allowed Goldrick to dash through the corridor. After a bit of messing around in the forward fifty and a failed rebound by the Dogs, Heath brought the ball back inside where Conroy gathered a somewhat fortuitous bounce and nailed a spot-on handpass to Neal for the sealer—with mere seconds remaining. In a tale as old as time, the Bulldogs probably didn’t make the most of their opportunities when they had momentum, while Casey had the tank and structure to be in control for longer, leading to sheer weight of scoring chances winning out. FINAL SCORE: Western Bulldogs 4.4.28 Casey Demons 5.12.42 VFLW standouts: Neal – Prominent and impactful. 17 disposals, 7 tackles, 5 clearances and 1 goal. Lehman – Led up well and created plenty of opportunities. Lots to build on. 12 disposals, 5 marks, 1 goal. Hogg – A solid contributor as always. 16 disposals, 4 marks Kirkwood – A reliable performance. 14 disposals, 6 marks, 6 tackles Burke – Showed off a big kick and some nous around goals. 9 disposals, 5 tackles, 1 goal. AFLW listed: Gall – Played back and forward, reads it well. 13 disposals, 5 marks, 3 tackles Heath – Midfield, a class above. Team-high 23 disposals, 4 tackles. Gillard – Backline then ruck, a big presence there and at ground level. 10 disposals, 22 hit outs. Goldrick – Midfield but was everywhere, hitting the scoreboard, dropping back, deft passes by foot. 21 disposals, 5 tackles, 4 clearances, 2 goals. Chaplin – Backline and some midfield time. Her defend/attack balance is great off half-back. 11 disposals, 4 tackles. Campbell – Ruck and forward. Made some good contests. 5 disposals, 4 tackles, 11 hit outs. Disclaimer: I spent much of this stream trying to match numbers to players to positions, using the team sheet provided online, which was clearly not reflective of reality. I think I got it mostly sorted by the end. Next week: vs. Darebin Sunday 2nd of April, 2.30PM Casey Fields

Don't like this. Don't like it at all.

After an 11-3 season before bowing out in the Prelims in 2022 (after two finals losses, in an absolutely wild finals system!) Casey will be looking to go a few better in 2023. The Casey VFLW program has been a great launching pad for players in recent years, with many going on to be signed on either at the Demons or elsewhere. This also means there's been a fair amount of turnover in players heading into 2023, with lots of new faces to join some long-standing stalwarts. This season we've got an influx of Irish players, and if the senior team's anything to go by, maybe we'll unearth another couple of premiership players. Rest of the squad here: https://www.melbournefc.com.au/teams/casey-demons/squads/vflw Leadership group: Ally Kirkwood (c), Mel Hogg (vc), Ali Dowler, Kaitlyn Carew and Brooke Borchard. Round 1 vs. Western Bulldogs Sunday 26th of March, 12.30PM Mars Stadium (Ballarat)

From seasons gone by, we tend to add in some younger/less experienced AFLW players in the middle of the VFLW season and cycle them through. Not sure of the caps on that - probably stricter with all teams now in the AFLW and no need for a 'practice run' for teams like Essendon and Hawthorn like last season. With AFLW pre-season now overlapping, like last year, I imagine it will mostly be the VFLW list to compete in any finals. I should start a VFLW thread...

She served us well and I enjoyed watching her play - always gave her all. Was sorry to see her go at the time but in retrospect it was one of several trades around that time that set us up for success and showed our recruiters' savvy about the way the league was trending in talent and skills, while other clubs lagged a bit.

Late to the game here, and others have it covered, but since you asked, my straight-up reflex answer also would have been "Go Dees". I believe it's the collective noun for multiple Melbourne players haha. It's nice not to always be qualified by your gender, ya know? They've heard all the "lay-dees" punny ones before and I would hope we've moved on from the novelty factor of that ever so slightly. For what it's worth, "girls" doesn't actually bother me personally in this casual sporting context (can only speak for myself, of course). And, yeah, it really is all about context. Like, it's jarring to hear 25-year-old male players being called "boys" after some unseemly incident, as a way to emphasise their youth and deflect accountability. Much of it's in the tone too. Women know when someone is using "girls" to belittle them, and I doubt a passionate binman calling over the fence celebrating our club's second premiership in two years would give that effect. BUT if you're not comfortable in yelling "Go girls!" but want to be respectful while saying something gender-specific for whatever reason (like, I don't know, the men's team is also walking past and you don't want to support them haha?!), a tried and true classic that will signal to the players that you "get it" would be a hearty and enthusiastic "Yeah the girls!" That's become a bit of a rallying cry for supporting women's sport generally that our players would recognise and appreciate I think. Even better, you could always just get really specific with a "Go Paxy, Go Birchy, go Goldie" and so on. Or "Go Jules" for maximum niche nickname points.

Caris is stepping away from football after 6 games with the Dees to focus on netball. "Caris was signed on as a training partner with the Melbourne Vixens last year, while she was also selected in the 21 and Under Australian squad." https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/1287524/caris-to-depart I was certain she'd go to another club in need of a ruck, didn't realise netball was in the mix. Best of luck to her.

Seems to be a bit of divided opinion about Harmes's game. Thoughts on his output and role? I feel like he's often a slow starter (in games and in seasons), but with pressure on spots... Also don't forget to mention the epic re-signing announcement for the women's team - I know you won't miss it, but there's so much to discuss, so just making triple sure. That was some intense solidarity in the face of some (relatively speaking) big bucks.

Can't remember if I said this in the men's gameday thread, but was pleasantly surprised to see Goldrick still in town. Must be having an extended celebratory holiday? Assuming she didn't fly back from Ireland for the lap of honour 😆

Haha I completely forgot about that one!

Was pretty loud where I was, though to be fair, I was on the fence with other enthusiastic types. I guess we know by now that it's a passionate minority that follows both teams closely - and have had a VERY enjoyable few years. Yes, great ambassadors. Nice to see Birch at the forefront at home games. Just wish she could announce herself as a two-time premiership player as I think plenty are unaware...

It's a lock at this point, I reckon. So, the current list has 3 spots left (with Johnson presumably on the inactive list) and Caris un-signed.

Now THAT'S an epic re-signing announcement! This is us reaping the rewards for investing early in women's footy and taking a long-term view from the get-go. Well-deserved, if I do say so myself.

All quiet on the Melbourne front but a bit of movement elsewhere in trades and de-listings. Some clubs are also starting to announce re-signings (including 19 players at Brisbane). Plus a bunch of new Irish players being signed. Some pointed comments from the Lions coach. I would probably agree with his sentiment in his position but wouldn't be putting it about quite like that. I've been focused on us keeping our premiership team together, so have barely thought about the possibility of trading anyone in. Sign and trade ends Monday, so not long either way. As it stands, we have 2 list spots, so maybe we'll de-list a few more if there's better available from the mature-age draft/de-listings... I still kinda want Duffy back! https://www.womens.afl/news/118784/trade-latest-roos-land-hawk-as-port-cats-agree-to-shock-trade

This just reminded me of Kozzy trying to get Jetta to wear (or possible even have) his premiership medal after the GF. Great stuff.

I think we made it?! Now for the normal trade period (March 10-20).

And to give your heart a happy pang, keep on watching, bang bang bang (couldn't resist!)

Not much action today: Carlton's former #2 pick McEvoy to Sydney. I'd be so annoyed if I was a Carlton fan. Yes, they've lost ridiculous numbers of players over the years due to (in my view) poor investment, a part-time coach and the vicious circle of players leaving begetting more players leaving. But it's just wrong for them to have a top player poached by a team who finished a few rungs below them in the name of equalisation. That helps nothing. Probably next year, having realised this, the AFL will make a similar scheme only applicable to the top 4 or some such. Although something I don't really see discussed is the potential comparative worth of those 2024 compensation draft picks. How does a high 2024 draft pick compare, for example, to a high 2019 draft pick (i.e., McEvoy). Taking the resources spent on the poached player out of the equation, what's the quality gap? It's not like the men's where the draft quality from year to year is fairly stable ('strong' and 'weak' draft classes notwithstanding). The development, standard of coaching, sheer numbers of minutes played as juniors, especially as we get away from the covid impacts, will surely mean there's an upward trajectory for high picks some time. Which makes the TBA nature of it all from the AFL's perspective...interesting. If they're even paying attention, which is questionable. Anyway, 46 hours to go 🤞

The amount and level of players moving has me a little nervous but also... the worst case scenario, of Melbourne losing the maximum players and our main competitor losing none has perhaps already been avoided with Brisbane's losses. If we were to lose players on par with those gone from the Lions, then we'd be exactly where we are now (just a bit sadder). I think as fans we probably don't recognise our comparative depth enough, because the small list size doesn't really show it on paper. But once you get down the ladder a bit, most teams don't bat deep. Like, at all. Related to that, and obviously this is just the writer's opinion, but I found it interesting the players suggested for targeting from Melbourne in this article - Ivey and Wilson, both right on the edge of the starting line up. Even those players who turned out to be depth for us last season would be great assets to a lot of teams https://www.womens.afl/news/118354/the-10-players-clubs-should-target-in-psp

Current live footage of our players (hopefully!):

Wardlaw's Brisbane's leading all-time goalkicker and equal 6th in the league. Woodland's 3rd on Adelaide's all-time goalkicking tally and equal 8th in the league. All that to say, these are very good gets for the Saints and Power. And pretty big losses to Brisbane and Adelaide. So far, so good 🤞🤞🤞

The AFLW website has been putting together hypothetical state of origin teams, and not surprisingly, there are plenty of Demons featured - QLD: Harris VIC Metro: Birch, Hore, Paxman, Bannan, L.Pearce [7 Dees or former Dees total] VIC Country: Zanker, Hanks, Purcell, Heath, Mithen (Depth: Sherriff) [11 Dees or former Dees total] Ireland: Goldrick, Mackin [4 Dees or former Dees total] Here's the link to the VIC teams. Would love to see this match-up: https://www.womens.afl/news/118292/our-aflw-state-of-origin-vic-metro-and-vic-country

@deanoxYeah that looks about right, though of course it's hard to know! And yeah there'd have to be players who've agreed to a lower tier than their worth as a sacrifice to keep the team together (or given their earning capacity off-season compared to other players) or with a promise for future promotion. I think players who value their progression as footballers would be keen to stick with us, especially off the back of last year. I can't imagine any of that group you listed (Lampard, Bannan, Gay, Heath, Gillard) being dissatisfied with their opportunities to develop or their progress (with McNamara being well supported it seems through a very difficult injury). @Lucifers Hero Agree re: seeing what the AFL's (trying) to do. In the big picture for the competition, it needs to be done. We've benefited in other ways from doing the hard yards early. That's the stuff (coaching - including by a head coach who's full-time at the club, professionalism, stability, leadership) we're offering instead of cars. I've got no doubt that AFLW players are highly attuned to the worth of all that in a sporting landscape edging ever-gradually towards professionalism. Fingers crossed our players are all earning well enough elsewhere to offset anything they can be offered. Hopefully though, even if we lose a couple of mid tier players, so do the other top clubs, and it's all relative. I just wish they'd gone harder to "equalise" the Crows when they were a one-state team getting first look at all of SA's young talent while losing basically none of their established team...but anyway. Pretty sure that's the AFL's motto, especially when it comes to AFLW.

Hopefully this is just a rinse and repeat of every other ridiculous expansion scenario that we've weathered so far. My concern was always that we'd lose our entire core in one fell swoop before winning a premiership and have to do a complete re-build. Through team culture and smart list management, we've avoided that at least. Of the mid/lower tier who are most at danger, that big focus on positional flexibility last season pays off in this regard as well. Though, there's already a squeeze on for some positions with McNamara and Colvin returning from injury. The players who replaced them or otherwise broke into the premiership team (Gillard, Mackin, Chaplin) have strong claims as well. Those positional questions won't be answered til preseason though, so I can't really see that affecting players' thinking in terms of being lured elsewhere at this stage. It would be an interesting exercise to try to guess which players are in each tier... Presumably we just lost a Tier 1 or 2 in Daisy. So there'll at least be some movement up the ranks. Transparency about a projected tier progression for each player over the next few seasons would be valued, and I trust the club's managing that appropriately. The players in danger who we'd most like to keep can probably be promised (if not immediately, then in a season or two) the same increase they'd get by moving anyway, so they'd have to be very unsatisfied with their role or something else for that to be worth it? Plus, there's a new CBA coming, so likely some pay increases through that. As it currently stands, I'm pretty sure our entire list is from Victoria (or Ireland!). Harris is the exception but surely isn't a flight risk. I continue to expect Caris to go, as she's waiting in a ruck queue that's only got longer with Harris in there. She was impressive in her game last season, so she'd surely have interest if she wants game time.