Dees_In_October

https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/798330 MELBOURNE will add further international talent to its AFL Women’s team next year, securing Gaelic footballer Lauren Magee for the 2021 season. In another big move for the Demons, Magee will join fellow Irish recruits Niamh McEvoy and Sinead Goldrick, becoming the first trio from the same county to represent a club in the competition. Highlights here as well, she's got some dash. https://twitter.com/MelbourneAFLW/status/1296374742539096066

Yep, was just coming to post the same article. I'm grateful for their communication on this as with some other clubs they put very little out there on their AFLW stuff. When you look at the players who actually went and their impact this year rather than the last four years, it's not so bad as it first appears. Also more on the Smith decision - she wanted a two year deal and the club wasn't willing to offer it in her ACL recovery. The U18 pathway would be unrecognisable to many on our list who wouldn't have had much opportunity to stay involved in footy ages 13-18. It seems like the club has had 2020 as a target for a while, which speaks well of their planning given things shift so much year to year. This is also telling: "We've only had two first-round draft picks since the first year (Tyla Hanks and Eden Zanker), and as a comparative, the Bulldogs have had seven."

Welp, the losses are hard to take, but hopefully we’ve made the best of the situation. Clearly there were several players who saw greener pastures elsewhere. Like I said before, with 4-5 players who could be out the door in a few years through retirement, it’s a silver lining that we’ve avoided an even greater decline all at once, whether intentionally or otherwise. Everything in the league is structured to continually force experience to be spread out, so here we are. And now I'll make justifications for what we loss to make myself feel better! O’Dea. I heard that it was an issue with fitting work around training - Melbourne increasingly wants its players to align with VFLW at Casey but that appears to have been a stumbling block for O'Dea's work requirements, hence why she's always stuck with Darebin. Apparently, retirement (from footy, that is!) was on the cards if the club couldn't negotiate that and that's where the trade came in. Sounds like a difficult scenario and it's unfortunate it ended this way. What Melbourne got in return from Carlton was nowhere near enough but clearly she was gone regardless. Wouldn't have been any harm in calling her retirement bluff, but who knows. Jakobsson is a big loss too, softened slightly by the fact we didn’t have her last year due to work and there was no guarantee she’d return (now 27). Smith—once touted as a future captain. We missed having her out there in 2020, as another of our ACL victims. Apparently, she might have been offered coaching/development opportunities up at GWS (or potentially in the U18 system) to bolster the deal, all important stuff in the AFLW landscape. Cordner leaving Melbourne is just wrong on a DNA level, but again, she was played out of position this season (out of necessity and did very well). Maybe wasn’t happy with how the club saw her role for the last stage of her career (28 now) so it was now or never to jump ship. Guerin has a big future and can hopefully recover from that ACL. She was one we would have been looking to for the future so it’s unfortunate to lose her. Newman. I’ll admit she is one that I wasn’t necessarily that disappointed to lose. She’s had some great highlights and is no doubt an exciting player but has been out of form, failing to score a goal this season. No doubt she’ll kick goal of the year in 2021! As for Kemp, it’s always hard to delist a player who had struggled so much with injury and shown such resilience. I hope someone finds a place for her because she has a lot to offer. Adding to the above posts, the 2-year (signed to 2022) contracts were: Birch, Emonson, Hanks, Heath, Hore, Gay, Mithen, Sherriff and Zanker. Pleasantly surprised to see the Irish players back but I suspect that will be an ongoing situation given the chaos of borders and such. Another continuing story is Sarah Perkins—presumably we’d only have access to her through the draft, so who knows. Hawthorn’s introduction is likely pushed further along now, so that might change things (my only reluctance in taking her was that she'd leave for the Hawks eventually). Now to delete O'Dea and Cordner from my favourite players ?

According to draft central's Peter Williams, the top 10ish in the Vic draft will be high quality regardless of the compromised state of U18s and VFLW this year. The three names he gave for top 3 are Ellie McKenzie, Alyssa Bannan and Tyanna Smith so will be interesting to see how that pans out. McKenzie's had her name out there for years at this point so it seems unlikely she'll still be there at 3. Will we see fewer interstate players select for the Victorian zones due to the uncertain situation with COVID? Maybe. Also a really tough time to be older VFLW players and U18 'bolters' trying to stake their claim for the draft. So there'll probably be some surprises and selections that will be unproven or seem left field. I'm actually quite confident with our selectors because we've done some interesting recruiting from far and wide with our later picks, which suggests they're on the ball and are researching widely, which will help in this difficult draft year.

Clearly I tempted fate by putting O'Dea in the potential trade list! Although turns out it was in the other direction. Her game has probably suffered a bit due to the role she's had to play...it seemed like something was off. She'll have a big impact at any club. Newman I think needs a fresh start and I think we can upgrade there. Smith and Guerin are more difficult to understand, but injury can change things I guess. How many knee recoveries can we carry into a season considering we barely fell over the line in terms of fit players this year? We haven't had the draft position to get the top talent for a few years, due to our relatively consistent (yet unrewarded!) performance and two compromised drafts. And there was always going to come a time when the 25-30ish age group (and even younger) would start to be surpassed. The impact of some first-year players at other clubs this season speaks volumes. This season almost 75% of the top ten leading goalkickers in the league were under 22. Theoretically, we could have maintained the current list for the medium term. But to continue to miss out on that young talent for much longer would set us back in the future. Many of our top tier players may soon be on the brink of retirement (just watch Daisy and Paxman play til 40 now that I've said that!). At what point is, for example, a late 20s cross-coder or a player who presumably had limited development as a teenager a much less attractive prospect than an 18-year-old born in the game? In all honesty, I don't think we could go much further with the current list and the pace with which the league is developing without injecting more young players. It seems like we are trying to extend the current core group's 'window' now and some players have seen the writing on the wall for their 2-3 year prospects as a result. It might set us back for a few years and then see us make a well-timed and more sustainable leap, as we transition away from the inaugural playing group. Well, hopefully!

While I'm in AFLW mode, I've broken down our 2020 list in terms of my opinions for definite keeps and those who could be potential trades/de-listings. I've included all the first-year players in the latter because even though we had glimpses of them all, it was not enough to make any big statements (though I'd take Parry as the pick of that bunch). Without a proper VFLW season, there'll be some tough choices and less to base it all on. Keep: Birch, Cordner, Downie, Emonson, Gay, Guerin, Hanks, Heath, Hore, Lampard, Mithen, Paxman, D.Pearce, L.Pearce, Scott, Sherriff, Smith, Zanker Potential trades/de-listings: Colvin, Cunningham, Kemp, Newman, O'Dea (controversial and unlikely!), Parry, Petrevski, Tarrant. There are question marks over Jakobsson, who was planning to come back via VFLW but is still best 21 in my books. Perkins was an injury replacement player so would have to be re-taken through the draft. Given what she gave us, we mightn't be the only ones interested now, though she'll likely go to the Hawks whenever they come in regardless. Sloane (rookie) has struggled with injury for a few years now so it might be time to look elsewhere. The other two rookies Goldrick and McEvoy added plenty but their return from Ireland is understandably an unknown quantity. Like every Melbourne team, we need an established and proven full forward to fall in our laps, but I don't see that happening given our picks will be low and I see there being less movement trade-wise as the expansion settles for a bit.

In among all the drama, the AFL has announced the plan for the 2021 AFLW season. https://womens.afl/news/51667/statement-afl-reaffirms-commitment-to-aflw-2021-season-model-unveiled In summary, it's going ahead as planned by the previous CBA, kicking off in February, with a 9-week home and away season then a 3-week finals series. Player payments and the current soft cap will stay the same. Great commitment shown by the AFL and to have this laid out so quickly. While most other state league comps seem to be going ahead mostly as planned, the VFLW will be drastically reduced to a 4-team series. Not much info at the moment about how the teams will be put together, but the focus looks to be on players trying to break into the AFLW. That makes sense but is a shame for the AFLW players who rely on the VFLW season to play more than a handful of games a year. But it's exceptional times, of course. The key dates for the AFLW sign and trade period have also been announced: Monday August 3 AFLW Sign & Trade Period commences (12pm) Wednesday August 12 Trade period closes (2pm) AFLW List Lodgement # 1 (4pm) Monday August 17 Re-signing and Restricted Free Agent period closes (2pm) AFLW List Lodgement # 2 (4pm) Friday August 21 Delisted Free Agent period closes (2pm) AFLW List Lodgement # 3 (4pm) AFLW Draft order confirmed During this period, Clubs will be permitted to sign up to 27 players, including rookie players. Rookie players in the AFL Women’s Competition are those that have not been listed with any Australian football team for the past three years.

Got to love it when a truly deserving player who's barely spoken of outside the club gets the win. She went to another level this year and has been among our most consistent since Season 1. Great effort. Also good to see some youngsters on the leaderboard in Hanks, Zanker and Sherriff.

Interesting read about Paxy and her job with the Police Association. Definitely a rollercoaster week. https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/paxman-earns-aflw-honour-in-the-midst-of-tragedy-20200427-p54noa.html

Great effort! This is the extended squad, with the final 21 player squad to be announced at the (possibly virtual) W-Awards. If Paxman makes it, as she surely will, she'll be one of just two players to be a 4x AFLW All-Australian.

Great player, probably our greatest across the first 4 years. In the first couple of seasons, she always looked like she was playing a different game to everyone else, such was her talent. It's less apparent now, even as she somehow stepped up her game further this year. My favourite story which shows her commitment and professionalism is how she arrived around 11am for the Friday night Whitten Oval game, all kitted up and ready to go, not wanting to get stuck in traffic. Just a note on this award for those who are unaware. The award Paxy has won is the Afl Women's website Player of the Year. A nice accolade, but it's not the Brownlow equivalent as the name might suggest. The league B&F Award (as yet unnamed) will be announced at the W Awards, along with the All Australian Team, Rising star etc. Last year this was held after the Grand Final so it's TBA when this will be announced. I think Paxy is a smoky for that award because there are few players who'll take votes off her, compared to the other favourites. Unfortunately her standard is so consistently good, that she sometimes goes unnoticed.

I don't think the Hawks were going to be in until 2023 at the earliest anyway. I don't see how they could have added more teams while the current 3-year CBA was in place. All irrelevant now, as any more expansion is surely put off altogether. Which is what most fans/women's footy people wanted anyway, since 2017!

I reckon Lily's match-winner and celebration might end up my footy moment of 2020! And all things considered, I'm ok with that.

As for the game, well, wow. We didn't give the greatest account of ourselves in the first three and a half quarters, looking very disjointed up forward and loose in defense (Missing Lampard and Downie, plus the speed of the Irish). But what we did have is the one thing this team has had in spades since day 1. They never give up. It doesn't always come off, often they leave it too late or shoot themselves in the foot with conversion. But they just keep going. That's what I want above all else in a footy team so even if we got lucky, I was very proud. Perko - let's keep her, Daisy - immense, Scott's marking and second efforts kept us in it. O'Dea (Junior) was just willing us over the line and you could see on the bench after Lily's goal that she knew it wasn't over yet - focused. Newman worked hard and played selflessly. Heath and L.Pearce did well to last the distance on their return and were important. Obligatory mention of Paxman, of course. Hore found ways to get involved despite being well held at times. Cordner made some mistakes but also had some important touches. Special mention to Sherriff who's quietly gone about a great debut season- I've wanted to mention her every week but keeps slipping from mind! My favourite part of the game review? Injuries: Nil. Shout out to (just some!) of the injured at home and to McEvoy and Goldie who were probably stuck in an airport somewhere on the way home to Ireland. Petrevski, a debut to remember. Hopefully her cousin can celebrate similarly tomorrow! Next week? Let's just get through tomorrow. And then Monday. It's a long time away.

I'll give it a go because it's a great example of our "one club" spirit. This kind of thing is so important to a strong culture and we all need to support each other, especially at the moment. Also we must identify the player who said "she won't make the distance" so Lily can tell them what for! Just kidding, it was a tough kick and I'm sure few were confident!

This team is okay on paper but a lack of cohesion might hurt us, as it's quite different structurally. Can't quite believe we're playing in a final tomorrow! It's come so slowly and so quickly at the same time. I only hope they're able to give it their best in strange circumstances and enjoy what might be their last game for a long time.

Yep 23 including emergencies. 21 in the game. We've listed an ex-player who's in a coaching role this year and a player with a concussion concern as our emergencies...so I don't think the league is taking the need for 23 very seriously at this point.

For those jumping in for finals action, here's where the list sits after a tumultuous season. These are just "long-term" (3+ week) and season-ending injuries/absences so far, from the original list of 30. In the end, we did have 16 players who played all 6 home and away games. Before R1: Smith (knee, season), Sloane (knee, season), Jakobsson (work absence, season), L.Pearce (R1-3, 5-?), Mithen (R1-4) R2-R6: Kemp (knee, season), Guerin (knee, season), Heath (appendicitis, ?), Downie (illness, ?), Lampard (knee, season), Goldrick (home to Ireland, season), McEvoy (home to Ireland, season) So from last week's team we have 18 players. Then, possibly available for this weekend: Downie, L.Pearce, Heath, Colvin, Petrevski and apparently former Docker and Blue Kirby Bentley, another train-on. So we'll get to 21 in one way or another. But we go into this game quite depleted. Of those now missing, I'd say 6 at absolute minimum are in our best 21.

Former Demon vice captain and current Geelong captain Mel Hickey is the first go. A great ambassador for women's footy over many years and a friend to many current Dees. AFLW Geelong captain: 2019– AFL Women's All-Australian team: 2017 VWFL/VFLW 7× VWFL/VFLW premiership player: 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 VFL Women's team of the year: 2016

And just to add, there are many players across the league who will now have played their last game without knowing it, due to age, injuries, the competition passing them by or the need to return to careers. An all too brief footy career for some but I'm sure greatly cherished. Nothing major in the scheme of the world but I think worth noting.

Love the way these two have attacked the game - no fear. They've obviously been told to just give it crack, not to worry about mistakes. I think they've had a great impact and have been a positive in a season where we've had to rely more on depth players than ever before.

8- team final series. https://womens.afl/news/49363/aflw-finals-structure-revealed-after-season-cut-short Thanks to the AFL for its stellar communication during this time /end sarcasm In all seriousness, I doubt there'll be a Grand Final. Things could look different quickly. Let's all enjoy the possibly brief moment where the Dees are still in the hunt. (Also, can we even field a team? With Lampard down and Goldrick maybe out, we're still around 1 fit player.)

As much as I don't enjoy the injuries and mystery illnesses, it's great the Perko gets another go. As soon as we hit that 23 fit player threshold, she can't play, so this might be her last go unless they continue to drop like flies. And the game? I can't pick it. Carlton are a good team, solid across every line and fast. It'll be a big test, especially for our defense, which has the lowest against score in the league (aided somewhat by the low-scoring poor weather games). Carlton are the 3rd best attack though, so who knows. A win sets us up, a loss sets us back. All failing, barrack against Collingwood.

Yep, I'm pretty much as dedicated as they come for our AFLW team, but I still go to Casey with dragging feet. It always feels like there are only Melbourne supporters there from that side of Clayton onwards. The team probably hasn't gained as much traction among our traditional supporters as it has for the inner city clubs. The plus is that it felt like the majority who were there were young families. Lots of little Demons running around and I remember when that was a rare sight. As to the game, well there's not much more to say about a good win against a clearly inferior opponent. I was glad they were able to put down the pedal in the second half and get the percentage boost, as this has been our downfall too many times. As an aside, the girls looked like they were having so much fun out there, which of course is easy when you're smashing a team, but I thought it was a good energy boost in what's been a tumultuous year so far for the list. The way they got around Perko was great and Mithen's selflessness in forgoing another attempt at her own first goal for a teammate's is hopefully a reflection of the team ethos.

Kat Smith presented her jumper so maybe her? Glad Sarah gets another go around this week, but as soon as someone else becomes fit, unfortunately that's it for her per the rules.