Dees_In_October

Regardless of what impact it had on our ability to play the game itself, it was great to see our players representing the club and women's footy up there. That stuff is priceless when it comes to participation, development, and the bigger picture of support for remote and indigenous communities. Almost half of those playing Aussie Rules in Alice Springs are girls and women. 60% of female players in the Central Australian league are indigenous. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-25/football-played-by-equal-number-of-women-in-central-australia/9482528

Very disappointing. That's easily the worst performance we've put in yet. The complete lack of a plan B was frustrating. I understand the thinking behind 'sticking to the process' (Stinear's words at 3 quarter time) as a way to instill belief and confidence, but at some point you have to try something different. Like when your season's on the line. Our defenders looked really loose (due in part to the game plan). Trying to guard space in those conditions is way too taxing mentally - much easier for defenders to stick next to their player and put their energy into the spoil/intercept. Which, when you've got Downie and Jakobsson down there, who've proven they can read the play well, just makes sense. Bernadi tore us apart. Our midfield didn't get the service they're used to from the ruck, but that happens. They weren't hard enough in winning the ball, pure and simple. I felt like we were too intent on preserving players rather than putting the best in when the game needed steadying in the second quarter. There were way too many times when the ball was at Hoare's feet and she was battling to pick it up rather than the players who we want to have first use. Too many players trying to break tackles ineffectively (Hickey). We've been good in this area in other games, but when it's not working, again and again, you have to try something else. Forwards had few chances and didn't make the most of those that came. Mifsud looks much slower and less dynamic than last season - is it just me who thinks this? A bit underdone? On the positives - I liked the looks of Cordner in flashes. Took a great mark in (I think) the last quarter. Rocky showed some good energy in the forward arc. Cunningham tried hard but has a bit to learn in marking contests, she'll get there. We'll really see what we're made of this week. Backs against the wall, will we turn up?

And track down the person who took the photo right as he was taking it! I always look out for that camera flash!

Glad that Hore and Phillips apparently pulled up okay - didn't look good at the time! I guess there could be a late change still, possibly Phillips, but would be good to rest a few in what will be tough conditions. Will be interested in seeing how Cordner's progressed. And hopefully Mifsud can hit the scoreboard. It's another must-win in what's turning out to be a more even season than last year.

I'll just keep using this thread to keep track of this round by round. Round 3 Team of the Week: Daisy in the midfield Cunningham in the forward line Coaches Association Votes: Fremantle v Melbourne, Sunday, February 18 9 Kara Donnellan (Frem) 9 Daisy Pearce (Melb) 4 Ebony Antonio (Frem) 4 Tegan Cunningham (Melb) 3 Evie Gooch (Frem) 1 Katherine Smith (Melb) LEADERBOARD 18 — Daisy Pearce, Melbourne 17 — Emma Kearney, Western Bulldogs 17 — Chelsea Randall, Adelaide 13 — Ellie Blackburn, Western Bulldogs 13 — Ebony Antonio, Fremantle 13 — Brianna Davey, Carlton 13 — Kara Donnellan, Fremantle

I agree. We've probably been the most 'disciplined' team in this regard over the first two seasons. While I like our composure and ability not to get sucked into that stuff unnecessarily, there's a time and a place for a bit of niggle and flying the flag for teammates. Duryea is probably the only one I can think of who's shown that kind of mongrel at times, and you don't necessarily want it in your last line of defense!

Argh that was so frustrating but you couldn't say we really deserved to win. Would have been handy to steal it though and be a game clear. Luckily the other results went our way so at least we stay with the pack. The umpiring wasn't great at times but that's never an excuse, especially after missing so many shots at goal. We had to do better against the flood, cut out those repeat kicks to the pocket. Needed to switch more or be more patient for a lead. Overall the 'Big 4' were a bit lacklustre and couldn't find the same synergy as last week (especially in the second quarter). O'Dea would be ruing that on the full kick near the end, but you can't single out one without looking at everything that went before. I liked Downie's game again though and thought Humphries did some good things late. McGuire for Freo was amazing (just wish it wasn't against us!). One positive is that even though we went missing at times, we fought back and stuck with it to the end. Didn't get the result but a lesson in taking your chances never goes astray. Injuries to Phillips and Hore might make way for some fresh legs - to put a positive spin on it. Can't say I know enough about the other players to guess at replacements. Probably not both of Mifsud and Cordner?

Can't un-see that now! I wouldn't want that demon now either. Something more like the 80s one but in contrasting colours, sort of silhouetted where the monogram is now.

Updated team: In: Grierson Out: Mifsud (omitted) Also apparently the team is staying west between the Freo game and the next one against Collingwood in Alice Springs.

I laughed when Brayshaw said something about being competitive, "even if it's just in the backyard", considering the meltdown on here after Petracca's backyard basketball incident a couple of years back!

As a kid I loved what I think of as the 'hair on fire' version. Not so much now. I can see our current one but with a demon instead of the monogram. That way it has the best of both worlds, with the demon, and also the word 'Melbourne' being in there.

Not surprisingly given the dominant display, we had 6 players in the Team of the Week: Cunningham, Hore and Newman in the forward line. Jakobsson in the backline. O'Dea and Paxman in the midfield. http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2018-02-13/melbourne-dominates-team-of-the-week Paxman scored the maximum for our game in the Coaches Association votes: MELBOURNE v ADELAIDE, Saturday February 10 10. Karen Paxman (Melb) 6. Bianca Jakobsson (Melb) 5. Chelsea Randall (Adel) 4. Elise O'Dea (Melb) 2. Dayna Cox (Adel) 2. Mel Hickey (Melb) 1. Kate Hore (Melb) http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2018-02-13/perfect-10-for-paxman-in-aflw-votes

Also worth remembering that Daisy often draws most of the "attention" from the opposition. That might be about to change though. There were a lot of times on Saturday I wondered if Adelaide even had anyone on Paxman, such was the space she found.

Yep that was her second game of footy. While I'm sure we'd all like to see more 'pure' footballers players like her show the benefits of ex-professional cross-coders in these early years.

That passage of play where our stars were just shrugging legit tackles left, right and centre and side-stepping through was awesome. But as much as 'the big 3' led the way, this was a real team effort. I don't think there was a player out there who didn't put in at least one crucial second effort at some stage. Whereas the Crows seemed really flat and disinterested in the hard stuff, contrary to their rep last season. Hoare stood out to me this week. At the moment she's not making her mark on the scoreboard but I have a feeling that's not far away. Interesting that our forward line is very WNBL/basketball centric. And I thought Hickey really stepped it up after a less than impressive game last week, which is all you can ask. Lowered the eyes and hit some targets. Looked like she enjoyed that goal too, and who wouldn't?

Our Daisy makes some good points and offers a wider perspective to those hung up on high scoring as the benchmark of a game worth watching: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/womens-afl/daisy-pearce-dont-wallow-in-aflw-negativity-20180208-h0vskb.html

Paxman, yes! No Phillips for the Crows, Holmes and McCormick in. Re: possession chains. I actually felt like we were better at this last season than what we saw against GWS. So hopefully it's a matter of time/synergy. Some marks inside 30 wouldn't go astray either. A lot of our goals seems to be from kicking over the defense and then running onto it or crumbing from the contest. While I could watch Rocky do pick-ups like that one last game all day, we do have players that are good set shots, so we need to capitalise on that as a more efficient path to goal. (And if we need to go full-on defensive to win at any stage, I'm totally behind it.)

It's obviously not an equal comparison given their different roles in their respective teams, but we're better placed to cover Paxman's absence than they are Phillips. Phillips is pretty much irreplaceable whereas we at least can (hopefully) rely on our mids to step up again. Fingers crossed for the return of Mifsud!

O'Dea's great, just moves like a natural footballer. There'll be a lot more young players like her coming through in a couple of years who've had the benefits of keeping the ball in hand throughout their teens. I agree Hickey's frustrating. Obviously strong in the contest but her disposal is really questionable - it was apparent last year off the back line. Not sold on her as a midfielder at all. One I was surprised by was Downie. I guess my overriding memory of her last year was that unfortunate hamstring then KO but I don't remember her being so prominent before that. Competed really well - perhaps sucked into the contest at times at ground level but overall really impressive.

Ah thanks, that explains it re Mifsud. Hopefully is right for next week.

Always good to see the Dees show some heart. I can understand why some people don't see the appeal and don't appreciate the bigger picture. Luckily it's not compulsory to watch or comment. Left the ground wondering what happened to Paxy as she's always in everything. A fair excuse not being on the ground, I guess! Missed the injury completely as didn't have the best vantage point. I thought Cunningham showed a lot and Hoare is an actual Giant. Am a bit bemused by the lack of Mifsud. Maybe just a balance thing, but she was one of our best last season and obviously goals are gold. Having said that, much like last year I think our forwards will build as the season goes on. The Crows will come out hard next week...

Seems legit (and I'm not biased at all!) Good to see Grierson's name in there, I thought she showed a lot of promise last season as a real natural footballer.

Also, no major injuries that I've heard of.

The fact that the coaching staff apparently couldn't see the scoreboard and weren't bothered by that probably indicates the worth of judging much by this game. Everyone had a run, we hit the scoreboard fairly well before resting the A-team (who I'd rate above theirs anyway). Bring on Round 1!

The thing about such a short season is that a run of tough games ends up being half the season! It must go past in the blink of an eye. I guess everyone's in the same boat (more or less). Just really hoping we hit the ground running this year.