Dees_In_October

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.

I was a bit on the fence about this but Lucifer's comments have raised some issues I hadn't thought about. Aside from anything else though, it's ludicrous to be making rule changes based on improving the game style after one, 7-game season played by part-timers. There's enough natural development that will occur with experience, more game-time spent together, the inevitable progression of tactics and strategy. Teams will be reacting to what worked and didn't work in 2017. If a couple of seasons down the road, there is still a problem (and I'm not sure that there is one), then sure, tinker with the rules. And the higher scores thing doesn't make sense to me. Again, scores will get higher as professionalism increases (see: WBBL scores this year). The men's game isn't the benchmark for what a high score in the women's game should look like. A high score is relative to your opposition's ability to score. You better believed I was as happy with the 70 points we scored in the last round as I would be with 120 points in the men's game. Plus, as they say, a close game's a good game. I refuse to believe that most people go to an AFL game just to see lots of goals.

Update on 'Rocky' Cranston from the MFC website: http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2017-12-04/aflw-cranston-ready-to-go As much as I liked her 'crash and bash' style (as she puts it) in the first season I'm glad to know she's putting in the hard yards to round out her game. The more contests she can get her physicality to the better for the team.

Courtesy of Demonwiki every McDonald/MacDonald to have played at least one game for the MFC and the years they played: James MacDonald 1875-1877, 1880 (Name spelt McDonald in some sources) John MacDonald 1876-1884 (McDonald in some sources, brother of James, above) Alec McDonald 1906 Des MacDonald 1914 Bill McDonald 1929-1931 Fen McDonald 1913 Jim McDonald 1942 Greg MacDonald 1973 Anthony McDonald 1997-2002 James McDonald 1997-2010 Joel MacDonald 2010-2013 Tom McDonald 2011* Oscar McDonald 2015*

Except Trengove of course.

So, preseason training started yesterday. I think we can safely assume our girls are training the house down! But I'll try to get down to a session at some point, and if so, will post a report of some kind here.

tap tap taparoo

Does anyone know which games will be the compensation 'home' ones for the NT games?

Seems like a fairly good draw for us. Round 2 and back-to-back interstate Round 3 & 4 very important. Actually, every round is very important but I think our team learned that the most out of anyone else in the AFLW this year. Might put us in good stead. Much like the men's, hopefully just falling short motivates that little extra something in 2018.

Amazing interview. Still can't quite believe this happened! I wonder what made him accept an interview after all this time? Most of all love that he chose to give it to a fan podcast. There's something really admirable about that.

I think your opinion's understandable, especially as this isn't really something that has come up before in Aussie Rules. And I agree if we want to have an informed opinion, it's up to us to educate ourselves by asking for feedback. Luckily the internet makes it easy. Some links: http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/transgender-athletes/7669902 https://www.transequality.org/issues/resources/frequently-asked-questions-about-transgender-people In terms of the specific case, the player has been undergoing gender transition treatment for years and meets the IOC guidelines for testosterone levels. She might be taller and bigger, but so are other women who identify as female. And what happens to her right to play sport if this isn't allowed? If not in the AFLW (should she be good enough to be drafted), where does she play? Anyway, I hope that's helpful. I'm not trying to change anyone's minds but wouldn't want a sincere question to go unanswered.

May as well give this another run.

Hibberd must surely have been pipped for 5th. But well done Oliver. Scary to think what he could be if he keeps going the way he is.

The video stream just buffered as Jones was saying "leave no stone unturned" and all I heard was Lever.