Dees_In_October

Oliver handball supercut of 2017

I'm sure this is a very common impression! But at some point (for me at least) it sort of shifted. I got less caught up with the scoreline and comparisons with the professional men and more absorbed by the passion, courage and hunger for the game. It's often quite a scrap - well, I spose it often is in finals anyway - but that just makes the goals all the more exciting to me. And after you watch a group of players for a while, you start to see individuals improving before your eyes, in themselves and in their connection with their teammates. That's something I enjoy in the men's game as well, among the young players, but it's even more notable with the women, many of whom didn't have that crucial Auskick to seniors continuity. Looking forward to the future at both levels!

Paxman was in everything! Not looking forward to us coming up against Brennan for the Bulldogs next year- hard to stop. Are you going to switch allegiance to Casey next year, Lucifer? I'm a bit undecided!

An update on every player currently on our list (as of September): http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2017-09-08/aflw-update-every-melbourne-player Good to see what everyone's been up to as they scattered near and far after the AFLW season. I've cherry-picked some points of interest: Richelle Cranston: Invested a significant amount of time into her physical conditioning. She came back stronger and more powerful than ever. Laura Duryea: Recently competed in the International Cup for the Irish Banshees and they were victorious. They beat Canada and she was co-captain of that team. Melissa Hickey: Mel, for one of our senior members of our team, has spent the most time investing in her game. Erin Hoare: Erin is the tallest player in the competition, after playing netball with the Swifts and Vixens. Emma Humphries: Emma went home to Tassie. She gets close attention and is watched closely each week by the opposition, so she’s had her work cut out for her. Bianca Jakobsson: We’re looking for her to make an impact straight away and we’re expecting her to play forward and in the midfield. Alyssa Mifsud: ‘Miffo’ is becoming quite proficient in one-on-one body work, particularly her marking. Lily Mithen: She leads the way on the training track for us, setting standards with her competitiveness. Karen Paxman: The exciting thing about Paxy is that she’s already one of the most exciting players in the competition and she’s got some key areas of her game, where she can maximise and take her game to another level. Daisy Pearce: Although she’s regarded as one of the best players in the competition, it’s a scary thought for the opposition, when she still has a few levels to go. We haven’t seen the best of her yet. Lauren Pearce: Loz has been balancing basketball and footy, so right now she’s got ‘Big V’ commitments with the Bulleen Boomers. Catherine Phillips: Cat had minimal VFLW involvement this season, due to her commitments representing Australia in Ultimate Frisbee at the recent World Games. She was a strong performer there too, taking out the Bronze medal.

The games are also streaming and replayed online for anyone who can't make it along or watch live: http://vfl.com.au/media-coverage/video-streaming/

Vics were relentless. Now that's how you close out a game! I may have had my red-and-blue glasses on, but what I saw from the MFC players on both sides bodes very, very well for next season. As good as Daisy is, and she's a cut above pretty much everyone, the next tier on our list is nothing to sneeze at either.

One of my favourites too! Go the Big V though!

This forum. Tom McDonald on the goal line. Hibberd's spoils. Jack Watts' titanic moment. Jetta always and everywhere. Oliver's handball. The AFLW. September?

Well said, and we've got some pretty resilient supporters too!

Was desperate as always during some really crucial plays late.

Garlett's indigenous round 67.

Excited to see Gus back out there. One thing I like about our team now is that I feel confident that he'll be looked after by his teammates (not that he necessarily needs it). In years gone by we were really lacking in this department, but these days you can mostly be sure our players will fly the flag for each other. It's reassuring on some level. Fingers crossed for smooth sailing.

Sometimes I try to make a gif of one of his lightning handpasses, but even in slow motion, it's too quick to be worth it. I'm only just barely exaggerating!

In a vain attempt at expectations management, I'm trying to remind myself that at the start of the year I would have penciled in some late season losses for our young team. This could really go down to the wire, the wire being the Pies in the last round. Of course, if we win this week, the lid will be well and truly off again.

If Oliver won the Brownlow, I don't think I'd be able to stand the masses' cries of "Stager! Diver!" Gah, I'm angry just thinking about it. But it probably won't happen, this year at least. Will be nice to watch the count with Dees players wracking up some good numbers for once though.

I just finally got to the point of being able to come on here (needed a good 24 hours to wallow). Turns out I didn't miss much! Thanks for your efforts as always. Could definitely have happened at a worse time.

As long as they find a way to make sure there's no repeat of this debacle, I'm sold. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4723256/Boy-pours-tomato-sauce-chocolate-doughnut-VFL-game.html

If memory serves, isn't Clayton on the lower end for minutes played? Maybe that's changed since earlier in the season though.

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-07-25/big-names-locked-in-for-aflw-state-of-origin Some great Demons names in there. Victoria Sarah Perkins (Adelaide), Kaitlyn Ashmore (Brisbane Lions), Brianna Davey, Darcy Vescio, Alison Downie, Danielle Hardiman, Nicola Stevens (Carlton), Sarah D'Arcy, Jess Cameron (Collingwood), Kara Donnellan (Fremantle) Alicia Eva, Jess Dal Pos (GWS), Karen Paxman, Daisy Pearce, Melissa Hickey, Lily Mithen, Jasmine Grierson (Melbourne), Ellie Blackburn, Emma Kearney and Hannah Scott (Western Bulldogs) Allies Chelsea Randall, Erin Phillips, Ebony Marinoff, Courtney Cramey (Adelaide), Sabrina Frederick-Traub, Emily Bates (Brisbane Lions), Emma Zielke, Jess Wuetschner, Kate McCarthy, Leah Kaslar, Sam Virgo (Brisbane Lions), Tayla Harris (Carlton), Emma King (Collingwood), Ebony Antonio, Kirby Bentley, Dana Hooker (Fremantle), Erin McKinnon, Emma Swanson, Renee Tomkins (GWS) and Elise O'Dea (Melbourne)

No worries! It's important to talk about and the media has a responsibility to show the whole story.

Yes, that was a terrible choice of words! You say it's silly, but words matter, so I apologise. I was trying to say that the issue of domestic violence goes beyond any one-upping in terms of which code is better or worse, which this report seems to have wrongly focused on. They could have easily taken a wider view about what different codes are doing but it seems like NSW bias to me. Rugby has made a bold move that will hopefully change attitudes and actions. But there can be no doubt that the positive effects of the AFLW will be widespread as well. I agree that's something they seem to have missed completely in this report. However, we should all avoid the temptation to say "Look at the AFLW," "Look at female membership" as the answer to everything. There's a long way to go.

I think in this case that false sense of security would be balanced by what Gus has gone through. It might be a danger after a one-off but from what I've read he seemed to have become more hesitant as a response, so wearing the helmet might help to counteract that a bit. All about finding the right balance psychologically, which hopefully his game on the weekend will help with.

Sounds like a bit of a beat up to me. Just a lazy re-hash of the age old rugby/aussie rules arguments. I don't see why different initiatives in both codes can't be acknowledged, though I guess there are worse things to compete over.

I'd almost forgotten how good he is. A bit of expectations management on my part, probably. But he keeps his feet so well and even if he doesn't mark it, gets hands to the ball 90% of the time.

Withdraw all efforts on your son and focus on your daughter immediately! 6 years old is passed it, time to focus on the future! (Joking, of course.) The fear of Gawn is hilarious, you need to convince him that Max is the friendly kind of giant.