Dees_In_October

So, much like our team, I went missing mid-season… But also much like them, I’m back with a vengeance! Rest assured, while I’ve had no time to comment here, I’ve been following our Dees closely. Managed to get to all Vic games this season, including the hellscapes of Whitten Oval and Vic Park. Well, hellscapes in terms of the results and our team’s insipid performances. Clearly both venues are one thousand times nicer to watch footy at than Casey…although I’ve witnessed some magic there this season. What a rollercoaster! Some real ups and downs, and when I saw the fixture for the last three rounds, I admit I thought we were goners. Luckily, the girls had no such attitude and in fact seemed spurred on by the challenge. Super happy to return here to see I’ve missed SO MUCH discussion...not the tumbleweeds it once was, great to see so many getting behind the girls with such passion. RE: the need to bring in a player for Daisy, I wonder if we might bring back Emonson and then push Tarrant forward, which is her natural position. Kicked 5 in the VFLW a few weeks back. The other options are McEvoy and Fitzsimon, and after that we’re into debut territory. At least we have options this year, unlike in 2020 when we were down to an assistant coach as our sole emergency at this stage! My feelings on our players across the H&A season: Awesome: Paxman, L.Pearce, Hanks, Zanker, Gay, Goldrick, Lampard, Colvin, Hore, Scott (R9 was a boost!), D.Pearce (never count her out) Impressed now and for the future: McNamara, Tarrant, Bannan, Sherriff, Heath, Magee, Fitzsimon More to give/had limited opportunity: Cunningham, Parry, Mithen, Birch, Downie, Petrevski, McEvoy, Emonson Yet to debut: Caris, Kendall, Simmons Just not fair: Sloane Shout out to the coach and his wife for handling the impending birth across R8 & 9 to perfection and welcome to the little one. Also belated congrats to Jane Lange for coaching the girls to victory against Freo. Everything crossed for Saturday! P.S. Any chance of getting one of our girls up on the banner for this weekend?

Well, you were a quarter and a couple of goals off, but you nailed it! As did the Dees! Super impressive win. Never seen them come out firing like that against such quality opposition and sustain it for so much of the game. North looked shell-shocked and quite flat to be honest, but their comeback was pretty much a guarantee and I thought our players weathered it well when they'd lost momentum. There were some shaky moments though! I wish we could have been there to cheer them on, but I hope the girls and staff felt the support anyway (and from the couple of people peering through the fence at Casey while 'exercising'!). Goldrick rapidly becoming a favourite. Doesn't care who she's up against, doesn't care about making mistakes, just goes for it and brings so much to the team. Weirdly I probably saw more blatant mistakes from both Daisy and Paxman than I've seen in their AFLW careers to date. But they were there in the critical moments with some big last gasp efforts. Mithen was ever-present. Gay gave us some of the extra oomph we'd been missing in the middle. Aside from quiet games from a couple (Zanker, Birch, McNamara - fair enough in just a third game!), everyone had their moments and it was a pretty even spread. Didn't give North the chance to ever truly get going; we only saw a glimpse of how damaging they can be. Next week? Who cares, this is one to savour!

Karen Paxman will (all going to plan) play her 30th game on the weekend. For context, this puts her among only 22 players prior to this round who have reached that figure, and the first to play all 30 at Melbourne. Libby Birch reached the milestone last week with her games combined between the Dogs and Dees. At the moment, given the shorter seasons, it's effectively what a 50 or even 100 game milestone would be in the men's, so something to celebrate. Especially given it's not guaranteed (although I wouldn't count her out) that she'll reach 50, as that will take another 2 or so seasons. So congrats to Paxy! For reference, other milestones of this nature that could be reached if the season reaches completion: Scott (currently on 28 games) Mithen (25) L.Pearce (23) D.Pearce (22) Cunningham (22) Hore (22)

Well, that was about as good a hit out as you could hope for in Round 1. Classic case of everyone being better for the run and to come away with the win is the icing. There was certainly a couple of layers of rust for our players, but they worked their way into it well before fading at the end. To be honest, I’d expected them to be even more out of touch given the nearly 10 months with only one practice game and the unsettled lead-up. Not sure if we’d have had second look-in if we’d had that kind of start against Adelaide. But that’s irrelevant now! Kudos to the club and everyone involved though for keeping everything chugging along over lockdown. It’s no mean feat! Positives: L.Pearce, great game, we look so much better with her in the side. And consequently, with Zanker getting more time in her true position. Which in turn, takes the pressure of Cunningham, who has now equalled her poor 2020 goal tally in one game. Paxman, must be some reverse-Samson energy or something, but she keeps upping the ante. Accurate goal kicking in general. Goldie, just to be out there so soon after quarantine was impressive. Hanks, feels like she’s been around forever but is just shy of 21 and among the best kicks in the team. First-ever goals for Heath and Petrevski (plus a second!). Playing at a non-wind-affected venue. The debutants: McNamara obviously had the most apparent impact, super impressive. Fitzsimon looked steady out there, not out of place at all. Bannan is a natural and will work her way in. Fun Fact—Bannan is the 500th players to debut in the AFLW and the 51st player to represent the Dees in the league. The negatives: Birch had nowhere near her usual impact due to our defence being out of whack structurally. It’s probably our greatest area of concern at the moment with Downie out for a bit and just lacking experience back there in general. I wouldn’t mind seeing Scott go back. Unfortunately being the stop-gap always seems to fall to her, although it worked out well enough last season. May not be the best idea, since she looked a bit all over the shop in this game (a great contested grab though). Someone upthread was asking about Gay and Lampard. Not sure on Gay because she’s a walk-up start and wasn’t listed as having an injury. Maybe a work conflict or the like. Lampard is still recovering from an ACL and is hopefully set to return mid-season. I want Magee in ASAP but also am trying to temper the instinct as rushing her is probably not wise in the long-term. Overall, just so happy to have footy back, a truly fortunate position to be in and one to savour. Don’t forget, tickets on sale on Monday for Round 2 v. Richmond at Casey. 9AM members, 10AM general public, I believe.

Unfortunately hasn't - out for 4 weeks. A shame since she missed so much last season too. https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/854336/aflw-injury-update-downie-sidelined-with-ankle-injury Rest of the injury/rehab list: Simmons - should be a test for Round 2 (ankle) Lampard - Round 3 (ACL) Sloane - Round 6 (ACL)

Info on ticketing here: https://womens.afl/tickets/faq Basically, a reduced crowd will be allowed at all games but you must buy tickets in advance, including for free as a member for some clubs (I haven't heard anything as a MFC member so no idea what's going on there). Tickets are on sale round by round each Monday, home members at 9AM and general admission at 10AM. Never thought I'd get to the point where I kind of miss Casey Fields ?

Nice one! Definitely our best player across the 4 years. Would love to see Paxy in the site header to recognise this. If memory serves, Daisy was up there are some point?

Yeah, I've always found that strange. For comparison, this year, 12 of the 14 AFLW teams have a junior membership. Most other clubs also offer a few tiers of adult membership for AFLW, whereas MFC only offer one priced at $99 (among the most expensive). Personally, I'm happy to pay to the support the girls and don't care much about merchandise or whatever in return, but our options are really lacking in this compared to other clubs.

Yeah, I'll admit it was frustrating to watch them pulling up for tackles that would be fine in AFLW. It also felt like it was kind of subjective where the line was, but maybe I was biased!

The Giants have already re-located to Albury, with only one staying back for work commitments temporarily. I imagine the impact for teams might vary quite a lot in that regard though. https://womens.afl/news/54856/sydney-s-covid-outbreak-forces-giants-to-move-south

I guess this falls under 2021 preseason! A few weeks back I caught a replay of the All-Ireland Ladies Championship, featuring of course our Irish players in Goldrick, McEvoy and Magee for Dublin. The Dubs had an impressive comeback win to clinch their fourth straight title. It was interesting to see Goldrick and McEvoy in their natural element. I only really know the basics of the game, but it was clear that Dublin is a very professional outfit. Goldrick in particular was super impressive. She came to the fore when the game was in the balance, and was awarded the player of the match. The commentary was in Gaelic so I had no idea what they were saying mostly but there was one passage of play where I could understand a few words being repeated: "Magee" and "physical". I get the sense she's going to enjoy the full tackle in AFLW. I believe they were meant to travel straight after Christmas so hopefully all goes smoothly with that and quarantine. Obviously they are match fit, but it's going to be a quick and steep adjustment back to footy. The VFLW's alignment with the AFLW season could be very handy in this regard. Now I'll make my annual promise to try to check out some pre-season training. I saw the girls going round at Gosch's while driving by but will try to get a closer look and report back!

This is a first for me in that I remember watching Simmons play, it must have been the U18 champs last year. Though other players were more skillful, she stood out to me for the way she moved despite her height.

I'm really happy we've gone and got some height. Good to finally have a second ruck again, which will free up Zanker with Cordner gone and in case L.Pearce goes down again (hopefully not). Of course, Caris is young and raw but what better way to develop a player than alongside one of the best rucks in the comp.

I'd think unlikely as most girls stop growing mid-teens, but you never know.

Loved seeing us get to play a big part of draft night. Obviously, all selected are future champions and premiership stars ? Seriously though, I'm looking forward to seeing what our new players can do in 2021 under the guidance of some great leaders at the Dees.

Replaced! Got to move on quickly ?

Good point! If memory serves, way back at the start of the pandemic, they had the teams divided with the men at Casey and the women at AAMI Park, so the better facilities will make that work even better for all. As for hubs, I don't think that would be viable for many reasons but glad to hear that they're doing some planning for different scenarios and getting the players' views.

Seems like an eternity since I've been out to Casey Fields but it's definitely for the best considering the case numbers in that area, unfortunately. But on the bright side, here are some pics of the upgraded facilities. Obviously the whole club and community will benefit from this, but it's explained as being for AFLW so I'm putting it here. https://shape.com.au/projects/casey-fields/

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.