Dees_In_October

Noooooooooooo! Credit to Brisbane, they really brought it and we were simply not up to it. Negatives Outplayed all over and SO MANY MISTAKES. Frustrating. Need to find a way to wrest back momentum and own the ball when the pressure is up. Small sample, but we haven’t been able to do that against proper competition this season and it’s a worry. We started too reactive and weren’t switched on. Any chance we could come out all guns blazing sometime? Then again, the way the Lions were on…if we’d backed our game, they might’ve had 5 in the first. Too many were ineffective with the ball under pressure (count West, Mithen and Heath among those). Goalless in the second half. The forward line was starved and then when we found a bit of connection looked fairly toothless in the last quarter. We’ve struggled to get Bannan’s full impact against the top teams this season. A couple of our tackles will be looked at. All season players have been getting off for dangerous tackles so of course just watch Hanks and possibly Heath get weeks. Hate to see Watt who surely has limited chances left in her career have her season possibly ended like that. Positives The ball bounced, I guess. Not our way. But it did bounce. I thought the most likely way for us to lose that game would be through inaccurate kicking. Well, we did lose, but not in that way. I was also worried about their speed and they definitely broke us open a few times…wait, that’s not a positive. Hopefully that was about as bad as we can play and about as well as they can play. We’ve seen Adelaide and Brisbane’s tactics—do we have a response? Paxman as a late out set off a chain of shifts that were less than ideal and left things out of whack. A tough ask for Gall. We can field a better team than this, but no excuses. Thought it was a good return by Harris overall. Mackin the only player who had any real space. Goldie tried hard. Hore and Hanks tried to lead the way. The backline did about all it could under that level of attack before caving. People reacting in the gameday thread with vitriol and exaggeration. It’s Demonland code for "This hurts", which translates to “I care”. May the sting of losing send us into beast mode for finals. Our best beats anyone. Just need to do it.

I reckon occasionally Tayla goes into a mode where she throws her body around even more than usual, but agree she's very controlled and usually plays with a sort of calm aggression. There are several more hot-headed players on our team and certainly a few more interested in the niggle than she's ever been. Speaking of hard at it, enjoyed this interview with Goldie. She talks about the switch between codes, moving to Australia this season, and the Jim Stynes connection. It's very obvious how Sinead's experiences at Dublin, failing many times then achieving success, made her a great asset for our team in taking the next step. Probably an underrated aspect of her contribution, aside from what we (and she, as it turns out!) describe as the "chaos" she brings on the field.

Congrats to Libby Birch on 75 games! 🌈 And a happy Pride Round to all 🌈 Michael Voss Oval win-loss record: Brisbane 2-3; Melbourne 1-0 Melbourne's win-loss record against Brisbane: 6-2 (Melbourne last played Brisbane in the 2022B Grand Final, a 4-point win) Selected teams avg. games experience: Melb 46.4; Bris 43.3 2023 formline comparison: Brisbane 6 wins (2nd, 3rd, 6th, 8th, 14th and 17th); 3 losses (9th, 10th and 12th) Melbourne 8 wins (3rd, 7th, 10th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th and 18th); 1 loss (2nd) Both played Adelaide (Melb -10; Bris +3); North (Melb +23; Bris +2); Collingwood (Melb +42; Bris -5) and Hawthorn (Melb +59; Bris +27) If we take the field as selected, the following 14 players will have played all 10 H&A games in 2023: Bannan, Birch, Goldrick, Gillard, Hanks, Heath, Hore, B.Mackin, McNamara, Mithen, Purcell, Sherriff, West and Zanker. Ivey's first game of 2023 means we'll have played 28 total from our list of 31.

Thanks for kicking us off in such spooky style! Retro jumpers! https://www.melbournefc.com.au/albums/1459316/aflw-training-gallery-retro-jumpers?modal=true&type=gallery&playlistId=1459316&playlistSize=10 "Harris set for return" https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/1459233/rd10-injury-report-harris-set-for-return

Yeah doing a consistent Friday night game would make sense. Similarly, surely there's a weekend day early in the H&A season where they could book in Docklands and do two or even three games for a mini footy festival to advertise months in advance. Could sell some sections as one game only and others for the full day. Put the most skilled teams on, do group discounts tickets for community groups, create some buzz, and everyone leaves with a membership or a fixture in their hand so they know when to get along to "Princess" Park (hehe) or wherever. And on that, listening to the W Podcast, they were talking about what Sydney's done up at Henson Park, where they've had really strong crowds this season, even before the team's form got rolling. They went back to basics and did an old-school letter drop in the days leading up to each home game, and that's where their ticket sales came from. Proof that specific targeting is better than just the generic "it's AFLW season" advertising that's full of feel-good buzzwords but little in the way of actual information. It's just now occurring to me that the AFL is not used to advertising in the way that's needed for the AFLW because, let's face it, they've basically got a captive audience for the men's. The only other thing I can think of is that it might be cheaper for the AFL to run a game at Casey than at Princes Park? Especially if their expecting a small crowd (though clearly that's a bit of a chicken and egg situation).

And just to put some figures behind the crowd comparisons for our home games in 2023, it's exactly as we'd expect: Avg. Casey attendance (3 games): 1,694 Avg. Princes Park attendance (2 games): 5,558 Avg. home attendance last H&A season: 1,288 (4 Casey games - not including the 17,851 MCG crowd for R2) We've done the most important thing in attracting crowds, which is to win games and be a consistent, competitive and enjoyable team to watch. Based on the above, the next obvious thing is not to play at Casey. Obvious but perhaps not easy contractually? Though that fastest-growing area thing only works if we've actually got a strategy for converting those people into supporters and members. Would love to know if there's any evidence of that happening and if it's enough to counter the number of existing members who would attend but will never set foot at Casey Fields.

That's a fair effort! Kudos for putting in the hard yards. Casey is difficult enough to get to by car but public transport is ridiculous, especially if you're lugging a camp chair or wrangling kids or whatever, it's easy to see how it limits access.

All the finals scenarios based on possible results next week here: https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/aflw-2023-afl-womens-last-round-finals-scenarios-the-run-home-ladder-predictor-round-10-games-what-every-team-needs/news-story/d6060d2daf5fd9ec9dc0454f8df1df95 As mentioned by others, for us the equation is pretty simple: "Win: Finish 1st unless Adelaide wins by biggest margin in AFLW history, then finish 2nd Lose: Finish 2nd if Adelaide wins, 1st if Adelaide loses With the $1 million McClelland Trophy already theirs, the Demons are simply aiming for the minor premiership on Saturday night. But there’s something arguably even more important on the line - a very favourable qualifying final. We can’t imagine Adelaide losing to West Coast earlier in the evening, so if Melbourne loses to Brisbane they should drop into second, and very likely face North Melbourne in a tricky qualifying final. But a win over Brisbane will knock the Lions out of the four, and hand the Demons a qualifying final against fourth-placed Essendon or Gold Coast - who the reigning premiers would be heavily favoured against. Either way the Dees are one of the flag favourites but an easier qualifying final is quite the reward."

6. Paxman 5. B.Mackin 4. Goldrick 3. McNamara 2. West 1. Mithen

Speaking of Zanker, which we should be, always:

They've called it: https://www.afl.com.au/aflw/news/1057726/brisbane-lions-surrender-1m-mcclelland-prize-in-costly-loss-to-st-kilda-saints "The result will see Melbourne claim the McClelland-Trophy treasure, with Collingwood one game and nearly 18 percentage points behind." Both our teams have contributed 64 points (with one game remaining for the women), so a nice and even contribution. Someday a club will win it with more of a contribution from one team over the other, but this ain't that.

Agh, another classic Blusterdome game. I used to be all "both teams have to play in the conditions, so you take it as it is". But with the gap in skills this team has on most opponents it's more and more of a shame that we play so often in the football equivalent of a spin cycle. Yes, a bunch of those goals missed should have been slotted (and this is something we won't always get away with and need to tighten up). It's the around the ground stuff that I find frustrating, as the conditions don't reward skill or superior ball movement so much as "kick and hope" footy. We'll still typically rise above it, and play the conditions smart. And there'll always be games affected by the weather. But I hate that 90% of the time, playing at our home ground means our team won't get to practice its full potential. All that aside, we did what we needed to do, 4 points, no obvious injuries, and as it turns out, all but sealing $1 mil. That goal from B.Mack was all class and the highlight of the day for me. I want to watch the replay for a couple of Heater tackles I saw from a great distance but need to experience with a better view as a 50 game celebration. Liked Gall's game and look forward to seeing more of her. Fitzsimon had a real purple patch at one point putting on immense forward pressure with numerous repeat efforts. Matchday experience: Nearly lost a few camp chairs and I swear a half-full bag of potato chips I dropped blew a good 10m away before I could catch up to it. Everything was at the right volume (Dees Army loud, PA system reasonable), so that was a plus.

Live scenes from MFC HQ: Yeah the girls! Yeah the boys! Break out the deluxe cheeseboards everyone! (Against all logic, still fearful in posting this of some truly wacky Collingwood results #mfcss)

Described in the MFC article as a key forward 🤷‍♀️ Let's go with versatile! Hopefully the scan comes up clear for Maddi. https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/1457279/new-dee-to-take-on-dockers More Heath appreciation, this time from teammates: https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/1457234/heath-reaches-50-the-underrated-star

Great point. And we're third in the league for average home game attendance, same as last year. The actual figure for attendance average per game has decreased by about 1,000 compared to last season, but those numbers last year were bolstered by a 17,000 attendance for the double header at the 'G. So I'd consider our crowd numbers as a supporter base (within the context of the league) to be quite solid this year. But I get your perspective too, @WalkingCivilWar Dees AFLW fans are prominent in the fan space and striving really hard to push things along. As a competition leader, we want more. In memberships, we were 12th last year I think, so we definitely want to do better there. Agree completely. Women don't have an obligation to support women's footy, at least not to any greater extent than anyone else does. In fact, I'd say women in general have done a fair bit in that regard already, in battling for over a century for the right just to play. A big part of it from an AFL perspective would (or should) be to gain ground in the most rapidly growing battle in the code wars, which is women's sports. And on that, they miss opportunities time and time again. We've seen how cricket (T20 World Cup at the MCG in 2020) and soccer (World cup this year) have put on big marketing campaigns to drive attendance and break records, which has a significant flow-on effect. The AFLW GF might be in Melbourne for the first time since 2018 this year. Great opportunity for a similar campaign to break the AFLW attendance record, right? But no, the capacity for a Vic-based GF will be capped out at 12,000 at Princes Park. So...

Gall's a defender I think? Exciting to have a debut but I don't like mystery outs!

I totally jinxed her by naming her a player to watch! Will make things easier but I kinda wanted to see Gillard go against her. I reckon Heathy off the field, Heater on the field, seems apt for her on- vs. off-field vibe haha.

Also, if selected (!), it will be Shelley Heath's 50th game. We really went a week early with out appreciation of her in the last matchday thread but why not go again! In checking that this was indeed 50 games for Heater, I came across an article describing her drafting at pick 44 in 2018 as a shock. It seems that Melbourne was the only club that showed interest (she'd only been playing footy since age 15). Wasn't even watching the draft when her name was called! From the beginning we've lauded her tackling ability - hard but typically fair and controlled, in a way that is increasingly valuable. She's also probably the most noted tagger of the league to this point, with some seriously big-name scalps. The addition of more attacking attributes has now sent her to another level, still aged just 23.

Here we go, round 9! Saturday 1.05PM at Casey Fields (likely our last game at Casey this season). Fremantle's Casey win-loss record: 1-2 Melbourne's win-loss record against Fremantle: 5-2 (Melbourne last played Fremantle, in R6 2022B, a 30-point win) Fremantle's 2023 formline: Fremantle's 4 wins have come against teams 10th and below, with 4 losses to teams 8th and above. Both teams have played West Coast (Melb +70; Freo +8), Collingwood (Melb +42; Freo -21), Hawthorn (Melb +59; Freo +13), North (Melb +23; Freo -45) and Geelong (Melb +49; Freo -24). Fremantle are coming off a 24-point win against 10th-placed St Kilda. A player of theirs to watch for is Aine Tighe, a super athletic genuine matchwinner. An article on Paxy and her name change (which is a name change only, not pronouns, as it turns out). Plus the infamous dog incident, which could have been much worse: https://www.afl.com.au/aflw/news/1057131/why-dees-star-changed-her-name-and-that-dog-related-incident Lily's podcast with new Demon Saraid Taylor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVjIrZ20TKI

Agree! Whoever chooses must have blinked during that one.

Yeah in all seriousness I think there's very little chance Ellie would switch teams. She strikes me as the type who'd prefer to stay a one-club player and lead the next phase for the Dogs. There's clearly something very wrong there in the management of their program - I'd liken it to Carlton a few years back. If there's not a serious shake-up at season's end it'll be clear that those up top have not sustained interest or the support required. I don't think Poita was suggesting we get rid of Harris, just that it would be less of a loss if she were to be given an offer she can't refuse in some AFL equalisation measure, because other players have come on and we rely on her less. I think that's fair enough. But, yes, obviously she's best 21 when fit. No one sees Tayla Harris's name on the team list and thinks, "Well, we won't need to put any time into her". Has contributed plenty in most of the games she's played this season - leads the competition in avg. contested marks and goal assists, and is third for avg. marks i50. Just hope she can string a few games together ASAP.

Vote for Paxy for this round's Mark of the Year nomination! https://www.afl.com.au/aflw/mark-of-the-year Coaches votes for R8: NARRM v NORTH MELBOURNE 10 Tyla Hanks (MELB) 7 Tahlia Gillard (MELB) 7 Olivia Purcell (MELB) 2 Mia King (NMFC) 2 Ashleigh Riddell (NMFC) 1 Jasmine Garner (NMFC) 1 Shelley Heath (MELB)

What was that for? I had no idea at the ground. Agree there were some truly ridiculous decisions both ways.

Love this WCW! I missed the banner so appreciate you posting it. "Two feet and a heartbeat" is a great mantra and I think our team really lived it in how they played this game - every player has two feet and a heartbeat, everyone can do their little bit even if it's not fancy or something that's going to make a highlights reel. That puts it so well and it's reassuring we've recaptured that hungry way to play against a team that has some physicality to it. Hopefully we can replicate it when it really counts! I'll admit I had to do a google. "Diminutive but courageous" sounds about right. 165cm, only 8cm taller than Tyla - you wouldn't see a player of that height in the men's today! Agree, it's a great league to watch if you're not into footy just to see "the best" (some people are, and that's fine). If you appreciate player development and what it looks like when it does vs. doesn't happen, plus how the process can happen slowly then very quickly in some players, just like the men's, AFLW has all that. But it's in overdrive, even in the best players and teams, all while the game style matures and expectations on players re: fitness and preparation rise. Dees 2023 vs Dees 2021 would be interesting. I'd put Heath on Heath and see the universe explode. In a similar vein, I wonder which teams in 2023 could beat the inaugural premiers? Played under 2023 rules, the longer quarters would have a big say. The top 8 could for sure.

Yeah, bring her home! It's been 10 years but she was ours at the beginning.