Dees_In_October

In the lead-up to the 10th season of the AFLW, here are some cherry-picked fun facts from Gemma Bastiani's AFLW Revolution series: • In 2024, 14.6 per cent of all AFLW players were 180cm or taller, compared to just 6.6 per cent in the inaugural 2017 season. • Melbourne’s average of 58.9 points in 2023 is the second highest average score, behind Adelaide’s 59.1 in 2019. • Average tackles inside 50 across the league increased from 8.8 in 2017 to 14.1 in 2024. • The Demons' premiership-winning defence in 2022 was the tightest defensive performance in AFLW history (avg. 18.6 points conceded). • It wasn’t until 2021 that a player recorded 20 or more hitouts and two or more goals in a game. • L.Pearce is highlighted as the first player in AFLW to record 20 or more hitouts and 20 or more disposals in a game and did it twice before any other player achieved the feat (and it’s only happened 10 times since). • In the last two seasons more than 39 per cent of disposal across the league has been by hand, the highest ratio since the competition began. Melbourne is an exception, as “handballing has always been a key building block of its game, with between 38.7 per cent and 43.4 per cent of its disposal count handballs over the nine seasons. The gap of 4.7 per cent is the lowest of any inaugural team…” There’s more analysis in the articles themselves, for example about the changing role of wingers and the reasons behind a weakening of midfield depth, as well as how increased training time and access to facilities has allowed for the development of the game away from a focus on personnel and one-on-one contests to systems, structures and better team coherence. Worth a read: https://www.afl.com.au/aflw/news/1321475/aflw-revolution-how-the-forward-line-has-evolved-in-nine-seasons https://www.afl.com.au/aflw/news/1325750/aflw-revolution-defence https://www.afl.com.au/aflw/news/1335446/aflw-revolution-why-the-ruck-role-has-evolved-more-than-any-other https://www.afl.com.au/aflw/news/1336001/aflw-revolution-the-clear-shift-in-strategy-thats-helped-midfields-boom There's also this re: the soft cap, which provides useful context for some of the off-field stuff going on, particularly the difficulty facing assistant coaches: https://www.afl.com.au/aflw/news/1342210/aflw-clubs-wrestle-with-soft-cap-limits-after-afl-increase

Came here hoping for an update on how the youngsters did so thanks! Promising stuff. Good to see that some of the other players have had a run as well.

It's strange to think Daisy was 29 when AFLW started. We certainly didn't see her best on the field and yet her influence on and off it for the MFC and league was unmatched. And it was her commitment to the VWFL that got the ball rolling for the league in a lot of ways - she simply dominated and the team and rivals that went with her essentially became the AFLW. Daisy PearceMelbourne (2017-22): 55 games, 25 goals AFLW premiership: 2022 Melbourne best and fairest: 2017, 2018, 2022 All-Australian: 2017 (captain), 2018, 2022 Melbourne captain: 2017-18, 2020-22 VWFL premierships: Darebin 2006, 2007, 2008 (c), 2009 (c), 2010 (c), 2013 (c), 2014 (c), 2015 (c) VFLW premierships: Darebin 2016 (c), 2017 Helen Lambert Medal (VWFL B&F): 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015 Lisa Hardeman Medal (Grand Final BOG): 2005, 2014 Darebin best and fairest: 2005, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 It's also really fitting that Daisy and Erin go in together as they represent two different paths for women of their generation in terms of Aussie Rules. Erin is an elite athlete who was probably always going to find her way to the top tier of a professional sport. She was lost to the game, like so many others, because she had other choices. When footy was back on the table in a (semi) professional way, she was there to show what someone who'd had a decade plus of pro conditioning could do. Daisy, with respect, was probably never going to make it in another sport. She had tunnel vision for footy and was lucky enough to find supportive environments, against the odds, but also due to her dedication. So much of her success on the field was due to footy smarts that were hard-won before the public spotlight arrived. Also just an incredible leader, whose fingerprints are still all over our AFLW program.

Some good analysis of fixture strength in 2024 and 2025 here courtesy of Sean Lawson at This Week In Football: https://thisweekinfootball.com/twif/round-13-2025/#aflw-fixture-strength-of-schedule-how-unfair-is-the-draw Nothing we didn't already know. But good to see it backed up. (click through for explanation of the table below) From a broader perspective, the analysis shows the greater degree of variation in AFLW fixture strength compared with the men's and the best measure to remedy that (more games).

Some good preseason news: melbournefc.com.auLatest Video | Melbourne Football ClubWatch the latest interviews and highlights from the Melbourne Football ClubBeasley's first post-ACL run (257 days post-injury).

melbournefc.com.auLatest Video | Melbourne Football ClubWatch the latest interviews and highlights from the Melbourne Football ClubPurcell signed to 2027.

Good draw, appropriate for our ladder position for last season. Gets tougher at the end but if we're there abouts we'll hopefully have built by then. I just wish they could announce the fixture a little earlier, or failing that, at least give notice of when it will be announced. It's always a guessing game, and as a result, there's games I could have planned around but too late now. Somehow it was announced a week later than last year despite the season starting two weeks earlier. I will say, I like how away games in Vic are included in a standard W membership, it's good value especially considering the hike to Casey is often further than the home grounds of other teams. Anyone going to attempt the double on the 16th of August? Men's Round 23 v Hawthorn MCG at 4.15pm and women's Round 1 v Western Bulldogs at Whitten Oval at 7.35pm. @Ghostwriter I know its different people for M and W, but does the cheersquad have enough floggers etc. to split between two games? For some reason I'm picturing a single sad person as our cheersquad at Whitten. I'm sure that won't be the case. Hopefully the right big heads end up at the right games haha.

Super bad luck for Jacinta. I like that we've signed a contact extension in the aftermath - we look after our players. Look forward to seeing her out there in 2026. An Ebert is only an Ebert from the Ebert region of France. Jokes aside, looks like Laela will provide some good coverage for a few positions. Always good when a player is described as "coachable" especially if they've missed out in their draft year. Something to prove!

And let's be clear about what are and are not football acts. I.e. If you never or very rarely see anyone else doing that act on a football field you can safely assume that most players have deemed that act to be dangerous, reckless, likely to result in injury - and so, not a football act. Just as a random example, if a player is running towards you, looking down in the action of kicking the footy, there's an expectation that an opposing player isn't going to leap into the air at velocity in a fashion that is likely to result in them landing on you above the shoulders. Just as an example...

Yes, it should first and foremost be about the action that they're trying to remove from the game, due to its potential for injury. The outcome should be a secondary consideration because the same action on different people will have different results.

On the topic of non-mainstream analysis, Credit to Du Bois (Emyln Breese) creates great charts on various aspects of the game, like this one today on how clubs have retained and used draft picks in the last 10 years: https://credittodubois.com/blog/draft-pick-and-mix Here’s the Melbourne one specifically: https://public.flourish.studio/uploads/1229741/1a5fe616-6eec-4922-af8c-012b4d7ac709.png

Lil's perspective on the trade - loses no respect from me. Made over 80 phone calls to people at the club to tell them of her decision personally. https://www.afl.com.au/aflw/news/1286681/three-weeks-of-tears-80-phone-calls-inside-lily-mithens-move-to-gold-coast-suns

It would make sense to have a flag somewhere in our emblem. A high flying one. Since that's what our song says.

In that case, we could never question the club's scouting abilities ever again 🤣

Is the list size now 31? I remember talk of it expanding to 31, was that confirmed? Good news if so. At current count I have us at 30 players plus Aimee. That 30 includes Beasley though, who I guess is a question mark with her ACL.

Thanks to all the trackwatchers this preseason! Loving the reports in all shapes and forms. Every year I say I'll have a break from footy content over the offseason, but every year by December I'm back reading about us training the house down and it's largely thanks to the top-notch reporting here. Kudos to all!

A lot of talk on the other side of the board about the club's social media efforts and the improved content of late. Great to see it carried through for both sets of draftees. Molly handled it all really well. Plus it showed what we already know about the quality of our coaches and leaders. The welcome by the players at the end of the night was a random end to a bit of whirlwind!

I'm guessing they meant 'high ceiling' but completely bungled it. Maybe they thought a glass ceiling was even higher than a high ceiling.

Sounds good to me!

I thought there might have been some purpose to this that I was missing! If there was no agreement, could it have been sort of on principle or because we could? I'd like to think we wouldn't go against an agreement, so maybe there wasn't one. Anyway, I'm just trying to understand the process better but maybe no answer to this one!

Found this article, which suggests it's more a "wait and see" on Aimee's recovery (she's about 7 months post ACL), not quite so definitive as what the draft coverage suggested. https://www.irishnews.com/sport/uncertainty-over-mackin-sisters-aflw-involvement-for-2025-IRVIYLI43BB6PHX3AMFWR35CDM/ The coverage also implied that we had an extra draft spot because of Aimee not returning. But we already had three spots available for draftees anyway. From my understanding, Aimee's list spot could only be filled with a draftee if she was delisted, which is not the case. For both Mackins, as mentioned in the article, there's the Gaelic season to consider as well. Finals run through July, with the All-Ireland Final at the start of August, and AFLW starting the week of August 11.

Nice to have draftees who are friends as well. Important for young ones!

Is it sort of an unspoken agreement that clubs won't do that with a pick traded in like that? Just trying to understand why it was a surprise and what the purpose was.

Absolutely, I meant that more positively than it came out!