poita

Good to see a couple of Casey players were selected in the AFLW supplementary draft last night. Not sure what that means for them continuing to be available for Casey this season, but it is a good result for the program. 6. Gold Coast - Cara McCrossan (Casey Demons) 24. Richmond - Shelby Knoll (Casey Demons)

I don't have the exact numbers in front of me, but per the HS stats the expected scores on Sunday were something like 108 - 88 based on the shots the two teams took. Sydney definitely missed a couple of relatively easy shots, but for us to exceed our expected score by so much was very impressive.

Dees_In_October - what is the significance of the rookie list for the AFLW, both for clubs and players? I assume you are still limited to a list of 30, and the payment tiers are still in effect? Have we heard if Eliza West has come on to the senior list for next season?

Welcome to modern sport. NRL players sign and announce contracts with other teams a year ahead. Players in American sports play for one team one day, then get traded and play for another team the next day. Same for soccer. I don't like it either, but we're within touching distance of weaker teams trading out star players to finals contenders for draft picks mid-season.

No wonder driving in Melbourne is such hard work these days. Half the population doesn't have a valid license, and the other half condones this.

By my calculations, Salem has played 143 games out of 203 since he was drafted in 2013, so has basically missed 3 full seasons out of 9 even before this setback. That's not a great return, given that the games leader from that draft has played 195. He's a great player when fit, but he is missing a lot of football. If we start looking to refresh our list over the next few years, he might be a prime candidate to be traded.

No trains on the Frankston line between Moorabbin and South Yarra all weekend. That is not going to help people get to the game on Sunday. I think 40K will be a decent result, but I suspect that Sydney will be bringing close to half of those.

There has never been more blatant tanking than what Hawthorn is currently doing. Anyone who thinks otherwise has their head in the sand. 17 other teams are doing everything possible to win games and the other is dreaming of a brighter future with Harley Reid. I hope the AFL gives them 11 Sunday twilight home games next year in response.

I would have played Schache if fit, has to be Van Rooyen now for Gawn. Hopefully Grundy can ruck 80% of the game, but I'm sure Ladhams will be testing out the ribs early on. May (if fit) for Petty. I'd be thinking hard about Tomlinson to do some rucking as well, as McDonald has been ineffective in the role. I also don't think its helping Tom's work in the forward line. Hibberd has to come in to take one of the mid-sized forwards. I like the idea of playing a lockdown small defender like McVee, but not sure if he is doing enough at present. Maybe McVee stays and Harmes misses out. Melksham can head back to Casey, and we need someone with more versatility in the sub role. Maybe Smith, although he's just as likely to injure himself in the warm up, or even Howes. Langdon on very, very thin ice.

Cool, let's just call it a draw and move on.

Can we sub Brayshaw off for the water boy?

We need to tread very carefully over the next few years, or a list that is absolutely primed to challenge for premierships now, becomes very old, very quickly. We have Viney, Grundy, Hunter, Salem, Harmes, Petracca, Neal-Bullen, Brayshaw, Langdon and Lever - 10 of our best side - aged from 27 yrs 0 mths to 28 yrs 11 mths. The reality is that you can't have all of those guys playing into their thirties, particularly when Gawn and May are already contracted into their mid 30s. I reckon we'll have maximum two more years with this group, then there will need to be big changes to keep us in the window, as we only have a handful of players in the 22 - 25 yrs bracket.

https://www.womens.afl/news/118851?_ga=2.230777691.518500240.1679614491-637235427.1679614491 AFLW website reporting that the following players are listed as possible VFL players for Casey this year, to a maximum of 10 AFLW listed players per round. Perhaps Georgina Fowler will also be added to that list. Alyssa Bannan, Georgia Campbell, Maeve Chaplin, Megan Fitzsimon, Georgia Gall, Tahlia Gillard, Sinead Goldrick, Shelley Heath, Casey Sherriff, Rhi Watt, Eliza West, Charlotte Wilson It would be good to see Campbell, Gall and Wilson playing a number of games, given their lack of AFLW game time this year.

Though not finishing up as a Demon, it would be remiss of us not to mention that Elise O'Dea has retired. (Co) captain of the club in 2019, twice all-Australian and multiple top 3 finishes in the B&F. She was one of the players that really drove this club forward in the first four seasons, but unfortunately the increased pool of talent meant that the game went past her in the end. https://www.womens.afl/news/113200/who-s-hanging-up-the-boots-your-club-s-retiring-players Eliza McNamara was drafted with the pick we received from Carlton for Elise, so we saw the best of her, then made the trade at the perfect time.

My heart bleeds for all the bandwagon fans of the 1980s and 1990s who are now facing the prospect of dealing with miserable, dissenting offspring in the 2020s. If ever a team deserves to be relocated to Tasmania (or Kalgoorlie), it is that one.

I get that in the heat of the action decisions are made in a fraction of a second, but this was an ill considered and highly dangerous act which deserves to be punished. I would hate to see my son cop a hit like that when he is completely open and unprotected. A two week ban is certainly not excessive, and it clearly would have been much more if Smith had copped a serious injury. I'm not thrilled about some of the other verdicts this round, or the entire process, but we can hardly complain about this one.

This is a wonderful story, and Brian seemed genuinely thrilled with the outcome. He was my favourite player growing up, and his number 7 was the first number I had on a MFC jumper in the late 80s. I'm glad there was a positive outcome.

Truly amazing effort by all involved with the club and the players themselves. Clearly this is an incredible group to be a part of and they can sense more premierships in the very near future. PS. The lap of honour last night was pretty disappointing. Surely they could have named the players and put some GF footage on the big screen.

I didn't mind Baker, but he wasn't really banging the door down at Casey last year. That said, neither McVee or Laurie has actually found the door yet, so are very lucky to be playing this week. Good luck to all three.

Thanks for the training reports. Just so I'm clear, we've named a side with 5 specialist small forwards under 183cm tall, and our sub is another specialist forward at 186cm tall. That seems less than optimum.

For a club that supposedly has excellent depth, we are putting out a pretty ordinary round 1 team. I think I'd rather any of the emergencies than McVee, Laurie or Chandler. I have no issue with playing kids if their form warrants it, but Laurie & McVee were invisible against Richmond. How Goodwin thinks you can get away with Spargo and Laurie in the same team is beyond me. Neither can win their own ball, neither will be accountable for an opponent and they'll be lucky to get 12 touches between them. Melksham would have been a much better option to replace Fritsch, even if less than full fitness. May is probably the most important and least replaceable player in the team. Tomlinson is arguably the best replacement, but it is a massive loss for us. If I was the Bulldogs I would be playing through Lever's man all night, because I don't see a good match up for him. I think we start underdogs here, but the Bulldogs are playing Hannan & Baker, so their depth isn't much better.

The club website maintains its high standard of excellence with the latest injury report ... https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/injury-updates ... from 23 November and for the AFLW team only.

First deal done, but still no mention of any Melbourne players wanting out. Lambert is a great get for St Kilda, and Shierlaw fixes one of North's issues, although she is 34. Brisbane still look likely to lose Wardlaw. https://www.womens.afl/news/118784?_ga=2.23157624.313584192.1678310333-53864082.1678310333

Hopefully not jinxing anything, but it feels as though the better players will only move to weaker clubs for lifestyle reasons (eg Molloy & McEvoy to Sydney). Perhaps we need to be more worried when the about our players making moves to other contenders if they can jump a pay grade and stay in the finals hunt. https://www.womens.afl/news/118781/2023-aflw-priority-signing-period-summary

And a similar list from ESPN of the 50 best players in the competition. https://www.espn.com.au/espn/feature/story/_/id/35580701/the-50-best-players-afl-ahead-season-2023 1. C. Petracca 2. P. Cripps 3. C. Oliver 4. L. Neale 5. J. Cameron 6. T. Miller 7. M. Bontempelli 8. S. Bolton 9. T. Lynch 10. C. Curnow --------- 20. S. May 43. B. Fritsch 44. M. Gawn (that one is just hilarious)