Round 3 – St Kilda Vs Melbourne

Despite a valiant effort, the Dees were unable to emulate their terrific Round 2 performance. Pre season Commentators had modest expectations of Melbourne but their strong showing last week put them firmly in the ones to watch category. Unfortunately St Kilda had other ideas and their standout player of the night Caitlin Greiser delivered the winning goal in spectacular fashion.

The Dees dominated early in the first quarter and made the Saints work in defence. No matter how hard Melbourne tried though, St Kilda managed to keep them at bay. The Dees play was less fluid this week and they missed opportunities to take advantage of the breeze which favoured their goal in the first term.

Tellingly, the first chance the Saints had to get the ball to Melbourne’s inside 50, St Kilda’s Kate McCarthy was able to kick the ball to Greiser who marked it close to goal. Greiser converted to put the Saints in front. Luckily, one of the Dees’ star players, Shelley Scott got one back just before the siren to put Melbourne in front going into the break.

The start of Q2 added to Melbourne’s woes as promising new recruit Sinead Goldrick was taken off due to the concussion rule and sat out the remainder of the game on the benches. In addition, Maddie Guerin hobbled off with a suspected ACL injury. Aliesha Newman had a chance to replicate her goal of the year from a couple of seasons ago but was only able to score the single point.

St Kilda looked a lot more confident as they started to take the game to Melbourne in a low scoring quarter. Then Greiser showed her influence when she got the ball to Darcy Guttridge in front of goal, who tapped it through for the Saints’ second.

In the second half, St Kilda continue to look increasingly assured. The Dees were going to have to dig deeper to break through. Another minor score from Zanker left the girls frustrated at their lack of points on the board. The longer the scores remained level the more the Saints seemed to be taking control of the game. The Dees defence was were being tested more regularly.

Melbourne did have some serious surges later in the quarter but St Kilda remained calm in defence. Some great opportunities to stretch the lead went begging as the Saints were able to thwart Melbourne’s best efforts. The Dees were clearly dominating the inside 50 tackles, leading by 19 to zero but their kicking kept letting them down. Karen Paxman in particular was ferocious but to no avail. A great mark by Tegan Cunningham failed to make the distance when converted and seemed to sum up the Dee’s night.

St Kilda started Q4 with a belief that their first win was in sight. Greiser almost put the Saints in front with a brilliant kick that just landed wide. Then the combination of the Saint’s McCarthy and Greiser again saw Greiser mark the ball on the inside 50 edge. With a superb kick she secured her second and the St Kilda’s third goal.

Melbourne were now struggling to contain the Saints. As the quarter continued St Kilda looked like the team to beat, despite the best efforts of Paxman to drive the troops forward. Unfortunately it proved too difficult for Melbourne regain the lead and the Saints got their first win.

Melbourne will certainly have learned some harsh lessons. They’ll need to use the loss to their advantage when the take on Collingwood at Marvel Stadium on Friday night. The match will be a double header with Victoria Vs All Stars in the bush fire relief game. There will be a full house and an electric atmosphere so I’m sure there will be more than a few nervous players.

We need to win that game to have a chance of finishing in the top two of the very competitive Conference B. Round 3 will have shaken the Dees a little but I’m confident they have the character to put the loss behind them and come out swinging against the Pies.

Go the Awesome Dees!!!

Round 2 – Western Bulldogs Vs Melbourne

Liam Chambers

After last week’s close contest, the Dees showed that they are shaping up to be genuine contenders for the premiership cup.

From the opening siren, Melbourne were off and running. Wave after wave of intense pressure was applied to the Bulldogs’ defence. A shell shocked Dogs finally succumbed when a long kick from debutante Niamh McEvoy was picked up by Aliesha Newman and handed to Chantel Emonson who opened the scoring for the Dees.

Comeback Queen Daisy Pearce was right at home at half back with an almost telepathic connection to the brilliant Karen Paxman. The accuracy of their marking and kicking has reached new heights. A rebound effort from Elise O’Dea was cleaned up by Paxman who then scored Melbourne’s second with ruthless efficiency.

At the other end, Sinead Goldrick made an unfortunate rookie error when she dropped the ball both literally and metaphorically, giving away a fifty metre penalty. It gave the Dogs’ player Deanna Berry a chance to put her team on the scoreboard with a free kick right in front of goal.

Melbourne kept up the momentum in the second quarter with impressive confidence; marking, passing and kicking skillfully in increasingly wet conditions. Shelley Scott showed her immense talent by marking and placing herself in goal kicking positions. Unfortunately she was unable to convert her scoring opportunities.

In the second half Melbourne continued to impress with Eden Zanker showing her skills with two behind points in quick succession. The Dees could easily have been four to five goals in front at this stage of the game. Scott continue to mark well inside 50 and was instrumental in Melbourne’s third goal when she strategically kicked the ball towards goal giving Casey Sherriff the chance to run down the sherrin and soccer kick it between the uprights.

The Dees were now in a commanding position. That was cemented when Maddi Gay kicked her first and Melbourne’s fourth to stretch the margin to twenty six points. Maddi Gay was able to do what all great players do in set shot situations; kick the ball accurately in understandably tense conditions. The fact that it was raining and she was the best part of thirty metres out made it even more impressive. Melbourne looked unbeatable from that point.

The final quarter saw the Bulldogs take the fight to the Dees but Melbourne remained competitive in defence. Some impressive tackling held the Dogs at bay until Bonnie prove “too good” for the Dees’ defence. Apologies for the terrible pun. Even though Melbourne remain scoreless in the final term, they continued to soak up the pressure before moving up the field to put themselves into potential scoring positions.

Unfortunately victory came at a cost for Ainslie Kemp who injured her knee just before the final siren and looks set to miss the rest of the season. Apart from that it all bodes well for Round 3 against St Kilda. Melbourne’s biggest threat will be their own complacency but from what we saw this week, I’m sure the girls will be careful not to pop the champagne quite yet.

Go the Insanely Good Dees!!!

Round 1 – Melbourne Vs North Melbourne

First game of the season and expectations were modest. Last season was disappointing after getting so close to qualifying for the finals; especially having secured more points in Conference A than the two top sides in Conference B. A win for Melbourne was vital therefore as the AFLW has decided to keep the Conference system for the 2020 season.

It was a forgettable first quarter for the Dees. They conceded two goals. The second as a result of an encroachment. The umpires were unforgiving in their determination to enforce this sometimes confusing rule. There were opportunities for Melbourne to score but they didn’t take their chances and were down by thirteen points at end of the term. Definitely not an ideal start to the campaign.

The second quarter was much better with Kate Hore slotting home two goals. The second one came right before the siren. Eden Zanker calmly kicked the sherrin across the face of goal to Hore who was then able to score from point blank range. As a bonus, the Kangaroos were kept scoreless for the quarter.

The pendulum swung back to North Melbourne in the third quarter when it was the Dees’ turn to remain scoreless. A chance for Tegan Cunningham to score went behind for the point. The wind didn’t favour either side but it was frustrating at times to see potential chances thwarted.

The final quarter saw the Dees in the driver’s seat after Eden Zanker found herself in the perfect position when Ainslie Kemp kicked down the field towards goal. A favourable bounce and Zanker was able to collect and run with the ball ultimately kicking Melbourne’s third for the afternoon. The Dees maintained control of the game from that point. North tried to seize back seize back the initiative but Melbourne held on to secure the win and get the points on the table.

With strong wins for four of the teams in Conference B, the Dees will have to keep winning to ensure a top two spot. They travel to Whitten Oval to face the fancied Bulldogs on Friday night. A loss there would be a huge set back. However, Melbourne will feel confident after their first round victory in a game they were not expected to win.

Daisy Pearce played well in her first game back after a two year sabbatical to raise her twins. Silvie and Roy made an appearance at the end of the game to congratulate their mum on a job well done.

Other debutantes included Sinead Goldrick from Dublin’s fair city. It’s nice to see some Irish players in the side, though the other Hibernian Niamh McEvoy was unable to play due to injury. Hopefully we will see both players on the field together in the near future.

Go the Mighty Dees!

H E R E  I S  T H E  D R A F T  N E W S  2 0 1 9  A T  M F C

WOULD THE LAST AUSTRALIAN RULES PLAYER TO LEAVE PERTH / WA – PLEASE SWITCH THE LIGHTS OUT??!!

Jacqui Parry

Yes, you heard it first from the Far Northern NSW Demons folks!!!
After spending the last 14+ months licking our wounds and wondering “what the???” happened in that Preliminary Final against the West Coast Eagles in 2018, Melbourne Football Club, has launched an all-out-attack on the West in the 2019 Draft / Recruitment program.

Yup, with the recruitment of these handsome chaps, we are in the process of emptying Western Australia (and SA) of all talent, so that when we next face the West Coast Eagles (or frankly that other WA club) in future finals, they will simply be unable to match us in looks, charm, speed and talent.

WE ARE GOING TO WHOOP THOSE EAGLES NEXT TIME!

With Harley Bennell (Peel) Thundering his way around Gosch’s Paddock, add in Toby Bedford and Krstel Petrevski, and we could set up our own MFC interstate practice matches –- WA versus The All Stars. The only potential obstacle is the low winter temperatures in Melbourne – but trust me a team of MFC knitters are ready and waiting to supply them with leg warmers – beanies, scarves – you name it – if it comes in red and blue we’ll get it to them. If they forget their woolly socks at training- Uncle Nev will – as always – back them up with some spares from his locker.

We wish Harley and all of our new recruits all the best in 2020.

2020 PLAYING FOR PRIDE DEES!!!

Nigel Dawe

When it comes to footy, I don’t think you can ever really say that there is such a thing as an ‘off-season’, for as long as I can remember I’ve occupied, if not outright preoccupied myself with the turns and intricacies of this game (that being from a very staunch, mono-optical Melbourne perspective) right throughout the year.

One summer, many moons ago, when I lived in Sydney, I recall traipsing into the State library on my uni holidays to trawl through boxes of old Melbourne newspapers on micro-film, namely those from all of our premiership seasons. In the quiet bowels of the library one afternoon, I even came within a whisker of being asked to leave when I let out a heart-felt ‘Go Demons-You-beauty!’ after making the ‘discovery’ that one reporter in ‘The Age’ from the very Monday after our 1876 premiership win over Carlton, referred at one stage to a group of Melbourne players as ‘working like demons’.

I kid you not, so near on 60 years before our first supercoach Checker Hughes ranted his now infamous moniker-forming ‘lift your heads and start playing like demons’ line, there in sepia black and white (for surely the first time in the club’s history) was a direct connection to Lucifer’s fire-breathing cohorts and our goal-hungry lads; thus my excitement!

And so, it’s official, I’m on-board, I’ve signed up once again, year 34 on the trot as a member of the mighty Melbourne Demons.

I remember waxing lyrical and getting all Nostradamus about what we could do as a team at around this time last year, referencing and sprouting various club related omens.

But this year it’s different (in terms of signs) although a little similar, as today – of all days, the day I renewed my membership – I watched a documentary on 7mate about the 2000 Super Bowl winning American football team, the St Louis Rams. For those who don’t know much about the code of footy played on the other side of the Pacific, the Rams were considered the worst team of the decade, right up until the actual season ‘before’ their ultimate come-from-the-clouds triumph.

The moral of this story, like that of the English football team Leicester City, and the Luke Beveridge-led Dogs of 2016 in our very own code, is that a team’s fortunes (however slim or historically scant) at any given time can turn on a 5 cent piece, with the aid of sheer belief, brute will and commitment, not to mention a touch of the divinely inexplicable.

With that in mind, I think our premiership drought is nearing an end, I don’t know about you, but we’re due, and I can actually see that dais on the last Saturday in September crammed with lads clad in red and blue guernseys singing a Grand old flag (like it’s never been sung before), clutching that gleaming silver and gold bit of gear… it’s what has me reaching for my wallet without fail to buy my membership, round about now, each and every year!