Round 3 – Melbourne v St Kilda

Jacqui Parry

Our Pride Round game against the Saints is always a tough one, and this year was no exception. The Saints really lift themselves for this game every year, and matched us on the score board for the first three quarters.

Lucky we had the coolest Pride Guernsey in the league – as the team needed a bit of cool to charge over the Saints in the last quarter. In 30+degree heat (again) our guernsey bobbed up like a refreshing slice of watermelon – I wonder if the team was thinking of that as they fought through the heat??

It was a tough game, but our forwards led by Tayla Harris and Kate Hore managed to keep the scoreboard ticking over – and who could forget that massive Lauren Pearce goal (celebration of the century) ?? A captains goal to Daisy really topped the day off. Sinead Goldrick teamed well with Megan Fitzsimon for her debut goal. Eliza West showed ferocity at the ball for four quarters.

Gabbi Colvin worked really hard with Libby Birch tp keep the Saints out of their goal and the Dees in the game as Karen Pxman and Sarah Lampard fired up the midfield. Tyla Hanks was in everything and deserved her two majors. Hoping Megan Fitzsimon bears no long term effects of her spectacular injury – I hope her parents were not watching the blood streaming down her face.

Next week will be a tough clash against top of table Crows. Hoping the squad recovers well from the heat of Casey Fields as they will need to be in the game from the get go to get over the Crows.

Wishing our women a safe and successful trip to Adelaide – hoping they have time to get their hair done a buy a new frock as Adelaide is a great place to do that!!

Tegan and Krstel did a great job on our Pride Guernsey. It looked fantastic on the ground and up close. I loved the addition of the fingerprints of the players, which ensures the guernsey is owned by every player who has the opportunity to wear it. This is such a great design, I am hoping that the men also adopt this concept for the Pride Round – different finger prints of course – but overall design is really great and looked fantastic on telly.

Great to see our Mascots supporting the team and the Ruby Dees at Casey – they really brought our team home in the last quarter.

AFLW Round 2

Liam Chambers

Friday night at Punt Road and the Dees were facing the league’s most improved team on their home turf. It didn’t take the Tigers long to open the scoring when Tessa Lavey kicked the first goal after fifteen seconds. Five minutes later and key forward Katie Brennan doubled Richmond’s advantage.

Melbourne finally got on the board when Tayla Harris took a contested mark from a Tyla Hanks free kick. The big name recruit slotted nicely from her set shot in front of goal.

At the start of term two, Kate Hore evened the ledger for the Dees with her free kick from 30m out. She’s in good position to be the leading goal scorer for another year. Never backwards in being a forward, Kate later took on three Tigers in a dash for goal. Awarded a free kick for a high tackle, she launched the sherrin from 40m and watched it glide through the uprights. Alyssa Bannan took note and decided she could go back to back as well.

Her first involved a run from midfield to inside 50, getting in a couple of bounces along the way while showing a clean pair of heels. With a quick look over her shoulder, she then let loose and scored from 30m out. Her second was an uncontested mark courtesy of Daisy Pearce who noticed her running into a good scoring position. The angle was difficult but Bannan nailed it.
Daisy herself then made it six in a row for the Dees when she swept her free kick high over the goal umpire’s head.

With a handy 25 point lead, Melbourne was in a strong position after the break. Having scored the first goal of the game, Tessa Lavey also got the first of the second half; raising the spirits of the home crowd. Richmond then got lucky when Sarah Dargan was awarded a 50m penalty. She opted to keep running and scored an opportunistic goal, reducing the margin to 16 points.

It didn’t last long though as Daisy Pearce again showed great vision, spotting her fellow veteran Karen Paxman running into position. Paxman took the mark on the run, then slotted from the set shot to restore Melbourne’s half time advantage.

The Tigers had it all to do in the final quarter if they stood any chance of reining in the the Dees. The Richmond fans briefly experienced a flicker of hope when Monique Conti displayed some individual brilliance as her running kick from an extremely tight angle somehow found its way between the posts. Unfortunately for the Tigers, that hope was abruptly snuffed out when fast thinking Tayla Harris pounced on a loose ball in front of goal after some stellar defending from Richmond.

Another solid performance from the Dees has helped cement their place in the highly competitive top four of the ladder. Today it’s the unfancied Saints turn when Melbourne play their first home game of this season. Casey Fields hasn’t always been favourable for the Dees but I’m predicting a big win for us in Round 3.

Go the mighty Dees!!!

Round 1

Liam Chambers

It’s a brand new era for Melbourne. Not only has the drought broken but our dams overfloweth. Nothing is impossible anymore.

Straightaway you could see a new confidence in the players from the first bounce. The hunger was there to match the lads and win a first AFLW premiership for the Dees. Lauren Pearce secured the hitout and Melbourne was away, playing tight contested football. The Dogs were kept under pressure and finally succumbed when Kate Hore’s chip to inside 50 was marked by Casey Sherriff, 25m out from goal. The defender didn’t miss and the Dees were on the board.

The second goal quickly followed the bounce, with Tyla Hanks’ long clearance kick finding debutante Tayla Harris, who marked 40m out. Her kick against the breeze was plucked on the goal line by Maddie Gay. The set shot was too close to miss and Maddie put Melbourne ahead by 2 goals.

The Bulldogs continued to struggle and at times were reduced to spectators while Melbourne hung onto the ball, looking for further scoring opportunities. The chance finally came when Karen Paxman launched the sherrin high and long towards goal, where it was collected by Eden Zanker in a beautifully contested mark. She slotted the set shot nicely to give the Dees a 17 point lead at quarter time.

The Dogs were always going to come out swinging at the start of the second quarter and they didn’t disappoint the home crowd. Their first goal came after a slam tackle by Isabel Huntington on Karen Paxman. Huntington scored from the conversion. Luckily Paxman escaped any serious injury. Unfortunately Huntington succumbed to another knee injury several minutes later was assisted in hobbling off the field.

Captain Daisy Pearce almost got on the score sheet herself, with a turn and snap in front of goal but sadly connected with the post. Thirty seconds later and Kate Hore was in the exact same position. Kate curved it slightly more to the left and the ball sailed through unhindered. The Dees were unable to make the most of their remaining opportunities in the term but still went in leading 7 – 30 at half time.

The fans at Whitten Oval would have been disappointed to see their side fade after such a spirited start in the previous term. However the Bulldogs put on a much more consistent performance in the third quarter. Bonnie Toogood kicked things off in style with her 20th career goal. Then Ellie Blackburn reduced the margin to 9 points with her accurate running shot from 30m.

Melbourne weathered the storm and went on the offensive themselves, starting with a brilliant run from midfield by Eden Zanker. Then her superbly accurate kick was marked by Daisy Pearce and though her set shot veered left, the Dees had wrested back the momentum. They continued to pile on the pressure with the Bulldog’s defence scrambling to contain the push. Finally Tayla Harris collected the ground ball and kicked it with the outside of her boot to score her first Demon goal.

With the margin back to 17 points, Melbourne look confident going into the last quarter. It was a low scoring final term with the Dees holding the home side to a single point. It was a tough physical game but the girls avoided any serious injury among some hard fought battles. Daisy Pearce was relishing her role up front and eventually provided another opportunity for Kate Hore in front of goal. Hore scored her second and Melbourne ran out victors by 24 points. A good result away from home.

Tonight we face the Tigers in another away game. Richmond looked good against the Saints in Round 1 but it’s early days and I’m confident Melbourne will be a more difficult prospect.

Go the Mighty Dees!!!