theDJR
September 1, 2025, 12:55pm
21
For some reason no one told me to SHUT. UP.
Could have saved us five losses in a row.
HUGE GAME.
I have us finishing 3rd-4th if we lose both our games to the Hawks . If we don’t do that, we will be in a very good position…
We don’t play Norf or Port again, so we’re probably favourites in all of our other games. Feel free to tell me to SHUT. UP.
AND the below was ex-Bomber Carris-Brett: we dominated the first quarter otherwise.
Sophie McIntosh:
The second quarter is similarly annoying: we lose it 0.3 vs 2.0
But…
Drew Ryan in game 25:
Unfortunately this call was accurate:
Umps even it up late:
Stats sometimes mean not-much. Porter is deemed second-busiest and is our highest for intercept possessions. You know why? Because she’s not near her bloody opponent!
That might be OK if you rebound well, but she is well sub-par there.
We have the three players with the most disposals (Chaston 25, McDonald 22, MFord 20).
Mietta Kendall the only player on the ground with 100% disposal efficiency. Was Tia’s main opponent, and while Tia was our busiest forward was not that damaging.
Stacks of defensive marks (Robinson and Porter 8 each, Molan 6).
For a change we won the tackles (Bernardi 7, Meklnikas 6, Jordan 5).
McDonald (6) and Melnikas (5) topped clearances across both teams. We got pummelled in the ruck, but clearances were still a draw.
On replay the game wasn’t as bad as it felt at the time. In the end, the Hawks deserved the win but not the margin (those umps were horrific in the third quarter). It just mostly hurts because a win here probably meant finishing top of the ladder, not third or fourth.
Albrecht:
COACH VOTES
8 El Chaston (ESS) 6 Paige Price (BHH)6 Stasia Stevenson (BHH)5 Mikayla Lee (BHH)2 Abbey McDonald (ESS) 2 Layla Prince (ESS) 1 Eleanor Butler (BHH)
(Arguably the first time Layla has been beaten this year… and still got votes!)
theDJR
September 1, 2025, 1:21pm
22
Losing your FF and your FB to injury wasn’t a good omen…
IN: G. Azzopardi, G. Brooker, M. Heymanson, M. Ibrahim, S. Orritt
OUT: C. Bernardi (quad), M. Robinson (wrist), S. Johnston, M. Klaumanns-Moller, M. O’Connell (omitted)
NEW: Grace Brooker, 25, 173cm, New Zealand rugby; Molly Heymanson, 21, 180cm, Park Orchards
This is Brooker’s first ever game of footy: she gets three disposals.
Grass at Swan Street is wet.
As Blitzers who have played here would be aware, the wings are too wide.
Wind is zero-to-gusty but not always to the south (right) wing.
View is shithouse, including from the top of eastern/soccer-side “hill”.
Our room is hundreds of metres away.
Brooker starts forward.
Amelie Peck is the entirety of that score at quarter time. As with the Casey game when we have the wind our defenders play from behind, and that is a death sentence.
We start the next quarter into the wind better…
Thompson fumbles the side-kick intercept, and that is a 12 point turnaround.
■■■■.
7-38, should have been an easy 13-32
Clearance. Orritt mark
Prince mark.
GOAL!!!
32-39
PLUMMER!
We’re still in it.
39-47
6.5 minutes to go.
And that’s the final score, as Radford limps away with her new lack-of-an-ACL.
theDJR
September 1, 2025, 1:50pm
23
Do I have to do this one?
Changes notably include McDonald out with concussion, and Manfre back in from the USA. And Harris returns from injury to debut!
The club promote this as Porter’s 50th game, because they missed her 6 games at Darebin… still gets to kick her way through the 56 50 banner.
We’ve been heavily using the moon boots and crutches this year: today Bella Page dons the boot. Hobbs on crutches for the right foot, Lily still on crutches.
Whiting forward. Porter on her…
And of course Whiting goals.
Ford tells her to urinate off and leave her to me.
Too late
It’s that rainbow time of year… and perfect weather, no excuse for not converting scores.
Mini heads to FF. Their FB is bemused.
The score agonisingly creeps to 0.8.8 trailing 3.0.18…
And then Whiting beats McIntosh, and kicks her third goal.
Frees are 9-17 before the below happens:
FREE KICK WILLY.
What’s the point?
Tia sniped 100m off the ball, is seen!
Unfortunately it is paid 50, not at the better location.
Even Plummer can’t kick.
0.11.11 loses to 4.3.27
We got 8 frees in the first 58 minutes
And then 10 in the last 22 (mostly in the last 10)
Bonus in the umps’ pay this week.
Usually when you dominate this stat…
theDJR
September 1, 2025, 2:12pm
24
We come into this game with a 5-year 8-game winning streak versus Casey, and then…
Quick summary of (both) team changes: we are in doo-doo.
Richo is out for the season. Molan is injured.
… and …
“The winless Demons have made a whopping 14 changes to the side that went down to Box Hill Hawks last week, with the premiership quintet among 10 AFLW players brought into the team”
”Casey” INS: A. Bannan, Z. Burn, G. Campbell, M. Fitzsimon, G. Gall, T. Harris, S. Heath, D. Madigan, M. Mahony, E. McNamara, A. Pisano, K. Phillips, G. Proy, E. Zanker
Get the ■■■■ out of here.
This is Scarlet Orritt’s 25th VFLW game.
Additionally, McIntosh is a late withdrawal and Bendigo Pioneer captain Liv Lacy bypasses the emergency list to debut:
Finally, Bannan goals.
0-10
McNamara has 15 disposals for them at quarter time… eventually, those chances are going to be converted.
MY WORLD WAS SHOOK WHEN:
Good illegal play by Dees in the middle with twenty seconds left creates a goal.
9-30
As with last week, only one ump is very very bad.
Dees are bigger and better at cheating.
Clearances and inside fifties being equal is a fairer comparison of the contest. Obviously they have more top-level players, but we’ve got plenty going hard to offset that: Mifsud, MaggieO, Plummer, the Fords, and of course Chaston and Bernardi.
At 3QT Plummer (playing inside mid) was second on the ground with 17 disposals… but McNamara had TWICE that!
2.6.18 loses to 10.13.73
Not that bad.
Radio 3DJR awards Plummer BOG, for their third time in four weeks.
theDJR
September 1, 2025, 2:30pm
25
Just to rub it in, Casey withdrew all of their AFLW players this week…
SHUT. UP.
Dematteeeeeeeeeeeeoooooooooooooo is annoying.
8-6
That was Darebin’s first inside fifty, won the ball at ground level.
Game is won, right?
Great flop by Darebin early, paid. Then Gogos is bumped by Plummer as/before she kicked and down-the-ground paid. Goal.
The umps were very good in the first half.
theDJR
September 2, 2025, 9:36am
27
Manfre not available, as at a flag footy nationals thing in Sydney.
There’s a late change and 177cm Cannon Taylah Gilcrist debuts to play in defence.
80 seconds of continuous play (no marks, no frees, no stoppages) to start the game.
Everyone buggered after that!
11 minutes later:
At 3QT of the second-last H&A game:
Melnikas clearly hit in the head. Ump says no.
Plummer booming kick forward, ChristinaBernardi wins the bounce, GOAL!
19-8
Yikes: full-game stats!
Bests are… tricky. The top three are not in debate, though the order very much is. After that it is a wide bunch of options (and they don’t necessarily match my pre-replay thoughts).
BEST: Melnikas, McDonald, Chaston … Plummer, Azzopardi, Thompson.
Wanted to sneak Sophie McIntosh and Tay Gilcrist in; neither of them flashy, but both very effective.
theDJR
September 2, 2025, 10:12am
28
BRING. HER. IN.
(McLay is/has been injured, hence not “them in”)
Do a “Gillard” and lock in finals for yourself (you ain’t getting any of them at Calder…)
Footy factory!!!
Madison Ibrahim will feature in Melbourne’s AFLW practice match against Adelaide
OUT: S. Molan (elbow), K. Peake (finger), M. Ibrahim (AFLW), S. McIntosh + E. Tassiopoulos (omitted)
Trev and G join the Radio 3DJR commentary box.
Brooker most likely to play forward, says G (don’t believe named teams).
We have all the ball early, but keep missing,
Benno sells candy, fires… hits the point post.
We are soooooo much better, and are 6 shots at goal to 1, and losing.
Asciak (their captain, ex-EFC) is down. Double whistle.
69 seconds left, time stopped.
Face in hands suggests she knows she is right ■■■■■■.
Trev asks if I’m going up to AFLW round one versus GWS. I say “well, it looks like there will be nothing to do here…”
BRING IT HOME TO ME!
Tia goals
18-34
Thompson is getting a real broad game at just over 19yo, can see why she was Tassie captain: this week that includes a game-high 9 tackles.
Plummer all over the stats too: game-high score involvements, equal-high marks for us with Chaston, second for clearances for us behind Abbey, game-high inside fifties (6).
El and Abbey game-high contested possessions, and team-high for uncontested possessions (behind only re-bounding Dog defender Gorham). And then they are dangerous when they dispose.
The influence of Bernardi went well beyond her 16 disposals and 7 tackles.
Manfre great last quarter; Tia two goals in the quarter despite being a bit lame, and that CLUTCH game-winner. Inside thirty (and sometimes a bit further out) they are as good as any player in the league at converting shots.
Azzopardi and MFord not huge disposals in defence but geez they were quality (sometimes risky, but well executed).
All of the above showed LEADERSHIP. That’s why we could turn it around, and quintuple our goals in the final quarter.
Finally… she faded, but Brooker was better than her stats suggest. Got to the right places, laid pressure, had lots of scoring opportunities (but wasted them — not alone doing that, though). Still needs to learn how to use her frame better.
In a team that currently has one “big” forward (unless Gamble relocates again), she might find a niche (especially if we can find some smalls to buzz around her). Alexander is tall-ish, but has zero presence.
This was our biggest ever VFLW final quarter comeback win.
Surprisingly there have been only 7 such final quarter comeback wins/draws across our 108 games.
19 points vs Hawks in 2021. We were 1.3 in typical horrendous Box Hill conditions at the final break, and then went nuts to win 4.5.29 to 1.9.15 (LOL Hawks).
The classic 7.4.46 draw with the Saints at the Hangar in 2022 – watch the video below!
https://twitter.com/essendonfcw/status/1504251581084041216
From tied with Casey to 6 point win in the final game of the H&A of 2022 (those last three rounds where we played the other top three teams and came out with 2.5 wins was epic)
From 1 goal at the final break to 4 and a 14 point win versus Willy in 2023. Kendra Heil kicked two goals in five minutes!
Exactly two seasons ago, round 14 versus the Dogs again, from 5 down to 13 up, and again also ensured we made finals!
The amazing comeback down at Casey earlier this year, where we conceded a 21 point lead in the first quarter before we conceded just 1 point in the second half and got over them at the death. The yobbo went double-or-nothing that wet day, too, shifting from the wing to behind the winning goals for that final quarter.
Only seven times, and only five times for wins, but as above all were HUGE declarations of character.
theDJR
September 2, 2025, 10:41am
29
With Jordan out, the all-games-this-year list drops to Chaston and Ford (both on a 39 game streak), Plummer, and Prince.
(Davidge would be on the same 39-game streak if she was not harshly dropped in round two to fit the 10 AFLW players.)
The below was true all season:
Liv is such a lovely set shot: video at https://x.com/VFL/status/1954004562798420345
When you re-watch you realise this IS the game:
At three quarter time it is 3.4.22 apiece. Both teams have been worthy, but only one will be rewarded…
Trev and Georgie paying attention at the final huddle:
BERNARDI CONVERTS!
28-29
13 minutes to go
Ump totally reverses approach of all day, pings Abbey without opportunity.
EDIT: This was 70 of 80 minutes into the game. The umps had been very hands-off consistent until this point… and then they went CRAZY.
Thompson was huge in that first half, but perhaps recalling her two misses at the end… But when your score involvements were 5 and the next best for either team was 3, and you are tied for our top disposals and inside fifties and game-top fore uncontested disposals, it’s not your fault.
LOL at three disposals placing Mifsud ahead of four other players… the 7 tackles made the difference!
Melnikas was the only one with more tackles (game-high 10) and her clearances (7) was also three clear of the next best for either team.
Azzopardi started imposing herself on the game a bit more in these final two weeks: team-high 6 marks.
Plummer had the most rebounds (4).
Intercepts went to Chaston (7) and kid Gilcrist (6).
Amazingly, Marnie topped frees for (3-1)
I feel really bad giving Melnikas only 1 vote.
BEST: Thompson, McDonald, Bernardi, Manfre, Chaston, Melnikas
theDJR
September 2, 2025, 10:54am
30
Now we wait for the team and league B&F…
Hoffy
September 3, 2025, 11:08am
31
Thanks @theDJR fab recap of the season. Cheers
1 Like
theDJR
September 9, 2025, 3:41am
32
Chaston, MFord, and Plummer in the squad of 30 for VFLW Team of the Year (to be announced next Monday).
I’d say Plummer is an outside chance, but MFord is clearly better than last year when she was our sole representative, and Chaston is pretty level with that glut of mids but can be more credibly named at half-back than they can be.
If the stats on the AFL’s ANNOUNCE article are correct (I’m very unsure on that), then Alana Barba is the only player in the 30 not to play at least 13 of 14 H&A games.
I guess winning the Lisa Hardeman Medal, again , helped to nudge her in front of Abbey “Cheat Code” McDonald.
At least they’re not going to name four full-forwards this year!
1 Like
theDJR
September 13, 2025, 9:50am
33
Appears to be a combined EFC VFL(W) B&F event.
1 Like
theDJR
September 13, 2025, 10:35am
36
LOOSE GOOSE!
The below better be true, for us:
1 Like
theDJR
September 13, 2025, 10:39am
37
Additional comments by El Capitan:
Note: clubperson
1 Like
theDJR
September 13, 2025, 10:40am
38
Molan was right broken by the end of the year…
1 Like
