Dees Defy Gravity, Roos Make It Look Easy in AFLW Week One
If you weren’t locked in for that Melbourne-Geelong qualifying final, I genuinely don’t know what to tell you. And then on the other side of the ledger, North Melbourne went and made a prelim final appearance look like a Tuesday training drill. Finals week one in the AFLW delivered absolutely everything, and I’m still buzzing about it.
Melbourne’s comeback was no notes football
Let’s start with the Demons because what they pulled off against Geelong was proper edge-of-the-seat stuff. The Cats had them under the pump for large chunks of that contest, controlling territory and looking like the more composed side heading inside 50, but Melbourne just refused to fold. That’s the thing about finals footy at this level now — it’s not a token gesture anymore, these teams are fighting for every centimetre like their season depends on it, because it literally does.
What impressed me most wasn’t just that the Dees found a way to win, it’s how they found a way to win. Their midfield brigade lifted at exactly the right moment, winning the contested footy battle when it mattered most, and suddenly the momentum completely flipped. Geelong will be shattered with how that slipped away, and fair enough too, but you can’t take anything away from a Melbourne outfit that showed genuine finals character. That’s the kind of performance that builds belief heading into a prelim.
North Melbourne just keeps doing North Melbourne things
Meanwhile up the other end of the ladder, the Roos put on an absolute clinic against Carlton. I know
