AFLW finals: Melbourne determined to put shock finals loss behind them and power through Geelong

The Demons turned their attention quickly to the next challenge at hand – a knockout final against Geelong – determined not to follow the men’s team to a straight-sets finals exit.

Four video clips are all that Melbourne has revisited as it returns to the scene of its finals stumble on Sunday.

As the reigning premiers, the Demons’ women’s team is determined not to suffer the same straight-sets finals exit fate as its men’s counterparts, with Geelong awaiting at Ikon Park – the same venue and in the same timeslot as last weekend’s qualifying final hammering at the hands of North Melbourne.

Melbourne was held goalless until midway through the final quarter of the clash, and Demons midfielder Maddison Gay said the team was firmly across ensuring there is no repeat of the scary Sunday scoreline.

Maddi Gay says the Demons have not dwelt on the loss to North Melbourne much this week. Picture: Daniel Pockett/Getty Images

“After a loss like that, you’d think a normal coach would give you a spray and (say) ‘you’ve got a hard session’ and stuff like that, but that’s just not Mick,” Gay said of Demons coach Mick Stinear.

“We covered off four clips as to why the result was the way it was, and they were super simple clips. We understand what went wrong, how to fix it, and then he moves on and starts talking about the next week. It’s just happened – it’s not something we can change now. It’s ‘what can we do next time?’.”

So what is it?

“We were on the back foot from the start and playing chasey,” Gay said.

“You don’t want to be the ones chasing the whole time – you want to control the game and we weren’t able to do that.

“We didn’t help ourselves – bombing the ball into the forwardline and not really giving the forwards a chance to mark it in front of them.

“We pride ourselves in the contest … we were our own worst enemy out there.”

It was relatively uncharted territory for the reigning premiers, who were 8-2 in the home and away season and finished second on the ladder.

Maddi Gay Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

“We just want the fun back – yes, losing like that isn’t fun, so it’s definitely finding why we like playing football and why we love this team,” Gay said.

The team has also endured a run of illness that swept through the group in recent weeks but has this week maintained it was not a factor.

As the Cats await, Gay forecast a likely close watch on star Geelong midfield pairing Nina Morrison and Georgie Prespakis, both of whom were named in this week’s All-Australian squad.

“I think you’ve got to respect some good midfielders, like we did with Jas Garner (from North Melbourne),” Gay said.

“But also, we need to just back our mids to do their role – the likes of Olivia Purcell, Hanksy (Tyla Hanks), or when Paxy (Paxman) or (Lily) Mithen goes in.

“It’s just backing what we’ve got and not worrying too much about them, but you’ve got to respect their midfields. Amy McDonald gets a lot of the ball too.

“I’m sure Mick’s got some plans up his sleeve.”