Daisy Pearce provided the midfield magic for Melbourne against the Western Bulldogs
MELBOURNE captain Daisy Pearce has been sacrificing her individual game for her side, but returned to her natural state as a midfielder on Saturday night and tore the game apart against the Western Bulldogs.
Pearce, who has been playing forward in an inexperienced Demons side, made a big impact after she moved into the middle in the second quarter.
She finished the game with 26 touches and six tackles as the Demons outplayed the Western Bulldogs to post a 14-point victory and keep its AFLW season alive.
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“I’ve been playing a bit of a different role in this team, it’s what this teams demands, just going forward a little bit more,” Pearce said.
“With a really young and inexperienced forward line, we found out early on that we were losing structure. If anything I go up there to create a bit of direction, and structure for some of those girls, and sort of anchor us up there.
“I went onto the ball in the second quarter.
“I go in there when I want I feel like I want to and need to.”
She praised forward Alyssa Mifsud, who kicked 3.3 in a breakthrough performance.
“She’s a super talent, Mifo, she’s come across from basketball,” Pearce said.
“Her ball handling, her kicking, she’s got a penetrating kick, great overhead mark, which we saw tonight.
“She’s probably one of those girls that is learning footy and the subtleties of footy.
“We had a chat before the game and just challenged her to bring intensity, doesn’t matter if she makes mistakes, she did that and she really made a stamp on this competition.”
While the Demons are still in the premiership hunt, Bulldogs coach Paul Groves doesn’t believe his side is out of the race either. The Bulldogs are 1-2 and need to win all four remaining games and have other results go their way.
Originally published as Pearce provides the midfield magic
