Melbourne AFLW great Daisy Pearce says she won’t be taking sides this weekend when her former club meets Geelong, for whom she now works as a development coach in the men’s AFL program.

Pearce captained the Demons to the AFLW premiership last season in her farewell campaign. She now sits adjacent to Cats AFLW coach Dan Lowther inside Geelong’s headquarters, where only lightweight dividers separate desks.

“We’re always chatting through the slats [in between their desks] and yes, Melbourne’s come up this week,” Pearce said in Darwin, where she is on tour with the AFLW premiership cup.

“I obviously loved my time in Melbourne and always in some way see myself as a Melbourne person. I’ve got some great mates there who I want to see do well and have more success.

“But – it’s a funny thing in football and it’s probably hard to relate to if you’re not there – when you start working for a club, you sort of become all in.”

Melbourne started the AFLW season strongly with five straight wins, but have since lost three times to other premiership contenders, including a 50-9 drubbing at the hands of North Melbourne in week one of the finals. That loss set up a winner-takes-all semi-final between the Demons and Cats.

Geelong finished the home-and-away season in sixth place, but have now won three games on the trot, including a 51-33 victory over Essendon last week in an elimination final.

Pearce said she’s becoming more invested in the success of the Cats’ AFLW side, even if she doesn’t directly work with them.

“Over time, my connection to Melbourne has been longer and strong. It’s like ‘alright, now the job is success at Geelong’, and yes, you want to see the girls there do well, you start to form relationships with them, and you’re happy to give your two bob’s worth as to how you think Melbourne might play.”

Melbourne meet Geelong at Ikon Park on Sunday coming off consecutive defeats.

“Melbourne weren’t quite themselves up in Brisbane the couple of weeks before,” Pearce said. “I think they were pretty sick, a lot of them, and then on the weekend they just couldn’t go with North Melbourne, with their hunt and endeavour around the ball, and they started making a few uncharacteristic mistakes.”

But Pearce said the defeats could help relieve the pressure, after some were calling the Demons unbeatable earlier in the season.

“Now they have to scrap and fight just to stay alive and it might actually light a fuse in them,” she said.

Geelong’s form has been less consistent for much of the season but Pearce, who plans to watch from home with her kids, said they are peaking at the right time. “Their first half on the weekend against Essendon was outstanding, probably some of the better footy that they’ve played,” she said.

The Cats will be missing forward Chloe Scheer, who fractured her collarbone last week. The high-flyer won mark of the year last season and was this week named as one of three nominated for the 2023 award.

Despite Scheer’s absence, Pearce expects Geelong to still be competitive. “They’ve got a really strong, talented midfield, dynamic forward line with Aishling Moloney,” she said. “And they’ve been playing under their coach Dan for a couple of years now, so they play a brand that they believe in and know.”

Minor premiers Adelaide host Sydney on Saturday after their narrow loss to Brisbane last week.

Pearce said Adelaide have added the ability to control the ball to their established style of being strong around stoppages and contests.

“They’ve added that extra layer when they need to kind of possess the ball and deny the opposition the ball, and it’s probably meant they can change gears in games a bit more,” she said.

“That’s an example of how the competition’s evolving as well. It used to be a very contested-based game, whereas teams now can really link up in play and transition the ball cleanly a bit more.”

After being winless in 2022, the Swans have turned their fortunes around with a maiden finals appearance that will now stretch into at least a second week. Pearce said although Adelaide will be favourites, the Swans shouldn’t be dismissed.

“[Coach Scott Gowans] has got them really confident and believing, and I think that underdog status means they’ll go there with no pressure and just want their season to go for one more week because they’re having a whole lot of fun doing it.”