THE Whitten Oval is two states, four hours and 4,000 kilometres from home for Chelsea Randall, but she was in her element on Saturday night playing for the Demons in the Hampson-Hardeman Cup.

Randall was one of many four-quarter performers for the Demons, setting up many of their forays forward in the first half through her counter-attacking pressure across the centre. The Bulldogs couldn’t break Randall even as they slowly seized control of the match, with her final stats of 11 touches, five marks and four Inside 50s a good but not complete indication of her impact on contests.

“I think the girls did really well with the delivery into our forward line. To be honest I think it was just all a team effort.”

Although many of these Melbourne players have marched into battle together in previous Women’s AFL Exhibition matches, the team always faces a race against time of coming together as a playing unit before the first bounce. Non-Victorian players touched down in Melbourne in the middle of the week, giving the Demons just days to discuss and practice their tactics against the Bulldogs.

“We have a few ins and outs and the team always changes each time but we also manage to come together as one big unit, one big happy family,” says Randall. “I love every single one of these girls and wish them the best in their future.”

Hailing from the north-western coast of the country’s largest state in a town called Newman, Randall was honoured to be selected by Adelaide as a marquee player in late July alongside fellow West Australian Kellie Gibson, who also impressed for Melbourne on Saturday night with her attack on the contest.

Randall concurred with the prevailing view of the 2016 Hampson-Hardeman Cup being a final celebration of the journey of women’s football towards the 2017 national competition.

“It’s a celebration of the last four years,” says Randall. “The Bulldogs and Melbourne have just set the platform to really drive women’s football across the country. So it was an emotional kind of game and we just really hope we put on a really good show for everyone.”