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Essendon\u2019s 1984-85 premiership player Simon Madden remembers the roar of Windy Hill like it was yesterday.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you took a mark in front of that stand in the pocket, it was as loud as the MCG. It was all Essendon supporters, and it was fantastic,\u201d Madden said.<\/p>\n
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Essendon AFLW co-captain Bonnie Toogood and past premiership layer Simon Madden at Windy Hill.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Eddie Jim<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cAnd I think sometimes supporters underestimate how much the noise influences the game.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s something the Bombers\u2019 AFLW co-captain Bonnie Toogood is hoping to recreate on Sunday as the elite women\u2019s team returns to the club\u2019s spiritual home as their home venue this season. This first game is against St Kilda.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve had a few training sessions here to get ourselves accustomed to the ground and I have kicked a few from that pocket and just with that grandstand there, I think it\u2019s pretty special,\u201d said Toogood.<\/p>\n \u201cI reckon it\u2019s a special pocket to kick a goal from [so] definitely trying to channel that and visual that and make sure if it were to pop up in the game I\u2019d be able to nail it – but if not, that\u2019s all right too.\u201d<\/p>\n Essendon AFLW\u2019s side entered the competition last season and used ETA Stadium in Port Melbourne as their home ground. But Windy Hill is their new (and old) home, the ground having hosted the senior men\u2019s team for almost 70 years, between 1922 and 1991.<\/p>\n It\u2019s the first time the Bombers will play elite football at the ground in more than 32 years and the 629th footy match to be played on the hallowed turf.<\/p>\n Toogood, who grew up an Essendon supporter, said her father Martyn\u2019s side of the family passed on stories of the ground.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, that\u2019s what\u2019s the most exciting thing about the weekend is that we get to bring that nostalgia back but then create our own kind of history with it and create our own chapter,\u201d said Toogood.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s going to be a real great moment\u2013 and I think so many girls within the team are going to have goosebump moments because it\u2019s going to be so special, for women\u2019s footy as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Other than bringing back fans to the ground \u2013 older ones who have fond memories of its heydays and newer ones from Essendon\u2019s recent successes in VFLW \u2013 Toogood is hoping they can harness \u201cthe energy of the crowd\u201d and make it a fortress.<\/p>\n \u201cParticularly last season, we didn\u2019t have a home per se that was ours. Yes, we played it at Port Melbourne, which was fantastic, but to actually have a ground that is Essendon and has such a rich history associated with it …\u201d Toogood said.<\/p>\n Simon Madden (27) of Essendon & Fitzroy\u2019s Mark Dwyer contest a mark.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>M.H.<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cI hope that we can make it a fortress and know all the ins and outs of the oval and how to play it best.\u201d<\/p>\n Although Madden warns the ground does live up to its name: \u201cI can remember playing a game here and a St Kilda player ran off the halfback line under pressure, threw the ball on his boot, and it went up 45 degrees and flew back 20 metres over his head.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s how windy it was.\u201d<\/p>\n But he does say the competitive home ground advantage was real. \u201cThe atmosphere here was fantastic\u2026 The opposition didn\u2019t like coming because there were just so many supporters,\u201d said Madden. \u201cSo, it\u2019s almost, it\u2019s not that you get comfortable with it, but you can get confident with it.<\/p>\n \u201cI have some great memories here, and I hope the AFLW team gets as much enjoyment out of playing here as I did.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n