Melbourne breaks 12-year finals drought with win over West Coast Eagles

AFTER 12 years, eight coaches and the mathematical heartbreak of last season’s final round, an emotional Simon Goodwin says Melbourne’s years of ‘misery’ are over after it booked a finals spot for the first time since 2006.

Braden Quartermaine

4 min read

August 19, 2018 - 8:07PM

Max Gawn and Nathan Jones celebrate after singing the club song. Pic: Getty Images

Melbourne

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AFTER 12 years, eight coaches, numerous rebuilds and false dawns and the mathematical heartbreak of last season’s final round, it was only fitting that Melbourne finally did this the hard way.

Having thrown away a 27-point lead to trail a gutsy West Coast by a point entering time-on of the final quarter, the Demons summoned an answer and a place in September — for the first time since 2006 — will be their reward.

LIVE LADDER: DEES, PIES BREAK FINALS DROUGHTS

BLOG: HOW THE DEES DID IT

James Harmes did a number on West Coast prime mover Luke Shuey. Picture: Getty Images

The seventh-placed Dees, who are a game and a huge slab of percentage clear of ninth, surged home with the last three goals of the game to win by 17 points at Perth Stadium.

Criticised for their lack of a scalp and for their jitters in close games, this was the response coach Simon Goodwin had craved.

And the Melbourne coach declared the club’s years of “misery” were over.

“I’m just so happy for our supporters right now. They’ve had 12 years of misery but now they’ve got a team that they can really get in behind and support and build some momentum from here,” Goodwin said.

“It was a terrific win. Clearly as a club we’ve had a lot of expectation put on us and obviously not playing finals for 12 years as a club, we carry a lot of that expectation as a team.”

Goodwin opened up on the burden he and the players had carried as a legacy of past failures.

“Obviously it’s emotional because as a coach and as a playing group, you feel that expectation,” he said.

“You feel that added pressure because we have had 12 years without playing finals. And that playing group hasn’t been a part of that for a long time.

“They’ve had to own that expectation and deal with it and get better at it. So from that perspective I think it’s a big step for our footy club and one we should be proud of.”

Clayton Oliver slips here, but the Demons would overcome the Eagles. Picture: vGetty Images

The Eagles led for the first time 18 minutes into a pulsating final term, when a Mark LeCras set shot put them one point clear.

It was a lead that would only last a few minutes as Jake Melksham added his third and fourth goals to ensure this would not be another chapter in the Dees’ book of calamities.

“We’ve spoken about these moments the whole way through. We talk about learnings all the time – about being able to actually absorb those moments and learn from them and get better at them,” Goodwin said.

“And I thought today at not one stage did I feel our boys weren’t engaged in the game and weren’t playing the way that they’d been trained to play.

“They wanted to own that moment. We’ve had a lot of close games throughout the year. So that was a really pleasing part. The will to win and the will to own the moment and the will to continue playing our way was really strong.”

It was lucky No.13 as Melbourne improved their record to 13-8 and it came with a stroke of luck as Eagles battled away with a makeshift forward line after spearhead Jack Darling was ruled out with concussion in the first quarter.

Dean Kent and Chris Masten get physical, but the Demon would have the last laugh, booting a clutch goal at the end of the fourth quarter. Picture: Getty Images

The loss leaves the Eagles likely needing to beat Brisbane at the Gabba on Sunday to lockup a top-two finish, with Collingwood looming large ahead of a finish against Fremantle on Saturday.

Darling’s day was done after his head hit the turf in a tackle from Melbourne defender Oscar McDonald in the first quarter.

It came amid an early onslaught from the Demons, who exploded into the game with an early statement. They smashed the Eagles around the ball on the back of Max Gawn’s early dominance to set up the first four goals.

Melbourne won the opening-term contested ball count 54-30 and dominated the inside 50s 19-6 but didn’t get full reward after missing some chances in front of goal as the Eagles scrambled three goals in time-on.

The loss of Darling meant dual All-Australian defender Jeremy McGovern was swung forward to begin the second term, but the Eagles struggled to find a reliable forward target despite lifting in the midfield.

Jack Darling left the ground after a heavy tackle in the first half and did not return. Picture: Getty Images

James Harmes (28 disposals) was a key reason for the 14-point advantage the Demons took to halftime, restricting the influence of explosive West Coast onballer Luke Shuey while finding 17 touches of his own including a goal.

West Coast added six goals to five in an epic third term despite Melbourne dominating the clearances 16-8.

Goals to Melksham and Tom McDonald (three goals) to start the third pushed Melbourne’s lead out beyond four goals and it looked like the Dees would blow it open.

The gutsy Eagles came again, booting the next four to close the gap and keep the contest alive. The highlight was Willie Rioli’s cool finish from the goal square, meeting Dom Sheed’s pass like a soccer striker to set the raucous crowd alight.

Goodwin said Tom McDonald (shoulder) and Michael Hibberd (hamstring) were both fine after injury scares. The Demons face Greater Western Sydney in the final round at the MCG on Sunday.

He made no predictions about how far into September Melbourne could go but said the win was good preparation for the finals furnace.

“It did feel like a finals-type game today. Certainly with the intensity, the crowd, hostile environment. So it was a great exposure for our players,” Goodwin said.