Melbourne continues September dream after a hard-fought win over Geelong
IT took a while for Melbourne to put Geelong away in an eventful elimination final and while it’s dangerous to look too far ahead, the Demons showed they could be the team best equipped to take Richmond on.
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IT was the perfect ending.
If you asked pre-game for two Melbourne players who deserved to be the heroes of the club’s first finals victory since 2006 the answer was easy — Nathan Jones and Jack Viney.
The two co-captains are Melbourne through and through, they bleed red and blue and fittingly they combined to kill off Geelong.
After dominating most of the game, the Demons still hadn’t managed to put Geelong away at three-quarter time and everyone at the MCG knew what happened back in Round 18 at Kardinia Park.
ROLLING COVERAGE: RECAP ALL THE ACTION
In the first play of the final quarter with his team up by 23-points, Viney bumped Geelong captain Joel Selwood off the ball and gave away a free-kick.
Selwood decided he needed to play on but then his feet gave away and Viney pounced, burying his opposite number in a brutal tackle to win a free-kick for holding the ball.
The resultant forward entry ended in the hands of Christian Petracca who bounced around and eventually found Jones who was by himself on the half-forward flank.
If ever anyone was built for delivering in the biggest moment it was the Melbourne warrior and even before the ball sailed through the middle, Jones was already celebrating with the faithful.
The goal was the final dagger to Geelong. You could see their heads drop and suddenly the miracle comeback from six weeks ago became a distant memory.
Melbourne now faces Hawthorn next Friday night and while it’s wrong to look too far ahead, the message from the night was that Melbourne looks like the team best equipped to take Richmond on.
If it happens, it won’t be until the Grand Final, but the system and the way they dismantled Geelong had a serious Richmond look about it.
Led by a dominant ruckman in Max Gawn and a midfield which is arguably the best contested ball unit in the game, they were able to spread and outnumber the Cats continually.
The little tap-ons and slick handballs over the head to keep the ball going forward at all times is right out of the Tigers playbook and Melbourne are just as good at it.
There were contributors everywhere for the Demons.
It started with their two key forwards. Tom McDonald and youngster Sam Weideman tore the opening term apart with three of the opening five goals.
Angus Brayshaw dominated the third quarter, Neville Jetta took on all-comers, including Geelong’s best player Patrick Dangerfield, while new cult hero James Harmes ruined Selwood’s evening.
Clayton Oliver had 20 handballs among 29 possessions while Christian Salem and Jordan Lewis were brilliant across half-back.
As much as Melbourne should be celebrated, Geelong was its own worst enemy with two horrible errors in the space of five minutes in the third quarter.
Daniel Menzel is one of the game’s great sharp shooters but somehow he missed from 12m directly in front under minimal pressure.
The look of shock on his face said everything.
Then Selwood’s dirty night got worse when he let his frustrations boil over as he was running to the bench, throwing Jake Melksham to the ground 100m off the ball.
Tom Hawkins was lining up for goal when this was happening but he never got the chance with the free-kick reversed.
Bye, bye momentum.
The wash-up will be brutal on the Cats. The recruitment of Gary Ablett said they were all chips in for the now but they were exposed as being very much a pretender.
The Big Three didn’t have their normal impact which exposed the rest who weren’t willing or able to pick up the slack.
Ablett finished with a team-high 27 possessions but his impact was limited, Dangerfield tried his guts out for 25 touches but couldn’t generate anything spectacular.
Selwood had 20 contested possessions but his night was forgettable in many ways.
VOTES
3 — James Harmes (Melbourne)
Melbourne’s new cult hero not only took out Cats skipper Joel Selwood he had 26 possessions, seven inside 50s, 11 tackles and a goal.
2 — Angus Brayshaw (Melbourne)
Had a brilliant third quarter. His poise and class shone out with 14 contested possessions in his total of 26.
1 — Sam Weideman (Melbourne)
The young forward set the tone with an extraordinary opening quarter. He finished with 24 possessions, seven marks and three goals in just his 18th career game.
MELBOURNE 5.3 5.9 6.13 10.15 (75)
GEELONG 0.2 2.4 3.8 6.10 (46)
GOALS
Demons: Weideman 3, Harmes, Gawn, Melksham, T.McDonald, Jones, Hannan, Neal-Bullen
Cats: Hawkins 2, Kelly, Tuohy, Murdoch, Duncan
BEST
Demons: Harmes, Brayshaw, Weideman, Salem, Oliver, Lewis, Gawn, T.McDonald.
Cats: Taylor, Dangerfield, Ablett
INJURIES
Demons: Nil
Cats: Nil
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Chamberlain, Findlay, Mollison
Official crowd: 91,767 at the MCG
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