Melbourne hoped to atone for a disastrous 2019 season when it opened its 2020 season in Perth. But in the shadow of a dark day for footy, the Demons' day didn't go to plan. Recap a momentous day.
West Coast ruckman Nic Naitanui put on a dominant display to inspire his team to a 27-point win over Melbourne at a sombre Optus Stadium.
The Eagles booted five unanswered goals in the opening quarter of Sunday’s clash on the way to a 12.6 (78) to 7.9 (51) triumph.
The game was played just two hours after news broke that the AFL would go on hold until at least June in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. It meant the game in Perth would be the last taste of AFL action for at least 10 weeks.
Before the match, prized Eagles recruit Tim Kelly said the players felt a sense of numbness as the severity of the situation hit home.
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Goal celebrations were notably muted during the game, with players knowing a Round 1 win might not end up counting for anything.
Nonetheless, Naitanui produced an enormous display, tallying 13 disposals, 23 hitouts, six clearances and two score assists to beat Max Gawn in the crucial ruck battle.
Andrew Gaff, Luke Shuey, and Dom Sheed were prominent through the midfield, while goalsneak Liam Ryan booted 3.3. Melbourne midfielder Jack Viney, who lost the captaincy in February, was his team’s shining light with 34 disposals, seven clearances and a goal. Livewire Kysaiah Pickett showed flashes of brilliance, kicking two goals on debut.
Although Melbourne won the inside-50 count 14-9 during the opening term, the scoreboard made for ugly reading. The Demons spurned several good early chances, and it came back to haunt them as West Coast broke the shackles late in the quarter.
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Melbourne closed the gap to 21 points at halftime but laid just four tackles in the third quarter, with two goals to Ryan giving West Coast enough breathing space to cruise to victory.
The Demons won the inside-50 count 45-35 for the match, but their wayward delivery was their downfall.
- Justin Chadwick, AAP
SCROLL DOWN TO RECAP A MOMENTOUS DAY IN FOOTY IN OUR BLOG
And that's footy done for the foreseeable future.
Melbourne's hopes of starting its atonement from last season perhaps unravelled when players watched Gillon McLachlan's momentous press conference live on the way to Perth Stadium.
West Coast kicked the first five goals of the game and were never threatened after that.
But you can't accuse Jack Viney of lack of effort. He racked up an amazing 186 KFC SuperCoach points.
Jay Clark
BRISBANE Lions’ coach Chris Fagan said the decision to halt the season hit his players hard after the loss to Hawthorn.
“We are all a bit flat, we are all a bit dumbfounded. Numb,” Fagan said.
“You try to be an optimist and hope that something will change, but the harsh reality the world finds itself in at the moment hit us right between the eyes today.”
Fagan said it was a difficult week not knowing whether the games would actually happen as the global health crisis escalated on a daily basis.
He said the players were told straight after the game and would spend the next 24 hours planning their next steps.
“They (players) had blank looks on their faces really, there wasn’t a lot of conversation,” he said.
“Probably once we get on the bus and start to talk we will begin to work out what the next eight weeks look like and what we can do and can’t do.
“There are a lot of unknowns.”
West Coast looks set to pocket the all important four points with a quarter of footy to go until … who knows.
But Jack Viney is going LARGE in KFC SuperCoach.
He leads all scorers on 148 points at three-quarter time, with Shannon Hurn (130) not far behind. Max Gawn has lifted but still trails Nic Naitanui 89-60.
We're underway in the second half in Perth with West Coast opening the scoring through Liam Ryan.
Shannon Hurn and Jack Viney have both cracked 100 KFC SuperCoach points already.
Chris Cavanagh
NORTH Melbourne midfielder Shaun Higgins says players will do everything they can to “be ready to go” if the AFL season resumes later this year.
The mood after the Kangaroos’ Round 1 over St Kilda win was quickly flattened as the AFL season was officially suspended until at least May 31 less than an hour later.
Kangaroos players had just begun their recovery at Arden Street when they were called into meetings and advised of the news.
Higgins said the situation presented a great unknown.
“We’re in the same boat as everyone else. We’ll adhere to the guidelines and see what tomorrow brings,” Higgins told the Herald Sun.
“We’re all probably feeling a little bit shocked like in the general community. No one can predict what’s going to happen, when it’s going to happen. It was likely that we would be on an extended break of the season at some stage and I think the whole world is surprised at just how fast things are moving. We’re no different to that.”
Higgins said returning later in the year would present no shortage of challenges.
“It’s unknown of when we come back and the preparation and lead-in would obviously cause some sort of concern,” Higgins said.
“Players are very adaptable and clubs manage these sort of situations, although this sort of situation is unprecedented.
“We’ll find a way through it. But it’s not about football at the moment. Clearly it’s a larger issue than that.”
St Kilda captain Jarryn Geary said he had been entirely comfortable with the decision to play Round 1 and players would give their all to be able to resume the season at a later date.
“We don’t know if we’re going to be able to train together,” Geary said.
“We don’t know if we’re going to be able to be in the same environment together. If we’re at home we’ve got a really good strength and conditioning staff that will put programs in front of us that we’ll be able to do at home.”
Melbourne has its first goal through Alex Neal-Bullen but Eagles still well in control, leading 37-10
We thought Melbourne would come out breathing fire to atone for the Dees' disastrous 2019 season, but things haven't gone to plan in Perth.
The Eagles kicked the only five goals of the first quarter.
And Nic Naitanui is winning the KFC SuperCoach ruck battle, leading Max Gawn 39 points to 10.
Play is underway a Perth Stadium for the last game of Round 1, and the last game of footy until … who knows?
Stay here for score updates and the all-important KFC SuperCoach points!
Chris Cavanagh
NORTH Melbourne coach Rhyce Shaw says the coronavirus pandemic is “bigger than footy” and called for the wider community to “stick together” in difficult times.
Shaw would not be drawn on talking about today’s game when he started his post-match press conference following a six-point win over St Kilda, instead calling for the match to be put in perspective of what was happening around the world.
“There’s a lot of things going on that are bigger than footy at the moment so I just want to give a shout out to all the people that are struggling at the moment,” Shaw said.
“Australia’s changed, the world’s changed and we’ve just got to make sure we stick together. The landscape’s changed, even just during this game. So it’s really important we put things in perspective because a lot of people are struggling out there. We just want to hope even today we got a little bit of joy out there for the Kangas fans and then for AFL fans.
Speaking moments before the AFL suspended competition until at least May 31, St Kilda coach Brett Ratten said early confirmation of a return date would be the biggest challenge to resuming games.
“I think the players will have to maybe take some time off or some little breaks. But we need to keep them moving if we can.
“We’ve got to do the best thing by everyone and the community. If that means the games have to be put on hold, it’s put on hold.”
Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson has pleaded with Australians to take coronavirus seriously.
As news filtered through of the AFL's decision to postpone the season until May 31, Clarkson launched a passionate address after the Hawks' 28-point win over Brisbane at the MCG, urging people to take social isolation seriously.
"The whole world's hurting at the moment, we've tried our best as an industry to soldier on and try to provide some hope, but we got the call today that the powers that be think it's best we don't continue to do that," Clarkson said on Fox footy.
"We've been through plenty of crises before as a country but I'm not sure we've had to face one as significant as this as a global civilisation.
"We've seen what's going on in Italy, what went on in China, we don't want that happening in Australia if we can possibly help it.
Clarkson said he drove past a packed cafe yesterday and said Australians must abandon their "she'll be right, mate" attitude to the coronavirus threat.
"I was driving to take my dog for a walk yesterday and I went through Beaumaris and I saw a cafe and I'm not sure were actually taking social isolation as serious as we need to," Clarkson said.
"This is about the health of our fellow man and unfortunately it goes against who we are as Australians.
"We're usually 'I'll be right' and 'I just wanna hang around my mates and family' and they're beautiful gestures, but right at this point in time that's the thing that we're saying to us we need to not do.
"The best thing we can do right now is listen to those who are experts.
"We tried our best as an industry to try to forge ahead but now it's time for us to close our doors for a period of time and do what everyone else needs to do – and that's get isolated and stay safe."