AFL Round 21 West Coast v Melbourne: Lightning halts play as Dees cement top-four spot with win over Eagles
With the Demons within reach of a home first final, coach Simon Goodwin has emphasised just how important it is to play in front of crowds.
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Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin says crowds should be a strong consideration when the league decides where it should stage this year’s finals series.
The AFL is waiting to make a call on this year’s finals series amid a push to shift finals games to interstate venues such as Perth to help pack out stands and bring more money back into the game.
The Demons can lock in a top-two spot which would normally secure them home ground advantage for the first final at the MCG.
But the latest Covid-19 outbreak in Victoria could see the Demons, Geelong Cats and the Bulldogs host finals at interstate venues, if the latest COVID -19 outbreak continues to prevent crowds at Victorian venues.
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News Corp revealed on Monday there are hopes crowds could return to GMHBA Stadium as soon as this weekend.
But when asked what the league should do with its scheduling throughout September, Goodwin was open-minded, saying he wants to see fans at finals games this year.
“It is really hard. Obviously I love the game that has got fans at it. I think it brings a core element to our game,” Goodwin said on Triple M.
“I think if there is any chance to have crowds within Melbourne I think I would take that, there is no question about that.
“But I think fans love seeing footy and love seeing the spectacle when there are people at the ground.”
Goodwin’s open-mindedness shows how keen clubs and players are for a return to crowds for the biggest games of the year even though it may mean moving them to neautral interstate venues.
Melbourne has the longest premiership drought in the game but Goodwin has repeated the club is prepared to play “anywhere, anytime” to help win a flag.
If the league wanted to move the finals series interstate it could use the pre-finals bye period to quarantine teams.
The league is keen to see crowds back at games in September to help re-ignite the cash flow on ticket sales and corporate packages.
The league has taken another huge financial hit this year amid the ongoing lockdowns and border closures.
Dees hint at resting players with top-four locked in
Now that Melbourne has cemented a spot in the AFL’s top four, coach Simon Goodwin is aiming to have his side playing its best football when the finals series starts.
Goodwin will rest some of his players who are playing sore, with nothing now to lose.
But he wants to continue building a winning culture at the Demons that can be maintained beyond this season.
“We just want to keep building a winning culture; that’s what you do as a footy club,” Goodwin said.
“We want to create the habits that last you a long, long time as a footy club. It’s important we continue to push that.
“In saying that, we certainly won’t continue playing guys who are playing sore if we don’t need to. But we want to continue playing the right way.”
The Demons won a lightning-effected game against West Coast by nine points in Perth on Monday night, backing up a 98-point win over the Gold Coast a week earlier
The game was delayed by almost 30 minutes in the final quarter while the bad weather cleared. The Eagles bounced back from 33 points down at the forced interval to almost cause a boilover. But the Demons held on for a crucial win.
They end Round 21 in top spot on the AFL ladder, two points ahead of the Western Bulldogs, Geelong and Port Adelaide, who all have 15 wins.
Importantly, fifth-placed Brisbane are 10 points behind the Demons, with only two games to play.
The Lions can’t catch them.
For the first time since 2000, the Demons will end the home-and-away season in the top-four, with a double chance in the first round of finals.
The feat isn’t lost on Goodwin.
“It is really important for our football club to cement that spot in the top four,” he said.
“We know in that position you give yourself the best chance come the season end.
“But that is our first step for what we want to do. We want to continue to build our game. We want to continue to make our supporters proud and make sure that when we hit the final stages of the season we’re playing our best footy.
“I thought tonight there were areas of our game we could improve, but there were areas I thought we were starting to head right back in the right direction.”
It has been tough going for Melbourne since its Round 14 bye. It has lost games to top eight sides GWS and the Western Bulldogs, and also drawn with Hawthorn.
The Demons claimed consecutive wins when knocking off the Eagles, after demolishing the Suns and have also enjoyed victories over Essendon and Port Adelaide.
Their season ends with games against Adelaide and Geelong.
They may be without Jayden Hunt for at least one of those games, who was subbed out of the Monday night’s game with an ankle injury.
Although Goodwin said Hunt was positive after the game.
“We’ll jump on a plane (back to Melbourne) and get it assessed; hopefully it’s not that bad,” he said.
“We’ve been on the road for pretty much eight days; we’ve had a couple off from the game last week on the Gold Coast before coming over here to quarantine.
“It’s a big effort for our staff and our footy team and to get the result, I was really proud of them.”
Match report: Dees back on top after incredible lightning delay
Melbourne is in its best position to win a premiership for more than 20 years.
The Demons locked in a top four spot with a thrilling nine–point win over West Coast at Optus Stadium on Monday night.
The end to the game was much more thrilling than where it was heading though.
Melbourne had led by 33 points in the seventh minute of the final term when the game was delayed for almost 30-minutes due to a threat of lightning.
The lightning storm swept across Perth Stadium caused the suspension of the clash.
The Demons, fighting to claw their way back to top spot, were leading the clash 10.9 69 to 5.6 36 in the fourth quarter when players were called off the ground.
If the match had not been restarted because of the ongoing risk to players, AFL rules state the match would be awarded to Melbourne.
The Eagles returned the field much more switched on than when they left it.
They kicked 4.3 to the Demons 0.3 after the restart, but had to settle for a 10.12 (72) to 9.9 (63) scoreboard.
The result catapulted Melbourne back to the top of the AFL ladder, with just two rounds to play, thanks to losses to the Western Bulldogs and Geelong at the weekend.
It locks away their spot in the top four spot and with that comes a double chance in the first round of finals.
The Demons will finish inside the top four after the home-and-away fixtures for the first time since 2000, when they lost to Essendon in the Grand Final.
Clayton Oliver, Christian Petracca and James Harmes were the difference in a tight midfield battle with Dom Sheed, Tim Kelly and Elliot Yeo.
After winning their first nine games of the season, the result gave them consecutive wins for the first time beating fellow finalists Western Bulldogs and the Brisbane Lions in round 11 and 12 respectively.
All in front of Eagles
This was the Demons first win over West Coast since Round 22 of 2018, also played at Optus Stadium.
The Eagles recovered from that loss and demolished the Demons by 11 goals in the Preliminary Final before beating Collingwood the following week in the Grand Final.
It’s hard to see Adam Simpson’s men producing a form reversal like that in the remainder of this season though.
The Eagles now have a poor 1-6 win-loss record against their fellow top eight sides this season, beating only Port Adelaide, in Round 3.
They have lost those six games by an average of 46 points, with 15-goal losses to Geelong and Sydney and a 55-point defeat to the Western Bulldogs.
They may need to beat either Fremantle or Brisbane to see September action.
They haven’t missed the finals since 2014, but their percentage is the worst of the top 11 teams, keeping Essendon and Richmond right in the mix.
Big Brown finding form
Ben Brown continues to show he wants to be a part of this Demons premiership push.
He kicked three goals on Monday night, following the four he booted against the Gold Coast last week.
Two of those goals came in the opening term, along with five kicks, four marks and two kicks inside Melbourne’s forward 50 as he set the tone for the Demons.
The first goal he kicked was just his 13th for the Demons, but his 300th in the AFL, in a reminder of what he is capable of.
He has now kicked 10 goals in four weeks since fighting his way back into the side.
Coach Simon Goodwin showed faith in Brown, leaving Tom McDonald out of the game, with conditions forecast and realised to be less than perfect for high-marking players.
Brown’s third goal was kicked on the three-quarter-time siren to give the Demons a 32-point lead.
It was an efficient term for the Demons, who had 10 scoring shots for the term, kicking 5.5 from 14 inside 50 entries.
Beaten at own game early
To West Coast’s credit they lifted after being challenged in the opening term.
The Demons kicked three of the first four goals to open up a 20-point lead.
But the Eagles threw Melbourne’s own contested brand of football at them to take control of the game.
The Eagles led that count by 14 at half-time and were lucky not to hold the lead at the main break.
They did hit the front, but after kicking 2.5 from 15 inside 50 entries for the quarter, but the most they could get in front was two points.
Melbourne was heading for its first goalless term for the season, but Kysaiah Pickett knocked the ball through for a goal from just inside 50m right on the half-time siren to give the Demons a four-point lead at the break.
Although the Demons have lost their last three games, to Collingwood, Greater Western Sydney and Western Bulldogs, after having trailed at the main break, they have only lost four second halves for the season.
SCOREBOARD
EAGLES 2.0 4.5 5.6 9.9 63
DEMONS 4.2 5.3 10.8 10.12 72
ELBOROUGH’S BEST Eagles: Yeo, Kelly, Sheed, Redden, McGovern, Sheppard. Demons: Petracca, Harmes, Oliver, Neal-Bullen, Jackson, Brown.
GOALS
Eagles: Cripps 2, Kennedy 2; Redden, Darling, Naitanui, Darling, West.
Demons: Brown 3; Neal-Bullen 2, Melksham 2; Harmes, Petracca, Pickett.
INJURIES Eagles: Kennedy (knee), Hurn (leg) replaced by Langdon, Duggan (knee soreness) replaced in selected side by L Edwards. Demons: Hunt (ankle) replaced by Vendenberg; McDonald (back soreness) replaced in selected side by Jordon.
UMPIRES Dalgleish, Nicholls, Howorth.
VENUE Optus Stadium
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
BRAD ELBOROUGH’S VOTES
3 Petracca (Demons)
2 Harmes (Demons)
1 Yeo (Eagles)
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