AFL Round 6 Melbourne v Fremantle: Melbourne is finally open for business – and the shift in play is obvious
As promised, the Demons flicked a switch and became ‘hard to play against’ at the MCG on Saturday – and it was inspirational viewing, writes ED BOURKE. Here’s how they did it.
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Melbourne is finally open for business. Just as their embattled coach Simon Goodwin promised, the Demons flicked a switch and became “hard to play against” once more.
With Richmond and West Coast in the next fortnight, a hellish start to 2025 could quickly turn to three wins on the trot if Melbourne can sustain the exciting brand of play that brought down Fremantle.
Missing their defensive pillars Steven May and Jake Lever, and without their replacement Daniel Turner (concussion) after halftime, it was nigh on inspirational viewing for the 20,000-odd loyal supporters who had arrived at the MCG on Saturday with little expectation.
Goodwin swung moves against the Dockers which played to the strengths of a side that still boasts more than a dozen premiership players.
And it set the tone for a marked shift in play which could save his coaching tenure and bring a buzz back to the MCG when Melbourne takes the field.
“That’s the way we want to play, we’re trying to evolve our game to be something a little bit different,” Goodwin said post-match.
“We’ve been working incredibly hard and I think today we saw what we’ve been working on.
“Clearly people will talk about the scoring side of it, which one element, but it’s more what we did without the ball today.
“I thought our pressure, our tackling, our ability to lock it in … I thought it was just a great team performance.”
HARRISON, KOLTYN AND FULLARTON
Melbourne’s two deepest forwards for most of Saturday afternoon had combined for just 22 goals at VFL and AFL level last season.
But Harrison Petty and Tom Fullarton did what Jacob van Rooyen and Bayley Fritsch had not been able to, bringing the ball to ground for their teammates in a more predictable manner and creating space for a rampant Kysaiah Pickett to wreak havoc.
Until late in the game when his run was required, Ed Langdon was a surprise regular in the forward six, leaving the wing roles primarily to draftees Harvey Langford and Xavier Lindsay.
The fresh look gave the Demons more punch at ground level, and while he was scoreless from just six possessions, a returning Koltyn Tholstrup added important energy in his return from a bone stress injury.
The 19-year-old laid four tackles and had the awareness to close sharply on Shai Bolton when he played on in a dangerous position on the 50m arc late in the final term with the lead a slender six points.
Petty’s four-goal haul was his best since his breakout game in late 2023, but the Demons may need to put his return to attack on hold with Turner joining the growing list of sidelined talls.
TEAM DEFENCE IGNITES
Moving Petty forward put pressure on Turner and Tom McDonald to perform as the only key defenders against Josh Treacy and Jye Amiss, but their teammates provided superb assistance.
McDonald held the in-form Treacy to just 1.1 from two marks inside 50 and Turner led the ground for intercept possessions when he was withdrawn from the game early in the third quarter.
Captain Max Gawn prioritised influence in the back half over the forward half and made a series of desperate spoils in the third term to stem the tide as Fremantle tried to make inroads.
It is difficult to believe Jake Bowey spent patches of 2024 on the fringe of the Demons’ side after his start to this season, and he was given the freedom to sprint off the back of the square at each centre bounce like his team was five goals down in the final term.
Trent Rivers (26 disposals and a goal) played his best game of the season, as he and Blake Howes (191cm) looked far more comfortable playing alongside two talls in defence than they did with the Demons’ full complement in the early rounds.
Without a desperate goal square tackle by Rivers on Jye Amiss midway through the last quarter, the Demons might not have had enough of a gap to hold the Dockers out.
CENTRE BOUNCE STRENGTH
Gawn preyed on an underdone Sean Darcy with seven centre clearances as the Demons belted Fremantle 20-11 in the middle.
Christian Petracca and Jack Viney were near constants in the centre-bounce mix, while Pickett was used more than Clayton Oliver.
What Oliver did well when he was in there was play within his means – he extracted the ball beautifully and fed it to the outside, finishing with just five kicks from his 25 disposals at 72 per cent efficiency.
Nothing galvanises a midfield group like centre-bounce goals, and after managing just seven in their first five games, the Demons had four at halftime.
They were more than a match for Andrew Brayshaw, Caleb Serong and Hayden Young, and should not allow themselves to be bullied by another midfield group all season
Match report: Hallelujah! Kozzy stuns as Dees lift for Goodwin
– Tyler Lewis
Melbourne jet Kysaiah Pickett produced one of the best performances of the season to lift the winless Demons and sink the team trying to lure him at the trade table.
Fremantle, which has shown interest in trading for Pickett at season’s end, had no answers for the excitement machine.
Pickett kicked five goals and had 24 possessions to save the Demons from a 0-6 start to 2025 and down the Dockers by 10 points.
Melbourne president Brad Green said the Dockers would need to cough up three first-round picks for Pickett earlier this year, but it could have boomed to four after Saturday’s display.
Pickett, 23, lit it up from the start, going into the main break with four goals, 12 disposals, a goal assist and six score involvements.
His scintillating first half prompted the highest of praise from four-time premiership player and Norm Smith Medallist Isaac Smith.
“He’s (Pickett) the closest thing to Cyril Rioli I’ve seen,” Smith told Triple M.
BRILLIANT BOLTON
Fremantle livewire Shai Bolton produced his best performance as a Docker in a strong return to the MCG.
The former premiership Tiger appeared the only player potentially able to match the brilliance of Pickett with some magic of his own.
Bolton was in everything he could, kicking three goals and having 20 possessions after a one-touch first quarter.
WHAT SCORING PROBLEM?
The shiny new game plan Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin has been reinforcing was on full show in a free-flowing first half.
The Demons kicked six goals in each of the first and second quarters to go into the main break with their highest score of the season.
They’ve averaged 61 points per game in 2025 but had eclipsed that score before time on in the second term.
It was helped heavily by some sharp goal kicking but the intent to move the ball at pace was obvious and exciting to watch.
CANDY MAN
Jack Viney capped Melbourne’s super first quarter with an impressive goal on the run.
The Demons were on the cusp of going into the first change with no scoreboard reward for their tremendous term after conceding a fourth goal with 27 seconds left.
But after receiving a handball from Christian Petracca, Viney baulked the Fremantle defender, steadied and finished.
Viney’s goal, the Demons’ sixth for the quarter, made the scoreboard reflect the game a little clearer.
NEW STRATEGY FOR STAR
Melbourne superstar Clayton Oliver unusually started Saturday’s important clash at the MCG on the interchange.
The four-time best and fairest-winner was forced to sit the first five and a half minutes of the game in place of Christian Petracca, Jack Viney and Kysaiah Pickett.
Once Oliver did come on the ground, it took him 30 seconds to get his hands on the ball and involved in a Melbourne goal.
It proved a bit of a master stroke from Dees, as each of the starting midfielders kicked a first-quarter goal.
SCOREBOARD
MELBOURNE 6.1 12.2 15.5 16.11 (107)
FREMANTLE 4.2 8.5 11.10 14.13 (97)
GOALS
Demons: Pickett 5, Petty 4, Chandler 2, Langford 2, Rivers, Petracca, Viney
Dockers: Bolton 3, Amiss 3, Darcy 2, Brayshaw, Reid, Treacy, Sharp, McDonald, Dudley
LEWIS’ BEST
Demons: Pickett, Bowey, Gawn, Viney
Dockers: Bolton, Brayshaw, Young
INJURIES
Demons: Turner (concussion)
Dockers: O’Meara (hamstring)
CROWD: 25, 202 at MCG
TYLER LEWIS’S VOTES
3 Kysaiah Pickett (Melb)
2 Max Gawn (Melb)
1 Shai Bolton (Frem)
Originally published as AFL Round 6 Melbourne v Fremantle: Melbourne is finally open for business – and the shift in play is obvious
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