‘It takes time’: Petracca speaks after Melbourne’s Anzac Day eve win

Resurgent Demon Christian Petracca has backed Melbourne’s internal approach to improving its season after failing to chalk up a victory in its first five games.

“It feels like we are slowly building. Obviously, we had a disappointing start, but, you know, it takes time,” Petracca said after the Demons’ second straight win.

Christian Petracca and Charlie Spargo celebrate a Melbourne goal.Credit: Getty Images

“Sometimes you need a bit more cohesion, and I think tonight was awesome.

“The fourth quarter was disappointing, but I feel like we’re slowly starting to build into some form.”

Melbourne opened up a 35-point break by outscoring the Tigers six goals to one in the third term, but only managed one major in the final term before winning by 20 points.

“No doubt we feel some sort of expectation, both internally and externally, but we understand what we’re building,” Petracca told Channel Seven.

“We need to focus on what we can control and right now, you know, I feel like internally, we’re doing a really good job of keeping things really simple, trying to focus on, you know, the fundamentals and what makes our game tick - and that’s our contest and defence.

“We haven’t been there for the first five weeks with our defence, but I feel like the last two weeks, we’ve shown some really positive signs.”

Petracca finished the night with 11 kicks, 17 handballs and two goals to be one of Melbourne’s best.

That brings our Anzac Day eve coverage to a close.

There were smiles all round for Demons fans after suffering through the opening five rounds, and a few glimpses of hope for the Richmond faithful.

Thanks for joining us and be sure to tune in tomorrow for a blockbuster Anzac Day clash between Essendon and Collingwood at the MCG. The first ball will be bounced at 3.20pm.

Christian Petracca’s form brings a smile to Simon Goodwin’s face.Credit: AFL Photos

Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin has praised the Demons’ pressure during a dominant third quarter for setting up their second win of the season as he distanced the side from his dominant 2021 premiership outfit.

“I thought the forwards did a great job to be able to provide that [pressure] for us,” he said in his post-match press conference.

“Some of our players inside 50, like Tom Sparrow and a few [others], went to work, and it was really positive.

“Combine that with the midfielders really getting going, you know, I thought [Max] Gawn, [Jack] Viney, [Clayton] Oliver, [Christian] Petracca and [Kysaiah] Pickett all got themselves into the game, which we needed to, and that set the game up for us.”

While Goodwin also commended the return of out-of-sorts premiership forward Bayley Fritsch, he was equally upbeat about his side’s fresh talent.

“I look at this team as completely new [compared to 2021],” he said.

“You know, for the last three years, we’ve been going to the draft and bringing in new players and our recruiters have done a wonderful job at doing that, and sometimes they take some time to grow and develop.

“But for us, it’s about really getting excited about the young players that we’ve got at our footy club, understanding we’ve got some enormous, older top-end talent, and bringing them together to be a cohesive new team that takes our club forward again.

“It’s great to see Judd McVee get back out there tonight and start to build that cohesion, Harvey Langford and Xavier Lindsay on the wings, Caleb Windsor is getting better week-in, week-out.

“So, we’re just starting to build that cohesion right across the ground. And that’s something we’re working on.”

Tigers coach Adem Yze has criticised his side’s poor tackle count for letting them down in the club’s 20-point lose to Melbourne at the MCG on Anzac Day eve.

Melbourne laid 30 more tackles against Richmond, 72 to 42, as they busted the game open with sustained pressure in a third-quarter blitz that saw them pile on six goals to one an open up a 35-point lead.

Nick Vlastuin in action against the Demons.Credit: Getty Images

“When you look at the tackle numbers, it was way too low, and it’s not to standard, and it’s not us.”

Richmond have played three games in the past 11 days - against Fremantle, Gold Coast and Melbourne - and the young side looked tired at periods during the third quarter.

“I didn’t want to use that as an excuse, but we do have young players that would never have dealt with that,” Yze said.

“Our small forwards are expected to put a lot of pressure on and energy and spirit, and we just looked a step off at times.”

But Yze praised his side’s efforts to outscore Melbourne by 15 points in the final term.

“We know what the occasion is,” he said. “We know the responsibility we’ve got to play in this game and how privileged we are.

“We owed it to our fans to obviously finish the right way, and to their credit, we kicked four or five goals in the last quarter.”

Yze said the Tigers missed Noah Balta, who was strong in defence in their shock win against Gold Coast last week.

Resurgent Demon Christian Petracca has backed Melbourne’s internal approach to improving its season after failing to chalk up a victory in its first five games.

“It feels like we are slowly building. Obviously, we had a disappointing start, but, you know, it takes time,” Petracca said after the Demons’ second straight win.

Christian Petracca and Charlie Spargo celebrate a Melbourne goal.Credit: Getty Images

“Sometimes you need a bit more cohesion, and I think tonight was awesome.

“The fourth quarter was disappointing, but I feel like we’re slowly starting to build into some form.”

Melbourne opened up a 35-point break by outscoring the Tigers six goals to one in the third term, but only managed one major in the final term before winning by 20 points.

“No doubt we feel some sort of expectation, both internally and externally, but we understand what we’re building,” Petracca told Channel Seven.

“We need to focus on what we can control and right now, you know, I feel like internally, we’re doing a really good job of keeping things really simple, trying to focus on, you know, the fundamentals and what makes our game tick - and that’s our contest and defence.

“We haven’t been there for the first five weeks with our defence, but I feel like the last two weeks, we’ve shown some really positive signs.”

Petracca finished the night with 11 kicks, 17 handballs and two goals to be one of Melbourne’s best.

Max Gawn leads Melbourne to victory against Richmond.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images

An inspired Melbourne skipper Max Gawn has paid tribute to a war veteran for helping his side embrace their team spirit ahead of their Anzac Day eve clash at the MCG.

Gawn was named best on ground in the Demons’ 20-point win over Richmond, winning his second successive Frank “Checker” Hughes medal.

“I really like playing this game,” Gawn told Channel Seven after the match. “It really is a great occasion – the whole week.

“To be able to go to the Botanic Gardens yesterday and have a little speech from Paul Warren, who spoke a lot around teammates, and it’s something that we, especially as a group right now, being 0-5 or 1-5, we really could use a bit of.

Paul Warren lit the eternal flame ahead of Melbourne’s Anzac Day eve clash with Richmond.Credit: Getty Images

“We never want to draw war and playing football together, but the values are quite similar.

“So he taught us a little bit about... he had his leg blown off with a land mine, but all he really cared about was [not] letting his teammates down.

“That was an amazing thing to get our spirit up within our group.

“I think apart from the last five minutes, you would have seen, hopefully, the boys, if you’re watching them back home, you saw the boys playing with that Anzac spirit.”

Warren, an infantryman, was deployed to Afghanistan as a 30-year-old when he lost his leg in 2009.

Christian Petracca drives the Demons forward against Richmond.Credit: Getty Images

The night ends how most expected, with a Melbourne victory. But the journey there did not follow the script.

Simon Goodwin’s Demons, who led by only four points at half-time, needed a six-goals-to-one third term to eventually put away a plucky Richmond side by 20 points in their traditional Anzac Day eve clash.

Melbourne are celebrating back-to-back wins – after five losses to start the season – and can thank their biggest stars for that, with Max Gawn, Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver springing to life in a dominant third-quarter display.

Oliver went to half-time with only five disposals and zero clearances, but the four-time club champion amassed 13 and five, respectively, in the match-turning term in a reminder of his rare talent.

Jack Viney, who ran with Tim Taranto, also laid six of his game-high 15 tackles in that period to be another leading light.

The jury is well and truly still out on whether this is the start of a Demons renaissance, or a brief detour from their mediocre ways, but they face the winless West Coast in Perth next week, so the opportunity to build some momentum is there for them.

But they are still in the bottom four, and face a long road back to finals contention.

The game was over a long way out, but Melbourne failed to put the foot down after kicking 44 points clear midway through the last term.

Goodwin put Gawn on ice for most of the last 10 minutes, and watched as the Tigers rattled off the final four goals to slash the margin.

Defenders Christian Salem (34) and Jake Bowey (32) won more of the Sherrin than everyone, while Petracca kicked two goals from his 28 touches and Gawn had 25, nine marks and 34 hit-outs.

Thomson Dow led Richmond with 28 disposals.

FT: Melbourne 12.11 (83) defeated Richmond 9.9 (63)

Melbourne captain Max Gawn has won his second successive Frank “Checker” Hughes medal as the best player on the ground in the Anzac Day eve clash against Richmond.

Melbourne have scored their second win in two weeks and given some breathing space to coach Simon Goodwin.

The Demons beat Richmond by 20 points at the MCG after taking a 35-point lead into the final term.

Captain Max Gawn was superb and Demons fans will be heartened by the strong showing of Christian Petracca, who had 28 disposals and kicked two goals.

The Tigers have kicked four goals in a row to close the margin to 19 points.

Tim Taranto booted Richmond’s third goal of the last quarter, followed by a major to Toby Nankervis, to bring some respectability to their total.

The Tigers have outscored the Demons four goals to one in the final term.

Melbourne 12.10 (82) lead Richmond 9.9 (63) with less than two minutes remaining.

The game is all but over, but Tom Lynch is still giving his best.

He has goaled twice late in the final term to bring up three for the night.

Melbourne 12.10 (82) lead Richmond 6.9 (45) with four minutes remaining.