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Brownlow Medal | 3 Jesse Hogan (MELB) | 2 Dayne Beams (BRIS) | 1 Cameron Pedersen (MELB) |
The Melbourne versus Brisbane match on Sunday pitted a side looking to stake a claim on a top-eight place against a lowly side from Queensland with little to play for. This was a virtually identical scenario to the Essendon-Gold Coast match the night before, and that match had seen the top-eight contenders, eventually shaking off the northern state side to prevail in the end. On Sunday at the MCG, the script was very similar. The Demons got over the line in the end, but the Lions made them work hard for it, and certainly caused Melbourne's fans many anxious moments along the way.
Brisbane created the earliest scoring opportunities in the match but they yielded only two behinds for the Lions and the first major score at the seven-minute mark went Melbourne's way when Cam Pedersen received a handball from Jesse Hogan to kick truly from the goal square. Both Pedersen and Hogan would go on to play pivotal roles in the win. After a behind to Demon Mitch Hannan, Darcy Gardiner kicked the Lions' first goal with a set shot at the 16-minute mark, but a mark and goal to Hogan had the Demons ahead by five seven minutes later. Brisbane responded again through Dayne Beams, though, before a free kick and goal to Jeff Garlett gave Melbourne a six-point quarter time lead.
The Lions made the early running in the second term, with a goal to Tom Rockliff followed by another to Dayne Zorko giving them a six-point lead. Hogan's second goal at the nine-minute mark levelled the scores again but Eric Hipwood's first had Brisbane ahead once more soon after. The Demons then had a period of ascendancy with goals to Hogan and Jake Melksham giving them a nine-point advantage, but a late goal to Jake Barrett very much against the run of play had the Lions within three points at the long break.
Both sides swapped goals in the first eight minutes of the third term but a run of three in a row to Melbourne - one each to Garlett, Pedersen and Hogan - looked to have broken the game open as the Demons skipped out to a 21-point lead. But momentum shifted again in time on, with a goal each to Lions Ryan Bastinac and Dayne Beams narrowing the gap to just nine points. Hogan stepped up again, though, kicking his fifth just before the three-quarter time siren to see Melbourne take a 15-point lead into 'orange time'.
Lewis Taylor had a chance to keep Brisbane in touch at the start of the final quarter but his long shot missed, and from there, the Demons exploded, with a burst of three goals - one each to Christian Petracca, Hogan and James Harmes - extending their lead to 32 points. The home side indeed looked home at last - but there was to be another twist in the tale. A long goal to Jacob Allison sparked Brisbane once more, with Hugh McCluggage, Tom Rockliff and Michael Close following up with further majors and the margin was suddenly just seven points.
Pedersen settled Melbourne with his third goal but Brisbane came again, a goal to Josh Walker again reducing the margin back to seven. Finally Angus Bradshaw settled the result - and Demon nerves - once and for all, his lovely set from an angle at the 30-minute mark giving Melbourne a hard-fought 13-point win.
GOALS
Melbourne: Hogan 6; Pedersen 3; Garlett 2; Melksham, Vince, Petracca, Harmes, Brayshaw
Brisbane: D. Beams 3; Rockliff 2; Gardiner, Zorko, Hipwood, Barrett, Bastinac, Allison, Close, Walker, McCluggage
BEST - AFL.COM.AU
Melbourne: Hogan, Pedersen, Petracca, Jones, Oliver, Hibberd, Melksham
Brisbane: D. Beams, Zorko, Bastinac, Taylor, Rockliff, Witherden
BEST - THE AGE
Melbourne: Hibberd, Melksham, Jones, Oliver, Hogan, Tyson, Lewis, Pedersen
Brisbane: D. Beams, Zorko, Hipwood, Taylor, Rich, Mathieson, Mayes, Bastinac
INJURIES
Melbourne: Nil
Brisbane: D. Beams (head), C.Beams (head)
UMPIRES: Rosebury, Gavine, Mollison
TELEVISION BROADCAST: Fox Footy
COMMENTATORS: Anthony Hudson, Gerard Healy, Jonathan Brown
Melbourne | Match Stats | Career | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
# | Player | K | M | H | D | G | B | HO | T | FF | FA | Age | Games | G |
10 | Brayshaw, Angus | 11 | 8 | 6 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 21y 223d | 35 | 14 |
36 | Garlett, Jeff | 4 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 28y 17d | 166 | 292 |
11 | Gawn, Max | 3 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 25y 233d | 73 | 38 |
19 | Hannan, Mitch | 8 | 1 | 6 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 23y 164d | 19 | 21 |
43 | Harmes, James | 9 | 3 | 4 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 21y 319d | 43 | 29 |
14 | Hibberd, Michael | 13 | 7 | 10 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 27y 229d | 101 | 12 |
1 | Hogan, Jesse | 10 | 9 | 5 | 15 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 22y 189d | 50 | 105 |
29 | Hunt, Jayden | 9 | 1 | 9 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 22y 139d | 40 | 10 |
39 | Jetta, Neville | 10 | 7 | 3 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 27y 189d | 115 | 24 |
2 | Jones, Nathan | 13 | 2 | 19 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 29y 212d | 238 | 115 |
6 | Lewis, Jordan | 12 | 9 | 13 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 31y 118d | 282 | 150 |
28 | McDonald, Oscar | 7 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 21y 155d | 36 | 0 |
25 | McDonald, Tom | 4 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 24y 336d | 125 | 31 |
18 | Melksham, Jake | 20 | 7 | 9 | 29 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 25y 356d | 132 | 75 |
30 | Neal-Bullen, Alex | 7 | 0 | 10 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 21y 223d | 33 | 21 |
13 | Oliver, Clayton | 8 | 3 | 22 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 20y 29d | 34 | 10 |
21 | Pedersen, Cameron | 13 | 7 | 11 | 24 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 30y 156d | 75 | 66 |
5 | Petracca, Christian | 6 | 4 | 16 | 22 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 21y 228d | 38 | 36 |
15 | Stretch, Billy | 7 | 6 | 5 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 20y 346d | 36 | 8 |
12 | Tyson, Dom | 8 | 3 | 19 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 24y 73d | 89 | 42 |
23 | Vince, Bernie | 8 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 31y 322d | 211 | 112 |
42 | Wagner, Josh | 4 | 2 | 10 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 23y 57d | 23 | 2 |
Rushed | 3 | |||||||||||||
Totals | 194 | 92 | 192 | 386 | 16 | 8 | 47 | 68 | 16 | 14 | 24y 329d | 1994 | 1213 |
Brisbane | Match Stats | Career | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
# | Player | K | M | H | D | G | B | HO | T | FF | FA | Age | Games | G |
37 | Allison, Jacob | 7 | 4 | 9 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 19y 126d | 4 | 1 |
31 | Andrews, Harris | 7 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 20y 252d | 57 | 8 |
43 | Barrett, Jake | 6 | 3 | 7 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 21y 285d | 17 | 15 |
4 | Bastinac, Ryan | 12 | 6 | 10 | 22 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 26y 59d | 158 | 91 |
17 | Beams, Claye | 6 | 4 | 8 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 25y 353d | 53 | 26 |
9 | Beams, Dayne | 16 | 7 | 17 | 33 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 27y 189d | 146 | 148 |
33 | Close, Michael | 6 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 23y 21d | 26 | 23 |
27 | Gardiner, Darcy | 10 | 8 | 4 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 21y 332d | 61 | 4 |
30 | Hipwood, Eric | 5 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 19y 341d | 30 | 41 |
35 | Lester, Ryan | 9 | 5 | 9 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 24y 359d | 101 | 45 |
12 | Martin, Stefan | 6 | 5 | 9 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 30y 276d | 135 | 39 |
36 | Mathieson, Rhys | 6 | 1 | 13 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 20y 222d | 23 | 15 |
32 | Mayes, Sam | 14 | 6 | 5 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 23y 92d | 94 | 26 |
6 | McCluggage, Hugh | 8 | 5 | 9 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 19y 170d | 17 | 7 |
25 | McStay, Daniel | 6 | 5 | 7 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 22y 57d | 59 | 31 |
10 | Rich, Daniel | 16 | 2 | 9 | 25 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27y 74d | 164 | 100 |
18 | Robertson, Nick | 7 | 3 | 9 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 22y 78d | 46 | 7 |
38 | Rockliff, Tom | 9 | 6 | 7 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 27y 179d | 153 | 85 |
28 | Taylor, Lewis | 16 | 3 | 6 | 22 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 22y 184d | 84 | 64 |
14 | Walker, Josh | 9 | 8 | 5 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 24y 281d | 59 | 67 |
29 | Witherden, Alex | 13 | 6 | 5 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 18y 344d | 8 | 1 |
15 | Zorko, Dayne | 16 | 7 | 10 | 26 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 28y 192d | 121 | 133 |
Rushed | 3 | |||||||||||||
Totals | 210 | 110 | 169 | 379 | 14 | 7 | 34 | 61 | 14 | 16 | 23y 220d | 1616 | 977 |