Coming into this game, the talk was all about Melbourne’s capitulation last week in the fourth quarter against St. Kilda. Luckily for the Demons, they had a soft bounce back against the bottom-placed Eagles line-up. This is probably going to be Melbourne’s last chance at Premiership points for the home and away season, with a tough run home.
Meanwhile, the West Coast has continued its horror run, winning only one game all season, ironically coming against Melbourne’s tormentor, St. Kilda, all the way back in Round 10. Not only have the Eagles lost the overwhelming majority of their games this season, but they have also been uncompetitive in many of them.
Both sides missed shots early with Jack Viney missing a snap from directly in front, while Eagles small forward Liam Ryan missed from a congested goalsquare. However, it was Melbourne that drew first blood through Jake Melksham. Christian Petracca almost got the Demons’ second goal a few seconds later, but his snap around the body took a bad bounce and went through for a behind.
Around the ground, the ball use by both sides was well below AFL-level, as multiple kicks barely got off the ground and bounced well before reaching their intended targets. Melbourne finally managed to string a few accurate kicks together before Bayley Fritsch’s shanked kick fell to Jacob van Rooyen in the goal square, who promptly kicked Melbourne’s second goal. How van Rooyen was left unattended is a mystery, but the replay showed exactly why Fritsch’s kick was so poor. Had it been a golf course, he would have been required to replace a pretty sizeable divot.
The Demons then had multiple opportunities at goal through Harrison Petty, but his first shot fell short of the goal, and his second one stayed to the near side. Melbourne got their third goal of the quarter through Harvey Langford after a throw-in deep in Melbourne’s forward line resulted in Langford standing in an acre of space.
The Eagles finally got their first goal of the quarter after Harrison Petty knocked the ball out of Ryan Maric’s hand, resulting in Maric getting two consecutive 50-metre penalties, which took him to the goal line.
Melbourne’s forwards finally found their kicking boots in the second quarter, with Trent Rivers, Harrison Petty, and Bayley Fritsch kicking goals to start the term. The trio of goals took Melbourne’s 15-point quarter-time lead out to 33 points. The Eagles were able to respond, kicking consecutive goals for the first time in the game through Tyler Brockman and Archer Reid. Reid should have cut the margin back down to 17 points, but he pushed his shot across the face of the goal.
In the second half, Melbourne continued their out-of-the-middle thanks to the work of Max Gawn, Jack Viney, Christian Petracca, and Clayton Oliver. However, their first goal of the term came from a defensive kick-in, when Kyle Chandler was left alone in the forward line. The Eagles would also get their first goal from a kick-in through a Liam Ryan set shot.
Former Eagle Jai Culley then picked up a goal against his former club after he was able to drift forward. Culley, who had been picked up in the 2022 Mid-Season Draft by the Eagles before being delisted last year, was picked up by Melbourne in the Supplemental Selection Period. Campbell Chesser then managed a goal back for the Eagles in his first game of the 2025 season.
Harrison Petty kicked his second goal of the game after he was pushed in the back by Rhett Bazzo to become the first multiple goalscorer of the game. This started a run of goals for the Demons through Harvey Langford, Jacob van Rooyen, Jack Viney, and Max Gawn to stretch Melbourne’s lead out to an even 50 points.
The Eagles briefly broke Melbourne’s run of goals through Jamie Cripps before the Demons kicked three goals in a row to finish the term. This took Melbourne’s lead out to 63 points heading into the final quarter.
Given the size of the lead, there was little hope of West Coast emulating St. Kilda’s heroics from the last week. Melbourne would increase their lead early in the final term with Bayley Fritsch kicking his fourth goal of the game. With the margin out past 70 points, both teams dropped off the pace before Jamie Cripps kicked his second goal of the game to become the Eagles’ first multiple-goal scorer for the game.
Langdon then kicked his second, running unguarded into an open goal. Jobe Shanahan then took an impressive contested mark in the Eagles’ forward 50 to kick his first goal for the game, celebrating his 19th birthday. Not to be outdone, Jai Culley took a decent mark over the Eagles’ Clay Hall and Brady Hough before kicking his second.
Liam Duggan then gave Melbourne a gift, hitting Christian Petracca on the chest from a defensive kick-in. Petracca kicked the subsequent set shot to give the Demons a 78-point lead with just over five minutes remaining. The Eagles had a few opportunities to cut the margin down, but Tyler Brockman and Liam Ryan both hit the post with their shots at goal.
With only seconds left, the Demons finished the game through Harvey Langford, who kicked his third goal for the game. The win was not only Melbourne’s largest win for the season, at 83 points, but was also the team’s best total, as they kicked 21 goals, 13 behinds against a hapless Eagles side.
Clash of heads
In the second quarter, Liam Ryan and Trent Rivers were involved in an innocuous clash of heads. The incident occurred after Ryan was attempting to pressure Rivers as the Demon’s defender was handballing the ball.
Both players were taken off the ground bleeding profusely from their respective heads, and both were administered HIA tests. Both players subsequently passed their tests and were able to return to play. Ryan looked particularly sore after the contact, despite being the one who initiated the contact.
As both players returned to the ground and Ryan copped the worst of it, there shouldn’t be anything for the match review panel to take a look at, but that won’t stop the head knock from being a topic of conversation for yet another week.
Gawn’s Dominance
Despite Melbourne suffering a disappointing season, one of the few shining lights has undoubtedly been the form of captain Max Gawn. Melbourne’s premiership ruckman continued his good form again this week in the game against the Eagles. Gawn had 29 hit-outs and helped Melbourne’s clearance dominance. However, Gawn was also instrumental around the ground, taking eight marks for the game, including multiple intercept marks.
Gawn certainly wasn’t alone in his performance, with Jack Viney also producing a useful performance out of the middle. Viney ended the game with double-digit clearances from the midfield, amongst his 25 possessions, with both Viney and Gawn also kicking goals for the Demons in their big win.
Club debut against his old side
Melbourne chose an apt game to unleash their Supplemental Selection Period signing, Jai Culley. Culley, who grew up a Demons supporter as a child, was signed by Melbourne after the SSP was technically over, when Melbourne was granted an extension, so they were able to replace Andy Moniz-Wakefield.
Culley played 12 games for the Eagles between 2022 to 2024 before being delisted by the club. In his debut for the Demons, Culley took seven marks, kicked two goals, and may have earned himself another game next week, though unfortunately for Culley, it will probably be a stiffer challenge than this game against the Eagles.
Culley, who was a part of losses for each of his 12 Eagles games, was able to celebrate his first win as an AFL footballer with the club he supported as a kid.
The run home
With only three weeks remaining of the season, the end is well and truly in sight. As mentioned earlier in the review, the Demons have a tough couple of games remaining in the run home to the end of the season. Melbourne will face off against the Western Bulldogs back at the MCG, before games against Hawthorn and Collingwood to round out the season. Given that all their opponents will be playing for spots in the top 8 at the end of the season, while Melbourne has little to play for bit pride, it would be an upset to see Melbourne win any of their remaining games.
Meanwhile, West Coast heads back to Perth with another disappointing performance. The Eagles still have only one win from the season, and with games against a red-hot Adelaide, the Dogs, and Sydney remaining, it is also likely that they will not be able to add to their tally this season. The Eagles, who have a young side, will love to bolster their ranks with some experience after losing premiership duo Jeremy McGovern and Dom Sheed already. However, there doesn’t seem to be much they can bring back into the team. They won’t be able to do that until trade period, and it’ll be interesting to see how they attack this off-season.