This Mother’s Day had the Demons asking West Coast ‘Who’s your Daddy?’ as Melbourne’s midfield worked hard to give Jacob van Rooyen a delightful breakfast-in-bed type of delivery for his second five-goal+ return of 2026.
This wasn’t a game (or a margin) with too many surprises. Melbourne are leaner and quicker in 2026, and while still not quite able to run with the best teams for four quarters, they’re a level above what West Coast can currently deliver.
Max Gawn won the hitout count and the hairstyle battle against Bailey Williams. Jake Bowey came back from a Lisfranc foot injury that had kept him out since December and played like he had stored up six months of annoyance and decided to take it out on West Coast, which is probably not the therapeutic outlet his rehabilitation team had in mind. Melbourne led practically all day, while West Coast’s injury woes look to continue as their struggle to rise out of the cellar continues.
Last time:
Melbourne 21.13 (139) def West Coast Eagles 8.8 (56), Round 21, 2025. Melbourne by 83 points. This is a rivalry in the loosest possible sense of the word — Melbourne have won the recent fixtures in much the way that a thunderstorm wins against a sandcastle, and this result did nothing to complicate that assessment.
Recent form
Melbourne (5-3 coming in): Beat Richmond by 54 in Round 7, then went to the SCG and pushed Sydney all the way in a proper shootout before falling short late. No shame in that one. Steven King has assembled a side that can genuinely compete with the good teams for much of the game, and grind down the lower teams efficiently. They came in at seventh on the ladder with 20 points.
West Coast (2-6 coming in): The Eagles’ recent form has been less like their majestic namesake and more like that one last rotisserie chook at the supermarket that has dried out to a husk. With a 101-point annihilation by St Kilda in Round 7, followed up by becoming Richmond’s first (and maybe only) scalp in 2026, it’s not looking like a great season for the Eagles. If you’re looking for positives, the club record of consecutive losing quarters stood at 22, but by winning the final quarter, they ended that streak, and actually didn’t look too bad.
Ins and Outs
Melbourne
In: Jake Bowey
Out: Brody Mihocek (hamstring, 3-5 weeks)
Bowey’s return was the story before the game. He suffered a Lisfranc foot injury in December, missed the entire opening stretch of the season, played two VFL games to prove his fitness, and came back to produce 26 disposals and 564 metres gained in his first senior game since the injury. It looked like they limited his minutes a bit too. Mihocek’s hamstring opened the spot and Bowey filled it comprehensively enough that the selection committee will have felt very smug about their decision. I feel for Mihocek, he’s a bit underrated as a player in my opinion, as I really enjoy his effort and work rate off the ball, but bringing in Bowey was certainly no downgrade.
Two VFL players had pushed hard for selection. Luke Kentfield kicked two goals for Casey and had nine disposals. Tom Matthews kicked three goals and had ten touches. Neither was chosen. Steven King looked at the side that nearly beat Sydney and decided it was more than enough to take on West Coast, and he was right. He could have been tempted to rest a few other players, but footy can really give you a swift uppercut to the groin if you take any team too lightly.
Andy Moniz-Wakefield came off the interchange and kicked a goal when the game had already been decided and space was available, which is what interchange inclusions are for. Changkuoth Jiath went off for injury assessment in the second quarter, returned, and finished with 29 disposals. Caleb Windsor went off in the third quarter with an injury that will need monitoring during the week, which is not a sentence Melbourne needed.
West Coast
In: Harry Edwards, Harvey Johnston, Jack Hutchinson
Out: Elijah Hewett (omitted), Matt Owies (calf), Harry Schoenberg (omitted)
Harry Edwards returned from six weeks out with concussion. He was off the ground by the 14-minute mark of the first quarter with a possible injury. Six weeks of rehabilitation. Fourteen minutes of game time. The Eagles need Edwards badly. They cannot keep Edwards on a football field, and they’ll likely take a cautious approach with him now.
Harvey Johnston made his first appearance since Round 24 of 2024. Nearly 18 months between senior games. Johnston’s comeback story is the kind of subplot that a football club puts together a nice video about, which West Coast did. What followed at Marvel Stadium is probably not what they will put in the next video.
Hewett and Schoenberg were dropped on form. Matt Owies sat out with his calf. Jack Hutchinson came in from the interchange and kicked a goal in Q4, which is a solid return from a player brought into a game that was by then comprehensively over.
Tom McCarthy was the one player the Eagles will look back on and feel genuinely good about. He had 30 disposals and 692 metres gained before going off in the fourth quarter with a possible injury, which is West Coast’s season in miniature: the good stuff interrupted by something going wrong. He played out the game, but it’ll be a concern at a time when injuries are already hurting the team. Brady Hough also went off to get checked in Q4. The Eagles’ interchange coordinator had what can charitably be described as a busy day.
The Start
Right, the game. Reid kicked the first goal inside two minutes and gave his side a seven-point lead, some spark, and some much-needed reason to tune in for the supporters. Unfortunately, it didn’t last as Melbourne then kicked the next five goals, first through Langford, then Van Rooyen scoring a major on each side of Paddy Cross’ pair.
For a bloke starting off the bench, Cross played his role well in the opening quarter. He was like that kid in juniors who was never on time, rocks up eating a McMuffin, puts his boots on while on the bench, then comes on, turns the game on it’s ear, rund off and finishes his breakfast.
By the end of the first quarter, the lead was comfortable and West Coast’s body language had turned into that familiar sight of damage limitation. I’ve seen people more keen about loss prevention at Footscray Coles.
The first half stat that captures the game best was that Melbourne took 68 uncontested marks, their second-highest total in a first half since 2021. For reference, West Coast’s total contested possessions for the half were 65. Melbourne were taking uncontested marks at a rate that exceeded the Eagles’ contested output.
Tom McCarthy was West Coast’s standout in the first half, generating 410 metres gained from half-back by the main break and looking for long periods like the only Eagle who understood what the afternoon required. He ran, he linked, he found targets. He just couldn’t find enough of them who were in a position to do something useful.
At halftime Melbourne led by 31 points.
The second half
West Coast came out in the third quarter and had the first four inside 50s, but as we’ve seen so many times, delivery was poor. Too many long bombs to contests rather than setting up a structure 70 metres out and looking for a lead. Melbourne showed how it’s done with goals from three of their next four entries.
The scoring worm included Van Rooyen kicking his fourth. Harry Sharp getting on the end of a nice transition chain. Matthew Jefferson added one, and Andy Moniz-Wakefield, who had come on from the interchange and was presumably still finding where the water bottles lived, slotted a goal. Melbourne scored four goals from four intercepts in the quarter. One hundred per cent conversion from intercepts. If that rate held for a full game, the competition would need to have a serious conversation about Melbourne. While the game was not quite put to bed, it was certainly in its PJs and having a nightcap.
Kade Chandler had six disposals in the entire first half. He then had six disposals, two clearances, two inside 50s, a goal and four score involvements in about eight minutes of the third quarter. West Coast’s Tom Cole kicked one for the Eagles to at least give the scoreboard some presence, but the margin was beyond repair.
Windsor went off at the 12-minute mark of the third quarter and will need attention during the week.
The finish
The final quarter was West Coast’s best, but Melbourne had also taken their foot off the gas. The Eagles had 65% time in possession, kicked three goals through Malakai Champion, Jack Hutchinson and Jake Waterman, and Harley Reid had a goal and a goal assist after a quiet three quarters. Reid’s fourth-quarter output of five disposals, two clearances, four contested possessions, a goal and a goal assist was a reminder that he is genuinely one of the most compelling young players in the competition, even if the team around him and every WA news outlet currently make it very hard to appreciate that fully.
Van Rooyen kicked his fifth in Q4, the second-highest total of his career. Paddy Cross added his third. Melbourne played conservatively and correctly, kicking long and direct most of the time and not bothering with the corridor. It was a clinical finish of the game where they were already looking to next week.
Final: Melbourne 99, West Coast 67. Thirty-two points, most of which were settled well before the final quarter began.
Controversial moment
Kysaiah Pickett landed a high hit on Jake Waterman during the game that generated enough post-match attention to produce a press conference question for Steven King. King came out confident there was no case to answer. He may be right. He may not be. The MRO will spin their wheel and it could be anything from no case necessary to a fine to some time off. In a week where we say Butters get off for a hit that most people thought would have had at least a fine, there really is no predicting what the MRO will do.
The secondary controversy involved only Waterman and a set of goal posts. He finished the afternoon with 3 goals and 5 behinds, which is reflective of his accuracy this season of 40% (kicking 18.26) is becoming less of a bad day and more of a personality trait. He got into position. He took his shots. He kicked sideways an alarming percentage of the time. His 9 score involvements and consistent positioning show he is doing the work, and Waterman is a good player, and is perhaps sometimes asked to do too much with poor delivery, but when the team works so hard to get him the ball, he needs to give a little more value back to them.
Midfield matchup
Melbourne won the overall clearances 39-37 and the stoppage clearances 29-23. West Coast actually won the centre bounce clearances 14-10, which tells you the Eagles’ on-ballers were competitive at the throw-up. What happened after the ball left the contest is where the game diverged from the clearance count and went its own way.
Tom Sparrow had 24 disposals and 471 metres gained. Tim Kelly had 25 disposals and 447 metres gained. Ed Langdon finished with 29 disposals and 433 metres gained. Caleb Windsor added 22 and 434 before going off. Between those four players alone: 1,785 metres gained. The Eagles’ entire team generated roughly 4,500.
Jack Steele had 26 disposals and the kind of efficient game that doesn’t generate highlights but consistently wins football matches. The Melbourne midfield as a unit was comprehensive.
For West Coast, McCarthy’s 692 metres gained from half-back was the standout number on their side, and not all of them were dump kicks out of the danger zone. Josh Lindsay had 24 disposals and 415 metres gained in solid support. Milan Murdock worked for 25 disposals. When McCarthy went off in Q4 injured, West Coast lost their best ball mover at exactly the moment they needed someone to move the ball.
Ruck Battle
Max Gawn won the hitouts 49-23. Bailey J. Williams worked hard in the ruck for West Coast and contributed 14 disposals and four clearances, which is a decent return in any context. Gawn is just Gawn. Thirty-two years old, still the best in the competition at what he does, and he proved it again on Sunday in the way that men who are still the best at something tend to prove it: without much visible effort and with the result never in doubt.
Gawn also kicked a goal and finished with 21 disposals. The hitout margin fed into the marks count, the inside 50 count, and eventually the scoreboard. Williams gets credit for competing, but Gawn gets the nod, easily.
The Stats that Sting
- Melbourne led for 117 minutes and 20 seconds. West Coast led for 6 minutes and 55 seconds. The Eagles were briefly in front after Harley Reid kicked the first goal, and then Melbourne took the game back and never returned it.
- Hitouts: Melbourne 49, West Coast 23. The hitout advantage is the first domino. It lands before the clearance count, before the possession stats, before any of the other numbers. Gawn dominated this one from the start.
- Centre Clearances: West Coast 14, Melbourne 10. West Coast had the ball when it mattered, but too often they were all at the contest, with no transition or outside players. You’d see four Eagles within arms’ reach of each other, and two Melbourne players corralling them, while other Melbourne mids cut off passing lanes. It’s a bad habit to break, because it comes from everyone wanting to put in the work rather than stay in their lane, and sometimes your role may mean putting in less of the hard stuff, and no one wants to be accused of leaving their mate to fend for themselves.
- Marks: Melbourne 112, West Coast 78. This was a key difference. Melbourne could control the tempo of the play, holding up the ball when they needed to flood forward or enticing West Coast’s defence to stretch and finding gaps when transitioning out of defence.
- Eliot Yeo: He’s the senior leader in the midfield, and put in the effort. Only 20 touches, but 8 tackles, 5 clearances, and 6 inside 50s. He’s just a bit stuck between roles at the minute, and seems to want to get into the contest at times when other mids should be getting the ball and passing to him so he can break away.
Final thoughts
Melbourne are 6-3 and seventh on the ladder with 24 points. The new wildcard system means seventh is not a comfortable position for a team that thinks. The good news is that Melbourne look like a genuine top-eight side when everyone is fit and playing well, as we saw last week.
Jake Lever had 13 marks and 21 disposals from defence, Harrison Petty took 13 marks in the first half alone, Jake Bowey returned and immediately looked like he’d never been away, and van Rooyen is becoming genuinely difficult to prepare for. The Demons’ injury situation needs monitoring, but the overall picture is encouraging.
West Coast are 2-7. They have shown character in losses, have a generational talent developing in Reid, and will point to the injury list as context for the results. All of that is fair, but it probably isn’t going to get better soon, as they have more players playing out of position to cover their outs. The rebuild is real. The results remain very much pending.
Steven King will get his answer on Kozzy Pickett from the MRO this week. He said he’s confident there’s no case to answer. The MRO tends to form its own views on these matters, and the two don’t always align with the coach’s feelings. Or the supporters. Or pretty much anyone but themselves.
Next up
Melbourne host Hawthorn at the MCG on Saturday afternoon in what is about as far from a gimme as the fixture gets at this point of the season. Hawthorn are third on the ladder, six wins from nine games with a draw, and coming off a loss to Freo. These two teams are a great test for each other, as both look to st
This is a top-half contest with genuine ladder implications. Melbourne need the win to push properly into the top six, and Hawthorn will be looking to extend a lead that already has them in finals-certain territory. Van Rooyen versus a backline that has been elite, Gawn versus Reeves and Meek again, King versus Mitchell on the sidelines. There is a lot here. If Melbourne lose this one they stay seventh and start doing nervous mathematics about the teams below them. Hawthorn by 10. But hold the house.
West Coast host GWS Giants at Optus Stadium on Sunday evening. GWS are 4-5 and thirteenth on the ladder, carrying their own injury questions. They had a lucky escape against North and looked a bit fortunate in their win over Essendon. This is a game West Coast need to win. Optus should at least give the Eagles a crowd behind them. It’ll be a real test of whether this is a side that hates losing, or has shifted to 2027 already.
I’m backing them in. West Coast by 9.
