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The Melbourne Demons have made a massive comeback to take a two-point victory over the Giants in a hard-fought match right up until the final siren.
REPORT: DEMONS COME BACK TO BEAT GWS
The Demons started strong to edge holding a 30-22 lead at the end of the first quarter before the Giants dominated the match over the next two quarters with Melbourne only kicking one goal through Dean Kent in under an hour of play to trail by 19 going into the final term.
Melbourne came racing out of the blocks with Jack Watts getting the Demons on the board early before Jesse Hogan kicked two goals in a row and Jeff Garlett following to put the home side in front.
Stevie J helped to put the Giants back in the lead in his first game for GWS before Jesse Hogan and Aaron Vandenberg stretched Melbourne’s lead to ten points with just minutes remaining.
The Giants tried right up until the final siren with Toby Greene putting GWS within two with just 9 seconds left in play.
In the end, kick efficiency let down the Giants with just 63% when compared to the Demons 71%. Melbourne have begun their 2016 campaign on a high and will be looking to go 2-0 next week when they take on the Bombers while GWS will host Geelong in Canberra.
Final score
Melbourne Demons 12.8 80
GWS Giants 10.18 78
The Melbourne Demons and GWS Giants will kick off their respective 2016 campaigns when they meet at the MCG in the second game of the season. Join The Roar from 1:40pm (AEDT) for live coverage.
Both teams will be aiming high in 2016 with the chance to begin the season undefeated the perfect springboard into a successful year.
Melbourne seem to have the upper hand early on with their midfield led by Bernie Vince, Nathan Jones and Jack Viney when coming up against a weakened side without Cam McCarthy and Jeremy Cameron, with James Stewart and Rory Lobb to take on a big roles and under serious pressure to perform.
However, GWS have some rising stars on their hands with Callan Ward, Devon Smith and Dylan Shiel all tipped to fire while Ryan Griffen and Heath Shaw will use their experience alongside Stevie J who will make his debut for the expansion club off the interchange, to lead the side and help the baby Giants to continue to grow as they blossom into mature AFL footballers.
Jesse Hogan will face a big challenge with the 21-year old Western Australian having been ridiculed for his poor set-shot kicking in the Demons’ final NAB Challenge clash against St Kilda.
Expect the Claremont junior to bounce back from his errant performance and deliver for Melbourne.
The Demons and Giants have met eight times since Greater Western Sydney were welcomed into the competition back in 2012.
Of those eight matches, both sides have won four each with the Giants having won four of the last five.
In 2015, the two clubs played each other twice with GWS coming out on top 15.11 (101) – 8.8 (56) in round two before again taking on the Dees in round 23 and losing 15.13 (103) – 11.11 (77) in front of the lowest ever AFL crowd at Etihad Stadium.
Prediction
The Demons will storm home and grab an early round one win.
Melbourne by 18.
Join The Roar from 1:40pm (AEDT) for live score updates and debate in our live blog.
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