Roar Guru
The Geelong Cats have won a thriller by three points after a see-sawing affair at the MCG on Sunday ended with a missed shot by the Melbourne Demons in the last minute.
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Final score
Melbourne Demons 13.16 (94)
Geelong Cats 14.13 (97)
The opening round sees the Melbourne Demons host the Geelong Cats at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match, starting from 3:20pm AEDT on Sunday.
The drawcard of Gary Ablett junior’s return in the blue and white hoops, the absence of Patrick Dangerfield, Joel Selwood’s 250th, the debut of Jake Lever, and the hopes and promise of the Melbourne Demons’ new campaign are the major talking points for the first match.
The Demons will have a lot to prove after a failed 2017 season, embarrassingly missing the finals by percentage.
But a decent showing in the JLT series from the Dees shows they may be over their mental barriers with a big win over North Melbourne and a solid result against St Kilda.
The arrival of key defender Jake Lever was seen as controversial for the former Adelaide Crow, but it will ultimately lift the Demons who have another level to reach.
Melbourne will also blood debutant Bayley Fritsch, while there’s depth on the emergencies list at the club now with Angus Brayshaw, Dom Tyson, Sam Frost, Tomas Bugg all missing out on selection.
Key swingman Tom McDonald will also be a notable absentee for the first match, alongside co-captain Jack Viney who has been ruled out for two months.
The Cats on the other hand, have had an indifferent pre-season belted by Gold Coast, and losing a nailbiter to Essendon.
The loss of Dangerfield will hurt the Cats, but the second coming from the son of God could return anything for the 33-year-old.
Ablett looks to have overcome any doubts about his hamstring issues, while Geelong have given new opportunities to young forward Esava Ratugolea, mature-age recruit Tim Kelly, and the highly touted Lachie Fogarty.
Captain Joel Selwood will celebrate a great career-to-date being one of the fastest players to reach the 250 game milestone.
Nakia Cockatoo (calf), Stewart Crameri (hip), Lachie Henderson (knee) and Scott Selwood (ankle) will all miss this match, with the magoos to get a boost at the expense of seniors.
The match will be red hot from the get-go as the Cats have won 12 of the past 13 encounters, proving the handball-happy Melbourne will need to overcome their past hoodoo against the boys from Kardinia Park.
Prediction
Although the preseason form may say otherwise, the saeson proper is completely different. Ablett’s inclusion will lift the team to another level, eight years after he left.
Cats by 6 points.
Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match, starting from 3:20pm AEDT Sunday.