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Melbourne
75
Match Complete
Geelong Cats
46
| Fourth Quarter | ||||
| A. Neal-Bullen |  | 28:58 | ||
| 25:30 | | M. Duncan | ||
| 23:54 | | J. Murdoch | ||
| Rushed |  | 22:32 | ||
| S. Weideman | | 20:52 | ||
| J. Harmes | | 18:33 | ||
| 16:04 | | T. Kelly | ||
| M. Hannan | | 14:18 | ||
| 4:46 | | Z. Tuohy | ||
| 3:49 | | Rushed | ||
| N. Jones | | 0:50 | ||
| 6.13 (49) | Third Quarter | 3.8 (26) | ||
| 5.9 (39) | Second Quarter | 2.4 (16) | ||
| 5.3 (33) | First Quarter | 0.2 (2) | ||
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The Melbourne Demons and the Geelong Cats are set to face off in another enthralling battle this Friday night at the MCG, in an elimination final for the ages. Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match, starting at 7:50pm (AEST).
This is it. Melbourne has finally made the finals and have drawn a potential short straw, coming up against their bogey team in this do-or-die clash.
Melbourne has lost both its games against Geelong this season by less than a goal, failing to capitalise against an experienced team from a winning position.
While this shouldn’t have any sort of influence on Friday night, Melbourne’s demons may come back to haunt them.
Geelong, of course, aren’t the powerhouse they used to be and are in a vulnerable state against strong teams.
They head into this match with Ryan Abbott as their main ruckman, who will need to produce an almighty effort just to break even with Max Gawn.
The two demolitions to cement their spot in the finals will seduce those who haven’t followed Geelong’s trajectory this season, with the graph staying steady at best.
Melbourne has been built up incredibly strongly by the media over the past fortnight, with most outlets comparing the Demons’ narrative to that of Richmond’s in 2017.
Many believe that simply making finals for the first time since 2006 was the jolt to the system the club needed, and that they can cause some serious damage now.
Despite Melbourne’s impressive final two matches of the season, this is far from a convincing team. Too many times during the season were AFL followers left with more questions than answers coming out of Melbourne games, regardless of the result. This, however, is what makes this first elimination final so intriguing.
At their best, both the Demons and the Cats can produce something extraordinary this September. We can’t fall for the media’s hype, however.
Nothing in 2018 suggests either team is ready to produce top quality footy across four quarters, let alone four matches.
This could well be the most exciting final in this first week, but both teams will come out of it battered and bruised.
Ultimately, it comes down to which team is more reliable and can cause more damage to the opposition going forward.
Max Gawn has a golden opportunity to dominate and win a final for Melbourne, while the Geelong midfield will be ready to continue its strong work in scoring from clearances.
When push comes to shove, it will be the finals experience of Geelong that sneaks them over the line for the third time this season against Melbourne, who will be better off for this first taste of finals.
Prediction: Geelong by 8
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