Melbourne
44
Match Complete
Geelong Cats
47
| Fourth Quarter | ||||
| A. Tomlinson |  | 23:24 | ||
| A. Brayshaw |  | 20:31 | ||
| T. McDonald | | 15:12 | ||
| 11:42 | | T. Hawkins | ||
| 6:53 | | T. Hawkins | ||
| J. Hunt | | 4:03 | ||
| J. Melksham | | 2:47 | ||
| J. Melksham | | 1:23 | ||
| 3.5 (23) | Third Quarter [+] | 6.4 (40) | ||
| 22:23 | | C. Guthrie | ||
| 21:07 | | T. Hawkins | ||
| C. Petracca | | 18:49 | ||
| C. Petracca | | 15:40 | ||
| 13:52 | | B. Parfitt | ||
| M. Hannan | | 12:28 | ||
| 11:18 | | Rushed | ||
| 6:00 | | P. Dangerfield | ||
| 3:07 | | E. Ratugolea | ||
| 2.3 (15) | Second Quarter [+] | 2.2 (14) | ||
| A. Brayshaw | | 18:44 | ||
| B. Fritsch | | 18:08 | ||
| Rushed | | 15:02 | ||
| B. Fritsch | | 3:10 | ||
| 1:48 | | T. Hawkins | ||
| 0.1 (1) | First Quarter [+] | 2.1 (13) | ||
| 20:42 | | M. Duncan | ||
| K. Pickett | | 18:23 | ||
| 7:12 | | E. Ratugolea | ||
| 3:50 | | D. Fort | ||
The Melbourne Demons return to action following an unscheduled bye, and they’ll be up against the Geelong Cats at the MCG. Join The Roar for live scores from 3:35pm (AEST).
The Demons held on in the second half against Carlton, escaping Marvel Stadium with a one-point win before being forced to take last week off following Essendon’s COVID scare. It’s been a stop-start quest for redemption for Melbourne, with their 2020 form harder to read than most.
Geelong have also been plagued by inconsistency. A week after blowing Hawthorn off the park and looking like last year’s minor premiers again, they fell into a deep hole against lowly Carlton before a furious fourth-quarter fightback fell short.
Melbourne have a shocking recent record against the Cats, losing 15 of the last 17 meetings by an average of 62 points. Geelong crushed Melbourne by 80 points in their only 2019 meeting, avenging their elimination final defeat from the year before. The Dees haven’t won consecutive matches since that finals series.
Game information
Opening bounce: 3:35pm (AEST)
Venue: MCG
TV: Fox Sports, Seven (except QLD, SA)
Live stream: Kayo Sports, Foxtel, AFL Live
Teams
Melbourne
B: T.Rivers, S.May, C.Salem
HB: J.Smith, J.Lever, J.Harmes
C: E.Langdon, C.Oliver, A.Tomlinson
HF: M.Hannan, J.Melksham, A.vandenBerg
F: B.Fritsch, J.Hunt, T.McDonald
Foll: M.Gawn, C.Petracca, J.Viney
Bench (four to be omitted): N.Jones, L.Jackson, A.Brayshaw, M.Hibberd, A.Neal-Bullen, N.Jetta, K.Pickett, J.Lockhart
Geelong
B: J.Kolodjashnij, M.Blicavs, J.Henry
HB: M.O’Connor, T.Stewart, J.Bews
C: S.Menegola, P.Dangerfield, J.Selwood
HF: T.Atkins, G.Rohan, M.Duncan
F: E.Ratugolea, T.Hawkins, G.Miers
Foll: D.Fort, G.Ablett, C.Guthrie
Bench (four to be omitted): Z.Tuohy, L.Henderson, Q.Narkle, J.Parsons, B.Parfitt, J.Steven, J.Clark, L.Dahlhaus
PeteB
Roar Rookie
Scoring has been on the decline for a number of years now and accentuated so far this year. Scores above 100 points is becoming rare and even 80 points is now an above average score. This year it’s becoming a regular occurrence for 60 points or less to be a winning score. The game will struggle to grow if this long term trend is not adequately addressed.
Peter the Scribe
Roar Guru
Agreed Pete. Footy is being slowly strangled to death.
Peter the Scribe
Roar Guru
They just transition run back and forth and create stoppages and pressure on any disposals. Coaches won’t change. Their job is to win premierships at any cost. Make it hard on the coaches. Create space with less bodies. Leigh Matthews is arguably the greatest ever and he is pushing for reduced numbers. Would help with salary cap spend too though AFLPA won’t like it.
sven
Roar Rookie
this season cant be considered normal & should not be used as a reason for radical changes, if this trend continues next season (hopefully a normal season) then maybe it gets looked at in my opinion
PeteB
Roar Rookie
Yeah there’s a number of causes and there may be a number of changes needed to solve the issue. We just can’t accept scores of 60 points or less frequently being a winning score.
sven
Roar Rookie
funny the game used to often open up late in the 1/4's when we had 20 min 1/4's ....
sven
Roar Rookie
not certain this wont create another problem like the game then being dominated by outside runner types & it will just be a game of keepings off once a side gains possession .... maybe dont pay a mark for kicks going backwards in the back 1/2, maybe sides will get more daring in their ball movement, reckon the slow, careful ball movement some sides love allows teams time to drop numbers back, causing congestion
PeteB
Roar Rookie
Agree Pete. The game was designed for amateurs who didn’t have this crazy level of fitness. The ability of today’s players to continually run up and down the field and create congestion has negatively impacted the flow of the game. Add to this the four man interchange bench and the problem has been compounded. The AFL need to cut the number of players onfield to 15 or 16.
Yattuzzi
Roar Rookie
The coaches are competing on how miserly they can be. Buckley started it. Boring.
DarwinDee
Guest
Absolutely pathetic Melbourne. Goodwin needs to be shown the door this team hasn't improved in any way shape or form in 4 years.
Dean
Guest
Should bring in the rule that it's a free kick against if you kick back into the defensive 50. Will open up the game and encourage attacking football. Geelong lucky to get away with the four points. Have never understood kicking the ball back 50 metres when the game is tight.
XI
Roar Guru
Not sure either squad will be happy with that. Pretty mediocre performance all around
PeteB
Roar Rookie
Only caught the last couple of minutes but the score line is an indictment on what must have been a poor quality game. The AFL has a massive problem here that needs to be urgently addressed. The level of congestion on field and the overly defensive coaching in most games has simply made it an unattractive game to watch.
Yattuzzi
Roar Rookie
Coach induced implosion. Turned the most exciting team into the most boring.
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
Ooof, that got unexpectedly tight.
Cracka
Roar Rookie
Very low scoring game, but worth a watch.
23
6x6 perkele
Roar Rookie
An exciting two minutes doesn't make up for rest of game
20
Brad
Guest
Geelong look a little nervous after last week