Round 4 – Geelong V Melbourne

Demons Launch Two Comebacks But Third Time Proves Unlucky

Liam Chambers

Dees out of the blocks early but Cats finish term strongly

We’ve played some close games against Geelong in recent years, with Melbourne securing the chocolates in last season’s clash. While both sides have under preformed so far this year, the pressure was well and truly on the Demons to secure their first win of 2025.

It was a good start for Melbourne, when Christian Petracca issued a statement of intent as he curled a 25m snap to opening the scoring.

It took the Cats ten minutes to kick their first goal, and Jeremy Cameron took the honours, after he was awarded a free kick in the square. In a low scoring quarter, Geelong finally got their second when Patrick Dangerfield marked in the pocket and converted from 45m out.

With only a minute left to play, Dangerfield was once again involved in getting the ball up the ground. As the sherrin flew inside 50, late inclusion Rhys Stanley leapt up to take the mark, then scored from the set shot.

Demons struggle but remain competitive with mid quarter resurgence

Despite being evenly matched for the majority of the first term, the two late goals from Geelong, gave the hosts a fifteen point advantage at the start of second quarter.

Both sides had scoring opportunities in the first five minutes, but were unable to land the coup de grace, until veteran Patrick Dangerfield scooped up the ground ball and swivelled quickly to snap the ball over the heads of Harrison Petty and Shannon Neale; who were fighting it out on the goal line.

After the goal, the Demons were on the back foot as Geelong sought to press their advantage. Eventually it paid off when Jack Bowes’ banana kick from the pocket found the space between the posts, stretching the lead out to a worryingly twenty nine point margin in favour of the Cats.

At this stage, Melbourne fans would have been bracing themselves for yet another big loss. Christian Petracca had other ideas however, and when he marked a Bailey Fritsch kick in the left pocket, he made sure of the 45m set shot to claim his second goal, giving the true believers a much needed boost.

Jacob van Rooyen has yet to score multiple goals in a single game this season, but his set shot from just inside the arc drew his side closer to the Cats. It was almost back to back for the young ruck/forward but he just couldn’t hold to the chest mark in the goal square.

Then, down the other end, Sam DeKoning snapped in front of goal to claw one back for Geelong. Less than a minute later, Harvey Langford redressed the balance for the Demons with his impressive pickup and follow on kick from 40m.

Melbourne had a few more chances to score but were unable to capitalise, and the margin remained at fifteen points when half time siren sounded.

Melbourne fail to make the most of their opportunities

The Dees urgently needed to recapture the attacking frenzy that paid dividends in the latter half of the previous quarter, and also to prevent Geelong from taking control again.

Nothing seemed to be going Melbourne’s way for the first ten minutes, then an awkward kick by Bailey Fritsch from the wing to the centre of the ground bounced fortuitously for Jack Viney. The unorthodox tactic caught the Cats off guard, as did Kozzie Pickett’s brilliant kick to Daniel Turner, which was marked directly in front. Disco didn’t falter with his 20m set shot and now it was a ten point game.

The Dees looked in the ascendancy after Turner’s goal, but a series of mishaps let Geelong off the hook, and eventually an opportunity presented itself inside 50. Jack Bowes took advantage to of the situation to snap a goal from the pocket. Then Dangerfield marked 40m out and put the Cats ahead by twenty three points, claiming his hat trick in the process.

Just when it looked like Geelong had all the momentum, Pickett took an exceptional semi contested mark in the middle of the ground, and his kick to inside 50 eventually found its way to Ed Langdon. The midfielder ran on and snapped from the pocket, reeling the margin back in to seventeen points.

There were further chances for both teams, but a series of minor scores meant the margin was still a manageable sixteen points at three quarter time.

Geelong accelerate to the finish line

Final quarters haven’t been kind to Melbourne in recent times, but when Bailey Fritsch took an impressive contested mark in the third minute of play, it felt like it could be the launching pad for another exciting comeback. Unfortunately the set shot proved disappointing.

Five minutes later Shannon Neale made sure of his own set shot, and hopes of a Demon victory started to fade. Soon afterwards, a 20m snap from Shaun Mannagh put a potential win further out of reach for the visitors.

With just over seven minutes remaining, Tyson Stengle sealed the deal for Geelong with his 35m set shot from the pocket. Stengel got another chance when he marked to the left of the goal square. Then, to make sure he didn’t miss, the Umpire awarded him a 50m penalty.

There’s no way of sugar coating Melbourne’s performance. It was our lowest score since Round 16 of the 2023 season. It’s also our worst start to a season in thirteen years. Unless we turn things around quickly, we will struggle to make the finals again this year.

On the positive side we did play well for periods in the first three terms, but our inefficiency in front of goal is deeply concerning.

Having said that, each new game is an opportunity to redeem ourselves. We face Essendon in the Gather Round, so let’s get the job done in Adelaide.

Go the Mighty Dees!!!