Round 20 – Dees v Tigers

by Liam Chambers

Melbourne were not expected to win. In fact all the smart money was on a Richmond side that hadn’t lost in five games. A side who were now becoming firm favourites to win their second Grand Final in three years.

It wasn’t a question of would the Tigers win but by how big a big a margin.

It was immensely gratifying then to see the Dees play so well and keep the Tigers on a tight rein.

Unfortunately the heavens opened in the third quarter and gave Richmond the advantage. Melbourne doesn’t perform at their best in a downpour; whereas the Tigers, like their namesakes, are in their element.

Still the Melbourne stats were impressive. Keeping up with Richmond in nearly all aspects except inside 50s and marks taken in that area. That’s where the Tigers really dominated more than doubling the Dees’ effort. Of course it was always going to be a struggle when faced with that reality.

Jordan Lewis is relishing his new found fame as a born again goal scorer. He opened the ledger for the Dees, with Cory Wagner doubling the tally a minute later. Bayley Fritsch, who seems determined to try for at least a hat trick in each game now, rounded out Melbourne’s three goals for the quarter.

Kyle Dunkley got the Dees off to a good start with an early goal in Q2. However Richmond hit back with three strikes before Bayley Fritsch and Angus Brayshaw stemmed the flow to reduce the margin to three points at half time.
As the rain came down at the start of the second half, Jordon Lewis, almost at ground level, managed to kick the ball over his head and into the Tigers goal. Lionel Messi would have been proud. Unfortunately that stupendous feat was the last Melbourne goal of the term.

Richmond’s stars lined up to kick their five goals for the quarter while the Dees struggled to hold onto the sherrin in the wet conditions.

We’ve mentioned the woeful final quarter record of Melbourne this season on more than one occasion in recent weeks. However it would have taken a Herculean effort for the Dees to claw their way back into contention when they were twenty nine points in arrears at the start of Q4.

Bayley Fritsch did his best to narrow the margin with his third goal for the day and Melbourne managed to keep Richmond at bay in the first half of the quarter. Then AFL’s most illustrated man Dusty Martin slotted one in from outside fifty to kill off any thoughts of a Demon fightback.

Kyle Dunkley got his second to keep the score looking more respectable but sadly for Melbourne fans, the Dees recorded their fourth loss in a row.

We’re back at the MCG on Saturday to face the old enemy Collingwood. The Pies, despite their run of bad form lately, look like they’ve done enough to secured a finals berth with their twelve wins for the season so far. They are a long shot to make it into the top four though; it will be interesting to see how hard they come out against Melbourne. Collingwood then have two important games against possible fellow finalists in Adelaide and Essendon. Should we beat them at the weekend, there will still be a lot of nervous Pie fans.

Come on Melbourne; just because our season is over doesn’t mean we can’t give the Collingwood faithful a few sleepless nights!

Go the Magnificent Dees!!!

MELBOURNE 3.1 6.2 7.4 9.6 (60)
RICHMOND 3.2 6.5 11.9 13.15 (93)

GOALS
Melbourne: Fritsch 3, Lewis 2, Dunkley 2, Wagner, Brayshaw
Richmond: Lynch 3, Graham 2, Castagna, Chol, Caddy, Lambert, Soldo, Rioli, Martin, Bolton

BEST
Melbourne: Gawn, Fritsch, Oliver, Jones
Richmond: Martin, Houli, Edwards, Prestia, Vlastuin, Lynch