AFL Sunday: Melbourne to play finals for first time in 12 years after Eagles win
West Coast’s bid to land a top-two berth faces a nervy test after they suffered a 17-point AFL loss to Melbourne at Optus Stadium on Sunday. Eagles forward Jack Darling lasted just 10 minutes before being forced out of the game with concussion, and the Demons capitalised to post the 16.12 (108) to 14.7 (91) win in warm conditions.
Melbourne’s 13th win of the season secured their spot in the finals, ending the club’s 12-year drought.
West Coast would have locked up a top-two berth with victory, and they now need to beat Brisbane at the Gabba next Sunday in order to secure two home finals. If they lose to Brisbane, they could drop as low as fourth.
West Coast led by a point when Mark LeCras kicked truly at the 19minute mark of the final term. But the Demons booted the last three goals of the match to steal the win.
Jake Melksham booted four goals, while Tom McDonald and Mitch Hannan kicked three goals each. Willie Rioli booted three goals for the Eagles, but West Coast lacked a good target in attack once Darling went down.
Melbourne entered the match with the unenviable record of being 0-7 against the competition’s top-nine sides this season. The week of criticism seemed to fire up the Demons, who booted the first four goals of the match to race out to a 26-0 lead.
Demons ruckman Max Gawn played an influential role in the early onslaught, and it was 175cm Eagles goalsneak Rioli who helped lead the fightback. Rioli booted a goal and helped set up two others to close the margin to 10 points by quarter time.
West Coast swung Jeremy McGovern forward in the second term to cover the loss of Darling, but the Eagles failed to make a dent in the margin.
The third-quarter became a topsyturvy shootout, with the Demons opening up a 27-point lead, before West Coast booted four straight goals to close the margin back to two points. The home crowd went crazy when LeCras put the Eagles in front in the final term, but Melksham’s three last-quarter goals were enough to get his side over the line.
Earlier, the Western Bulldogs outscrapped Carlton, pulling clear in the last quarter for a 17-point AFL win. After nine lead changes, the Bulldogs kicked four goals to two in the last quarter and finally put away the bottom side 10.6 (66) to 7.7 (49) on Sunday at Etihad Stadium.
Only 11 goals were scored in the opening three quarters, despite the closed roof.
The Bulldogs’ surge in the last quarter was punctuated by a controversial 50m penalty involving their star midfielder Marcus Bontempelli. As Lin Jong lined up for a shot at goal, Carlton defender Jed Lamb appeared to retaliate against Bontempelli and hit him in the back. That cost the Blues the 50m penalty and Jong kicked the goal as several players wrestled.
The win means the Bulldogs improved one spot to 13th.
Bontempelli and Jack Macrae had big last quarters to help seal the win for the Bulldogs, while veteran defender Kade Simpson starred for the Blues. Bontempelli had 11 disposals in the last quarter to finish with a game-high 37.
At three-quarter time the Blues had eight more inside 50s and 15 more clearances, but had butchered the ball too often and only led by four points.
Carlton’s Paddy Dow kicked the opening goal of the last quarter from a dubious free kick, but the Bulldogs kicked the next four to seal the win.
Teammates mobbed Blues debutant Tom De Koning when he kicked his first AFL goal in the second term.