Fright night for champs
IN the big prize fights, you have to knockockout the champ to win the belt.
The Gold Coast threw everything at Melbourne Metricon Stadium on Saturday night the peerless Christian Petracca and freakishly talented Luke Jackson kept the Demons on their feet and packed plenty of punches of their own to win 12.10 (82) to 10.9 (69).
The Suns gave plenty of cheek and were genuinely competitive for much of the night but Melbourne was just too classy, too composed and too clinical when it mattered most.
And it was the brilliant and powerful Petracca to the fore. He finished with a career-high 41 disposals, 17 contested possessions, 14 inside 50s and six clearances.
His inside 50 count fell just two short of the AFL record of 16. He also had 737m gained with the football.