MELBOURNE has suffered a 45-point defeat at the hands of Hawthorn in the Sunday twilight match at the MCG.
The Demons at one stage led the Hawks by 27 points in the second quarter but a 13-goals-to-four second half put paid to any hopes of Melbourne registering its first win of the season.
The match changed in the third quarter when the Hawks kicked 8.11 while keeping Melbourne to one goal. The Demons had no answer as Hawthorn piled on attack after attack from all angles of the field.
The stats suggest that Hawthorn should have won by a lot more. They had 72 more kicks, 71 more handballs, 43 more marks and 10 more clearances.
The Demons doubled the Hawks' hit-outs and were by far the more accurate team. For a period in the second quarter they scored with every foray forward, rattling on five unanswered goals.
But in the end the scoring shots told the tale. The final score was 16.26 (122) to 12.5 (77).
Hawthorn was well-served by its stars, with Cyril Rioli, Lance Franklin, Sam Mitchell and Shaun Burgoyne enjoying themselves. But it was lesser lights such as Matt Suckling and Liam Shiels who would have given the Hawthorn camp the most pleasure.
Suckling was creative off half-back, his two goals a reward for his hard running and ability to kick long. Shiels' specialty was getting to the fall of the ball.
Coaches' comments
Alastair Clarkson: "We addressed a couple of things at half-time, but most of it was just for the lads to persevere and try to get reward for the structure. We were at least able to get enough goals in the third quarter to get reward for all the effort that we put in."
Dean Bailey: "I didn't see the third quarter coming because we still had a fair bit to play for and we were unable to stop their momentum and just couldn't get our hands on the ball. They made very few mistakes and we contributed to the turnovers that they scored from and they used the ball well, created more opportunities....and we hardly got our hands on the footy."
Influential players
Half-back Luke Tapscott deserves a mention for his excellent first half. He stood in the way of attacks, set up play with precise kicking, crunched bodies when he could. He was less noticeable after half-time but he had plenty of mates.
What it means
The Demons are still at the same stage they were before the game: a young team that is going to face hurdles as it develops.
Key match-up
Garland v Franklin
Franklin's two goals in such an authoritative win suggests Garland did well, but there were still times when Franklin was the most dangerous player on the ground. Franklin presented well up the field. He also ignited the Hawks with his third-quarter goal from the boundary. Garland did a few steadying things but was mostly unobtrusive.
Turning point
Ex-Demon Cameron Bruce's goal at the two-minute mark of the third quarter was significant because it was his first goal against his old club. No one thought it would start an avalanche. The Hawks went on to score eight more goals for the quarter and 13 for the half.
New faces
The new face to catch the eye was Tapscott, who missed last year — his first year at the club — through injury. Tapscott is sculpted from granite, so you immediately think 'mindless pack-splitter', but he can also kick superbly.
Hawthorn 2.8 3.13 11.24 16.26 (122)
Melbourne 3.1 8.2 9.3 12.5 (77)
GOALS
Hawthorn: Burgoyne 4, Roughead 2, Franklin 2, Suckling 2 Bateman, Bruce, Rioli, Ladson, Shiels, Osborne
Melbourne: Dunn 2, Green 2, Jurrah 2, Jamar, Trengove, Bennell, Petterd, Davey, Watts
BEST
Hawthorn: Rioli, Suckling, Burgoyne, Shiels, Young, Gilham
Melbourne: Tapscott, Sylvia, Jamar, Grimes, Bail, Garland
INJURIES
Hawthorn: Rioli (laceration to calf), Renouf (concussion)
Melbourne: Garland (knee)
SUBSTITUTES
Hawthorn: Brent Renouf (concussion) replaced by Jordan Lewis in the third term
Melbourne: Neville Jetta replaced by Addam Maric in the third term
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Donlon, Stewart, Chamberlain
Official crowd: 49,905 at MCG
The views in this story are those of the author and not ncessarily those of the clubs or the AFL
