Kysaiah Pickett and his Dees teammates dominated the Dogs in a one-sided affair at the MCG in round one.
(Photo: AFL Facebook)
Melbourne has begun its 2023 campaign in the best possible fashion after a 17.13 (115) to 9.11 (65) win over the Western Bulldogs. Kysaiah Pickett was the star of the show with four goals and 19 disposals, while the Brodie Grundy and Max Gawn combination did enough to send warning signs to the rest of the competition.
The Demons were far from full-strength, missing Steven May, Bayley Fritsch, Christian Salem, and Jack Viney through injury. This enabled Brodie Grundy and Lachie Hunter to make their club debuts, while youngsters, Judd McVee and Bailey Laurie were selected for their first AFL game. Jake Melksham was named as the tactical sub.
For the Bulldogs, Rory Lobb and Oskar Baker were called upon for their first game in red, white and blue, as Toby McLean started with the training top on in his first round one game at senior level since 2019.
48,103 attended the 3000th VFL/AFL match at the MCG, a match which had limited momentum to begin with. Both teams turned the ball over a combined 42 times in the opening quarter as Melbourne managed to sneak in front to hold a five-point lead at the first break.
Marcus Bontempelli was dominant to begin with for the Dogs with 10 disposals and a goal, while Pickett got into the action with ease, kicking a goal of his own to go with seven touches and four score involvements.
Out of the huddle, the Dogs surged in front, kicking back-to-back goals to lead by as much as 11 points. However, inaccurate kicking and missed opportunities prevented them from extending that margin further.
Throughout that passage, Pickett was reported for high contact on Bailey Smith after a late bump.
An inability to capitalise on their chances came back to haunt the Western Bulldogs after the Dees kicked five unanswered goals to end the half, eventually boasting a 19-point lead at the main break. Christian Petracca was an integral part in that period as Melbourne had the last six clearances of the half. The 2021 Norm Smith Medallist went into the rooms with a game-high 18 touches.
Grundy and Gawn provided headaches for Luke Beveridge, as Grundy was dominant in the centre bounces, while Gawn was able to impact the scoreboard.
Bulldogs recruit Liam Jones was subbed off at half-time after being sent to hospital for a precautionary neck injury.
Liam Jones leaves the ground assisted by Bulldogs trainers.
(Photo: AFL Facebook)
In what seemed to be a contentious third quarter for the most part, Melbourne’s weekly contributors helped to go into the final change 28 points ahead. Pickett did what he did best as he doubled his goal tally in the term, while Gawn, Petracca and Jake Lever went about business as usual.
Melbourne kept the foot on the accelerator in the last quarter, kicking four goals to one en route to a 50-point victory.
Meanwhile from a team perspective, the Demons dominated centre clearances through Petracca and Oliver who cleared the ball from the centre more (nine times) than what the Bulldogs did combined (eight). Oliver finished with an equal game-high 33 disposals while Petracca had 30 of his own.
Dees skipper, Max Gawn was also prolific kicking two first-half goals to go with his 21 disposals and six marks. Ben Brown also had a good day at the office kicking four majors.
For the visitors, Jack Macrae had 33 and kicked a goal, as Adam Treloar and Tom Liberatore both found the ball 32 times.
The Bulldogs will try and avoid the dreadful 0-2 start when they host St Kilda at Marvel Stadium on Saturday night. For the victorious, they fly up to Queensland to play Brisbane at the GABBA on Friday night in what will be an entertaining contest.
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