Round 1, 2018
Melbourne vs Geelong
Sunday 25 March
Venue: MCG
Attendance: 54,112
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Melbourne | 6.1 | 8.5 | 12.9 | 13.16.94 |
| Geelong | 5.3 | 12.8 | 13.10 | 14.13.97 |
Geelong win by 3 points
Goalkickers: Jesse Hogan 3, Alex Neal-Bullen 2, Cameron Pedersen 2, Bayley Fritsch 1, Max Gawn 1, Mitch Hannan 1, Jeff Garlett 1, Clayton Oliver 1, Christian Petracca 1
Milestones:
First game and first goal
Bayley Fritsch
First MFC game
Jake Lever
Last game
Corey Maynard
Brownlow votes
1 - Christian Petracca
Melbourne opened their season with a heartbreaking loss, with Max Gawn marking 20 metres out almost directly in front with less than a minute to go but missing. After an even first quarter where they dominated play but leaked goals easily, Melbourne had to fight back from a near 30 point deficit at half time.
They kicked a string of points late in the game, culminating in Gawn's miss. At the siren the ball was in the hands of Jayden Hunt more than 70 metres out on the boundary. His torpedo kick fell short and Geelong won.
Lists
After the siren