Round 11, 1997
Melbourne vs Adelaide
Sunday 8 June
Venue: MCG
Attendance: 27,463
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Melbourne | 1.1 | 2.8 | 4.9 | 5.15.45 |
| Adelaide | 6.4 | 8.6 | 11.11 | 14.13.97 |
Adelaide win by 52 points
Goalkickers: David Schwarz 2, Craig Nettelbeck 1, Robert Pyman 1, Todd Viney 1
Brownlow votes:
2 - Shane Woewodin
Milestones:
Nil
After the elation of a surprise, first up win for stand-in coach Greg Hutchison a week earlier he was brought back to earth as the Demons went back to being low scoring easybeats. One of the few positives was a successful return from a third knee injury by David Schwarz, who survived the game unscathed and had two kicks for two goals. He entered the game to a heroes' reception in the second quarter, and was taken off during the final term.
Before the match, Joseph Gutnick told the first President's lunch that he hosted about his ambition for Melbourne to be "Number one again", but his was a long way off, never recovering from going into quarter time 33 points down. Crows coach Malcolm Blight described the dull game as "not a free-flowing blockbuster". After leading the side to victory in his first game, stand-in coach Greg Hutchison said "the boys were genuinely flat". They were competitive after the first quarter, but the damage had already been done.
Best for Melbourne were Jim Stynes, Adem Yze and Steven Febey.
Reserves
Sydney 22.12.144 d. Melbourne 7.8.50
Goals - Bradly 2, Robertson 2, Grgic 1, Gardiner 1, David Cockatoo-Collins 1
Best - McHardy, Winterton, Goodale
Media
Age - 08/06/1997, 09/06/1997
Football Record - R12 1997