Round 15, 1998
Western Bulldogs vs Melbourne
Saturday 4 July
Venue: Princes Park
Attendance: 20,782
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Western Bulldogs | 2.2 | 3.3 | 6.5 | 12.11.83 |
| Melbourne | 3.1 | 5.2 | 7.6 | 9.11.65 |
Western Bulldogs win by 18 points
Goalkickers: Mark Bradly 2, Anthony McDonald 2, Garry Lyon 1, Russell Robertson 1, Marcus Seecamp 1, Todd Viney 1, Jeff White 1
Brownlow Votes:
1 - Jeff White
Best and Fairest
35 - Andrew Leoncelli
31 - Jeff White
28 - Stephen Tingay
19 - Marcus Seecamp
14 - Todd Viney
Milestones:
Last Game
Mark Bradly
Coming off one of their great modern victories Melbourne welcomed back Jeff Farmer and Jamie Shanahan from suspension amongst four changes.
The Demons finished the day back in the losers circle, but it was still a vast improvement on either of their two previous Victorian starts. They were brave in their loss, but the net result was that they went home without the points against a side who rose to the top of the ladder with their win.
Garry Lyon kicked his 400th league goal but the forward line generally lacked the firepower to put the Dogs away. Melbourne had controlled the match in spite of their inability to put the match away.
Having kicked just six goals in the first three quarters, the Dogs ran riot in the last and doubled their total. With the Demons carrying Brent Grgic, Anthony Ingerson (hamstrings) and Anthony McDonald with hamstring injuries the Demons had stopped to a crawl.
Despite this with 2.20 left the Demons had cut the margin back to two points. They had booted the last two goals against the run of play through Marcus Seecamp and Anthony McDonald. They went forward again from the centre bounce and a Guy Rigoni kick carried inside 50 where Garry Lyon was wrestling with Steve Kretiuk. The ball carried over both of them and hit the post.
The Dogs then went on to kick three goals in the last minute and a half, and the game was won more comfortably on the scoreboard than it had been in real life.
Tingay, Leoncelli and White were best.
Reserves
Western Bulldogs 15.15.105 d. Melbourne 16.8.104
Best - Walsh, Longmuir, Bishop
Goals - Newton 4, Williams 3, Beams 2, Smoker 2, Nicholson 2, Longmuir 1, Bishop 1, Nettlebeck 1
Media
Sun Herald - 05/07/1998
Football Record R16 1998