Round 16, 1993
Melbourne vs Hawthorn
Saturday 17 July
Venue: MCG
Attendance: 44,303
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Melbourne | 2.4 | 7.8 | 9.11 | 12.18.90 |
| Hawthorn | 5.1 | 8.3 | 13.9 | 16.10.106 |
Hawthorn win by 16 points
Goalkickers: Rod Grinter 2, Steven Stretch 2, Darren Cuthbertson 1, Matthew Febey 1, Darren Kowal 1, Garry Lyon 1, David Neitz 1, Jason Norrish 1, Peter Rohde 1, Jim Stynes 1
Brownlow votes:
1 - Stephen Tingay
Milestones:
First goal
Jason Norrish (3rd game)
After finding 22 goals with a makeshift forward line to |beat Geelong, despite 11 goals from Gary Ablett, Melbourne's latest chance to stay in the finals race collapsed when they only managed 12 against the in-form Hawks. The Demons had pulled off a few upset wins during the year Jason Dunstall was kept to seven, but four came in the third quarter to give his side a 22 point lead. Neale Balme refused to take Phil Gilbert off him, saying that none of his other players could have stopped the Hawthorn champion either.
With Allen Jakovich still unavailable, Melbourne couldn't find another collection of goalkickers. Darren Cuthbertson and Rod Grinter played in key forward positions but only got three between them. The Demons pushed the double-chance chasing visitors, but were almost out of chances for 1993. They had the better of the play in the first half but were wasteful with disposals, and gifted a goal to Darren Jarman late in the first quarter when they first turned the ball over to him, then gave away a 50 metre penalty. They were quicker, and had more than 40 more disposals than the Hawks by half time but trailed by a point.
Dunstall got the first two goals after half time, before Jason Norrish responded. Then another blunder cost the Demons, with Andrew Obst caught trying to play on after a mark, leading to Dunstall kicking for his fifth. A few minutes later Darren Cuthbertson nearly contributed to another, with a failed kick across half-back was intercepted. The ball again found its way to Dunstall, who quickly took his shot after seeing an unoccupied goalsquare but missed. That made the margin 34, before a goal 90 seconds later made sure of the points. Garry Lyon kept some mystery about the result by beating two opponents and setting up Darren Kowal shortly before three quarter time to reduce the deficit to 22.
Neil Balme believed his side should have been "two or three goals in front" at half time, but admitted "bad mistakes and bad handling really cost us". He wasn't conceding his side's finals hopes were over yet, saying "it's still going to be difficult but there's still five games to go".
Best were Glenn Lovett, Jim Stynes and Brett Lovett. David Neitz had a cut eye.
Reserves
Hawthorn 16.13.109 d. Melbourne 12.9.81
Goals - Bennett 4, Burgmann 2, Taylor 2, Lamb 1, Sullivan 1, Pickering 1, Hilton 1
Best - Hilton, Pickering, Lamprill
Reports - Molloy (striking), Lamprill (striking)
Media
Age - 18/07/1993, 19/07/1993
Canberra Times - 18/07/1993
Football Record - R17 1993