Round 18, 1987
Melbourne vs Brisbane Bears
Saturday 1 August
Venue: MCG
Attendance: 10,307
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Melbourne | 4.7 | 9.13 | 14.19 | 22.21.153 |
| Brisbane Bears | 4.5 | 8.6 | 10.11 | 14.15.99 |
Melbourne win by 54 points
Goalkickers: David Williams 7, Greg Healy 4, Jim Stynes 4, Robert Flower 2, Bret Bailey 1, Simon Eishold 1, Ricky Jackson 1, Glenn Lovett 1, Todd Viney 1
Brownlow Votes:
3 - Brian Wilson
2 - Earl Spalding
1 - Todd Viney
Milestones:
First Goal
Glenn Lovett (2nd game)
Statistical categories led:
Highest score against Brisbane Bears
Melbourne's first match against the Bears at the MCG saw a tiny crowd turn up, and no Demon crowd at the MCG has gone lower since. Those who didn't make the trip missed the Demons comfortably beating the visitors to keep their thin sliver of a finals hope alive.
25 minutes into the second quarter the scores were still level, but with David Williams kicking 7.6 the Demons eventually got the rest most people expected. Jim Stynes also added four goals despite spending most of the day in the ruck.
At the other end former Demon John Fidge was getting on top of Danny Hughes until John Northey put Sean Wight on Fidge and managed to take him out of the game.
"We are still not doing the right things" said Northey after the match. "We need to be really ruthless in our approach". He said "we've got to learn to get a killer instinct and crush sides". He said "They should have won by 10 to 15 goals. They should have annihilated them. They've got to learn to go in for the kill."
Best were Healy, Wilson and Stynes
Melbourne were now two games outside the five with four games left.
Reserves
Hawthorn 15.16.106 d. Melbourne 10.11.71
Goals - Cordner 2, Newport 2, Sparks 1, Rugolo 1, Ryan 1, Turner 1, Battiston 1, McCarthy 1
Best - Turner, Newport, Smith
Under 19s
Hawthorn 12.15.87 d. Melbourne 8.16.64
Goals - Duursma 5, Gardner 5, Hewetson 1, Normington 1
Best - Duursma, Knight, Beveridge
Media
Canberra Times - 02/08/1987
Age - 03/08/1987
Football Record R19 1987