Round 18, 2009
Melbourne vs Richmond
Sunday 2 August
Venue: MCG
Attendance: 37,438
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Melbourne | 2.0 | 4.3 | 8.7 | 12.10.82 |
| Richmond | 1.5 | 4.8 | 7.10 | 12.14.86 |
Richmond win by 4 points
Goalkickers: Lynden Dunn 2, Brad Miller 2, Ricky Petterd 2, Matthew Bate 1, Aaron Davey 1, Jack Grimes 1, Neville Jetta 1, Nathan Jones 1, Michael Newton 1
Brownlow Votes:
2 - James McDonald
Milestones:
Nil
A highly controversial game where coach Bailey was forced to defend a number of experimental coaching moves. Paul Johnson found himself at full back on the much shorter Nathan Brown, both Matthew Warnock and James Frawley (2 career goals total) were thrown into the forward line and Brad Miller contested a ruck duel for the first time in his AFL career.
With only one win in reserve before forfeiting an end of season priority pick, and a game at the MCG against Fremantle on the horizon, many Melbourne fans were hoping for a loss. And eventually they got their wish.
With the two sides unable to shake each other off over the first three quarters the game burst to life in the last. With two minutes remaining the Tigers were two goals in front, but first Jack Grimes and then Ricky Petterd goalled to put the Demons in front.
With the ball deep inside the Richmond forward line and just seconds on the clock Bailey left the coaches box, convinced he'd engineered an upset victory, but Richard Tambling managed to extract the ball from a stoppage and hit Jordan McMahon with a pass 50m out directly in front. Having botched two easy opportunities on the run earlier in the game the much-maligned McMahon kicked truly and won the match for Richmond.
Best were McDonald, Grimes and Petterd. Jake Spencer was a late replacement for Cale Morton
The Demons won just one more match for the year and secured the top two picks ,(Tom Scully and Jack Trengove) in that year's draft. The match would later be investigated as part of an enquiry into Melbourne's 2009 season. The club was found not guilty of deliberately losing the match but fined for allegedly not controlling the actions of its employees..
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