Round 2, 2024
Hawthorn vs Melbourne
Saturday 23 March
Venue: MCG
Attendance: 43,960
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Melbourne | 5.3 | 6.5 | 10.7 | 14.9.93 |
| Hawthorn | 0.1 | 2.3 | 4.6 | 5.8.38 |
Melbourne win by 55 points
Goalkickers: Bayley Fritsch 5, Kysaiah Pickett 3, Kade Chandler 2, Jack Billings 1, Christian Petracca 1, Tom Sparrow 1, Jacob van Rooyen 1
Milestones:
Nil
Melbourne started heavy favourites against the rebuilding Hawks, who tried to catch them off guard with a heavy-possession game style in the first quarter. The tactic backfired when they were unable to break through the strong Demon defence and conceded five goals to nil. With the game all but won at the first change, the Hawks returned to a more traditional style and narrowly won a second quarter where Melbourne saw injuries to key defenders Steven May and Jake Lever. May suffered rib damage when landed on by an opponent in a marking contest, while Lever had knee soreness and took no further part in the game. Down one man, the Demons swung the return Harrison Petty back into defence, and withstood a brief rally in the third term to hold Hawthorn to one goal in the final term and win easily.
It was Hawthorn's lowest score against Melbourne since Round 5, 1960.
Best were Petracca, Fritsch and Neal-Bullen. Marty Hore replaced Steven May at half time. Jake Lever was fined $1250 for misconduct.
Lists
Tribunal
Media
afl.com.au - 23/03/2024
Links
Demonblog match review