Round 21, 1987
Melbourne vs West Coast
Friday 21 August
Venue: MCG
Attendance: 21,048
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Melbourne | 3.10 | 7.13 | 12.15 | 18.21.129 |
| West Coast | 0.1 | 3.1 | 6.5 | 10.8.68 |
Melbourne win by 61 points
Goalkickers: Greg Healy 4, Robert Flower 2, Stephen Newport 2, Brian Wilson 2, Bret Bailey 1, Ricky Jackson 1, Garry Lyon 1, Steven Stretch 1, Jim Stynes 1, Todd Viney 1, David Williams 1, Graeme Yeats 1
Brownlow votes:
3 - Sean Wight
2 - Steven Stretch
1 - Brian Wilson
Milestones:
Nil
Melbourne's finals rollercoaster ride continued with another win, and the chance to sit back and watch the rest of the weekend's footy to know what they would have to do the next week to get in.
The Eagles too were playing for the chance to go into Round 22 alive in the finals race, and had spent the previous week in camp on the Gold Coast after a match against Brisbane. They had invited Queensland rugby players to help practice their tackling, but had to be careful to avoid injuries as they only had 22 fit players available to make the trip.
For the second week in a row, Eagles players ran from the other end of the ground to join a nervous pre-match brawl, but by quarter time they only had one behind on the board. Melbourne only registered three goals from 13 scoring shots, going from 3.1 to 3.10 by quarter time. The home side slowly increased their lead during the match, before the winning goal came controversially after a Greg Healy shot along the ground hit the leg of Eagle Laurie Keene, only for the umpires to decide to ball had already crossed the line.
One supporter was so surprised at the way Melbourne demolished the Eagles and kept their finals dream alive he was heard to yell "That's ridiculous Melbourne, only good teams do that!"
Best were Wilson, Stretch and Wight. Rod Grinter and Steve O'Dwyer were both reported. Grinter was suspended for three weeks for striking and O'Dwyer two - it was O'Dwyer's third two match ban of the year.
Video
Reserves
North Melbourne 21.13.139 d. Melbourne 17.15.117
Goals - Rugolo 4, Richards 3, Turner 3, Eishold 2, Smith 1, S. Febey 1, Lamb 1, Smit 1, Hewitson 1
Best - Turner, Eishold, Rugolo
Under 19s
BYE
Lists
Tribunal
Media
Westside Football - 13/08/1987
Age - 22/08/1987, 27/08/1987
Football Record - R22 1987