Round 1, 2015
Melbourne vs Gold Coast
Saturday 4 April
Venue: MCG
Attendance: 27,013
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Melbourne | 2.5 | 7.7 | 12.9 | 17.13.115 |
| Gold Coast | 1.2 | 3.6 | 8.8 | 13.11.89 |
Melbourne win by 26 points
Goalkickers: Jack Watts 3, Jeff Garlett 2, Jesse Hogan 2, Ben Newton 2, Dom Tyson 2, Mark Jamar 1, Colin Garland 1, Nathan Jones 1, Heritier Lumumba 1, Aaron vandenBerg 1
Brownlow votes
3 - Nathan Jones
2 - Jack Viney
Milestones
First game
Angus Brayshaw
Jesse Hogan
Aaron vandenBerg
First MFC game
Sam Frost
Jeff Garlett
Heritier Lumumba
Ben Newton
First goal
Jesse Hogan
Ben Newton (5th game - also with Port Adelaide)
Aaron vandenBerg
200 games
Heritier Lumumba (also with Collingwood)
The new look Demons, with seven club debutantes, opened the season with a win for the first time since 2005 as they held off a fierce Gold Coat challenge early in the last quarter.
Melbourne led at every change, and with a more attacking game style than the one that had seen them average just over 60 points a game in 2014 they shot out to a 30 point lead early in the third quarter before the Suns challenged.
The home side answered and restored a four goal lead at the last change, but conceded three goals in a row at the start of the last. Gold Coast was wasteful with their chances once they got within 10 points and the Demons were able to kick away and win comfortably.
Best were McDonald, Watts and Newton. Jimmy Toumpas replaced Angus Brayshaw in the last quarter, he had also temporarily replaced Dean Kent in the first quarter while Kent was assessed for concussion after a clash with Matt Shaw where Shaw was reported.
Video
Media
Herald Sun - 04/04/2015