Round 10, 2001
St. Kilda vs Melbourne
Saturday 2 June
Venue: Docklands
Attendance: 30,497
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| St. Kilda | 6.1 | 9.6 | 15.9 | 17.11.113 |
| Melbourne | 5.5 | 8.6 | 12.8 | 22.12.144 |
Melbourne win by 31 points
Goalkickers: Brad Green 4, David Neitz 4, Cameron Bruce 3, Russell Robertson 2, Shane Woewodin 2, Simon Godfrey 1, Andrew Leoncelli 1, Anthony McDonald 1, David Schwarz 1, Scott Thompson 1, Daniel Ward 1, Paul Wheatley 1
Brownlow Votes:
3 - Adem Yze
2 - David Neitz
Best and Fairest
31 - Adem Yze
31 - Matthew Whelan
25 - Nathan Brown
19 - Cameron Bruce
12 - Brad Green
9 - Anthony McDonald
6 - Daniel Ward
Milestones:
First game
Scott Thompson (and first goal)
First goal
Simon Godfrey (8th game)
With the roof closed, and recently resigned president Joseph Gutnick defiantly sitting with the cheersquad, Melbourne snapped a three match losing streak with a ten goal to two last quarter avalanche.
St. Kilda had jumped to an early lead with three goals in the first six minutes, and had six of the first nine majors on the board. Melbourne steadied to close the gap at quarter time, but the Saints continued to extend their lead throughout the match - but they could never get any more than three goals in front. St. Kilda had been sensational all night, with Robert Harvey shaking a Simon Godfrey tag with ease, but Melbourne were still in touch.
The furthest in front the Saints got was 20 points ten minutes into the third term. Neale Daniher responded by throwing David Neitz to centre half-back and Melbourne steadied again, but predictably St. Kilda hit back to take a nineteen point lead into the last term.
Five minutes into the final quarter St. Kilda still led by three goals, but then the avalanche came. David Neitz and Brad Green got three goals each as Adem Yze dominated in the centre and Jeff White in the middle. For the sixth time in the last ten games the Saints had lost after leading at the half, and Malcolm Blight returned his side to the ground post-match and gave them a ten minute dressing down.
Melbourne's best were Yze, Whelan and Brown. Guy Rigoni was replaced in the selected side by Scott Thompson.
Neale Daniher said "I didn't think we far away in recent games against Port Adelaide and Essendon. And tonight we kept battling away for three quarters and then in the final term they just really got some run going."
Video
Media
Age - 03/06/2001
Herald Sun - 03/06/2001