Round 17, 2024
Melbourne vs West Coast
Sunday 7 July
Venue: MCG
Attendance: 32,000
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Melbourne | 7.3 | 11.5 | 14.9 | 17.10.112 |
| West Coast | 1.2 | 3.4 | 6.8 | 8.10.58 |
Melbourne win by 54 points
Goalkickers: Jacob van Rooyen 4, Bayley Fritsch 3, Jake Melksham 2, Kysaiah Pickett 2, Koltyn Tholstrup 2, Max Gawn 1, Ed Langdon 1, Daniel Turner 1, Caleb Windsor 1
Milestones:
First goal
Koltyn Tholstrup (4th game)
After their surprise win over the Demons in Round 10, West Coast hadn't won another game and travelled to the MCG for the first time in 2024 on the back of a three goal performance in their last home game. By quarter time they were staring down the barrel of a huge loss, as Melbourne kicked their highest first quarter score of the year.
Jacob van Rooyen kicked four first half goals, and the Eagles never threatened a comeback despite only losing the second half by five points. By the last quarter Max Gawn had been substituted with a leg injury, forcing van Rooyen to play in the ruck and removing Melbourne's main forward target. Jake Melksham returned to the senior side for the first time after a knee injury in Round 24, 2023, and kicked two second half goals in Melbourne's most impressive attacking performance since the early weeks of the season.
It was Melbourne's first crowd of an exact thousand number since Round 20, 1999, and at the MCG since Round 13, 1950.
Best were Kysaiah Pickett, Jack Viney and Max Gawn. Taj Woewodin replaced Max Gawn (ankle) in the fourth quarter.
Links
Demonblog match review