Round 2, 1985
Hawthorn vs Melbourne
Monday, 8 April
Venue: Princes Park
Attendance: 17,359
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Hawthorn | 5.6 | 11.9 | 20.15 | 25.20.170 |
| Melbourne | 3.5 | 7.9 | 9.12 | 14.18.102 |
Hawthorn win by 68 points
Goalkickers: Russell Richards 4, Robert Flower 2, Brian Wilson 2, Mark Withers 2, David Cordner 1, Rod Grinter 1, Peter Moore 1, Rodney Wright 1
Brownlow Votes:
2 - Peter Moore
Milestones:
First game and first goal
Rod Grinter
Having opened their season with a win confidence was high that the Demons could repeat their 1984 heroics against the previous year's Grand Finalists. Inevitably, the good times didn’t last. Round 2 offered a testing clash, against a Hawthorn side that had lost the previous Grand Final and in Round 1. Any frustrations the Hawks had built up were taken out at Princes Park as they put up an enormous score. Barassi tried to get a better response out of the players for the Monday game by having them train on Good Friday instead of Saturday but the move had no obvious benefit.
As part of their mid-season revival in 1984, the Demons snapped a long losing streak against Hawthorn on the same ground, but had no such luck this time. According to a newspaper report were left to “look like a side of frustrated schoolboys who were playing the age group above”. It was a fitting confirmation of their place in the VFL hierarchy. Every mistake was punished, and while they fed off Hawthorn’s all out attack tactics to run up a respectable score it was dwarfed by what was happening at the other end.
A debuting 20-year-old called Jason Dunstall kicked the first three of his 1254 career goals, while Russell Richards had four of his 43 at the other end.
Ron Barassi found no joy in the performance, saying, "I don't think there would be one positive aspect out of the game today. We could easily have been beaten by 20 goals".
The ongoing argument about where best to play Robert Flower was given another start by Hawthorn coach Alan Jeans suggesting Flower had "killed us for a while" before being moved from the wing.
Best were Withers, Richards and Moore.
The score is the equal 19th most that any Melbourne team has ever conceded.
Video
Reserves
Melbourne 18.16.124 d. Hawthorn 13.9.87
Goals - Howard 5, Dickson 4, Matthews 4, Wight 2, Armstrong 1, Hutchison 1, Nichols 1
Best - Dickson, Rugolo, Matthews
Under 19s
Hawthorn 12.24.96 d. Melbourne 12.16.88
Goals - Lyon 3, Marra 2, Edwards 2, Lawrence 2, Tschappellar 1, Jones 1, Macaulay 1
Best - Lyon, Sparks, Rebbechi
Lists
Highest score conceded
Media
Age - 9/04/1985
Football Record R3 1985