Round 20, 2009
Melbourne vs Fremantle
Sunday 16 August
Venue: MCG
Attendance: 13,004
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Melbourne | 4.0 | 9.4 | 13.5 | 20.7.127 |
| Fremantle | 3.4 | 4.7 | 6.9 | 9.10.64 |
Melbourne win by 63 points
Goalkickers: Liam Jurrah 4, Matthew Bate 3, Russell Robertson 3, Aaron Davey 2, Brock McLean 2, Paul Johnson 1, Tom McNamara 1, Brad Miller 1, Ricky Petterd 1, Colin Sylvia 1, Shane Valenti 1
Brownlow Votes:
3 - Aaron Davey
2 - Matthew Bate
1 - Shane Valenti
Milestones:
First Goal
Tom McNamara (2nd game)
On a freezing cold, rainy day in Melbourne a big crowd was never going to roll up but the ones who did saw the Demons biggest win since Round 8, 2006 as they thrashed the Dockers by over ten goals.
Inspired by the return of Jim Stynes, who attended his first game since cancer surgery, the Demons blew open a tight game in the second quarter, driven by the best-on-ground Aaron Davey as the flaky Dockers looked anything but a team who had avoided the wooden spoon.
Liam Jurrah and Russell Robertson returned to the squad and contributed seven goals between them. Both men, at opposite ends of their career, added a spectacular highlight to the game. Robertson flew high for a trademark speccy in the 2nd quarter and Jurrah kicked a gravity-defying goal over his head in the final term when the game was well and truly over.
Melbourne's pressure forced the Dockers into countless errors and they were unable to put any scoreboard pressure on the Demons. After a nightmare first quarter when he conceded three goals to Luke McPharlin, James Frawley comprehensively beat his opponent and Matthew Pavlich missed both of his shots at goal while beating beaten around the ground by Lynden Dunn.
Davey, Bate and Valenti were the best as the hard running Demons racked up a 75 point lead deep into the last term before the Dockers manage to make things slightly more respectable with the last two goals of the game.
Despite the small crowd thousands of people flocked onto the ground after the match for a rare kick-to-kick session at the MCG.