Demons grind out win on Gold Coast; Another belting for Bombers; Richmond off the bottom

Melbourne have survived a major scare to defeat Gold Coast by nine points at People First Stadium and keep their AFL top four hopes on track.

In a see-sawing match with multiple lead changes, the Demons did just enough in the fourth quarter to claim an 18.6 (114) to 16.9 (105) win on Sunday.

Jacob van Rooyen and Harrison Petty each kicked three goals for the visitors, who were clinical with their shots on goal throughout.

Max Gawn was dominant for the Demons with 25 disposals, 10 marks, 33 hitouts and nine clearances while Trent Rivers and Jake Bowey led the disposals for the Demons with 29 touches apiece.

Jed Walter kicked three for the Suns, all in the first half, as Gold Coast were unable to prevent slumping to their 10th straight defeat in what was Christian Petracca’s first match against his former club.

Petracca, whose impact on the Suns was under the spotlight throughout the week following an on-field argument with young gun Leo Lombard in the defeat to Carlton, had minimal impact on the contest with 16 disposals and two clearances.

Instead it was John Noble (34 disposals, seven tackles, 10 marks) and Matt Rowell (30 disposals, nine tackles, eight clearances) who led the way for the Suns, who fought hard but couldn’t hold off the fast-finishing Demons to end their losing run.

Melbourne set the template for their accuracy in front of goal early, kicking five straight in the opening term to hold a three-point lead at the first break.

Bailey Humphrey’s goal after the siren at the end of the second quarter, despite a question mark over whether he ran off the line of the mark as he came into kick, had the hosts in front heading into the main break.

And the Suns extended that lead to three goals during a high-scoring third term, kicking four goals alone from free kicks.

The Demons, however, kicked two goals in the last 30 seconds including another after-the-siren major to Petty to snatch a one-point lead heading into the final quarter.

A nasty looking fall early in the fourth quarter forced Blake Howes from the field clutching his left wrist but it didn’t deter the Demons, who kicked four goals to three to secure the points.

Suns defender Sam Collins (ribs) failed to return after sustaining a hit to his side in a marking contest with Ed Langdon in the second quarter.

AAP

Crow call: Adelaide punish lowly Bombers

Daniel Brettig

Adelaide surged into the top four for the first time this year by dishing out a 72-point belting of an outclassed Essendon at Marvel Stadium on Sunday night.

Following a disquieting home defeat to Collingwood last week, the Crows were all business against the struggling Bombers, absorbing a first quarter challenge before growing their margin at every change to move ahead of Brisbane and Melbourne on percentage.

Adelaide’s senior assistant coach Murray Davis is a contender to take over as Essendon coach, and he did his chances no harm by ensuring that Dean Solomon would oversee another heavy defeat.

The Crows may also have unearthed a useful role player for the pointy end of the season, with 21-year-old debutant Oscar Ryan finding plenty of the ball and kicking a memorable first goal in the third term.

Skipper Jordan Dawson shrugged off an attempted tag by Mason Redman to be the prime midfield mover for the Crows, who were sweating on the seriousness of yet another hamstring complaint – this time for young defender James Borlase.

Riley Thilthorpe kicked five goals for Adelaide, while Callum Ah Chee was a lively presence up forward in only his fifth appearance of the year after joining the Crows from Brisbane.

Two metre Peter Wright presented a strong marking target for Essendon with six majors, while Zach Merrett also worked hard. Young Bomber Isaac Kako may find himself under the spotlight of the match review panel after a tackle that dumped Adelaide defender Josh Worrell’s head into the Docklands turf.

Before the game, Crows senior coach Matthew Nicks had conceded there was some merit in how former Pies coach Mick Malthouse had critiqued his team’s poor display against Collingwood as “horribly soft”.

“Mick’s comments were warranted, I could feel what Micky Malthouse was talking about, he’s a very experienced head, he knows what he sees in footy,” Nicks told Fox Footy. “We rate ourselves highly in that toughness area but we did drop away in that second half, so what he said was warranted.

“That’s not an area we feel we need to work on. We’ve got to balance that out, sometimes defend with the ball, sometimes hold possession and not give it back. We’ve got to do a little bit of work on that over the coming month, hopefully be in a position where we can improve in that, come September.”

Little was proven either way against the Bombers, but the improved ladder position will help.

Tiger in the gun for behind-the-play blow

Marc McGowan

Richmond took a major step towards dodging a second wooden spoon in three years with a second win this season over a wayward West Coast as Tigers defender Luke Trainor faces match review scrutiny for a gut punch.

Adem Yze’s men had lost eight matches in a row by an average of almost 50 points, and were on the bottom, behind Essendon on percentage, with a miserable 2-17 win-loss record before Sunday’s 11-point victory.

Richmond took advantage of the Eagles’ yips in front of goal at the MCG to climb above the Bombers and within one win of 16th-placed West Coast, who had kicked 3.17 at one stage before losing 12.12 (84) to 9.19 (73).

The result eases pressure on coach Yze, who has presided over only 10 victories in 66 matches in what is a full-blown rebuild at Tigerland.

“We’re rebuilding, so when you rebuild, you need games into younger players,” Yze said.

“We get a win today, but we still need Jonty Faull, Harry Armstrong and Tom Sims [to get back from injury] … we’ve still got guys we need to gel together. But at the same time, if we can scratch out some wins while we’re going through what we’re going through with unavailability – it’s terrific.

“We know what we’ve got within our four walls … we’ve dealt with more than what other teams have dealt with.

“But when you see Sammy [Lalor] do what he does today; he’s [only] scratching the surface. When those lads start to grow together; it’ll be really exciting.”

Yze re-signed until the end of 2028 in November last year, and chief executive Shane Dunne said last month he had the club’s backing.

There were only 12 points between the sides at three-quarter-time, but goals to Richmond premiership veterans Tom Lynch (20 disposals, 2.4) and Toby Nankervis blew the margin out before they withstood a late fightback.

The Eagles, who have been competitive most weeks despite their lack of success, have plenty to rue, with Jake Waterman’s 2.6 day – on top of putting another kick out on the full – headlining their woeful goalkicking.

Elliot Yeo had a chance to slice the difference to six points with a set shot inside the last two minutes, but sprayed it to the left, only for No.1 draft pick Lalor to seal the contest with his third major after winning a test of strength.

West Coast were trying to beat Richmond at the MCG for the first time since 2015, but the 33,737 crowd instead were able to celebrate a rare Tigers triumph this season.

Tim Taranto led Richmond’s charge with 32 disposals and a game-high 11 clearances, while Harley Reid was outstanding in a losing cause with 34 touches, 20 contested possessions and nine clearances. Mid-season draftee Marcus Herbert (34 disposals) was also prolific for the Eagles.

Yze said he had not seen Trainor’s behind-the-play gut punch to West Coast’s Jack Williams in the second quarter. They were engaged in a standing wrestle before Trainor struck the Eagle with a clenched left fist.

The second-year Tiger, playing his 30th career game, instantly jogged away while Williams went to ground in obvious pain and went to the bench soon after.

“I’m not too sure how hard the impact was, but if he’s gone and done something wrong, we’ll look at it,” Yze said.

“I think there have been a few fines over the last few occasions when things like this have happened, so hopefully, we can get that type of result.

“We don’t want to be losing players through stupidity [when we have so many injuries], so hopefully, it wasn’t too bad. We’ve educated our players, and they understand what’s right and wrong.”

It is the type of incident the AFL aimed to stamp out when it announced tribunal changes in February, revealing that incidents where a player strikes another in the chest or stomach were more likely to be graded medium impact and result in suspension.

Match review officer Michael Christian has typically graded these incidents as low impact, which led to fines rather than bans.

Richmond’s lengthy injury list includes key defensive options Noah Balta, Josh Gibcus and Campbell Gray, while prized draftee Sam Cumming (ankle) was the latest addition on Sunday.

Surgery for ‘devastated’ Swan after leg injury

Peter Ryan

Sydney Swans defender Will Edwards had surgery on Sunday after suffering a sickening lower leg injury against the Saints on Saturday.

Edwards appeared to dislocate his ankle and was carted from the field having received pain medication during the Swans’ 19-point win at Marvel Stadium.

Coach Dean Cox described the injury as “devastating” for the 23-year-old, who made his debut this season following a series of leg fractures and infections.

The club is expected to provide more information about the injury and his prognosis after the operation. Midfielder James Rowbottom will also have surgery to repair a broken hand sustained during the match against St Kilda.

For the Saints, Jack Silvagni (dislocated shoulder) and Tom De Koning (hip pointer) are in doubt for next Sunday night’s match against their former team, Carlton.