It so nearly was one of those nights for Melbourne.
When Maurice Rioli jnr bear-hugged Alex Neal-Bullen a second or so after the Demon marked in the second term, yet the umpire failed to pay a 50-metre penalty, an incensed Melbourne faithful rained down boos on the MCG.
Maurice Rioli was fortunate to get away with this tackle on Alex Neal-Bullen.Credit: AFL Photos
They grew louder as Neal-Bullen turned the Sherrin over, and Richmond raced it down the other end, where Noah Cumberland and Jack Riewoldt buried Jake Lever in a tackle.
Riewoldt kicked the Tigers 25 points clear, then repeated the dose five minutes later for his 400th at the home of Australian football to erase Bayley Fritsch’s own major.
A week after a shock loss to Essendon while rated the bookies’ flag favourites, Simon Goodwin’s Demons faced another humbling defeat: to a so-so Tigers team caught between rebuilding and still wondering if they can contend.
Damningly, Melbourne’s much-vaunted midfield brigade – led by Clayton Oliver, Christian Petracca and Jack Viney – was even losing the ground battle, as they did against the Bombers.
It was a crossroads moment, without being too dramatic, for the 2021 premiers, even if it was only round six and barely past Easter, factoring in the meek ending to their flag defence a season earlier.
A loss would have dropped them to 3-3, including the flat round two effort against the Lions.
It was, of course, the Anzac Day Eve night two years ago when the Demons announced themselves as a genuine threat with an impressive dispatching of Richmond, who had won three of the previous four premierships.
Christian Petracca lifted when Richmond threatened to cause an upset.Credit: AFL Photos
Melbourne never hit full stride in the 2023 rematch, but they wrested control their way in a pulsating third quarter and eventually found a way, like good sides sometimes have to throughout challenging periods.
The clearance war swung in the Dees’ favour, and their front-half game belatedly kicked into gear. They slotted seven of the last eight goals to score an 18-point victory that was more vital than the margin or beaten foe immediately suggests.
“It was a win full of character. Coming from 25 points down – sometimes, you’ve got to win differently, and tonight was one of those times,” Goodwin said. “I’m big on being able to come from different positions in the game … you can start to build on these experiences as the year goes on, and I think that’s really important for us as a club.”
Make no mistake – Melbourne remain in exploratory mode. Ben Brown and Tom McDonald spent the weekend with Casey, as did James Harmes, while Goodwin preferred the returning Michael Hibberd as the third tall down back, with Harry Petty forward again, alongside exciting fourth-gamer Jacob van Rooyen.
Goodwin wanted to see how Petty and van Rooyen would combine with skipper Max Gawn, who was typically excellent in his return from injury.
Van Rooyen went from four disposals at three-quarter-time to kicking three goals in the final term, the first of them after soaring for a contested grab of the kind that reminds ex-Demon Russell Robertson of club great David Schwarz.
Jacob van Rooyen of the Demons celebrates a goal.Credit: Getty Images
That mark also spared him from being subbed out, Goodwin revealed afterwards.
“We’re still looking at various options, there’s no doubt about that … we’re still experimenting, if you want to put it that way, but we’re also looking for guys that impact aerially,” the coach said.
“All those guys who were ahead of the ball impacted aerially for us. We’ll keep looking at what our best mix is.
“We haven’t had a lot of continuity with our talls in the early part of the year – Gawny’s missed a few, ‘Maysy’ [Steven May] and Jake Lever have [also] missed games of footy, so we’ve had to be a bit horses for courses … but now we’ve got them all back; we can start to really settle down and work out what’s best for us.”
Former Collingwood star Brodie Grundy, the other so-called ‘Tap Brother’, should also sleep soundly on Monday night.
He remains the high-priced second fiddle to Gawn, again started on the bench, and struggled in the opening half, but his eight disposals and four clearances in the crucial third quarter helped turn the tide.
The jury is still out on whether the ruck combination will be the success Melbourne need it to be, but Grundy’s ability to rise to the occasion was another mini-win on a night they figured some things out.
North Melbourne, Gold Coast and Hawthorn await the Demons in an ultra-friendly next three weeks when Goodwin will search for more answers.
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