Summary

MELBOURNE had plenty to play for on ANZAC Day Eve, and brought the heat early in the contest on Wednesday night.

The Dees took to a packed MCG and found themselves in the lead at the first change, but Richmond proved too good as the game wore on and ran away with a 43-point victory.

The numbers

DISPOSALS: Brayshaw, Oliver 29, Melksham 25, Salem 24, Viney 22, Jones, Stretch 20

GOALS: Fritsch, Gawn, Hunt, Lockhart, Neal-Bullen, Smith

A touching tribute

It’s an honour for the Melbourne players to be a part of such a special night, as they lined up pre-game for a unique ANZAC ceremony.

With the MCG light towers switched off, the stadium was lit by the flashlights from spectators’ phones, creating one of the most incredible sights in sport.

The cauldron was lit, horses trotted around the boundary line and the last post was played, followed by a touching minute of complete silence.

After both the Australian and New Zealand National Anthems were sung, Melbourne and Richmond shook hands and broke through a joint banner in unity to get the game underway.

Moving the magnets

If something isn’t working, changes need to be made, and credit must be given to Simon Goodwin on Wednesday night because he did just that.

Although the result didn’t reflect his efforts, the senior coach shuffled his players and tried to create a spark.

There were five changes to the line up from the previous week, as well as some structural re-adjustments within the playing group.

Tom McDonald headed down back and kept Tom Lynch to just eight disposals, Michael Hibberd was tasked with tagging Dustin Martin and minimised his influence, while Clayton Oliver started in the goal square as Jake Melksham spent the night on-ball.

When things weren’t working late in the game, Goodwin also switched Jay Lockhart and Bayley Fritsch from opposing ends of the field, showing a willingness to roll the dice.

A rise in intensity

It was the little things, like the manning of the mark, that showed the Demons came to play early in Round 6.

Melbourne, led by Jack Viney, were ferocious from the first bounce against the Tigers and took a six-point lead into quarter-time.

Although the Dees ran out of legs, the intent and effort was undoubtedly superior than the previous week.

Defensive improvement

The Demons have copped scrutiny for being too easy to score against in recent weeks, but this wasn’t the case against Richmond.

Despite conceding a massive 71 inside 50s, the Melbourne defence held up strong and conceded just the 12 goals.

Scoring struggles

Offensively, the Dees failed to connect once again.

Coming off a seven-goal outing against the Saints in Round 5, the red and blue managed just six majors on Wednesday night – with only two of those coming after quarter-time.

The standouts

Viney and Melksham were the barometers in the centre early, while Gawn was again superior in the ruck with 48 hit-outs.

The effort across the board was evident throughout the night, but not too many individuals shone as the Demons struggled to run out the final term.

Injury update

Melbourne had almost made it through the game unscathed, until Viney was on the receiving end of this bump from Sydney Stack.

The co-captain pulled up sore after the brutal hit and will be monitoring his right shoulder over the course of the week.

A word from Goody

“Obviously another disappointing result in terms of the scoreboard, but for three quarters it was a genuine arm wrestle,” Simon Goodwin told Melbourne Media post-game.

“Some of the behaviours and the things we wanted to work on … were better. We just didn’t reward ourselves with the ball.”

Looking ahead

Round 7 v Hawthorn @ MCG – Saturday, 4 May, 1:45pm AEST

Melbourne will be desperate to get back on the winners list next week when it faces Hawthorn at the MCG. This clash will provide a great opportunity for the club to respond on the back of a 10-day break.

The Demons have recorded just one win from their opening six games of the season, with four losses coming at their home ground, making next week’s game a crucial one.