‘Mercy rule?’: AFL fans shocked by ‘ugly’ loss

Melbourne overcame their cellar dweller doldrums and got their 2021 campaign back on track with a comprehensive98-point spanking of the pathetic Gold Coast at Marvel Stadium on Sunday.

Having lost to lowly Adelaide, Collingwood and having being held to a draw by Hawthorn, the Demons did not make the same mistake against a team in the bottom half of the ladder by blowing the insipid Suns off the park.

After spending seven hours travelling to and from Queensland due to a late Covid-forced venue change, Melbourne came out with all guns blazing, racing to a 59-point lead by the main break with eight unanswered goals across the first and second terms.

And the embarrassing demolition continued after halftime with Melbourne kicking five goals in the third term when the woeful Suns went scoreless as the Demons enjoyed a 95-point buffer at the last change.

Melbourne had 44more inside 50 entries than the Suns as they cruised to their 14th win of the year to stay in third spot on the ladder while the Suns slumped to loss no. 13 in arguably their worst performance of 2021.

Clayton Oliver was outstanding for the Demons with 35 disposals,19contested possessions, 12 clearances and a goal to reinforce why he is a leading contender for a host of individual awards in 2021.

And plenty of his teammates took the opportunity to fill their boots as Luke Jackson booted a career-high four goals while Ben Brown added four majors. Christian Petracca was also prominent with one goal and 32 disposals.

To call the Suns glorified traffic cones would almost be an insult to witches hats. They served up a steaming pile of uncompetitive rubbish. Gold Coast senior coach Stuart Dew said at halftime his team was “shell-shocked” but they were just shocking.

A week after conceding 13 goals to one in the second half of the QClash, they let in 12 goals by halftime against the Demons. There was no pressure, no tackling, no purpose, no intent, just nothing. Melbourne did as they pleased all afternoon.

The Demons led by 20 points at quarter-time but should have been further in front given their dominance of the fumbling and bumbling Suns.

Gold Coast was guilty of turning the ball over in their defensive half of the field to gift Melbourne possession.

The Demons kicked the first three goals of the match but poor execution going forward, wayward shots at goal and a slight drop-off in defensive pressure allowed the Suns to show signs of life with three of the next four majors.

Two goals to Jackson gave the Demons some bang for their buck from the opening term when they had double the amount of inside 50 entries and 25 more disposals than the Suns.

I'm sure very few people are paying attention but things getting very, very ugly for Gold Coast in #aflSunsDees. Coming off last week's abysmal second half of the QClash some serious questions need to be asked of what's going on at the Suns. #AFL

This is brutal ??? #aflsunsdees#firedup

Can they call a mercy rule? #aflsunsdees

Dees snap bad habit

The Demons’ ability to hit the scoreboard had deserted them in the past four to six weeks but they were very much able to get their attacking mojo back against the horrible Suns, flying to their highest score of the year. Melbourne had reached 80 points just once in the past six weeks but had that on the board by halftime. It was just the second time in 15 years that Melbourne had kicked 80 points by halftime, the previous occasion was against the Gold Coast in 2018.

Suns burn out early

The writing was on the wall early for the Gold Coast. Some terrible kicks out of their defensive 50 put them under immediate pressure. Things did not improve. If not for the hard work of Touk Miller, it could have been even uglier. Questions will be raised about the Gold Coast’s lack of success and place in the competition. Until they stop these shocking fade-outs in the second halves of seasons, the doubts will remain.

The Demons recorded their biggest win over Gold Coast on Sunday (Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)Source:Getty Images

Bowey brilliance

It was a dream debut for diminutive Demon Jake Bowey. He had 11 touches by halftime as he mopped up across halfback. He was running at 91 per cent disposal efficiency – much like fellow pocket rocket Caleb Daniel from the Western Bulldogs. He almost had a Mark of the Year contender in the third term but spilt the Sherrin. It was a different story for Suns debutant Joel Jeffrey, who was thrust into the Gold Coast forward line and saw little ball all day.

Fixture headache

Outside of the games played in Shanghai and Wellington, has four premiership points been as well travelled as those that were briefly up for grabs on Sunday? This fixture was pushed back from Round 19 to Round 20 as part of the Covid shuffle. It was originally set down for the Gold Coast, then Darwin, then the Gold Coast again before landing at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium. And after all that, the Suns did not bother to show up.

DEMONS: 6.4/12.8/17.14/18.20 (128)

SUNS: 3.2/3.3/3.3/4.6 (30)

Goals:

DEMONS: Jackson 4, Brown 4, Fritsch 2, Gawn 2, Pickett 2, McDonald, Oliver, Spargo, Petracca

SUNS: Burgess, Sexton, Corbett, Flanders

Greg Davis’ best:

DEMONS: Oliver, Petracca, Harmes, Jackson, Brown, Viney, Gawn

SUNS: Miller, Swallow, Anderson, Fiorini

Injuries:

DEMONS: McDonald (back)

SUNS:

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Greg Davis’ votes:

3: Clayton Oliver

2: Christian Petracca

1: James Harmes

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