Demons breathe fire, destroy desperately disappointing Suns

Melbourne will not experience many easier days at the office than Sunday’s stroll in the park against an inept Gold Coast at Marvel Stadium.

Concerns surrounding the Demons’ recent patch of indifferent form and question marks about their forward unit’s lack of firepower and accuracy have all been allayed – for now.

Luke Jackson shows a burst of speed for the Demons.Credit:Getty Images

Time will tell whether the Suns properly played Melbourne back into top form, with far sterner tests lying ahead.

The Demons spent seven hours in the air for their round-trip to Queensland and back for the rescheduled fixture, originally slated to be played at Metricon Stadium on Saturday.

But if they were weary, they sure didn’t look it.

They looked on-song from the beginning, responding emphatically to the briefest of first-quarter challenges.

Josh Corbett’s goal at the 26-minute mark of the opening term reduced Melbourne’s advantage to six points but the Suns were forced to wait until time-on in the fourth when Sam Flanders finally slotted Gold Coast’s fourth major.

In the interim, to describe the Suns as witches hats would be unkind to orange traffic cones.

They put the cue in the rack early and were completely bullied by the rampant Demons.

Melbourne’s defensive wall of Jake Lever, Steven May and Christian Salem was certainly not overworked but proved impenetrable while launching counter-attacks with bruise-free ease, while the Dees’ dynamic duo, Clayton Oliver and Christian Petracca, ran rings around the Suns in the middle of the park.

And then there were the forwards.

Max Gawn goes head-to-head with Zac Smith.Credit:Getty Images

Tom McDonald converted Melbourne’s first goal before providing the assist to Bailey Fritsch for the Demons’ second.

The fire-breathing inside-50 pressure applied by the likes of McDonald and Alex Neal-Bullen ensured there was no easy escape for Gold Coast’s besieged backline and resulted in repeat entry after entry.

Luke Jackson silenced the doubters with a career best four-goal bag, matched by Ben Brown, whose four majors was his best haul since bagging 10 two years ago in North Melbourne colours against Port Adelaide.

Oliver was quelled only slightly by the hard tag of David Swallow after half-time and the Demons, completely authoritative all over the park, lost their radar in the fourth but it mattered little as they re-aligned their top-two focus with spectacular ease – winning 18.20 (128) to 4.6 (30).
The concerns around Gold Coast, fresh on the heels of last week’s second-half capitulation against Brisbane and with a history of late-season meltdowns, are very real.

OH BOY, BOWEY

Jake Bowey will be excused for thinking this AFL caper is a piece of cake.

Touk Miller was one of the few shining lights for the Gold Coast.Credit:Getty Images

The little man with the calm, composed skills across half-back that have elicited comparisons to Western Bulldogs star Caleb Daniel, showed plenty in his debut.

The son of former St Kilda rover Brett Bowey’s 11 first-half possessions came at 100 per cent ball use while he almost pulled down a screaming mark in the third term, such was the confidence of himself and his team.

MAX’S MIRACLE

Melbourne skipper Max Gawn didn’t need to do a great deal in the ruck but his cameo up forward would have brought the house down, had there been an audience.

Hugging the north-eastern pocket, Gawn received a free kick when the ball ricocheted off the back of Charlie Ballard’s foot.

From the tightest of angles, the big fella audaciously nailed the perfect banana, which split the middle as the Demons went from strength to strength.

BEST
Melbourne: Oliver, Petracca, Jackson, Brown, May, Harmes, Bowey, Lever.
Gold Coast: Miller, Anderson, Fiorini, Swallow, Lukosius.

VOTES
C. Oliver (Melbourne) 9
T. Miller (Gold Coast) 8
C. Petracca (Melbourne) 7
L. Jackson (Melbourne) 7
B. Brown (Melbourne) 7

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