Melbourne vs Sydney

Melbourne has swung a late change ahead of Saturday night's game against Sydney, bringing in Mitch Brown to replace Tom McDonald.

Brown has been selected ahead of Sam Weideman for the Demons, with Toby Bedford to be the medical substitute. Mitch Brown has been brought in for his first game since Round 5 in 2021 as McDonald’s replacement. Melbourne has swung a late change ahead of Saturday night’s game against Sydney, bringing in Mitch Brown to replace Tom McDonald.

'Landmark win' as Swans 'defy odds'; May-less Dees exposed in 635-day first: 3-2-1.

He pushed forward and took a couple of marks inside 50 for the quarter, leading to 1.1. Buckley pointed out the Dees usually give up 1.5 goals every 10 entries they concede. Sometimes you need a signature win just to really propel you onto great things.” “They’re a great ball movement team but at times they’re toughness has been questioned – well they were tough tonight. But the Demons announced an hour before the game that McDonald was a late withdrawal due to ankle soreness. Young gun Swan Errol Gulden then won a touchy free kick just outside the 50m arc. Ed Langdon added another one minute later as the Demons had 12 of the first 16 disposals of the match. And for the Swans, it was a case of no Buddy, no worries as a couple of key-position players stood up in the superstar goalkicker’s absence. Despite the absence of superstar forward Lance Franklin and the dominance of Dees superstar Max Gawn in the ruck, the Swans found different avenues to goal and a level of toughness at the coalface that Melbourne couldn’t match. After Gawn kicked his second at the start of the second quarter, Sam Reid and Logan McDonald booted two goals each to make it four on the trot for the Swans and reduce the margin to one point. But the Swans upped the ante in the second term, applying relentless pressure on the Dees and getting on top in the contested possession count to flip the script of the game. The Swans had their opportunities in the first term, having a similar number of inside 50 entries and the same number of scoring shots as the Dees. But the Swans managed 1.5 while the Demons booted 5.1 to tale a 20-point lead at the first change.

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He was the architect of two goals, the first of which came after he spun out of heavy traffic with twinkle-toe footwork to set up Luke Jackson. He did not get a stat for his second play when he had the presence of mind to keep a boundary-bound ball in play, allowing Gawn to snap truly. Giving up 25kg to the Swan, Bowey went low and hard into McCartin to halve the contest and keep play locked in his team’s front half. The Demons defender, who famously won his first 17 games, fought well above his weight division in taking on Tom McCartin for a ground ball. “So our challenge as a coaching group, first and foremost, is to get him back into some really good form. “It’s something we’ve got to look at with the foot, he’s clearly still sore,” Demons coach Simon Goodwin said. Geelong star Tom Stewart missed last year’s finals series after suffering the injury in round 21, while Collingwood champion Dane Swan did not play again after breaking down in round one 2016.

In what was a clear contender for match of the season thus far, Melbourne and Sydney threw everything at each other throughout a pulsating two hours of action - ...

Throughout a physical, smash and bash first half, the Melbourne key defender came off worse for wear on a couple of occasions with both his shin and shoulder requiring strapping after two separate incidents. Unfortunately for the veteran, his impact on the game was negligible. Despite forging a career as a more than capable forward option, Brown has struggled for the opportunities, playing his first game since round five last year. If there’s one thing to be sure, Harrison Petty is going to be very sore on Sunday morning. With the Swans down by as much as 26 points early in the second quarter, veteran forward Sam Reid and youngster Logan McDonald took over, forging a sensational one-two punch after quarter-time to will Sydney back into the game with a combined five first-half goals. However, it was ‘the replacements’ who not only filled the chasm but won the day against Melbourne’s Steven May-less defence.