Pre Game
00:00
Charlie Ballard defended seven one-on-one contests in Round 1 – the most by any defender in the AFL.
Quarter 1
00:00
Q1 is now underway.
02:36
SCORE
BEHIND - Suns (Levi Casboult)
04:01
Melbourne has won its last nine games against the Suns by an average margin of 46 points.
05:10
SCORE
GOAL - Suns (Jeremy Sharp)
05:17
Gold Coast has dominated play so far this match. 15 of the Suns 25 disposals has been recorded in their forward half. 76% of the ball has been spent in Gold Coast's forward half.
08:51
SCORE
BEHIND - Suns (Ben Ainsworth)
09:13
Gold Coast has generated a goal from 14% of their inside 50's this match. Last season, the Suns averaged a goal from 16% from their inside 50's - ranked last.
11:04
SCORE
BEHIND - Suns (Touk Miller)
11:24
Touk Miller already up to a game-high nine disposals, four contested possessions and two clearances midway through the first quarter.
11:49
SCORE
GOAL - Suns (Levi Casboult)
12:37
Both Gold Coast goals have come from their attacking midfield zone. Last round, the Suns scored 55 points from this zone, ranked 1st for the round.
16:02
Melbourne are yet to record a disposal in their forward 50. In this zone, Gold Coast are plus eight in contested possessions and plus seven in ground ball gets.
17:58
Steven May lost just one of the six one-on-one contests he defended last round. He also recorded 10 spoils – the equal-most of any player for the round.
20:19
SCORE
GOAL - Demons (Max Gawn)
20:33
Max Gawn and Luke Jackson keeping Melbourne in the contest. Both ruckman combined have four of Melbourne's five clearances.
23:21
SCORE
GOAL - Demons (Ben Brown)
23:58
Both Melbourne goals have come from forward half intercepts. Melbourne going at 72% disposal efficiency from their forward half.
26:46
SCORE
BEHIND - Demons (Clayton Oliver)
29:23
SCORE
GOAL - Demons (Luke Jackson)
30:23
Luke Jackson's goal is the 2nd goal from their forward 50 zone. The Demons averaged 16.3 points from this zone in 2021 - ranked 4th.
31:33
Touk Miller has recorded a career best 17 first quarter disposals. His previous best was 16 against Sydney in round 6, 2021.
Quarter 2
00:00
Q2 is now underway.
01:47
Christian Petracca has a game-high six inside 50's but zero score involvements. Petracca is going at 30% kicking efficiency.
03:01
SCORE
GOAL - Demons (Jack Viney)
05:06
SCORE
GOAL - Suns (Mabior Chol)
05:49
Mabior Chol's goal comes from a centre clearance. Last week the Suns scored six goals from this source - ranked 1st for the round.
06:27
SCORE
GOAL - Demons (Kysaiah Pickett)
07:53
SCORE
GOAL - Demons (Clayton Oliver)
08:57
From three inside 50's, the Demons have scored three goals. Clayton Oliver has all five of Melbourne's clearances this term.
11:57
SCORE
GOAL - Suns (Alex Davies)
13:14
SCORE
GOAL - Suns (Noah Anderson)
14:05
Both sides have been very effective going inside 50 this term. The Suns are going at goal scoring rate of 50% from six inside 50's and the Demons are going at 75% from four inside 50's. The AFL average was 18.7% in 2021.
15:50
Demons Interchange - Trent Rivers off due to an injury.
17:54
Gold Coast with the last six inside 50's. Since the 10 minute mark, the Suns lead clearances 7-1 and have scored 13 points to Melbourne's zero.
21:30
SCORE
BEHIND - Suns (Rushed)
23:14
SCORE
GOAL - Demons (Ben Brown)
23:45
Gold Coast went inside 50 nine times in a row but could only manage 13 points. From five inside 50 entries, the Demons have scored four goals this term.
26:53
SCORE
GOAL - Suns (Jack Lukosius)
27:00
Gold Coast has struggled to transfer the ball from their defensive half until now. From 36 defensive half chains, the Suns have gone inside 50 10 times and have scored seven points.
29:34
SCORE
GOAL - Demons (Luke Jackson)
30:15
While Gold Coast has won the clearance count 13-9, Melbourne has scored 24 points this term from clearance chains to Gold Coast's 13 points.
33:00
SCORE
GOAL - Demons (Tom McDonald)
33:54
Christian Petracca recorded 870 metres gained and 13 score involvements last round – ranked second for the round in both measures. So far Petracca has 639 metres gained, ranked 1st in the game.
35:40
Melbourne were more effective going forward in the second term. The Demon's scored six goals from 11 forward 50 entries. In their forward 50 zone, Melbourne won disposals 14-6.
Quarter 3
00:00
Q3 is now underway.
00:49
SCORE
GOAL - Suns (Levi Casboult)
02:43
SCORE
GOAL - Demons (Bayley Fritsch)
04:06
SCORE
BEHIND - Suns (Mabior Chol)
05:16
Gold Coast has scored 18 points from centre clearance chains this match. last round, the Suns scored 37 points - ranked 1st. Last season, Gold Coast averaged just 5.1 points per game from this source - ranked 18th.
05:58
SCORE
GOAL - Suns (Brayden Fiorini)
07:38
Christian Petracca up to a career-high 13 inside 50's. His previous best was 11, in last years Grand Final.
08:09
SCORE
BEHIND - Demons (Tom Sparrow)
10:16
Jarrod Witts recorded 11 hitouts-to-advantage last round – the equal second-most of any player for the round. So far, Witts leads the match with seven hitouts-to-advantage.
13:29
SCORE
GOAL - Demons (James Harmes)
14:59
Melbourne starting to dominate at the contest. They lead clearances 8-1, contested pre-clearance possessions 9-2, ground ball gets 14-10 and have scored 13points from stoppage chains this term.
18:04
SCORE
BEHIND - Demons (Rushed)
18:33
The Suns won the contested possession count by 34 last round – the second-best differential of any side for the round. It was also their sixth-best differential ever and their best since Round 20, 2017. This match, the Demons lead the contested possession count by 10.
18:46
SCORE
BEHIND - Demons (Tom Sparrow)
23:08
SCORE
GOAL - Demons (Kysaiah Pickett)
24:01
Melbourne starting to control the game on the outside. Since quarter time, The Demons are plus 50 in uncontested possessions and plus 17 in ground ball gets.
24:44
SCORE
BEHIND - Suns (Alex Sexton)
30:39
SCORE
BEHIND - Demons (Charlie Spargo)
30:45
Gold Coast look to be holding on here. The Demons were dominant in most areas and had more run. They won contested (48-35), uncontested possessions (70-37), handball receives (37-20) and clearance (14-5).
Quarter 4
00:00
Q4 is now underway.
02:53
SCORE
BEHIND - Suns (Mabior Chol)
04:01
SCORE
BEHIND - Demons (Christian Petracca)
04:31
The Suns recorded a kicking efficiency of 58.0% and disposal efficiency of 67.3% last round – ranked 18th for both measures. So far this match, the Suns are going at a kicking efficiency of 61% and a disposal efficiency of 66%.
08:00
Jake Bowey up to a game-high 14 intercept possessions. This is a career-high in this statistic. Bowey's previous best was nine against West Coast last season in round 21.
08:22
SCORE
BEHIND - Demons (Kysaiah Pickett)
10:09
The Demons took 17 marks inside their forward 50 last round – the most of any side. Melbourne has taken just five marks tonight inside 50.
12:05
SCORE
GOAL - Suns (Noah Anderson)
13:40
SCORE
BEHIND - Demons (Alex Neal-Bullen)
14:28
The Demons lost the clearance count by 10 last round –ranked 16th. This match, they lead clearances 41-36.
14:37
SCORE
BEHIND - Demons (Rushed)
17:08
SCORE
BEHIND - Demons (Christian Petracca)
18:17
Alex Neal-Bullen laid a team-high seven tackles last round – the equal-fourth most of any player for the round. He has laid more than seven tackles in just nine of his 107 career games. So far this match, Neal-Bullen leads the match with eight tackles. Five of them recorded in the forward half.
19:01
SCORE
BEHIND - Suns (Brayden Fiorini)
22:12
Suns Interchange - Nick Holman off due to the blood rule.
24:26
Melbourne has been the more dominant team at the contest. The Demon's lead ground ball gets 124-96 and contested possessions 168-147.
25:14
SCORE
GOAL - Suns (Jack Lukosius)
26:57
Following on from their record-breaking number last season, Melbourne conceded a score from just 31.4% of their opposition’s inside 50s last round – ranked No.1. This match, the Demon's have conceded a score from 32.2% of Gold Coast's inside 50's.
28:01
Gold Coast ended up winning the inside 50 count 60-55, however Melbourne were more effective going forward, mainly from the stoppages. The Demon's scored 48 points from stoppage chains to Gold Coast's 33 points and won effective clearances 41-30.