Match

Melbourne vs North Melbourne

Commentary / 13 Jul 2025

Pre Game

00:00
Melbourne has won two of their last three matches against North Melbourne, suffering a 59-point defeat back in Round 2.

Quarter 1

00:00
Q1 is now underway.
00:43
Melbourne wins the initial first possession of the match, although were unable to convert it into a clearance. They turn 73.0% of their first possessions into clearances - ranked third-last.
05:55
North Melbourne has had four of the first six inside 50s of the match, yet has been unable to hit the scoreboard. They had a season-high scores per inside 50 percentage of 56.6% the last time these two teams faced off.
06:35
SCORE BEHIND - Demons (Tom Sparrow)
07:19
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Jy Simpkin)
08:15
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Cooper Harvey)
09:51
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Kysaiah Pickett)
09:54
Kysaiah Pickett converts the first major of the match, with it coming from a defensive half chain. Since Round 14, the Demons have scored from 21.9% of their defensive half clearances – ranked second.
11:05
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Bayley Fritsch)
12:22
Two goals in quick succession for Melbourne, with the latest coming from a centre clearance. They have struggled to score from this source in the last month, averaging 7.0 points from centre clearance - ranked inside the bottom six in this period.
14:53
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Cooper Harvey)
15:07
Cooper Harvey slots North Melbourne's first goal of the match, with it sourcing from a defensive 50 chain. This has been a potent source for their scores the last month, as they are averaging 19.7 points launched from this zone in this time - ranked fourth.
19:39
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Jack Darling)
21:18
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Paul Curtis)
21:33
The Kangaroos have taken four marks inside 50 - their equal second-most in a first quarter this season. Two of their three goals have come from this source thus far.
23:18
SCORE BEHIND - Demons (Jake Melksham)
24:40
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Jake Melksham)
25:08
Colby McKercher has amassed an equal game-high nine disposals, as well as gaining 228 metres. Across North Melbourne's last three matches, he is averaging a team-high 31.7 disposals.
28:50
SCORE BEHIND - Demons (Christian Petracca)
30:01
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Paul Curtis)
30:05
Melbourne were able to win the territory battle, having three more inside 50s as well as 54% of the quarter being spent in their forward half.

Quarter 2

00:00
Q2 is now underway.
01:04
Kangaroos Interchange - Paul Curtis off due to an injury.
01:08
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Jack Darling)
01:40
North Melbourne has scored from 54% of their entries, with 34% of their entries leading to a goal. Melbourne has conceded a goal from 27.6% and a score from 48.1% of the opposition’s inside 50s – ranked last in each stat.
02:59
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Matthew Jefferson)
04:38
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Ed Langdon)
05:35
There have already been seven lead changes in this match, with neither team being able to firmly establish a lead. The Demons have scored the last two goals of the match with their only two entries for the term.
07:21
SCORE BEHIND - Demons (Jacob van Rooyen)
10:53
SCORE BEHIND - Demons (Kysaiah Pickett)
11:38
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Kade Chandler)
11:46
The match pressure factor of 160 from the first term has skyrocketed to 203 in the second term. The AFL average is 180.
16:18
Melbourne has gone to work at stoppage after getting beaten in this area in the first quarter. They lead the clearances 9-2 and have scored 14-0 points from stoppage compared to North Melbourne in the second term.
19:32
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Robert Hansen Jr)
22:29
Clayton Oliver has been productive this term, amassing six disposals, of which five have been won in a contested manner, as well as four clearances.
22:56
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Will Phillips)
25:00
North Melbourne has effectively lowered their eyes when going inside 50, taking a mark from 28% of their entries. The AFL average is 20%.
25:05
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Jacob Konstanty)
26:01
Demons Interchange - Jake Melksham off due to an injury.
28:26
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Cooper Harvey)
29:48
North Melbourne trails by five points at the main break. They were inaccurate, as they scored 1.4 (10) for the quarter, with 1.3 (9) coming from shots in the corridor channel.

Quarter 3

00:00
Q3 is now underway.
01:24
Max Gawn has been on top in the ruck contest against Tristan Xerri, leading the hitouts 15-10 and the hitouts-to-advantage 7-4, although North Melbourne leads the clearances by three when these two have been ruck opponents.
01:30
SCORE BEHIND - Demons (Rushed)
03:36
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Cameron Zurhaar)
05:44
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Cameron Zurhaar)
07:01
Since Round 14, the Kangaroos have conceded a score from 21.4% of their opponents’ kick-ins – ranked last. They have not conceded a score from any of Melbourne's eight kick-ins today.
07:24
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Max Gawn)
09:19
SCORE BEHIND - Demons (Matthew Jefferson)
10:06
Cameron Zurhaar booted a game and equal season-high four goals against the Demons in Round 2 – finishing with a season high 11 score involvements. He has only scored 0.2 (2) today and has been involved in four scores.
10:30
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Bayley Fritsch)
13:00
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Cameron Zurhaar)
13:21
Cameron Zurhaar stops a run of five consecutive goals from the Demons, with his goal coming from a stoppage. North Melbourne outscored the Demons by 42 points from clearances in Round 2 – its best differential in any game over the last five seasons.
15:25
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Jake Melksham)
16:34
After keeping his opponents goalless between Rounds 13-15 – Toby Pink has conceded five and four goals, respectively since. He has spent the majority of the game with Jake Melksham as his opponent, who has scored 2.1 (13).
17:14
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Cameron Zurhaar)
18:56
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Jy Simpkin)
19:33
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Rushed)
21:06
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Cameron Zurhaar)
22:16
North Melbourne kick two consecutive goals for the first time since the first term. They have had six of the last seven entries, and have scored all their points this quarter from set shots (3.3 (21)).
22:22
SCORE BEHIND - Demons (Rushed)
25:46
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Kade Chandler)
27:45
Trent Rivers has dropped below 20 disposals just once in seven games at the MCG this season – averaging a career-high of 23.3 disposals and 414 metres gained. He has amassed just eight disposals and 146 metres gained thus far in this match.
30:19
SCORE BEHIND - Demons (Clayton Oliver)
32:03
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Jacob van Rooyen)
33:40
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Rushed)
33:51
Despite losing the inside 50 count by three, the Demons were able to outscore the Kangaroos by 11 points in the third quarter. They were dead-eye from set shots, scoring 4.1 (25) compared to North Melbourne's 3.3 (21).

Quarter 4

00:00
Q4 is now underway.
00:53
Melbourne has won four of their five matches where they have had the lead at three-quarter-time. On the flipside, North Melbourne has won one of their 13 games where they have been trailing at the final change.
01:07
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Jake Melksham)
03:53
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Jake Melksham)
05:12
Inclusive of today's match, Jake Melksham has booted 13 goals in his last three games. He has kicked the equal-most alongside Aaron Naughton in this period.
07:10
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Koltyn Tholstrup)
09:07
Christian Petracca has been on fire in today's match-up, collecting a team-high 26 disposals, of which 12 have been won in a contested manner, as well as seven clearances and nine score involvements.
09:22
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Cooper Harvey)
11:19
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Bayley Fritsch)
12:25
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Jake Melksham)
13:00
The Demons lead the centre clearances 5-1 in the last quarter. with their latest leading to Jake Melksham's fifth goal of the day.
13:42
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Jack Darling)
15:47
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Cooper Harvey)
16:02
Before today, Cooper Harvey had kicked two goals for his career. He has kicked 3.2 (20) today and has been involved in seven scores.
21:49
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Tom Sparrow)
22:07
Melbourne's pressure this term has been red hot, as they are registering a pressure factor of 204 and have laid five more tackles compared to North Melbourne in this quarter.
24:58
Kangaroos Interchange - Will Phillips off due to the blood rule.
25:33
Demons Interchange - Tom Sparrow and is possibly out for the game.
31:38
The Kangaroos have been involved in the second-highest-scoring games this season with an average of 177.4 points. The combined score of this match is currently 188.
33:17
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Christian Petracca)
35:10
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Cooper Harvey)
36:17
North Melbourne has scored 5.0 (30) from centre clearances - their equal second-most for the season.
38:28
SCORE BEHIND - Demons (Christian Petracca)
41:07
SCORE BEHIND - Demons (Matthew Jefferson)
41:35
After a well-fought battle, the Kangaroos let it get away from them in the fourth quarter. They were able to score from 52% of their entries but were as accurate as they could've been in front of the big sticks, scoring 2.5 (17) from open play of their 12.11 (83).