Steven May is in hospital and fellow Melbourne premiership key defender Jake Lever was also hurt in their 55-point AFL win over Hawthorn.
Lever sat out the last quarter with a sore right knee, but the Demons were well on top and outclassed Hawthorn 14.9 (93) to 5.8 (38) in Saturday’s twlight game at the MCG.
Melbourne killed off the game with five goals to nil in the opening term.
Bayley Fritsch kicked five goals, while Christian Petracca and Jack Viney were imperious in the midfield.
May is nursing a sore chest after Hawks opponent Mabior Chol landed on him in a marking contest during the third term.
The Melbourne fullback left the MCG in an ambulance.
Lever was hurt in the third term and, after having his right knee strapped, tried some run-throughs on the boundary.
He spent the last quarter on the bench.
New Hawk Nick “Wizard” Watson finally kicked his first AFL goal, after kicking 0.3 on debut last week and another 0.3 against Melbourne.
When his set shot went through in the third term, Watson turned to the crowd and celebrated.
In round 23 last season, Hawks tagging specialist Finn Maginness kept Melbourne star Clayton Oliver to just 14 disposals – easily the ball magnet’s lowest return for the year.
So it was no surprise that Maginness went to him after the first centre bounce.
The Hawks put work into Oliver, including a heavy bump from Jai Newcombe, and the Demons star finished the opening term on the bench.
But it did not matter, with the Demons splitting the Hawks wide open in the first quarter.
Oliver’s comeback from his turbulent off-season continued with 23 possessions for the game.
Hawthorn had a whopping 52 uncontested marks in the opening term, but that did not bother the Demons, who dominated clearances 11-1 and the inside 50s 14-5.
Predictably, the Hawks changed their strategy at the first break and tried taking on the game more.
They outscored the Demons in the second term with two goals to one.
Hawthorn’s second goal came from the incident that sent May from the field.
He contested a mark on the wing and Chol crunched him.
As trainers helped a distressed May off the ground, Chol quickly moved the ball down the ground and Luke Breust capitalised.
After the Hawks outscored Melbourne in the second term, the Demons kicked clear with eight goals to three in the second half.
Source Agencies
