MELBOURNE was the only top four team to win in Round 20 in an ominous sign that they can land another premiership.
The Demons took a long time to shrug off Richmond but it was the way they did that showed they are ready for the finals series.
Richmond, led by two of the AFL’s most brilliant players in Dustin Martin and Shai Bolton, played brilliant football for a lot of the match but the Demons hung in there and eventually proved to be a class above their rivals.
As the match went on though their champion ruckman Max Gawn’s influence got greater and greater.
He overpowered his ruck rival Ivan Soldo and the more the match went on the better he got.
He was ably assisted by superstars Christian Petracca and Jack Viney. When they get back Clayton Oliver they will be even better.
Backman Harrison Petty showed he can be a more than handy forward with six goals.
The Demons are still $5 with PlayUp. Collingwood are still favourites at $2.75 despite losing to Carlton.
The Pies had a short turn around and also being two games clear on top of the ladder they had nothing to play for.
Port Adelaide lost its second match in a row when they went down in their local Derby. Similarly Gold Coast took down Brisbane.
Carlton firmed into $10 after their impressive win over Collingwood.
