HOW DO you beat the AFL's biggest gunslingers? You go quicker on the draw.
Gold Coast had proven itself the League's fastest, most exciting and most prolific team through the season's first month. So, a young and plucky Melbourne decided to be faster. It decided to be more exciting. It decided to be more prolific.
The campaign has already delivered first-time senior coach Steven King and his rejuvenated Demons outfit a series of coming-of-age moments. This one topped the lot, though, delivering a premiership fancy in the SUNS their first loss of the season with a memorable 16.13 (109) to 14.5 (89) win at the MCG.
It was exactly as King would have advertised when he pitched for this role late last season. An entertaining brand of fast-paced football, laced with precocious high-end talents, and mixed with some genuine hard-nosed ferocity at the coal face. For the faithful, it was heaven. Even for the neutral, it was thrilling.
The foundation of the side's 20-point win was still built by the veterans. Max Gawn (22 disposals, one goal) was the contest's most influential player, while Jack Steele (26 disposals, 11 clearances) and Jake Melksham (11 disposals, four goals) all had defining impacts on the end result.
But, from the outset, it was the youth – the type in which Melbourne has generated from the draft, where it has claimed six first-round picks in the last three years – that had instilled the type of energy, desire and charge required to topple one of the competition's most in-form teams.
Melbourne had opted to fight fire with fire and, while it occasionally chanced its arm against the red arrows running in the opposite direction, the Demons made most of the early running. Only wayward kicking – they had three more scoring shots in the opening quarter, but trailed by seven points – could stop their momentum.
The approach was admirable and entertaining, but did occasionally leave King's side susceptible on the counterattack. Three times in the first quarter, Ben King broke free to kick at goal, while Ethan Read and Zeke Uwland also got out the back to score as the visitors made the most of their opportunities in space.
The nature of Melbourne's run-and-gun style meant a response was always around the corner. Christian Salem's wobbling snap at the quarter time buzzer gave the hosts a sniff, before quickfire goals from Brody Mihocek and Melksham ensured the parity that the Demons had long deserved eventually arrived.
Suddenly, Melbourne was getting bang for its buck and you could be forgiven for thinking it was King's redeveloping side that was the high-flying premiership hunters. A run of four consecutive goals in less than nine minutes had flipped the script and had made an otherwise modest MCG crowd turn loud.
It was now Gold Coast that really needed to halt the body blows, and it took something special to ensure the visitors did. A long bomb from Wil Powell, a shot that travelled around 60m through the air, took the SUNS to the break in a precarious but manageable situation.
As legs grew tired amid the frantic pace at which the match was travelling, the sharp shifts of momentum ramped up. The third quarter delivered two straight majors for Gold Coast, two straight for Melbourne, another for Gold Coast, another couple for Melbourne, with moments of brilliance dotted in between.
There was a brilliant finish from 'Zeke the Freak' on the run, a spectacular leaping grab from Melksham that resulted in his third, while Gawn's influence on the seesawing contest was typified when the Dees skipper brought down a pack mark and converted to build upon the hosts' fragile lead.
Kysaiah Pickett – one of the game's most likely difference-makers – was, to that point, surprisingly one of the only few who hadn't yet had his moment. So, when the ball broke his way on the stroke of three-quarter time, of course the result was a snapped finish that opened up a 14-point margin at the final change.
But, for all of Melbourne's exuberance throughout the contest, perhaps it was the maturity when it mattered that would have most impressed King. When Gold Coast did inevitably challenge in the last, there was Melksham marking on the lead for another goal to keep a handy lead intact.
More tests? There was Harvey Langford keeping his composure. Another one? Enter yet another star-in-the-making in Latrelle Pickett jamming through a goal to almost conclusively wrap up the four points, these ones as satisfying as the last for both King and his set of new troops.
Jake makes the Easter Bunny blush
The Easter Bunny wasn't the only one with hops on Sunday. Jake Melksham got up, delivering a Virgin Australia Mark of the Year contender worthy of a car. Set to turn 35 later this season, Melksham wound back the years to pounce all over Sam Collins and drag down a spectacular leaping grab. The mark deserved a finish, and it got one when Melksham went back and drilled the set-shot chance for his third goal of the afternoon. It might only be April, but Melksham's effort will take some beating for the rest of 2026.
A lot to like about Lach
This iteration of Gold Coast is star studded. But perhaps the most positive aspect of the side's development has been uncovering a few gems along the way. Lachie Gulbin might be another. The club's Academy graduate was playing in just his second game on Sunday, but showed enough to suggest he might be another valuable Damien Hardwick role player in 2026. Playing as a high half-forward, Gulbin kicked a long bomb to help the SUNS maintain some early composure and finished with 22 disposals, eight marks and eight score involvements to complement his first AFL goal.
MELBOURNE 2.6 8.8 13.12 16.13 (109)
GOLD COAST 4.1 8.2 12.4 14.5 (89)
GOALS
Melbourne: Melksham 4, Langford 2, Mihocek 2, Gawn, Lindsay, K. Pickett, L.Pickett, Salem, Sharp, Tholstrup, van Rooyen
Gold Coast: King 3, Read 3, Z.Uwland 2, Walter 2, Graham, Gulbin, Jeffrey, Powell
BEST
Melbourne: Gawn, K.Pickett, Steele, Salem, Sparrow, Melksham, Sharp
Gold Coast: Z.Uwland, Anderson, Gulbin, Graham, B.Uwland, Noble
INJURIES
Melbourne: Nil
Gold Coast: Nil
Crowd: 24,287 at the MCG
