The Demons kicked 22.10 (142) to 10.9 (69) to make the most of an astounding eight goal to two first term.
The one-sided contest was possibly Paul Roos’ last as coach on the MCG and it was the heaviest defeat by a Paul Roos-coached team, beating the previous record margin by one point.
The Swans dropped to eighth position on the ladder after the heavy defeat.
Melbourne physically dominated the famously hard Swans side, clearly winning the tackle count 67-52 and the contested possessions 139 to 113.
“I think when you strike any team that’s at the absolute top of their game it’s very difficult and it doesn’t matter where they are on the ladder,” Roos said after the game.
“They just played exceptionally well and we played exceptionally bad. The end result is not surprising when that happens. If we’re not 100 per cent we get beaten - it doesn’t matter who we play against.”
The Demons have struggled this year to get off to a decent start but that wasn’t an issue on Sunday as they only had to wait 20 seconds before Lynden Dunn soccered one through for the first of eight first-quarter goals.
Demons coach Dean Bailey was pleased with his team’s quick start but stressed the importance of going on with the job.
“The challenge for us was to win the second quarter. There was no point in getting beaten or losing the second quarter,” Bailey said after the game.
“Even though it was the first quarter and the score is what it is, you’ve still got 90 minutes of footy and in the modern game you can kick four or five pretty quickly and all of a sudden you are within 15-18 points and the game is alive again.”
Several key Swans were ineffective - Ryan O’Keefe, Brett Kirk and Jarrad McVeigh among them while Jude Bolton had a 250th game to forget.
The only Swan who could really hold his head high was Adam Goodes, but his opponent Cale Morton did get away from him at times. By contrast, Melbourne’s most experienced players - Brad Green, Cameron Bruce and Colin Sylvia were all prolific for the Demons - Green kicked five goals, Sylvia had 28 possessions and Davey 25.
Dunn, Austin Wonaeamirri and Clint Bartram all put in close to career-best performances for the Demons, James Frawley was superb in defence, while Jack Watts forced contests and created play across half-forward all day long. The Demons had 13 goalkickers on the day.
Jesse White did well to kick three goals from limited opportunities and Nick Malceski ran hard from the back half but it was hard to find many other winners in the red and white.
There was an expectation that the Swans would come back hard at the Demons and make a contest of it but the home side booted eight goals in the third term to remove any doubt.
The Swans kicked four goals to two in the final term but there was little excitement to be had from winning the quarter.
Melbourne 8.2 12.4 20.8 22.10 (142)
Sydney Swans 2.1 4.4 6.6 10.9 (69)
GOALS
Melbourne: Green 5, Dunn 3, Jones 2, Jurrah 2, Jamar 2, Johnson, Scully, Wonaeamirri, Bruce, Morton, Watts, Davey, Frawley.
Sydney Swans: Goodes 4, White 3, Richards, Pyke, McVeigh.
BEST
Melbourne: Sylvia, Bruce, Green, Frawley, Davey, Bartram, Jamar, Dunn, Morton.
Sydney Swans: Goodes, McGlynn, Hanneberry, White, Malceski, Jack, Kennedy.
INJURIES
Melbourne: Brent Moloney (corked thigh) replaced in selected side by Austin Wonaeamirri.
Sydney Swans: Nil.
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Stevic, Wenn, Findlay
Official crowd: 29,374 at the MCG
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily of the clubs or the AFL.
