ANOTHER week, another Jake Melksham masterclass.

After kicking four goals in Adelaide last weekend after finishing with five eight days earlier on the Gold Coast, Melksham converted five more goals to lead Melbourne to a 36-point win over North Melbourne at the MCG on Sunday.

DEMONS v KANGAROOS Full match coverage and stats

The Demons and Kangaroos weren’t playing for much in the context of the 2025 season, but the 33-year-old is playing for another contract beyond October and still looking like an important part of Simon Goodwin’s team.

North Melbourne was in the fight until three quarter-time, but when Melksham slotted the first two goals of the final quarter to make it five in a row, Melbourne was home, ending a five-game losing run in the 18.11 (119) to 12.11 (83) win.

The Kangaroos didn’t give up, tempers didn’t stop flaring until late in the game, but when Melksham ran into an open goal for a fifth, it was game over, although not to the scheduled time.

The game stopped for more than five minutes when North Melbourne ruckman Tristan Xerri clattered Melbourne’s Tom Sparrow in the head with a swinging arm at a stoppage inside 50 at the Punt Road end.

Sparrow was knocked out before he hit the ground and was removed on the medi-cart in a neck brace, following an incident that will clearly draw the attention of Match Review Officer Michael Christian.

Max Gawn remonstrated with Xerri aggressively, as did Jack Viney and Clayton Oliver, who both nailed the star ruckman in tackles in response to the incident.

While Melksham finished with five, Bayley Fritsch was just as damaging, producing one his best game of a frustrating season by his standard, finishing with three goals – and three goal assists – from 18 disposals on a day where conversion proved to be the difference.

Christian Petracca was busy with 31 disposals, 14 contested possessions and seven clearances, but North Melbourne young gun Colby McKercher glided around the MCG from start to finish, bursting from half-back between the arcs, using his lethal left foot with precision.

Weeks after signing a new deal beyond the Tasmania Devils’ proposed entry in 2027, the Launceston product starred early with nine first quarter touches that resulted in two rebound 50s and three inside 50s, before finishing with 29 disposals and 542 metres gained.

Recalled last week for his first game in two months, Will Phillips was handed the big role tagging Kysaiah Pickett. He couldn’t stop him early, but did for much of the first half before the tag was dropped after half-time.

Paul Curtis converted two set shots in the first quarter to give the Kangaroos the lead at the first break in a brilliant start from the gun small forward.

Simon Goodwin sent Pickett to the goal square in the second quarter to isolate the tag and the Demons’ livewire missed two set shots from close range in the space of two minutes. Kade Chandler made up for those wasted opportunities moments later, but then missed another shot amid a period of Melbourne dominance.

On a dry, mild winter’s Sunday at the MCG, both sides wasted a stack of chances in the second quarter. North kicked four consecutive behinds, while Melbourne put two shots out on the full and missed two others.

After even more behinds to start the second half, Max Gawn and Bayley Fritsch converted long range set shots to open up an early buffer in the third quarter. But just when the Demons put a gap on the Roos, Cam Zurhaar calmly slotted a shot a goal.

With Nick Larkey watching on from the grandstand due to a knee injury, Zurhaar kicked a second to respond again. Then a third. It was a brilliant eight-minute patch from the West Australian.

Melbourne lifted. The experience of Clayton Oliver, Christian Petracca and Jack Viney stood up around the ball. When Riley Hardeman was punished for insufficient intent, Jacob van Rooyen snapped a goal in the dying seconds of the third quarter to make it a 16-point margin at the final break.

The last quarter went for just over 41 minutes on a day where Melbourne won for the first time since round 11.

MRO scrutiny for young Roo?
Match Review Officer Michael Christian will look at an incident just before half-time that forced Melbourne veteran Jake Melksham off the ground. North Melbourne key defender Will Dawson clips Melksham with his hip in a groundball contest. Melksham didn’t start the second half, but returned to the field 10 minutes into the third quarter after also hurting his elbow in the bump.

Mess with the Bull, get the horns
Cam Zurhaar kept the Kangaroos in it during a brilliant burst in the third quarter. With no Larkey, it was the 27-year-old nicknamed 'Bull' who troubled Melbourne the most, kicking three goals in the space of eight minutes to be the main man inside 50. Those three came after Zurhaar started the second half with two behinds in the first six minutes. He almost dribbled through a fourth just before the siren, but Caleb Windsor dashed back to touch the ball on the line, colliding with the goal umpire in the process.

Son-of-a-gun fires
Cooper Harvey had to wait until last Thursday for his first senior opportunity of 2025, but on Sunday, in his fifth game, the son of games record-holder Brent Harvey kicked four goals to stake a claim in Alastair Clarkson’s side going forward. The 20-year-old kicked three in the last quarter when North Melbourne were still fighting to be a big positive for the Kangaroos.

MELBOURNE                  3.3    6.5    11.9    18.11 (119)
NORTH MELBOURNE      4.2    5.6    8.11   12.11 (83)   

GOALS
Melbourne: Melksham 5, Fritsch 3, Chandler 2, van Rooyen, Pickett, Langdon, Jefferson, Gawn, Tholstrup, Petracca, Sparrow
North Melbourne: Harvey 4, Zurhaar 3, Darling 3, Curtis 2

BEST
Melbourne: Fritsch, Melksham, Petracca, Salem, Gawn, Viney, Langford
North Melbourne: McKercher, Zurhaar, Sheezel, Harvey, Parker

INJURIES
Melbourne: Sparrow (concussion)
North Melbourne: Nil

SUBSTITUTES
Melbourne: Caleb Windsor replaced Xavier Lindsay (tactical) in the third quarter  
North Melbourne: Bailey Scott replaced Finnbar Maley (tactical) in the third quarter

Crowd: 35,844 at the MCG