Melbourne have won their first premiership since 1964 after beating the Bulldogs by 80 points.
The Demons dominated the second half to cruise to victory in a last quarter that had an atmosphere more similar to a party than bruising AFL Grand Final.
Melbourne started like a house on fire, coming out like a team that was well aware of the premiership drought sitting above their heads.
The Demons dominated territory and possession in the early going with Clayton Oliver and Christian Petracca having their way in midfield. The latter booted the first goal of the game from 50 metres out of one step.
The Bulldogs struggled to keep up with the ballistic pace set by the Demons and caved to their pressure when exiting defensive 50 throughout the first quarter.
Max Gawn had early dominance of the airways clunking some very critical contested marks and help Melbourne relieve the pressure.
The Dogs lost just their 5th first quarter of the year in their most important game of the season.
However, the game swung off the back of Marcus Bontempelli's incredible second quarter. The inspirational skipper booted two goals in a quarter that saw the Bulldogs boot six goals to one.
11 forward 50 entries resulted in six goals for the Bulldogs that saw the Demons' lead wither away in quick time. Two goals from Adam Treloar helped get the Bulldogs comeback started as they looked to claw their way back into the game.
Caleb Daniel had an incredible first half accumulating 26 disposals from halfback, launching the Bulldogs into attack at every turn.
The Dogs got out to a seemingly comfortable lead before Melbourne slammed on seven goals unanswered to take a 24-point lead into the final term.
The premiership quarter was owned by Christian Petracca who got the Demons back into the game and got the crowd out of their seat with an incredible goal from the boundary line.
CHRISTIAN PETRACCA ARE YOU ACTUALLY KIDDING????
Can't be doing that in the #AFLGF pic.twitter.com/35GAXJ7snk
— AFL (@AFL) September 25, 2021
Luke Jackson announced himself as not just a future star of the competition, but a genuine superstar as of right now. With Max Gawn's influence being nullified, Jackson took it upon himself to get the game going Melbourne's way.
Another Demon who saw the opportunity to get his team back into the game was Angus Brayshaw. Brayshaw had a five minute period where he influenced just about every contest it seemed before he capped it off with a crucial goal.
Once Melbourne had skipped to a 42-point lead thanks to goals from Ben Brown, Alex Neal-Bullen and Bayley Fritsch at the start of the last quarter, the Demons were able to enjoy the final 15 minutes.
A frantic Grand Final that was flipped on its head by the best team in the competition when it seemed to be slipping through their fingers.
Congratulations Melbourne!
