Round 13, 1995 - Melbourne vs Richmond

Melbourne have upset a then-top of the table Richmond by 11 points, on a dark and gloomy MCG day in front of over 40,000 fans.

The Dees actually led for most of the day, getting on top of the Tigers in the latter half of the first term and going on with it from there, to win 14.11 (95) to 12.12 (84).

The rucks do battle - Jim Stynes was one of the better performers of the day in this one.

It was a feisty opening with some crunching hits and plenty of niggle off the ball as well, the Dees certainly came to play and once the fireworks died down, they gained the ascendancy, kicking five of the last six goals of the opening quarter.

Melbourne got out to a 26-point lead during the second quarter in worrying signs for Richmond, but to the Tigers credit, they slowly fought their way back into the contest to eventually retake the lead in the third term.

Some poor kicking from goal, particularly from key forward Stephen Jurica, ultimately cost Richmond the win, although the youngster from WA was able to kick his first in league football.

Chris Naish also brought up a milestone, with his three goals taking him past the 150 mark on his career.

The Tigers also clearly missed Nick Daffy, who had been rubbed out with a two weeks suspension from the Round 12 clash with Fitzroy.

Paul Broderick continued his rich vein of form with 25 disposals and a goal, while the Gale brothers each had a tale of two halves. Michael was everywhere in the first half with 14 disposals and a couple of goals (he finished with 20 and 3), while Brendan was a little quiet early but stepped up in a big way in the second half. He finished with nine marks and a goal.

David Neitz and Garry Lyon were on fire for the Dees, but strangely Scott Turner didn't spend a whole lot of time on either of them, but maybe should have. He was solid down back but Neitz had his way with David Bourke early (before Paul Bulluss quelled his influence), and Garry Lyon proved to be too strong for Duncan Kellaway until Turner was moved onto him late.

One interesting tidbit to the game was the AFL debut of a 17-year old, Adem Yze.

Yze showed enough in his first game to suggest he has what it takes to have a long AFL career, but I'm sure he wouldn't have predicted that almost 30 years later he would be coaching the club he made his debut against.

Stats for the game courtesy of AFL Tables

A Fighting Fury player ratings - click here for explanation

Paul Broderick	10
Brendan Gale	9
Michael Gale	9
Matthew Knights	8
Wayne Campbell	7
Chris Naish	5
Scott Turner	5
Stephen Jurica	5
Jamie Tape	4
Stuart Maxfield	4
Chris Bond	3
Matthew Rogers	3
Ashley Prescott	3
Duncan Kellaway	2
Greg Dear	2
David Bourke	2
Paul Bulluss	2
Nathan Bower	1
Stuart Edwards	1
Mark Neeld	0
Mark Merenda	0