Big Battle

Max Gawn and Sam Jacobs, ranked first and third for hit-outs this season, will go head-to-head this afternoon. Where Gawn has really excelled through the first nine rounds of the competition is hit-outs to advantage. He sits atop the League with 151, meaning 22% of his hit-outs end in a Demons possession. The player Gawn targets the most is co-captain Nathan Jones, getting the ball to him a total of 30 times, with half of those from centre bounces. For Sam Jacobs, good mate Bryce Gibbs is the go to player, with 22 of his hit outs ending with the silky midfielder.

Contested Contest

The Crows and Demons are the two top ranked sides for contested possessions in 2018. Clayton Oliver leads the way for Melbourne, with 146 of his 253 disposals contested, a percentage of 58. Big man Max Gawn is always keen to help out at ground level, with 54 per cent of his touches coming in the same way. He has also taken a team high 19 contested marks this season. For the Crows, Hugh Greenwood is the contested king, with a remarkable 75 percent of his possessions contested. Well over half of fellow midfielder Cam Ellis-Yolmen's touches have also come the hard way. 

Welcome Experience

The Crows regain Club Champion Matt Crouch, ever reliable defender Luke Brown and the classy Wayne Milera Jnr for the clash with Melbourne, which sees 230 games of experience come back into the side. The Demons will go in unchanged from the team that beat Carlton by 109-points in Round 9, meaning co-captain Jack Viney will play his second game of the season. Last week, he finished with 12 disposals and a goal from 71 per cent game time.

Traeger Ledger

This afternoon will be the fifth time Melbourne have played at TIO Traeger Park, Alice Springs. Of their first four, just one has resulted in a victory, a 35-point win over Gold Coast in Round 10 last season. The three losses have all come against Port Adelaide with an average margin of 42-points. Alice Springs tends to produce high-scoring games, with an average team score of 93-points at the final siren, and a highest score of 122.