MELBOURNE has decided to appeal Jacob van Rooyen's three-game suspension at the AFL Tribunal.
The young Demon spearhead was handed the sanction after his spoiling attempt made contact with the head of Aliir Aliir during the second term of Saturday night’s clash with the Power.
The incident was assessed as careless conduct, high impact and severe impact.
van Rooyen will front the tribunal on Tuesday night.
TOM SPARROW has rejected a lucrative long-term offer from Port Adelaide to sign a five-year deal to remain at Melbourne.
Sparrow, an unrestricted free agent, had been in the Power's sights all season and took his time to make his decision, while producing a career-best season under new Demons coach Steven King.
The 26-year-old has averaged 22.5 disposals and 3.7 clearances as Melbourne remains in the top-four mix ahead of the final round of the home and away season.
He had 16 touches and a goal in the Demons' 76-point win over the Power at Adelaide Oval on Saturday night.
Demons list manager Tim Lamb said the club was thrilled to retain the 2021 premiership player.
"Tom has grown into one of the competitions most impactful midfielders, while also establishing himself as a valued leader within the club," Lamb said.
"We look forward to seeing what Tom will continue to bring to the program over the next five years."
Power coach Josh Carr all but conceded on Friday last week that his club's chase of Sparrow had failed.
"Good on him. He's had a great year and they've had a great year and they're obviously a good football club that looks like they're on the up," Port coach Josh Carr said when asked about reports that Sparrow was about to re-sign with the Demons.
"So if that's the case, then well done."
INS:
Petty, McDonald, Laurie, Cross, Cooke
OUTS:
Turner (inj.), Jiath (inj.), Windsor (inj.), Melksham (omitted), Heath (omitted)
If you can get past the panelists this is an incredible vid for Dees fans.
Gave Lynch an absolute bath (again) a week after taking care of Gunston.
Don't think I can recall the last time Disco had a bad game.
An absolute champion player for his age and too often not given his due.
SHARPSHOOTER Bailey Fritsch has recommitted to Melbourne, signing a three-year contract extension that will see him remain a Demon until at least the end of 2029.
INS – Jefferson, Windsor, McDonald
OUTS – Petty (hamstring), Cooke (face), Laurie (omitted)
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ADELAIDE INS - M.Keane, I.Rankine, T.Walker
ADELAIDE OUTS - J.Worrell (illness), L.Pedlar (hamstring), T.Murray (omitted)
> Melbourne forward Paddy Cross has re-signed with the Demons for a further year, extending his contract until the end of 2027 and earning an upgrade to the club’s senior list.
Not a huge fan of McLachlan, but this is a **great** interview with an absolute legend of the club.
Hopefully not the last interview like this the club do.
According to Morris we will be finding out very soon how the efforts to move to Caulfield have been going:
> The AFL has given Melbourne a June 30 deadline to confirm whether its long-mooted move to Caulfield Racecourse is on or off.
Also of note is the confirmation (at least according to Morris) that the noise earlier this year about a possible move to Waverley Park was from Guerra and at least contributed to the board giving him the flick:
> Under Paul Guerra's leadership, Melbourne was prepared to move to Waverley without a firm commitment of a relocation to Caulfield down the track. But the board, led by Steven Smith, shared a different view, demanding Caulfield be signed off before any Waverley Park agreement was signed.
> Former Melbourne star Steven May has described having a "mental breakdown" that led to his sudden retirement on the eve of the AFL season.
>The dual All-Australian called it quits in March, exactly two weeks before the Demons' campaign began under new coach Steven King.
>"The worst part about it was I had just done a pre-season, and I hate pre-seasons," May told SEN on Wednesday.
>"Some people love them, but I really hate them.
>"It was the end of January so I'd finally got through it and was ready for a new year, I was injured all last season and had a bad year on the field.
>"I was really ready to show people that I still have it, did the pre-season, ran a PB in January, up and about, let's go.
>"Then I had a bit of a mental breakdown and found myself a bit lost and not sure what to do.
>"It came to a point where I had to put the club before myself.
>"I was able to retire before the deadline so then they could get another player in ... all in all it looks like it's worked well for both parties."
> His comments come less than a week after all charges were dropped against May and Richmond premiership midfielder Dion Prestia.
>The magistrate also ordered the legal costs of May and Prestia be paid by the Chief Commissioner of Police.
>"Your name gets dragged through the media. I know I don't have the greatest name already, so that didn't help," May said.
>"Especially when you were so innocent in something.
>"You can't really do much or say much because it's a criminal charge."
>May, who famously played in Melbourne's 2021 grand final win with a torn hamstring, is playing local football this year with East Ringwood.
>"There comes a point where you've got to make a decision that's best for my family but also for the footy club," he said.
>"My family is happy and the club is flying, so I'm pretty stoked with it."
>May played 128 games with Melbourne and 123 for Gold Coast, where he was also co-captain for two seasons.
Melbourne's social media upload of a video introducing Naarm's indigenous guernsey for '26.
> Nyirripi, home of the Demons. Located 440km outside of Alice Springs, holds a special place in our hearts.
> Our 2026 Indigenous Guernsey will celebrate this close community connection with Nyirripi, and will be worn throughout Sir Doug Nicholls Round in 2026.