1. How long will he be Gawn for?
All Australian ruckman Max Gawn is one player Melbourne could ill afford to lose, so when news filtered through the big man had injured his hamstring and was out for the game Demons fans would have been extremely worried. Gawn appeared to suffer the injury to his right hamstring when sliding to the turf trying to tackle Geelong skipper Joel Selwood. The big man immediately signaled to the bench that he needed assistance and walked gingerly from the field. Gawn went down to the rooms to be assessed but did not return to the field after half-time. With Gawn done for the day, it was up to Jack Watts to pick up the slack in the ruck. Now the question will be, how long will Gawn be sidelined? Melbourne has back-up ruckman Jake Spencer waiting in the wings, but Gawn's dominance at ruck contests is crucial to his team's game style.

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2. Hawkins bounces back in a big way
Despite booting four goals against North Melbourne last week, Tom Hawkins was heavily scrutinised for giving away five free kicks in the opening three quarters of Geelong's nailbiting one-point win over the Roos. Even Chris Scott weighed in on the matter and said the spearhead was undisciplined in his approach. Scott, himself, copped flak from former Cat Cameron Mooney for the way he called out Hawkins in public. Against Melbourne Hawkins was far more aware of his positioning, with the star forward booting five majors in an imposing display. More importantly, he gave away zero free kicks as he often outpointed opponent Tom McDonald in the air.


3. Bad kicking at goal is bad football
They say bad kicking is bad football and Melbourne would be kicking itself for its abysmal conversion rate against Geelong. The Demons had six more scoring shots than their opponents, but could not convert on the scoreboard, finishing with 13.19 and particularly wasteful in the second and third quarters. Missed shots from Tim Smith, Nathan Jones, James Harmes, Billy Stretch, Sam Weideman and Dean Kent all proved incredibly costly as Melbourne could not find a way to finish off its work up the ground. Kent's miss in the final quarter, that would have cut the margin to 12 points, was especially deflating. Geelong, on the other hand, made the most of its opportunities and finished with an accurate 20.6. The opposing conversion rates were clearly the difference in the game.


4. Parfitt proves his mettle
The word out of Geelong over the summer was that fans should be extremely excited by draftee Brandan Parfitt, pick No.26 in last year's NAB AFL Draft. Parfitt made his debut in round one after a terrific pre-season where he impressed the Cats' coaching staff with his composure under pressure and his ability to finish in front of goal. Those two traits were on display against Melbourne on Saturday as the 18-year-old produced the finest game of his short career. Parfitt gathered 23 disposals, laid five tackles and booted a crucial set-shot goal in the final term to give the Cats a handy 17-point buffer in the last quarter. A NAB AFL Rising Star nomination could be in the offing.


5. Neal-Bullen's howler
Melbourne led by three points early in the final term when Alex Neal-Bullen committed a ghastly turnover inside defensive 50. Rather than handball to his supporting numbers, the young forward decided to deliberately kick the ball backwards 15m to Oscar McDonald. The ball was chopped off and Parfitt handballed to Hawkins in the square who kicked through his fifth goal. Neal-Bullen had a terrific game for the Demons, but he would want that moment back again.