2026 AFL Season Round 23: Melbourne v Fremantle

This is the match report for the match played on 8 August 2026 between Melbourne and Fremantle during round twenty-three of the 2026 season of the Australian Football League. Melbourne hosted Fremantle at the MCG. Max Gawn captained the hosts. The hosts were coached by Steven King and the visitors were coached by Justin Longmuir.

Melbourne (17.11.113) defeated Fremantle (17.7.109).

Match Details

Season: 2026 AFL Season
Round: Round 23
Teams: Melbourne v Fremantle
Date: Saturday 8 August 2026
Time: 1:15 PM
Venue: MCG
Attendance: 40,938

Match Results

Outcome: Melbourne def. Fremantle
Score: 17.11.113 - 17.7.109

Quarter Breakdown

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
Melbourne 5 . 2 10 . 5 12 . 8 17 . 11 17 . 11 (113)
Fremantle 5 . 2 11 . 2 14 . 4 17 . 7 17 . 7 (109)
Margin level FREM by 3 FREM by 8 MELB by 4 MELB by 4
Duration 32:33 33:14 28:29 30:30 2:04:46

Score Worm

This chart is oriented such that the margin is positive when the hosts (Melbourne) are in the lead and is negative when the visitors (Fremantle) are in the lead.

Honour Roll

Melbourne

Captain: Max Gawn
Coach: Steven King

Fremantle

Captain: unknown
Coach: Justin Longmuir

Brownlow Votes

Player Team # Votes
Kysaiah Pickett MELB 36 3
Tom Sparrow MELB 32 2
Jye Amiss FREM 24 1

AFLCA Champion Votes

Player Team # Votes 5 4 3 2 1

Player Statistics

Melbourne

# Player Pos. ToG% GL BH DI KI HB MK HO TA CL CR FF FA RF IF
17 Bowey, Jake BPL 77% 1 0 24 16 8 4 0 2 0 3 0 1 8 3
37 Chandler, Kade FPR 80% 1 0 6 3 3 2 0 5 0 1 0 0 0 1
47 Fitzgerald, Joel INT 60% 0 0 13 8 5 1 0 7 3 3 1 1 1 4
31 Fritsch, Bayley CHF 87% 2 5 12 10 2 4 0 4 1 1 5 0 0 1
11 Gawn, Max (c) RU 84% 0 0 16 7 9 2 33 4 8 3 0 3 0 4
21 Jefferson, Matthew INT 62% 0 0 4 2 2 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0
14 Jiath, Changkuoth INT 71% 0 0 16 11 5 7 0 1 0 0 1 0 5 3
15 Langdon, Ed HFFR 94% 0 0 9 3 6 3 0 2 1 1 0 0 1 2
4 Langford, Harvey WR 71% 0 0 16 9 7 5 0 7 2 0 2 0 1 0
16 Laurie, Bailey INT 65% 3 1 13 8 5 2 0 2 0 4 1 0 0 1
8 Lever, Jake FB 98% 0 0 6 4 2 3 0 1 0 2 1 0 1 2
25 McDonald, Tom CHB 96% 0 0 6 4 2 3 0 1 0 1 0 1 3 0
35 Petty, Harry HBFL 85% 3 2 9 6 3 6 0 3 0 2 2 1 0 2
36 Pickett, Kysaiah HFFL 81% 2 1 27 17 10 3 0 6 2 7 4 2 1 3
24 Rivers, Trent HBFR 71% 0 1 24 13 11 4 0 2 1 5 2 1 6 3
3 Salem, Christian INT 43% 0 0 6 2 4 0 0 4 0 1 1 0 1 1
30 Sharp, Harry WL 84% 3 1 14 12 2 0 0 3 1 2 2 0 0 5
32 Sparrow, Tom C 77% 2 0 24 15 9 2 0 4 4 4 0 1 1 5
9 Steele, Jack RR 73% 0 0 17 5 12 2 0 4 6 4 4 2 1 2
12 Tholstrup, Koltyn FPL 87% 0 0 22 9 13 4 0 2 1 1 1 1 2 4
10 Turner, Daniel BPR 100% 0 0 16 8 8 5 0 1 0 4 0 1 2 1
2 van Rooyen, Jacob FF 81% 0 0 8 3 5 1 1 1 2 2 1 2 0 2
6 Windsor, Caleb RO 72% 0 0 15 8 7 3 0 2 0 3 0 2 0 7
Rushed 0
Total (23 players) 17 11 323 183 140 67 34 68 32 55 29 19 34 56

Fremantle

# Player Pos. ToG% GL BH DI KI HB MK HO TA CL CR FF FA RF IF
24 Amiss, Jye FF 86% 5 0 8 5 3 5 0 0 0 2 1 1 0 0
10 Bolton, Shai RO 77% 1 1 17 11 6 3 0 1 5 5 0 3 2 7
8 Brayshaw, Andrew C 81% 0 0 20 9 11 1 0 6 5 6 1 2 3 1
5 Chapman, Heath BPR 85% 0 0 12 9 3 6 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 1
6 Clark, Jordan HBFL 76% 0 0 21 9 12 5 0 1 1 1 1 0 2 1
36 Cox, Brennan FB 78% 0 0 14 9 5 8 0 2 1 5 0 2 3 0
18 Cox, Mason INT 49% 0 0 7 5 2 4 14 0 2 2 2 0 1 1
43 Dudley, Isaiah CHF 77% 2 1 12 4 8 2 0 0 0 3 0 2 0 1
28 Erasmus, Neil INT 76% 0 0 12 7 5 5 0 0 2 3 0 2 3 2
32 Frederick, Michael WR 74% 0 1 6 5 1 1 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0
9 Jackson, Luke RU 83% 0 0 17 6 11 2 26 7 8 0 5 0 0 3
44 Johnson, Matthew WL 79% 1 0 24 13 11 8 0 5 2 4 0 1 1 5
21 McDonald, Oscar BPL 91% 0 0 7 5 2 3 0 1 1 2 0 2 1 0
17 McVee, Judd INT 72% 0 0 13 6 7 2 0 0 2 2 1 1 3 2
30 O'Driscoll, Nathan INT 69% 1 0 9 7 2 3 0 2 1 1 1 0 3 3
16 Reid, Murphy HFFL 78% 0 0 18 8 10 1 0 1 2 4 0 3 0 1
13 Ryan, Luke CHB 89% 0 0 18 16 2 8 0 1 0 5 0 4 6 1
3 Serong, Caleb RR 81% 0 0 21 11 10 0 0 10 7 2 1 0 1 6
39 Switkowski, Sam HFFR 78% 1 1 11 5 6 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2
35 Treacy, Josh FPR 90% 2 2 12 12 0 7 0 5 0 2 3 0 0 9
20 Voss, Patrick FPL 88% 4 0 10 7 3 5 0 2 0 3 0 1 0 3
23 Worner, Karl HBFR 80% 0 0 13 11 2 6 0 7 0 4 1 3 3 0
26 Young, Hayden INT 65% 0 0 19 11 8 5 0 4 3 3 2 2 3 2
Rushed 1
Total (23 players) 17 7 321 191 130 91 40 59 43 61 19 29 37 51

Legend

ToG%: Time-on-Ground Percentage, GL: Goals, BH: Behinds, DI: Disposals, KI: Kicks, HB: Handballs, MK: Marks, HO: Hitouts, TA: Tackles, CL: Clearances, CR: Clangers, FF: Free Kicks For, FA: Free Kicks Against, RF: Rebounds Inside 50, IF: Inside 50s

Player Line-Up

Melbourne Coach: Steven King
BACK FOLLOWER INTERCHANGE
21 O. McDonald 36 B. Cox 5 H. Chapman 11 M. Gawn (c) 47 J. Fitzgerald
37 K. Chandler 2 J. van Rooyen 12 K. Tholstrup 9 J. Steele 21 M. Jefferson
FORWARD 6 C. Windsor 14 C. Jiath
HALF-BACK

16 B. Laurie
6 J. Clark 13 L. Ryan 23 K. Worner

3 C. Salem
15 E. Langdon 31 B. Fritsch 36 K. Pickett



HALF-FORWARD



CENTRE



44 M. Johnson 8 A. Brayshaw 32 M. Frederick



4 H. Langford 32 T. Sparrow 30 H. Sharp FOLLOWER INTERCHANGE
CENTRE 9 L. Jackson 18 M. Cox
HALF-FORWARD 3 C. Serong 28 N. Erasmus
16 M. Reid 43 I. Dudley 39 S. Switkowski 10 S. Bolton 17 J. McVee
24 T. Rivers 25 T. McDonald 35 H. Petty

30 N. O'Driscoll
HALF-BACK

26 H. Young
FORWARD



20 P. Voss 24 J. Amiss 35 J. Treacy



10 D. Turner 8 J. Lever 17 J. Bowey



BACK



Fremantle Coach: Justin Longmuir

Score Timeline

Quarter Team Scoring Event Score Time
Q1 FREM Patrick Voss goal 0.0.0 - 1.0.6 02:21
MELB Tom Sparrow goal 1.0.6 - 1.0.6 03:25
MELB Bayley Fritsch behind 1.1.7 - 1.0.6 05:47
FREM Shai Bolton behind 1.1.7 - 1.1.7 07:26
FREM Isaiah Dudley goal 1.1.7 - 2.1.13 08:04
FREM Patrick Voss goal 1.1.7 - 3.1.19 09:55
FREM Jye Amiss goal 1.1.7 - 4.1.25 12:25
MELB Kade Chandler goal 2.1.13 - 4.1.25 15:06
MELB Bailey Laurie goal 3.1.19 - 4.1.25 16:39
MELB Bailey Laurie goal 4.1.25 - 4.1.25 18:34
MELB Kysaiah Pickett goal 5.1.31 - 4.1.25 21:20
FREM Sam Switkowski goal 5.1.31 - 5.1.31 23:55
MELB Harry Sharp behind 5.2.32 - 5.1.31 25:30
FREM Josh Treacy behind 5.2.32 - 5.2.32 26:44
Q2 FREM Josh Treacy goal 5.2.32 - 6.2.38 00:57
FREM Patrick Voss goal 5.2.32 - 7.2.44 03:30
FREM Jye Amiss goal 5.2.32 - 8.2.50 07:00
MELB Kysaiah Pickett behind 5.3.33 - 8.2.50 08:04
MELB Harry Petty goal 6.3.39 - 8.2.50 09:57
MELB Harry Sharp goal 7.3.45 - 8.2.50 11:10
MELB Bayley Fritsch goal 8.3.51 - 8.2.50 15:32
MELB Jake Bowey goal 9.3.57 - 8.2.50 16:51
MELB Trent Rivers behind 9.4.58 - 8.2.50 20:49
FREM Jye Amiss goal 9.4.58 - 9.2.56 24:30
MELB Bailey Laurie goal 10.4.64 - 9.2.56 25:47
FREM Josh Treacy goal 10.4.64 - 10.2.62 27:25
MELB Harry Petty behind 10.5.65 - 10.2.62 29:05
FREM Patrick Voss goal 10.5.65 - 11.2.68 31:50
Q3 MELB Bayley Fritsch behind 10.6.66 - 11.2.68 01:44
MELB Tom Sparrow goal 11.6.72 - 11.2.68 04:25
MELB Harry Sharp goal 12.6.78 - 11.2.68 07:03
FREM Shai Bolton goal 12.6.78 - 12.2.74 08:57
FREM Jye Amiss goal 12.6.78 - 13.2.80 10:31
FREM Josh Treacy behind 12.6.78 - 13.3.81 15:35
FREM Jye Amiss goal 12.6.78 - 14.3.87 18:46
MELB Bailey Laurie behind 12.7.79 - 14.3.87 22:40
FREM Sam Switkowski behind 12.7.79 - 14.4.88 24:32
MELB Bayley Fritsch behind 12.8.80 - 14.4.88 26:11
Q4 FREM Matthew Johnson goal 12.8.80 - 15.4.94 01:44
MELB Harry Petty goal 13.8.86 - 15.4.94 07:39
FREM Isaiah Dudley behind 13.8.86 - 15.5.95 09:30
FREM Nathan O'Driscoll goal 13.8.86 - 16.5.101 10:38
MELB Kysaiah Pickett goal 14.8.92 - 16.5.101 13:08
MELB Harry Petty goal 15.8.98 - 16.5.101 15:30
FREM Isaiah Dudley goal 15.8.98 - 17.5.107 17:12
FREM Michael Frederick behind 15.8.98 - 17.6.108 18:50
MELB Harry Sharp goal 16.8.104 - 17.6.108 19:28
MELB Bayley Fritsch goal 17.8.110 - 17.6.108 20:43
MELB Bayley Fritsch behind 17.9.111 - 17.6.108 21:51
MELB Harry Petty behind 17.10.112 - 17.6.108 23:58
FREM Rushed behind 17.10.112 - 17.7.109 25:16
MELB Bayley Fritsch behind 17.11.113 - 17.7.109 30:24