Young forward Jacob van Rooyen took a soaring mark and booted three clutch goals to break the shackles for Melbourne in their 18-point comeback victory over Richmond.
Van Rooyen kicked two majors in a four-minute span early in the final term and then added the sealer in his side's 15.6 (96) to 11.12 (78) win at the MCG on Monday night.
Richmond, inspired by Noah Cumberland's three-goal first quarter, led by 25 points before halftime in front of 83,985 fans.
But the Tigers coughed up nine goals to three after the main break in a fourth straight defeat that leaves their season hanging by a thread.
Making matters worse for Damien Hardwick's side, Maurice Rioli Jr hobbled off in the final few minutes with a hamstring injury.
Small forward Kade Chandler kicked three goals — all after halftime — and put Melbourne in front early in the final quarter.
In his fourth senior game, 20-year-old van Rooyen took a towering grab with a ride on Noah Balta to set up his first goal and added a second soon afterwards.
"He was pretty much coming off at his next rotation," coach Simon Goodwin said of van Rooyen after the match, having had a quiet game up until the last quarter.
"We were about to sub him out.
"He took one mark and that was enough (to keep him on)."
Richmond kicked 1.5 in the final quarter and were left ruing their missed chances.
Gun midfielders Clayton Oliver (32 disposals, six clearances), Jack Viney (30, five) and Christian Petracca (26, three) all shone for the Demons.
Captain Max Gawn was influential on return from a knee injury, claiming six contested marks and kicking a late goal.
Richmond was well served by Jack Riewoldt (four goals) while Tim Taranto (33 disposals, six clearances) was busy, as was speedster Jayden Short (30 touches) on return from a calf injury.
Had they lost, Melbourne would have been out of the top eight at the end of the round, but instead sit in second.
The Tigers fell to 1-1-4 for the season and look on shaky ground, sitting in 16th.
Riewoldt joins exclusive MCG club
Earlier, Riewoldt joined Matthew Lloyd and Matthew Richardson as the only three players to kick 400 or more goals at the MCG.
The Tigers spearhead booted two second quarter majors to notch the milestone, joining fellow Tiger Richardson (464) and former Essendon star Lloyd (461) in the exclusive club.
Only nine players in the history of the VFL/AFL have kicked more than 400 goals at one venue, including Riewoldt's cousin Nick, who kicked 452 at Docklands.
Gordon Coventry (679 at Victoria Park), Jason Dunstall (565 at Waverley Park), Doug Wade (413 at Kardinia Park), Matthew Pavlich (400 at Subiaco), and Jack Titus (471 at Punt Road) round out the list.
Questions over Cumberland 50m penalty
In the first quarter, the Tigers registered their highest scoring opening term of the year in their now-traditional Anzac Day eve blockbuster against Melbourne.
Tigers forward Cumberland was the star of quarter, kicking three goals from four shots, including one major that came after a 50m penalty that raised plenty of questions.
Cumberland was on a tough angle about 20m out when he took a shot at goal, spraying it left and just sneaking it in beside the behind post.
But as the ball went through the behinds, the umpire called a 50m penalty against Demons defender Jake Lever, who had encroached on the protected zone behind the man on the mark.
According to the rules, a 5m buffer needs to be left behind the man on the mark at all times.
Check out the scores and stats below.
ABC/AAP
