Melbourne has broken their 17-game losing streak against North Melbourne, running over the top of the Roos in the final quarter by 37 points at the MCG.
Max Gawn was instrumental for the Demons in the centre with 50 hit-outs and 17 disposals, earning them their first win over the Kangaroos for the first time since round 20, 2006.
But early on, North looked like continuing their fine form against the red and blue.
In complete contrast to their shambolic first half from last week's Good Friday clash, the Roos came out firing, complete with a fearless brand of football to rattle the Dees in the opening term.
Fast and daring in their approach, North scored the opening three goals of the match through Ben Cunnington, Jarrad Waite and Ben Brown - those three goals surpassing the number of those kicked in the opening half last week.
While the forwards were on top of their game for the Roos, their defence similarly stood tall with Majak Daw putting together a solid first term.
A late inclusion for Robbie Tarrant, Daw ensured his presence was felt early with a monster bump on Jordan Lewis on the half-back flank and a huge hangar in defence - both impressive acts halting Melbourne's offensive.
The highlights kept coming for North as Jed Anderson clunked a huge mark on the back flank, ultimately resulting in Waite strolling into an open goal to kick his second.
But the Dees soon struck back in the latter stages of the term, rectifying their turnover footy with two majors to Tomas Bugg and one to Dean Kent, bringing the margin back to an attainable 13 points at quarter-time.
Although the early surge from the Kangaroos was effective on the scoreboard, there were still areas for concern, particularly in the midfield in which Melbourne led the centre clearances 8-1.
The Demons' dominance in the centre of the ground in the second term finally got the better of their opposition in the second quarter, resulting in a six-goal term opposed to the Roos' three.
In what was an assertive term for Melbourne, two early goals to Bayley Fritsch and Bernie Vince, coupled with a behind to Christian Petracca put the Demons in the lead for the first time in the match.
But their lead was short-lived however, with Billy Hartung turning on the afterburners to speed past the Dees' defenders and snap a classy six-pointer.
As Bugg lived up to his namesake and pestered the North defence with his third goal, Jesse Hogan, Jeff Garlett and Petracca all added their names to the score sheet, propelling themselves to a 20-point lead with plenty of time left on the clock.
With North unable to string together clean ball in the centre of the ground, Melbourne controlled the term, with the ball resting in their forward half for 71 per cent of the term.
While Jy Simpkin and Brown were able to sneak two much-needed majors in to break the Demons' four-goal streak, the Roos had nonetheless lost their lead, sitting nine points behind at the major change.
Dean Kent began proceedings in the third term as the Demons continued their relentless offensive forward.
But despite wrangling the ball under their control and dominating the inside 50 count much like in the second term, sloppy entries to their forwards gave the Roos numerous opportunities to slingshot the ball out of defence.
Finding space and bounding down the ground on numerous occasions, Brown capitalised on the defence's efforts with another two goals added to his name.
In what was a frustrating term with neither side able to wrestle the momentum their way, a lucky goal to Garlett in the goal square finally broke the stalemate.
Max Gawn appeared to be the only player rising above the deadlock, dominating his opponent in Todd Goldstein and covering the ground the ease.
With a Kent major book-ending the term in the final minutes, the Dees rose to a 19-point lead at three-quarter time, the signs looking positive for them to finally break their 17-game losing streak against the Kangas.
North, conversely, were fortunate the margin wasn't greater.
Alarm bells were ringing for North when Fritsch flew over a pack in the goal square with a strong contested mark in the final 30 seconds, yet fortunes fell in the Roos' favour with a free paid against Kent for a hold.
The 19-point deficit proved to be too much for North to bounce back from, with the Demons easily closing out the match by 37 points.
Even with Gawn absent for a portion of the final quarter through sheer exhaustion, Melbourne still stood head and shoulders above the Roos' midfield, the centre clearances now standing at 20-10.
With both sides going goal-for-goal in the opening stages of the final term, the Demons finally pushed themselves away with Bugg slotting his fourth of the day.
Even though late goals to Jack Ziebell and Cunnington eased the pain, final Melbourne majors from skipper Nathan Jones and Clayton Oliver brought the Demon faithful to their feet; the game well and truly out of the Kangaroos' reach.
With their 17-game losing streak against North finally broken, the Demons will head into next week in a massive clash against Hawthorn, while North Melbourne will be hoping to secure their second win over the flailing Carlton.
MELBOURNE 3.3 9.7 12.13 18.15 (123)
NORTH MELBOURNE 5.3 8.4 10.6 13.8 (86)
GOALS
Melbourne: Bugg 4, Garlett 3, Kent 3, Oliver 2, Fritsch, Petracca, Jones, Hogan, Vince, Lewis
North Melbourne: Brown 4, Waite 3, Cunnington 2, Simpkin, Hartung, Goldstein, Ziebell
BEST
Melbourne: Gawn, Lewis, Kent, Hogan, Bugg, Garlett, Salem
North Melbourne: Higgins, Brown, Cunnington, Waite, Dumont
INJURIES
Melbourne: Nil
North Melbourne: Nil
TALKING POINTS
1. MAX GAWN IS AT THE TOP OF HIS GAME
The term "in Brownlow contention" is tossed around loosely whenever a player strings together two or three influential games.
But in the case of Max Gawn, he legitimately is an early front-runner for the AFL's most prestigious honour.
After a well-documented pre-season in which Gawn lost nine kilograms and then put on six kilograms worth of muscle, the much leaner and fitter ruckman was able to cover significant areas of the ground much like his fellow midfielders.
Finishing with 50 hit-outs against Todd Goldstein, Gawn has become far more than just a cult figure of the Demons; he's become their best player.
2. NORTH HAVE SURPRISED US ALL
There's always surprises in the AFL, and North Melbourne this season have certainly been one of them.
Many had ruled them out of winning no more than a handful of games this season, and although they've only recorded the one win from their three games, North have shown fight and determination to avoid being labelled as one of the cellar-dwellers for season 2018.
North Melbourne have brought some admirable performances, and were right up with the Demons until the final quarter.
Although a top-eight appearance is still extremely doubtful, maybe think twice about tipping against North in their upcoming games.
3. MAJAK DAW WORKS IN DEFENCE
With Robbie Tarrant a late out, Majak Daw was thrust into the North line-up and pulled together a commendable performance.
Bursting onto the scene early in the third quarter, Daw took two incredible hangars, as well as laying a tremendous bump on Jordan Lewis which was met with raucous applause from the Kangaroo supporters.
While his influence declined as the game progressed and he made a few errors in defence, the move of Daw to the backline has nonetheless proven to be an effective one.
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