Melbourne beat Collingwood by eight points in the King’s Birthday match at the MCG, and Kysaiah Pickett finished the job. He kicked the game-sealing major in the closing stages, then collected the revamped Neale Daniher Trophy after the Demons’ 12.11 to 11.9 win.
That is why Pickett’s name is the one many fans were searching for by the final siren. He had already ripped into the contest early, booting two goals in the first seven minutes, then returned to settle it when the margin was still alive. The trophy was voted on by coaches Craig McRae and Steven King on a 3-2-1 basis, and it went to the man who decided the match.
The game also carried the weight of a farewell to Neale Daniher, with an MCG crowd packed in his honour. At the first centre bounce, Nick Daicos and Pickett lined up against each other, and Harvey Langford later ran down Daicos mid-bounce as the game tightened. Melbourne’s lead still looked fragile deep in the last term, but when Jordan De Goey and Jacob van Rooyen both missed set shots, Pickett was the one who made the most of the next chance.
He did it without taking his 30 seconds. That detail matched the night: a match played fast, then decided by the player who never let the moment drift. Brayden Maynard had already been ruled out after dislocating his shoulder, but the final answer came anyway, and it came from Pickett’s boot.
For Melbourne, it was more than a win in a holiday fixture. It was a tight result delivered under pressure, in front of a crowd there to celebrate Daniher, and the player who walked off with the trophy was the same one who shut the door.
