Jake Melksham returned to the Melbourne line-up for his first game of the season and he did it in style.
The 34-year-old proved why he remains such a damaging forward as he showed off his aerial prowess in the third quarter.
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A kick from centre wing by Tom Sparrow floated towards the 50m arc where a large pack began to form.
Melksham timed his run to perfection and then he leapt into the air before getting the perfect sit on the shoulders of Sam Collins.
He hauled in the mark before landing cleanly on his feet in a moment that left commentators and even his own teammates in disbelief.
Watch Melksham’s staggering mark in the video player above
“Big fly Melksham. He got the perfect ride and the perfect look at it,” Channel 7’s Jack Heverin said.
“That’s the mark of the year so far and the best of his career,” Dermott Brereton said on SEN.
Ben Cameron on ABC Sport said: “Melksham shows them the Milky Way … it was up amongst the Melky Way.”
Melksham made no mistake with his set shot on goal as he split the big sticks with his third of the contest.
He added a fourth in the early stages of the final quarter as the Dees raced away to lead by 27 points against the heavily favoured Suns.
Despite a spirited late fight from the Suns, they weren’t able to close the gap as Melbourne captured their third win of the season to move to 3-1.
The 16.13 (109) to 14.5 (89) victory launches the Demons into sixth spot on the ladder in a season where many predicted they would be in the lower trenches.
After losing multiple stars and bringing in a new coach, the club have reinvented themselves and are proving are handful in the early stages of the season.
The loss is the first of the year for the Suns who will look to bounce back next Saturday afternoon in a showdown against the Sydney Swans at Norwood Oval in Adelaide.
Melbourne will look to continue their winning ways when they tackle Essendon at Adelaide Oval.
