Live: Dees take on Cats at MCG ahead of Western Derby

Melbourne hosts Geelong at the MCG with one club trying to stay in the top six and the other trying to break in, before the Dockers and Eagles meet in the Western Derby.Follow all the action in our live blog.Fri 24 Jul 2026 at 7:04pmFri 24 Jul 2026 at 7:04pmIt's been a while for the Demons and Cats(Getty Images)Since we're talking about AFL fixturing, it's worth pointing out that tonight is the first time Melbourne and Geelong have played each other since round four last year. That's about 15 months all up.Fair to say things have changed a fair bit since then. More so for Melbourne, who are now coached by Steven King and are really good, as opposed to last year when they were coached by Simon Goodwin and were really bad. The Dees have been one of the stories of the 2026 season thanks to their dramatic resurgence, becoming not only a surprise top four threat but a joyous team to watch as well.The Cats are still the Cats. There or thereabouts, probably whacked too hard by injuries this year to make a grand final but still a good bet for at least a prelim.Geelong need this win to keep touch with the top six. Melbourne, remarkably, could be in third by tomorrow morning with four more points. Plenty to play for at the 'G tonight.Fri 24 Jul 2026 at 6:57pmFri 24 Jul 2026 at 6:57pmCats make a late change for Demons clash(Getty Images)Sam De Koning is out for the Cats due to illness. Ollie Henry gets a reprieve and replaces him.Max Holmes is the other out for Geelong, but we knew that was coming when he went over on his ankle last week. Mark Blicavs and Tanner Bruhn come in, which is handy.Meanwhile the Demons have made five changes for this one. The outs are Caleb Windsor, Daniel Turner, Changkuoth Jiath, Jake Melksham and Max Heath. The ins are Tom McDonald, Paddy Cross, Bailey Laurie, Harrison Petty, Lukas Cooke.Fri 24 Jul 2026 at 6:48pmFri 24 Jul 2026 at 6:48pmWelcome to Friday night footy x2(Getty Images)Good evening and welcome back to ABC Sport's live blog coverage of the 2026 AFL season. And we've got double delight for you tonight, the AFL's best and brightest deciding yet again that two games (played concurrently, of course) are better than one on a Friday night.So as a result, we've got the highly consequential Melbourne vs Geelong game running at the same time as the highly fun and probably quite interesting Western Derby in Perth. And the best news of all? I'm going to bring you both of them! At once! With my four eyes and many, many typing fingers!Should be a fun evening for us all, so please do stick around and join in via the comments.