AFL LIVE: Melbourne, Essendon face off at the MCG in a day to honour Neale Daniher

Fans - those who in the ground - have been asked to sing along to Neale Daniher’s signature song, Mr Brightside.

It became a yearly moment on the Daniher Drive when Neale would get up on stage and dance to the Killer’s song.

The Melbourne cheer squad members are waving their flags in unison with the song.

Both sides are in their final huddles, getting a gee up from their skippers, as they prepare to kickstart this game.

Fans have left it to the last minute to arrive at the MCG, causing queues outside the ground, especially lining up to get into the MCC members.

The stands are still largely vacant on a day they are predicting between 40,000 and 50,000 fans.

Both clubs have already paid tribute to the late Neale Daniher.

In a nutshell: Melbourne have been the superior side this year. They sit in the top six with eight wins and five losses, and come off a tough win against Collingwood on the King’s Birthday weekend. Essendon, on the other hand, have been poor. They are searching for their second win of the season, but at least showed a level of improvement in a fighting five-point loss to Carlton last week.

Head-to-head: Essendon have beaten Melbourne the past two times these teams have met - both encounters on Adelaide Oval during Gather Round. That might count for something. But Melbourne have been unbeatable at the MCG this year, literally. The Dees are 7-0 on their home turf in 2026, including wins over Hawthorn, Collingwood and Brisbane.

Milestone man: The Bombers will be led out today by defender Mason Redman who plays his 150th game.

At the selection table: Melbourne have made four changes, losing Brody Mihocek to a neck injury and Caleb Windsor (toe), while dropping Tom McDonald and Latrelle Pickett. They bring in Joel Fitzgerald, Lukas Cooke, Bailey Laurie and Jake Melksham. The Bombers bring in Jordan Ridley and Dyson Sharp after dropping Max Kondogiannis and Saad El-Hawli.

Christopher Klose wants to get something off his chest. It’s 5.42pm on a chilly Sunday evening and thousands of Essendon and Carlton fans are streaming into the MCG.

As the sun sets, this masthead stood outside the gates to chat to the Bombers faithful about the most talked about man in footy right now – James Hird.

Lifelong Essendon fan Klose and his son Jordan graciously agree to an interview and photograph, with Chris joking, “I’ve got plenty to say.”

So, should Hird coach Essendon again?

“I’m not 100 per cent certain we have a choice,” Chris says, staring down the camera. “I think we should save ourselves a lot of money and not go through the process, just appoint him, let’s get it out of our system.”

Read Hannah Kennelly’s full story HERE.

Hello and welcome to our Saturday blog. My name is Danny Russell and I will walk you through an intriguing clash between Melbourne and Essendon at the MCG, starting at 1.15pm. I say intriguing because both sides will be honouring the late Neale Daniher and will want to do him proud.

On paper, it looks a cakewalk for the Dees. But Essendon’s sole win this year came against Steven King’s men at Adelaide Oval during Gather Round. Can lightning strike twice?

As the afternoon unfolds, our guru Roy Ward will step in to anchor the North Melbourne-West Coast clash in Perth, followed by Port Adelaide hosting Sydney at Adelaide Oval tonight.

Sit back and enjoy our coverage.