Melbourne's opening night win over the Western Bulldogs should strike fear through the AFL

Some six months and 3,000 kilometres removed from that unforgettable night in Perth, Melbourne fans were treated to the sweetest encore imaginable.

Anyone even remotely Demons-affiliated will have relived and rewatched the 2021 grand final over the summer, the vast majority of them more than once. Some would be able to recount every play, every contest, every swing in momentum back to you from start to finish. 

For a split second on Wednesday night, some of those Demons fans might have had to double-check they hadn't accidentally hit play on their 38th rewatch, such was the similarity with this much-anticipated season opener.

Melbourne got off to a scorching start, just like in the grand final. The Bulldogs responded and took over the game with a run of goals in the second quarter, just like in the grand final.

Melbourne's system eventually proved much too much for the Dogs to handle, just like in the grand final. And Christian Petracca was an immovable and irresistible force, just like in the grand final.

The only thing missing was the «bang, bang, bang», the red and blue eruption that ended last year's decider in three minutes of simply obscene football.

In its place was a suffocation. A football team tuned to perfection, so in sync with one another and so comfortable within its tactical confines, that the second-best team in the competition was rendered completely helpless.

The grand final outburst was exhilarating. This was almost terrifying.

Time and again the Bulldogs, led by the grinding Jack Macrae, the ferocious Bailey Smith and the prodigious Aaron Naughton, mustered the courage to knock at the door. But on nearly every occasion they were shut down, grabbed by the collar and hurled out the back door.

There was no reason