If Christian Petracca is to eventually dethrone Dustin Martin as the AFL's biggest star, he'll have to dominate in big games.
It's something the Richmond champion has done repeatedly, as best evidenced by his three Norm Smith Medal wins.
And it's something Melbourne's challenger is beginning to do more often after he was judged best afield in a stunning 34-point win over the reigning premiers on Saturday night.
Much of the external focus during the build-up to the Anzac Day-eve blockbuster had centred on the Petracca-Martin battle, with the two explosive midfielders crucial to their respective sides' fortunes.
In the end, it was Petracca who got the Dees over the line with help from Clayton Oliver, Christian Salem and a long list of teammates who were willing to put their bodies on the line.
The 25-year-old bull registered 38 disposals, 10 clearances, six tackles, seven inside-50s and a goal in a massive contribution.
"I was just rapt that our 22 contributed the way we did and I thought Christian played a big part in that," Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin said.
"There's no doubt he's turning himself into a really, really strong player and a player that we can trust and will continue to perform to a really high level."
Martin didn't fare so well, gathering just eight disposals under the close watch of Dees stopper Michael Hibberd before sitting out the final quarter of his 250th game on the bench with concussion after copping a stray arm to the head.
"Hibbo's done the job before for us and we were pretty clear that he was a really good match-up for Dustin," Goodwin said.
"He's a quality player, so Hibbo did a great job.
"He's worked really hard to get into the team ... and I thought his ability to negate Dustin in the areas that we wanted him to negate him was very good.
"Dusty's a quality player and in big games he plays really well, so I thought we did a really good job tonight."
Melbourne's victory was their most impressive of the year to date and extended their winning run to six matches in what is now their best start to a season since 1965.
