Melbourne have broken their 12-year AFL drought against North Melbourne, holding them off for a 37-point win at the MCG.

Demons Max Gawn and Jesse Hogan starred in Saturday’s 18.15 (123) to 13.8 (86) win.

Melbourne co-captain Nathan Jones, who also impressed, is the only surviving member of the 2006 team that last beat the Kangaroos.

But the Demons made hard work of ending the 17-game losing streak and should have won by more.

They dominated with 23 inside 50s to eight in the third quarter, but kicked a wasteful 3.6.

The Kangaroos stayed in touch and only trailed by 20 points, 11 minutes into the last quarter.

Melbourne kicked three of the next four goals to ensure the win, including one to Jones that had the Demons faithful roaring.

North suffered a major blow when key defender Robbie Tarrant was a late withdrawal with hamstring soreness.

But his replacement Majak Daw took a soaring mark deep in defence at the start of the game.

The Kangaroos dominated early, kicking four goals in the first 13 minutes.

But the Demons rallied and only trailed by 13 points at quarter time, before hitting the lead eight minutes into the second term.

While North midfielder Ben Jacobs did an excellent run-with job on Melbourne star Clayton Oliver, the Demons were on top of the centre clearances thanks to Gawn clearly having the better of ruck rival Todd Goldstein.

Hogan only kicked one goal, but he ran relentlessly up and down the ground and had 26 disposals, his career high.

His game was an interesting contrast to North’s Ben Brown, who played the more traditional game and kicked four goals.

Dean Kent justified his recall with three goals, while Tomas Bugg kicked a career-best four.

North key forward Jarrad Waite, who was outstanding last week, had minimal influence despite kicking three goals.

Midfielder Ben Cunnington was best for North, racking up two goals, 16 contested possessions and 11 clearances.