Match

North Melbourne vs West Coast Eagles

Commentary / 26 Mar 2017

Pre Game

59:30

Welcome to Etihad Stadium for the North Melbourne v West Coast Eagles Round 1 clash.

59:40

Don't forget to enter your tips for this match, you have until the bounce to make your selection.

00:00

Don't forget to enter your tips for this match, you have until the bounce to make your selection.

00:10

The Kangaroos launched 19 per cent of its score from defensive midfield chains during the JLT Community Series, ranked No.1. Jamie Macmillan was a major contributor to this success, gaining the third most metres of any player in the Preseason competition

Quarter 1

00:00

Q1 is now underway.

01:34

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Ben Brown)

01:55

North Melbourne get the first goal of the match after back-to-back stoppage clearances. The Kangaroos were ranked second in the AFL in the 2016 Season for points per clearance, with a strike rate of 98 per cent.

02:49

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Shaun Atley)

04:44

Eagles Interchange - Drew Petrie off due to an injury.

05:16

SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Josh J. Kennedy)

07:05

SCORE BEHIND - Eagles (Sam Mitchell)

08:02

SCORE BEHIND - Eagles (Rushed)

08:37

After conceding the first three inside forward 50 entries of the match and two goals along with it, West Coast have won the last six forward 50 entries in a row, but have only managed to score 1.2 (8)

10:47

SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Jarrad Waite)

12:08

SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Jamie Cripps)

14:02

SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Josh J. Kennedy)

14:46

Eagles Interchange - Nathan Vardy off due to an injury.

15:04

That's three goals in a row now for the Eagles, who since the five minute mark of this quarter are dominating contested ball winning the contested possession differential by 10 in that time period.

15:30

SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Nathan Hrovat)

16:16

SCORE BEHIND - Eagles (Josh Hill)

17:56

Neither team has been able to use the ball by foot reliably so far in this first quarter, with both teams kicking at an efficiency rate lower than 60 per cent.

21:45

The Kangaroos are wasting scoring opportunities from Intercept Possessions, and they are being outscored from this source 3.1 (19) to 1.3 (9). The Kangaroos were ranked 12th in the AFL last season for points differential from Intercept Possessions.

23:16

SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Lindsay Thomas)

24:25

SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Andrew Swallow)

25:25

Kangaroos Interchange - Lindsay Thomas off due to the blood rule.

25:26

Sam Mitchell has picked up where he left off with his former club, recording nine disposals so far this quarter to lead all players on the ground. He has averaged 30 disposals in his past eight games against the Kangaroos.

26:03

SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Shaun Atley)

26:58

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Kayne Turner)

27:16

Kayne Turner finally finds the goals after eight straight inside 50 entries for the Kangaroos. That was also North Melbourne's first goal from an Intercept Possesion chain launched in Attacking Midfield after six previous chains from this zone.

29:40

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Jack Ziebell)

30:53

The siren has sounded to end Q1.

31:03

Jack Ziebell gets his just rewards with a goal to cap off the Kangaroos strong end to the first quarter under his captaincy. He has gained a game-high 189 metres for his team.

Quarter 2

00:00

Q2 is now underway.

00:40

SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Mark LeCras)

00:58

Perfect start to the second quarter for the Eagles as Mark LeCras gets them back to within a goal of the lead. West Coast were ranked second in the AFL last year kicking a goal from 27.4 per cent of inside 50's.

01:54

SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Lewis Jetta)

03:48

SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Mark LeCras)

04:13

Just like that the Eagles are out to a nine point lead after a blistering start to the second quarter. They have kicked four of their six goals from set shots so far this match, a stat they lead the AFL in last year (197).

05:25

SCORE BEHIND - Eagles (Jamie Cripps)

08:17

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Todd Goldstein)

14:04

SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Mark LeCras)

14:28

Mark LeCras has lit up this quarter with three goals to his name. That equals his best goal tally in a quarter against the Kangaroos which he recorded in Round 3, 2010.

15:30

SCORE BEHIND - Eagles (Mark LeCras)

16:52

SCORE BEHIND - Eagles (Jeremy McGovern)

17:40

SCORE BEHIND - Eagles (Josh Hill)

19:04

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Ben Brown)

20:42

SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Jack Darling)

23:40

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Jarrad Waite)

24:51

SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Jarrad Waite)

25:37

After quiet starts to the match, both Jack Darling and Jarrad Waite kick their first goal each for the game. Both players will need to lift their game in the second half if their respective teams hop to win this match.

27:16

SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Josh J. Kennedy)

29:13

SCORE BEHIND - Eagles (Shannon Hurn)

30:30

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Kayne Turner)

31:29

SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Jarrad Waite)

31:48

The siren has sounded to end Q2.

31:58

Elliot Yeo played an outstanding second quarter, wining four Intercept Possessions and launching one goal from a possession gains (both equal-team-highs). He also leads all Eagles players with 270 metres gained for the match.

Quarter 3

00:00

Q3 is now underway.

01:39

SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Mark LeCras)

04:28

Kangaroos Interchange - Luke McDonald off due to an injury.

04:29

SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Josh J. Kennedy)

05:09

Mark LeCras and Josh Kennedy get their fourth goal each as the Eagles start off the third term much like they did the second term. Their kicking efficiency is above 80 per cent and they have doubled the Kangaroos contested possession count.

06:33

SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Jamie Cripps)

08:15

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Braydon Preuss)

11:00

SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Josh J. Kennedy)

11:25

Josh Kennedy kicks his second goal and the Eagles third from an Intercept Possession this quarter. West Coast averaged 18.7 points per game more than their opponents from this source in the 2017 JLT Community Series, ranked second.

12:51

SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Jarrad Waite)

13:41

Kangaroos Interchange - Jarrad Waite off due to an injury.

14:17

SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Elliot Yeo)

15:08

Kicking Efficiency is deciding this match, with a stark contrast between the Eagles kicking efficiency this quarter (91 per cent) and the Kangaroos efficiency by foot (55 per cent).

15:45

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Todd Goldstein)

18:13

SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Lindsay Thomas)

18:31

The Kangaroos are starting to get back on track, and it's a result of their stoppage work improving. They are winning the contested possession count pre-clearance by five, their best margin in this match so far.

20:10

SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Josh J. Kennedy)

21:56

Josh Kennedy has goal number six and the Eagles are starting to run away with this match. Lead by Kennedy's 175 metres gained this quarter, they have gained 1043 metres to the Kangaroos 677. They also lead uncontested possessions 48-26.

24:03

Josh Kennedy's six goals against the Kangaroos is his best tally against them in his career, surpassing his previous best of four goals which he set against the Kangaroos on two previous occasions.

24:34

SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Elliot Yeo)

24:48

Eagles Interchange - Mark Hutchings and is possibly out for the game.

30:07

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Nathan Hrovat)

30:31

Nathan Hrovat gets his first goal for his new club and sends his side to the final break with some good momentum. His goal was the third goal from a stoppage this quarter for the Kangaroos, their best scoring tally from this source in any quarter.

31:08

The siren has sounded to end Q3.

31:18

North Melbourne need to improve their scoring efficiency in order to get back in this game. Their 13 inside 50 entries was just four entries less than their opponents, but they could only manage 3.2 (20) compared to the Eagles 7.0 (42).

Quarter 4

00:00

Q4 is now underway.

00:16

SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Sam Gibson)

01:40

SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Jarrad Waite)

03:03

SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Jarrad Waite)

03:16

Shaun Higgins has been a shining light for North Melbourne, particularly around the stoppages where he has eight first possessions and seven clearances, both game-high's.

04:38

SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Drew Petrie)

04:39

Drew Petrie gets his first goal for his new club which could really seal this game for his new team, after the Kangaroos wasted all the early momentum this quarter to only score three behinds, compared to one goal from one entry for the Eagles.

06:46

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Todd Goldstein)

10:20

SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Josh J. Kennedy)

11:10

Despite the Eagles winning the disposal count 34-27 this quarter, they are also winning the tackle count 6-0.

11:59

SCORE BEHIND - Eagles (Elliot Yeo)

13:31

SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Josh Hill)

16:35

Six hitouts-to-advantage this quarter for the Eagles to zero for the Kangaroos, easily the biggest margin either way in this category for either team, has allowed them to kick away with 3.0 (18) launched from stoppage clearances this term.

17:32

SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Jack Darling)

19:32

After playing on from just 14 per cent of marks in the third quarter, the Kangaroos are playing on from 55 per cent of marks in the final quarter. In the 2016 AFL season, the Kangaroos played on from 25.4 per cent of marks, ranked 17th in the league.

21:19

SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Jarrad Waite)

22:09

Kangaroos Interchange - Jarrad Waite and is possibly out for the game.

23:49

After losing the clearance count in each of their past five games against the Kangaroos by an average of six per game, the Eagles look set to reverse this trend as they lead the clearance count 35-34 late in the final term.

24:36

SCORE BEHIND - Eagles (Jamie Cripps)

25:38

SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Jamie Cripps)

28:21

SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Shaun Higgins)

29:00

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Robbie Tarrant)

30:21

The Kangaroos inability to convert scoring opportunities into goals, lead by Jarrad Waite's poor afternoon of 1.7 (13), has crushed any hope of winning this match. They had three less inside 50's and three less scoring shots, but kicked eight fewer goals

30:32

The siren has sounded to end Q4.

30:42

Jack Ziebell fought gallantly for his club with a team-high 31 disposals and a game-high 644 metres gained, but his kicking efficiency of 47 per cent meant he wasn't able to impact the game in a positive way for the Kangaroos.