Match

Gold Coast Suns vs Essendon

Commentary / 19 Aug 2017

Pre Game

59:30
Welcome to Metricon Stadium for the Gold Coast Suns v Essendon Round 22 clash.
59:33
Outs for Suns: S.Lemmens, J.Lyons, D.Currie, A.Sexton, J.Scrimshaw, J.Bowes
59:34
Ins for Suns: J.Leslie, P.Hanley, B.Fiorini, K.Brooksby, J.Lonergan, M.Hallahan
59:35
Outs for Bombers: M.Dea, M.Hurley, J.Watson, T.Colyer, M.Leuenberger, B.Howlett
59:36
Ins for Bombers: C.Bird, Z.Merrett, M.Hartley, T.Bellchambers, M.Baguley, J.Begley
59:40
Don't forget to enter your tips for this match, you have until the bounce to make your selection.
00:00
The Bombers are unleashing their third debutant of the season tonight with Josh Begley. Begley played against the Suns earlier in the year during the JLT Community Series kicking four goals from 10 disposals in their three point loss at Harrup Park.

Quarter 1

00:00
Q1 is now underway.
01:34
SCORE BEHIND - Suns (David Swallow)
05:05
SCORE GOAL - Suns (Peter Wright)
05:14
The Suns have controlled the play early on, with the first four inside 50s of the match resulting in two scores. They lead the contested possessions by four and are making the most of the poor kicking efficiency by the Bombers (43 per cent).
08:57
Essendon are winning the stoppage battle, leading clearances five to two. This is on the back of three hit-outs to advantage for Tom Bellchambers, who is having a career-high season in hit-outs, inside 50s and tackles.
10:21
SCORE GOAL - Suns (Ben Ainsworth)
11:56
Gold Coast has adapted to the conditions quicker, with the Bombers constantly fumbling the ball. The Suns lead groundball gets 13 to seven, and have committed three less turnovers than the Bombers.
13:46
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Josh Begley)
13:59
Just like in their JLT Community Series encounter in February, debutant Josh Begley has kicked a goal with his first kick in the game. Begley has kicked 18 goals in his 15 VFL performances this season before getting his senior call up.
16:31
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (James Stewart)
18:10
The impressive debut of Josh Begley continues, who has been involved in all three goals for the Bombers as they take the lead. Begley has kicked one goal and has two goal assists from precise kicking with his forward 50 entries.
19:34
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Jayden Laverde)
21:14
It has been all Essendon in the last 10 minutes, who have the last five inside 50s and have improved their kicking efficiency to 90 per cent in this time-frame.
21:40
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Josh Begley)
22:03
Suns Interchange - Adam Saad off due to an injury.
23:15
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Rushed)
24:04
The centre clearances are tied at three apiece, but the Bombers are the only side to have hit the scoreboard from this source. They have kicked 1.1 (7) from centre bounces, scoring twice on their three clearances.
28:26
SCORE GOAL - Suns (Jack Martin)
28:29
The siren has sounded to end Q1.
28:39
After a strong opening half of the quarter, the Suns intensity dropped away and allowed Essendon to overtake them in contested possessions, inside 50s and groundball gets.

Quarter 2

00:00
Q2 is now underway.
01:50
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Jayden Laverde)
03:49
David Zaharakis has been prolific early, winning a game-high 10 disposals along with five inside 50s. Zaharakis collected 40 disposals the last time these teams met.
07:28
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (David Myers)
09:43
Essendon lead inside 50s eight to one, yet have been unable to impact the scoreboard despite this dominance. They have only managed three behinds from their eight entries. They are kicking at just 56 per cent efficiency in their forward half this quarter
09:47
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Rushed)
13:17
Both sides are relying heavily on scores from turnovers. The Suns have booted their entire score from this source, whilst similarly the Bombers have kicked 3.3 (21) from intercepts.
14:28
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Cale Hooker)
16:09
Essendon are controlling the territory battle this quarter, with 70 per cent of the play being played inside their attacking half. Their 10 inside 50s has resulted in just four behinds this quarter.
17:05
SCORE GOAL - Suns (Josh Schoenfeld)
19:06
SCORE GOAL - Suns (David Swallow)
20:15
Trent McKenzie has already beaten his disposal average of 14 this season, late in the second quarter. He is going at 93 per cent kicking efficiency from his 14 kicks.
20:43
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Josh Green)
22:01
SCORE GOAL - Suns (Darcy MacPherson)
22:26
The Suns take their lead out to six points following their second goal from a kick-in. The Bombers have been inaccurate in front of goal again this week, kicking more behinds than goals in two of their last three matches.
23:37
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Josh Green)
26:08
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Conor McKenna)
27:55
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Rushed)
28:48
After a quiet opening term, Zach Merrett has started to accumulate more of the ball this quarter. He has seven second quarter disposals with four of these being contested. He has also won a quarter-high four intercepts.
29:44
The siren has sounded to end Q2.
29:54
After losing the first quarter clearances by four, the Suns managed to win one more than the Bombers in the second quarter. Matt Rosa and Aaron Hall were the two multiple clearance winners for the Suns that quarter.

Quarter 3

00:00
Q3 is now underway.
02:18
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Rushed)
02:27
Essendon are struggling to transition the ball out of their defensive 50. Of their 12 possession chains originating from their defensive 50 zone, only one of the chains has resulted in an inside 50.
04:18
The Bombers start the quarter strong, winning the first three clearances and recording the first six inside 50s. The ball has been in their attacking half of the ground for 99 per cent of the quarter.
04:48
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Dyson Heppell)
06:35
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Cale Hooker)
07:32
It is a complete dominance by Essendon now. They have had the last 12 inside 50s, kicked the last four goals and have won the only four clearances of the quarter. They now lead by a match-high 20 points.
09:55
SCORE GOAL - Suns (Ben Ainsworth)
10:23
The Suns have been extremely efficient with their goal-kicking, booting through seven goals from 20 inside 50s at a conversion of 35 per cent. They are ranked 11th for goals per inside 50 this season averaging a goal on 24.4 of their entries.
11:19
Alternatively, the Bombers have kicked eight goals from their 41 inside 50s at 19.5 per cent conversion. This is much lower than their season goals per inside 50 ratio of 27.9, ranked equal-first in the league with Adelaide.
13:14
Suns Interchange - Ben Ainsworth off due to an injury.
16:08
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Josh Begley)
17:40
Aaron Hall collects more disposals against Essendon than any other side, averaging 26 disposals against them throughout his career. This trend continues tonight, amassing a game-high 25 disposals and also leading the match in metres gained with 660.
21:55
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Josh Green)
22:16
The Suns continue to remain within striking distance of the Bombers being only down by 16 points despite recording 11 less scoring shots and being nearly doubled in the inside 50s (they trail 47-24).
25:38
SCORE GOAL - Suns (Ben Ainsworth)
27:10
The siren has sounded to end Q3.
27:20
Bombers win the third quarter by three points, despite leading the inside 50s 21 to six. The Bombers also won the clearances by eight, contested possessions by 16, laid 11 more tackles and had 36 more disposals.

Quarter 4

00:00
Q4 is now underway.
01:52
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Cale Hooker)
02:15
In the past four weeks, Gold Coast has struggled to match their opponents at the contest recording the 14th worst clearance differential and the 16th worse tackle differential. They trail in these categories by 10 and 12 tonight respectively.
03:32
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (James Stewart)
04:33
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Joe Daniher)
07:07
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Cale Hooker)
08:02
The largest inside 50 differential for Essendon this season is 18 v Brisbane in round 15. They currently hold a 32 advantage for inside 50s.
10:14
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Rushed)
10:20
David Zaharakis has the most inside 50s for the match with 12. This is the most individual inside 50s for Essendon this season, comprehensively beating the previous best by a Bomber (eight) achieved by five separate players.
11:27
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Rushed)
13:24
Suns captain Steven May has been colossal in defense tonight keeping Coleman Medal fancy Joe Daniher to just one goal. He has also won a match high 11 intercept possessions and grabbed three intercept marks.
14:06
Bombers Interchange - Josh Green and is possibly out for the game.
15:25
Zaharakis is up to 35 disposals, on track to beat his 40 disposal effort in the last time these two sides met. This is the fifth time in seven games that Zaharakis has collected 30 or more disposals.
16:20
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Darcy Parish)
17:59
SCORE GOAL - Suns (Mitch Hallahan)
19:17
SCORE BEHIND - Suns (Steven May)
21:01
The Suns have scored heavily from their defensive half, kicking 7.0 (42) from scoring chains originating in their defensive half. Essendon has scored 5.5 (35) from their respective defensive half.
21:18
SCORE BEHIND - Suns (Jack Martin)
23:07
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti)
25:33
This quarter has been the largest scoring quarter for the Bombers. Their 4.5 (29) eclipses the 26 points they scored in the opening term.
26:05
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Tom Bellchambers)
27:56
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Tom Bellchambers)
30:15
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Jayden Laverde)
31:12
The siren has sounded to end Q4.
31:22
40 more inside 50s for the Bombers proved too much for the Suns to handle as Essendon jumps into the top eight and into a prime position to participate in finals football. They had 18 more scoring shots than the Suns in a dominant performance.