Match

Sydney Swans vs North Melbourne

Commentary / 05 May 2018

Pre Game

59:30
Welcome to SCG for the Sydney Swans v North Melbourne Round 7 clash.
59:33
Outs for Swans: D.Robinson
59:34
Ins for Swans: D.Towers
59:35
Outs for Kangaroos: M.Daw, J.Waite, L.Davies-Uniacke
59:36
Ins for Kangaroos: S.Wright, S.Higgins, M.Wood
59:40
Don't forget to enter your tips for this match, you have until the bounce to make your selection.
00:00
The SCG has not been a happy hunting ground for North Melbourne in recent history, winning just 2 of their last 12 matches at this venue with an average losing margin of over seven goals.

Quarter 1

00:00
Q1 is now underway.
00:23
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Rushed)
04:13
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Mason Wood)
05:02
In his first match back from a severe concussion, Shaun Higgins has been instrumental early with five disposals and two clearances. In his first four matches of the season, Higgins averaged 25.8 disposals and just under six clearances.
06:09
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Ben Brown)
06:51
SCORE GOAL - Swans (Callum Sinclair)
07:17
The Swans first goal of the match comes sourced from a kick-in. Sydney has generated an inside 50 from 21 per cent of their kick-ins this season - ranked fourth.
10:52
North Melbourne is dominating the territory battle. 66 per cent of the play has been held in their attacking half of the ground, and they lead forward-half disposals 24 to seven.
12:41
North Melbourne has won the first six clearances of the match. This is a drastic improvement from their seasonal average where they are ranked 16th for this statistic.
16:48
SCORE GOAL - Swans (Dean Towers)
17:42
The Swans first two goals have originated from the defensive-half of the ground. 36.9 per cent of their scores this season have been sourced from their defensive-half this season, compared to 42.8 per cent for North Melbourne.
22:47
North Melbourne are controlling possession of the football, leading uncontested marks 37 to 21. 20 of their players have grabbed at least one mark, whilst there are 10 Sydney players yet to take one.
23:26
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Ben Brown)
25:05
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Billy Hartung)
26:16
The domination at stoppages by North Melbourne is starting to make an impact on the scoreboard. The Roos have scored on three occasions following a clearance, whilst the Swans are yet to kick a score from their four clearances.
26:57
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Shaun Higgins)
28:41
SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Kieren Jack)
28:45
The siren has sounded to end Q1.
28:46
The Roos enter the first break with an eight point lead on the back of an impressive 76 per cent kicking efficiency for the term. This high kicking efficiency is their third-best result in a quarter this season.

Quarter 2

00:00
Q2 is now underway.
00:30
SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Ben Ronke)
01:47
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Jack Ziebell)
02:07
The impressive kicking efficiency for North Melbourne has been a major turnaround for them. They entered round seven ranked 17th for kicking efficiency, averaging 60 per cent for 2018.
03:15
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Ben Brown)
04:45
SCORE GOAL - Swans (Will Hayward)
05:05
A costly turnover from Ed Vickers-Willis gifts the Swans their third goal of the match. This was Sydney's eighth forward-half intercept, two more than what North Melbourne has managed.
07:27
SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Kieren Jack)
08:02
The Swans have rectified their clearance issues from the first quarter, winning the first five clearances of the quarter and generating a score from two of these. They have had the last five inside 50s.
08:34
SCORE GOAL - Swans (Robbie Fox)
13:55
Heath Grundy has a team-high 265 metres gained. This is already well above his 2018 average of 136.5 metres, and just 45 off his season high of 310 metres which he achieved last week v Geelong.
17:42
North spearhead Ben Brown has been targeted five times by his side when kicking inside 50. This takes his season targeted tally to 73, 11 more than any other player in the competition.
18:43
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Jy Simpkin)
19:59
North have been very efficient when going inside 50 this quarter. They have scored three times from their six entries this term, whilst the Swans have scored four times from their 11 inside 50s.
23:09
The Swans have struggled to transition the ball out of their defensive 50 this quarter. They have only gone inside 50 once from their eight possession chains originating in their defensive 50 and have only scored once from their defensive half this term.
23:33
SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Tom Papley)
24:47
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Cameron Zurhaar)
26:41
North Melbourne has locked the ball inside their forward 50 in the last 10 minutes. 51 per cent of the match has been played in their attacking 50 zone in this time frame, resulting in eight of the last 11 inside 50s.
28:44
The siren has sounded to end Q2.
28:45
North enter the main break holding a seven point advantage. The Roos are yet to lose this year when leading at half-time. Ben Jacobs has won 17 first-half disposals, his largest ever result to half-time in his 84 game career.

Quarter 3

00:00
Q3 is now underway.
00:52
SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Will Hayward)
01:02
Josh Kennedy has won three centre clearances tonight taking his season tally to 21 - ranked equal-third in the league. He has attended over 20 more centre-square bounces than any other Swan midfielder this year.
02:40
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Mason Wood)
05:45
Since 2015, the Kangaroos have scored from 44 per cent of their inside 50 entries against the Swans - the fourth-highest percentage recorded by any side. Tonight they have scored from 39 per cent of their entries.
05:58
SCORE GOAL - Swans (Will Hayward)
09:00
North Melbourne average 64.7 uncontested marks in 2018 - the third-lowest in the league. Their 63 tonight looks set to eclipse their season-high result of 87 in round five.
09:19
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Jed Anderson)
13:20
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Trent Dumont)
14:04
North are dominating the contested possession battle, leading the differential by 10 for the quarter, and 16 for the match. Ben Cunnington leads the way this quarter for the Roos with four to take his match total to eight.
18:08
Josh Kennedy has been the most dominant man on the ground since quarter-time. He has won 17 disposals, five clearances, six inside 50s, 253 metres gained, eight contested possessions and four score involvements since the first break, all match-highs.
20:58
SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Kieren Jack)
21:38
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Shaun Atley)
22:03
Inaccuracy in front of goals is haunting both sides. Sydney has kicked 0.6 (6) from shots between 15 metres our from goal to 40 metres out, whilst the Roos have kicked 1.4 (10) between 30 metres and 50 metres out from their goal.
23:07
SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Ben Ronke)
23:26
SCORE GOAL - Swans (Luke Parker)
24:57
SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Isaac Heeney)
25:27
The scrappy quarter is highlighted by both sides kicking efficiency. The Swans are kicking at 53 per cent this quarter, with eight players yet to register an effective kick whilst the Roos are kicking at a slightly better 60 per cent.
28:22
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Jack Ziebell)
29:09
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Ben Cunnington)
30:33
Sydney are winning the groundball contest, leading the differential by six in the greasy conditions. Luke Parker has won nine groundballs to go with his four hardball gets.
31:52
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Jack Ziebell)
31:56
The siren has sounded to end Q3.
31:57
North Melbourne extend their half-time lead of seven points by one as they enter the final break. They missed all four of their shots on goal from general play in the third quarter, and kicked at just 38 per cent efficiency in their forward-half.

Quarter 4

00:00
Q4 is now underway.
01:09
SCORE GOAL - Swans (Will Hayward)
01:58
History is on North's side, as they have won their last nine matches when leading at three-quarter time.
03:16
SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Will Hayward)
04:32
Sydney has taken four marks inside 50 in the opening four and a half minutes of the final term. They had only taken five marks in this zone in the first three quarters.
04:45
SCORE GOAL - Swans (Zak Jones)
06:33
The Swans are doing major damage at the contest to start this final term. They have won the first five clearances, have had the first six inside 50s, lead contested possessions by seven and have won six more groundballs.
07:49
SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Oliver Florent)
09:52
The Swans have generated four scoring shots from their seven inside 50s this final quarter. They average a score with 45.2 per cent of their entries this season, ranked eighth in the league.
11:22
Kangaroos Interchange - Ed Vickers-Willis and is possibly out for the game.
13:12
A knee injury to Ed Vickers-Willis will hurt the Roos. He has applied 14 tackles inside defensive 50 this season - ranked No. 1 in the competition.
13:34
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Mason Wood)
15:22
A positional change with Robbie Tarrant moving forward results in his third goal assist of the season. Last season Tarrant won 373 disposals, with just one of these coming in the Roos forward 50.
15:42
Swans Interchange - Josh P. Kennedy off due to an injury.
15:55
SCORE GOAL - Swans (Jake Lloyd)
17:41
SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Dean Towers)
18:23
Sydney has been unable to convert their clearance dominance onto the scoreboard. Since quarter-time, the Swans lead clearance 33-18, however have kicked a wasteful 2.8 (20) sourced from these stoppages.
19:51
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Rushed)
20:57
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Kayne Turner)
22:03
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Jack Ziebell)
22:58
Swans Interchange - Callum Sinclair off due to the blood rule.
26:36
North Melbourne are throwing one last challenge to the Swans. In the last 10 minutes they have had the ball in their attacking-half of the ground for 74 per cent of the time, and have had six of the last seven inside 50s.
26:53
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Ryan Clarke)
28:54
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Mason Wood)
29:03
A remarkable goal to Mason Wood gives the Roos the lead late in the match. This goal was Wood's fourth for the match, beating his previous best haul of three goals which he has achieved twice in his career.
31:24
SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Tom Papley)
34:07
The siren has sounded to end Q4.
34:08
North Melbourne hold on to win a thriller against the Swans despite having ten less inside 50s and ten less clearances for the match. This win sees the Roos leapfrog the Swans on the ladder and enter the top eight.