Match

GWS Giants vs Geelong Cats

Commentary / 21 Mar 2020

Pre Game

00:00
Greater Western Sydney has enjoyed round 1 in recent years. Last year they thrashed Essendon by 72 points in the opening round whilst in 2018 they proved too good for the Bulldogs, defeating them by 82 points.

Quarter 1

00:00
Q1 is now underway.
01:29
SCORE GOAL - Giants (Daniel Lloyd)
03:36
SCORE GOAL - Giants (Daniel Lloyd)
03:44
Daniel Lloyd has booted the first and second goals of the season for Greater Western Sydney. Lloyd kicked a career-high 16 goals in 2019, kicking multiple goals in five of his 18 matches for the season.
05:29
Geelong was one of the best sides when starting a match last season. The Cats won 15 opening quarters in the home and away season in 2019 - ranked second.
07:19
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Tom Hawkins)
08:19
SCORE GOAL - Giants (Jeremy Finlayson)
08:29
The Giants have raced out to a 17 point lead in the early stages of this match, and have been much cleaner when using the football. The Giants have recorded a kicking efficiency of 75% compared to a poor 23% for Geelong.
11:46
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Mitch Duncan)
13:30
SCORE GOAL - Giants (Harry Perryman)
13:49
The Giants have scored their third goal of the match sourced from a forward 50 intercept. They only scored three goals from this same source in the forward 50 once last season - round 1 vs Essendon.
15:23
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Patrick Dangerfield)
17:11
SCORE GOAL - Giants (Stephen Coniglio)
17:25
The Giants have now scored a remarkable five goals from all five of their inside 50s. In comparison, Geelong has scored two goals from eight forward 50 entries. The Giants averaged a goal from 25% of their forward 50 entries last season - ranked third.
18:22
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Jordan Clark)
19:12
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Gary Rohan)
19:35
Geelong has started to benefit on the scoreboard from its territorial dominance. The Cats have recorded double the amount of inside 50s than the Giants (10 to five), and have now generated five scores from these entries.
21:48
Giants Interchange - Adam Kennedy and is possibly out for the game.
21:55
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Tom Hawkins)
22:35
All four goals for the Cats have been sourced from intercepts won in the attacking midfield zone. Geelong has won seven intercepts in this zone whereas the Giants are yet to win one in their respective zone.
25:41
The siren has sounded to end Q1.
25:42
Geelong controlled the territorial battle in the opening term, leading time in forward-half with 60%. They dominated inside 50s 15 to five, including generating the final eight inside 50s of the quarter.

Quarter 2

00:00
Q2 is now underway.
00:54
SCORE GOAL - Giants (Toby Greene)
01:13
Much like the first quarter, the Giants have continued their superb efficient effort, scoring their sixth goal from their sixth inside 50. Greater Western Sydney scored a goal from 100% of their forward 50 entries in the opening quarter. This is their best-ever efficiency in a single quarter in their history.
02:31
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Luke Dahlhaus)
03:34
The opening two goals of the quarter have both been sourced from centre bounces - one goal each to both sides. The Giants outscored their opposition by five points per game from a centre bounce clearance last season – ranked second in the AFL.
04:23
SCORE GOAL - Giants (Harry Perryman)
07:28
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Esava Ratugolea)
08:07
Despite averaging the fewest disposals per game since his debut season and not featuring in any Marsh Community Series matches in the pre-season, Joel Selwood has had an immediate impact on his side's midfield tonight. He has won an equal team-high three clearances and has sent the ball inside 50 on three occassions.
08:41
SCORE GOAL - Giants (Zac Langdon)
12:53
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Gary Ablett)
13:45
Nick Haynes is the leading interceptor on the ground, winning four intercept possessions in the opening half. Haynes recorded 65 intercept marks during the Home and Away season in 2019 - ranked third.
15:40
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Gary Ablett)
16:58
Greater Western Sydney recorded a shot-at-goal accuracy of 50% last season – ranked second. They have continued this hot form to start 2020, kicking an impressive eight goals straight so far tonight.
18:07
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Gryan Miers)
18:44
Geelong is dominating the play when the ball hits the ground, leading groundball gets 35 to 24. Geelong averaged 38 pre-clearance groundball-gets last season – ranked No.1 in the competition.
20:58
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Tom Hawkins)
23:09
SCORE BEHIND - Giants (Josh Kelly)
24:32
Zach Tuohy has enjoyed a dominant second-quarter, sending the ball inside 50 four times this term for the Cats. Tuohy averaged just the two inside 50s per match last season, and has never averaged more than three per match in his career.
25:10
SCORE GOAL - Giants (Stephen Coniglio)
26:16
The siren has sounded to end Q2.
26:17
Only five Geelong players have laid a tackle in the entire first-half. The Giants have laid 22 tackles compared to eight for the Cats.

Quarter 3

00:00
Q3 is now underway.
01:21
The last time that Geelong laid eight or fewer tackles in an opening half of a match came back in round 6, 2001 v Brisbane. Despite the lack of tackles, Geelong has recorded just five fewer pressure acts than the Giants.
02:57
SCORE GOAL - Giants (Harry Perryman)
03:52
The first goal of the second half goes to the Giants, with their fifth goal overall launched from a forward 50 chain. The Giants have now scored 5.1(31) combined from forward 50 intercepts and stoppages. They averaged 15 points from this zone last season.
04:49
SCORE GOAL - Giants (Toby Greene)
06:38
SCORE GOAL - Giants (Jeremy Cameron)
07:00
The 2019 Coleman Medalist, Jeremy Cameron, has booted his first goal for 2020 to extend the Giants lead to a game-high 30 points. Cameron recorded 58 lead marks last season – ranked No.1 in the AFL and 12 more than any other player.
09:07
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Mitch Duncan)
09:50
Gary Ablett is showing no signs of slowing down in his 19th season in the AFL. He leads the game in score involvements with five, as well as leading Geelong for disposals with 13 and contested possessions with eight.
13:23
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Mitch Duncan)
14:06
Mitch Duncan has kicked his third goal of the match to equal Harry Perryman as the leading goalkickers of the match. This is an equal career-high for Duncan, who has now kicked three goals in a match nine times in his career. For Perryman, this is the first time that he has booted multiple goals in a match.
14:53
Cats Interchange - Esava Ratugolea off due to an injury.
17:21
SCORE BEHIND - Giants (Toby Greene)
18:21
Geelong has recorded a tackle efficiency of 33% in their forward 50 tonight. This is an enormous anomaly from their 2019 season, where they recorded a tackle efficiency of 73% in this zone – the highest percentage of any side.
18:26
SCORE GOAL - Giants (Jeremy Cameron)
20:02
SCORE BEHIND - Giants (Rushed)
23:37
Greater Western Sydney has extended its margin this quarter on the back of its stoppage work. The Giants have kicked 3.1(19) from stoppages this quarter compared to 1.1(7) for the Cats. The Giants averaged 38 points sourced from stoppages in 2019 - ranked second.
25:26
The siren has sounded to end Q3.
25:27
The set shot accuracy between both sides has been influential in the margin to three-quarter time. The Giants have kicked an accurate 9.2(56) from their set shots compared to Geelong's 4.4(28).

Quarter 4

00:00
Q4 is now underway.
01:07
SCORE GOAL - Giants (Jeremy Cameron)
02:53
SCORE GOAL - Giants (Toby Greene)
03:04
Toby Greene has kicked his third goal of the match, extending the lead for the Giants to 38 points. Greene was the only player in the AFL during 2019 to average at least 20 disposals, 10 contested possessions, 1.4 goals and 1.4 score assists.
04:43
The Giants have been able to transition the ball much more efficiently following a kick-in tonight compared to the Cats. 57% of the Giants' kick-ins has resulted in an inside 50, whereas Geelong has not been able to generate a single inside 50 from their kick-ins.
08:11
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Tom Hawkins)
08:19
Tom Hawkins has presented strongly for Geelong consistently tonight. He has been targeted 10 times inside 50 (seven more targets than any other Cat) resulting in three marks and four scoring shots.
10:01
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Gary Ablett)
12:13
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Mark O'Connor)
12:54
Geelong has kicked three goals in five minutes now to reduce the margin to 20 points. In the last 10 minutes, Geelong lead tackles five to zero, and has scored from 75% of their inside 50s.
13:42
SCORE GOAL - Giants (Harry Perryman)
14:54
After trailing in clearances by four in the opening half, the midfielders for the Giants have improved their output in the second-half winning clearances 17 to nine. No player has won more clearances in the second-half than Stephen Coniglio (four).
17:24
SCORE GOAL - Giants (Toby Greene)
19:14
The Giants greatest winning margin against the Cats before tonight is 13 points (round 2, 2016). The Giants are looking like they will break this record tonight, currently enjoying a 32 point lead late in the fourth quarter.
25:42
The siren has sounded to end Q4.
25:43
The Giants scored a goal from 44% of their inside 50s tonight, their third-best result in a match in their history. They kicked an accurate 12.2(74) from set shots, and outscored the Cats by 28 points from stoppages.