Match

Western Bulldogs vs Geelong Cats

Commentary / 28 Aug 2020

Pre Game

00:00
The Bulldogs have lost 12 of their past 14 games against the Cats by an average losing margin of 35 points.

Quarter 1

00:00
Q1 is now underway.
01:37
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Josh Dunkley)
02:58
The opening goal of the match goes to Josh Dunkley who has started in the forward line for the Bulldogs tonight. Last week, Dunkley competed in 24 ruck contests which was one more than Tim English.
04:22
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Hayden Crozier)
05:36
The Bulldogs have importantly made a strong start to this match, scoring the first two goals of the match. Geelong has been a dominant first quarter side recently, winning their past six opening terms.
06:19
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Mitch Duncan)
08:01
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Marcus Bontempelli)
09:10
Having been a poor scoring accuracy side in recent years, the Bulldogs are enjoying an impressive run in front of goals with their set shots. They kicked an accurate 6.2(38) last week from set shots and have converted their first two set shots on goal tonight.
09:58
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Aaron Naughton)
10:39
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Caleb Daniel)
12:10
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Tom Liberatore)
12:26
The majority of play has been held in the Bulldogs forward half to start this match. 82% of the play has been held in this attacking zone for the Bulldogs. The Cats have only managed nine disposals in their respective forward half.
13:57
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Josh Dunkley)
14:20
Just past the halfway point of the quarter, and this is already the third-largest score that Geelong has conceded in opening terms this season.
15:05
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Rushed)
15:52
Bulldogs Interchange - Laitham Vandermeer and is possibly out for the game.
17:40
Lachie Hunter has been influential in this early lead by the Bulldogs. Whilst leading the disposals (eight) and metres gained (145), it is his five score involvements which has had the most impact on the match. Seven of his eight disposals have been won in the forward half of the ground.
19:20
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Tom Hawkins)
20:29
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Ed Richards)
21:26
The Bulldogs' fifth-unanswered goal comes through Ed Richards following a forward 50 stoppage. Richards has taken more running bounces this season than any player in the competition with 15.
24:56
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Toby McLean)
26:44
The siren has sounded to end Q1.
26:45
The last time that the Bulldogs restricted Geelong to a goalless first quarter was in 1975. It is Geelong's equal fourth-lowest ever quarter time score against the Bulldogs.

Quarter 2

00:00
Q2 is now underway.
02:32
Josh Dunkley applied five tackles for the Bulldogs in the first quarter – with the other 21 Bulldog players combining for a total of three. This is the most tackles in the first quarter by any Bulldog player this season.
03:27
Cats Interchange - Zach Tuohy off due to an injury.
04:16
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Jason Johannisen)
05:16
Geelong is yet to win an offensive one-on-one contest tonight. In the past four rounds, the Bulldogs have lost 35% of their defensive one-on-one contests – ranked last.
06:04
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Gryan Miers)
07:02
Geelong has scored its first goal of the match, following just their second intercept won in the forward half. In comparison, the Bulldogs have won six forward half intercepts resulting in four scoring shots.
11:51
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Gryan Miers)
12:52
Geelong is gradually fighting their way back into this match on the back of their forward half pressure. In this second quarter, Geelong has laid seven tackles in their forward half compared to just the one for the Bulldogs.
13:43
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Rushed)
14:32
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Rhys Stanley)
14:57
Geelong has made a deliberate emphasis on controlling the ball with short kicks this quarter. They lead this stat 20 to eight this quarter, resulting in 23 uncontested marks to just the nine for the Bulldogs.
17:13
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Rushed)
18:27
Geelong has generated the last six inside 50s of the match. It has been more than 11 minutes since the Bulldogs last recorded a forward 50 entry.
19:48
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Josh Bruce)
20:57
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Rushed)
23:00
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Rushed)
24:00
After being outscored by 25 points in the opening term in scores from intercepts, Geelong managed to completely turn this around in the second quarter. The Cats scored 3.2(20) sourced from their intercepts, outscoring the Bulldogs by 17 points from this source.

Quarter 3

00:00
Q3 is now underway.
02:36
The Bulldogs scored 12 times from 17 inside 50s in the opening half, converting 71% of their forward entries into scores. This is an elite conversion and is well above their season average of 42%.
02:43
Cats Interchange - Zach Tuohy off due to the blood rule.
03:03
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Aaron Naughton)
05:44
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Tom Hawkins)
06:48
No forward has taken more marks on the lead this season than Tom Hawkins. Coming into tonight’s match, Hawkins had accumulated 29 of these mark types, with the next best being Sydney small forward Tom Papley with 23. Hawkins also leads the competition for disposals inside 50 with 104, 34 more than the next best player.
08:48
After scoring a career-high four goals last week, Mitch Wallis has been blanketed by Jake Kolodjashnij. Wallis did not record a kick in the opening half despite having multiple forward 50 targets.
10:41
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Josh Bruce)
13:13
Mitch Duncan has been involved in five of Geelong's 10 scoring chains tonight. Duncan has been involved in 31% of all scoring chains this season – ranked second at the club.
15:35
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Brad Close)
16:01
The Bulldogs have had a poor quarter disposing of the football this quarter, recording a low kicking efficiency of 40% for the term. In the first half, the Bulldogs recorded a much higher efficiency of 77%.
19:18
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Rushed)
20:26
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Mark O'Connor)
22:01
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Gryan Miers)
22:37
Geelong has the territory battle since quarter-time as they reduce the margin to 11 points. The Cats lead inside 50s 24 to nine since quarter-time and have won 20 more forward half contested possessions in this time.
25:00
The siren has sounded to end Q3.
25:01
Geelong controlled possession in the third quarter, leading disposals by 20 and accumulating six more uncontested marks. They also outperformed the Bulldogs at the contest, leading clearances for the quarter by five and four more contested possessions.

Quarter 4

00:00
Q4 is now underway.
01:10
If Geelong can prevail in the final quarter, it will be the equal second-largest comeback from a quarter-time deficit in the club's history. Only once has Geelong won a match from a margin greater than 36 points at the first break. This occurred in the 1931 Preliminary Final when Geelong trailed against the Blues by 47 points at quarter-time and went onto win the match by six points before winning the Grand Final against Richmond the following week.
03:18
Marcus Bontempelli has been well restricted by Geelong's midfielders tonight, winning just the one clearance for the match. Since Round 10, Marcus Bontempelli has generated 29 clearances – ranked second in the competition. He has also won the third-most centre clearances for the season behind Patrick Cripps and Taylor Adams.
05:51
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Gary Rohan)
07:20
Geelong has scored the first goal of the last quarter following a strong contested mark inside 50 to Patrick Dangerfield. This is Dangerfield’s 12th contested mark for the season, which is the most of any midfielder this year.
08:25
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Gary Rohan)
08:28
Cats Interchange - Jack Steven off due to an injury.
10:17
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Lachie Hunter)
10:45
Lachie Hunter has scored a much-needed goal for the Bulldogs - his 10th score involvement for the match. This is a season-high for Hunter after recording nine last week.
12:02
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Luke Dahlhaus)
12:25
After being held goalless in his previous two encounters against his old side, Luke Dahlhaus has kicked his first goal against the Bulldogs since joining Geelong. This is the first goal of the match sourced from a centre bounce.
13:43
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Aaron Naughton)
14:48
The Bulldogs have instantly responded with their first goal from a centre bounce for the match. The Bulldogs are ranked second for overall points scored directly from a centre bounce in 2020.
16:23
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Mitch Duncan)
18:54
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Tom Hawkins)
19:16
Geelong now leads on the scoreboard for the first time in this match. The Bulldogs, who only have two fit players on the bench, have made 12 interchange rotations in the final term compared to 20 for the Cats.
22:11
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Rushed)
23:46
The Bulldogs are trying to take the game on and transition the ball as quickly as possible. The Bulldogs have played on immediately from 44% of their marks in this final term, compared to the Cats who are at eight percent and are content with slow, controlled ball movement.
25:46
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Tom Hawkins)
27:02
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Gary Rohan)
29:11
Following Essendon’s quarter-time comeback performance yesterday, this was Geelong's equal-second greatest ever comeback from a quarter-time deficit. The Cats controlled the territory since quarter-time, leading the inside 50s by 12 leading to 12 more scoring shots.
29:12
The siren has sounded to end Q4.