Match

Collingwood vs Essendon

Commentary / 25 Apr 2021

Pre Game

00:00
Collingwood owns the bragging rights in this iconic clash, winning 15 of these matches since the inception of Anzac Day football in 1995. Essendon has only won on this day on nine occasions.

Quarter 1

00:00
Q1 is now underway.
00:25
SCORE GOAL - Magpies (Darcy Cameron)
01:47
SCORE GOAL - Magpies (Callum L. Brown)
02:11
Collingwood scores the first goal of the match following a strong forward 50 applied by Callum Brown. Collingwood laid just three tackles in the forward 50 in their match last week against the Eagles.
02:58
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Andrew McGrath)
05:40
Collingwood is in complete control winning the contested ball, leading contested possessions 10 to three. The Bombers have recorded the second-worst contested possession differential in the first five rounds.
08:28
The efficiency of the Magpies when going forward has been a highlight to start this match. They have converted all three of their inside 50s into goals. Collingwood average a goal from 22% of their entries this season – ranked ninth.
09:51
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Darcy Parish)
11:45
Darcy Parish has scored Essendon’s first goal of the game, following a strong clearance win at a forward 50 stoppage. This goal takes Parish’s total score involvements for the year to 33 – ranked equal second for Essendon and one behind Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti.
12:28
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Andrew Phillips)
15:16
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Matt Guelfi)
16:06
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Jake Stringer)
17:45
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Zach Merrett)
18:29
Essendon is dominating territory, keeping the Magpies defenders under relentless pressure. It has been more than 13 minutes since the last inside 50 for Collingwood. In this time, the Bombers have generated nine consecutive inside 50s.
21:17
SCORE BEHIND - Magpies (Brodie Grundy)
22:15
Darcy Parish has amassed possession of the ball with ease in this opening term. He leads the game with 10 disposals, and is just the sixth time in his career that he has reached double-figure disposals before quarter-time.
22:47
SCORE GOAL - Magpies (Darcy Moore)
24:37
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti)
25:42
Essendon responds quickly to a Darcy Moore goal, with a determined rundown tackle in the forward 50 by Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti resulting in a goal for the Bombers. Essendon is the No. 1 ranked side for rundown tackles.
27:10
Bombers Interchange - Andrew Phillips off due to an injury.
28:04
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Devon Smith)
28:37
Brodie Grundy's follow-up efforts have been a highlight for the Magpies in the opening term. He has won a game-high seven contested possessions, as well as laying the second-most tackles in the match with three.
32:37
Collingwood recorded a kicking efficiency of 37% in the opening quarter. This is the worst percentage by any team this season in a single quarter, and their worst result in a quarter since Round 3, 2010.

Quarter 2

00:00
Q2 is now underway.
01:57
SCORE GOAL - Magpies (Brodie Grundy)
03:46
SCORE GOAL - Magpies (Darcy Cameron)
04:49
Collingwood is scoring a goal from one of every two forward 50 entries today. They have a score per inside 50 percentage of 58%, compared to 47% for Essendon. Collingwood has conceded a score from 37.3% of their opponents inside 50s – ranked second defensively.
05:14
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti)
06:27
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Brayden Ham)
06:37
Jake Stringer is a cause for concern for Collingwood, having won four individual centre clearances from his 11 attendances. Collingwood for the match has won five of these clearance types.
08:52
SCORE GOAL - Magpies (Will Hoskin-Elliott)
11:04
Bombers Interchange - Aaron Francis off due to an injury.
11:34
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Will Snelling)
11:54
Will Snelling has kicked an answering goal from a loose ball crumb in the forward 50. Snelling has enjoyed a strong season in the forward-half for the Bombers in 2021. Entering this round, only two players had laid more tackles than Will Snelling in the forward 50 zone.
14:24
Collingwood has been able to limit the number of intercept possessions won by Essendon this quarter by improving their ball usage. The Magpies have recorded a much-improved kicking efficiency of 71% this term.
19:20
Essendon has generated just the single behind sourced from defensive half launches. This is a big win for Collingwood, as Essendon is the third-highest scoring team from defensive half launches.
20:08
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Jayden Laverde)
21:55
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti)
24:13
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Rushed)
24:18
Collingwood has won 10 of the 14 clearances this quarter, however are struggling to capitalise on this dominance on the scoreboard. The Magpies have only scored five more points from this source this term. Collingwood average the third-fewest points sourced from stoppages. Their average of 22 points per match from this source is six less than the AFL average.
26:56
SCORE GOAL - Magpies (Jack Crisp)
27:57
Jack Crisp has kicked a steadying goal for the Magpies, winning three possessions in this single scoring chain. Crisp won a team-high 32 disposals last round and is averaging a career-high 28 disposals this season.
28:14
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Cale Hooker)
32:23
Essendon laid 17 tackles in their forward 50 zone to half-time. This is their equal second-most tackles ever recorded in this zone to half-time - one tackle off their all-time best.

Quarter 3

00:00
Q3 is now underway.
01:23
Collingwood has struggled coming out of half-time this year. They are one of just two teams who are yet to win a third quarter this season.
02:33
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Cale Hooker)
04:36
A key positional change has been made by the Magpies, with Darcy Moore moving into the backline matching up on Peter Wright. He spent 100% of his time on ground in the forward line in the first half, and 95% of last week’s match against the Eagles in the forward line too.
05:30
SCORE BEHIND - Magpies (Brody Mihocek)
06:15
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Mason Redman)
08:00
Collingwood has scored three times following a boundary throw-in stoppage this afternoon. Collingwood scored five goals from boundary throw-ins in the first five rounds of the season – the equal-fewest of any side.
10:41
SCORE GOAL - Magpies (Trey Ruscoe)
11:23
Trey Ruscoe has scored the first goal of the second-half for the Magpies following a strong contested mark inside 50. The Magpies have taken 8.4 marks inside 50 per game this season – ranked 16th.
12:56
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Archie Perkins)
15:25
SCORE GOAL - Magpies (Darcy Cameron)
16:46
Darcy Cameron has kicked a career-high three goals this afternoon, beating his previous best of two which he has achieved twice before. Cameron has also won a career-high 16 disposals and is one contested possession off a career-high too.
17:57
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Will Snelling)
18:47
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti)
20:33
Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti’s fourth goal of the match has come from a forward 50 stoppage – Essendon’s second goal from this source and zone for the match. Essendon has lost the clearance differential by 6.4 per game this season – ranked 17th.
20:55
SCORE BEHIND - Magpies (Darcy Cameron)
22:04
SCORE BEHIND - Magpies (Isaac Quaynor)
23:38
The tackling dominance for Essendon continues, leading the tackle count by 20 late in the third quarter. Essendon has outtackled its opponents by 16 per game this season – ranked No.1.
24:09
Magpies Interchange - Nathan Murphy off due to an injury.
24:20
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Peter Wright)
26:25
SCORE GOAL - Magpies (Beau McCreery)
28:44
SCORE BEHIND - Magpies (Rushed)
29:12
Collingwood started to take the game on more in the final stages of the third quarter, with quicker ball movement through the corridor resulting in deeper forward 50 entries. Collingwood played on from 40% of their marks in the second half of that quarter, up from 20% in the first half.

Quarter 4

00:00
Q4 is now underway.
00:47
SCORE GOAL - Magpies (Brody Mihocek)
01:45
Brody Mihocek has given the Magpies the lead for the first time since the 20th minute mark of the second quarter. Scott Pendlebury recorded his third goal assist for the match in this chain, taking his tally to 13 for the season – ranked No.1 in the competition.
03:17
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti)
04:56
Darcy Parish has won a career-high 36 disposals in an impressive display. Parish is the No. 1 loose ball get player in the competition, winning an average of 6.8 loose ball gets per game this season.
05:23
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Jake Stringer)
09:56
SCORE BEHIND - Magpies (Brody Mihocek)
10:03
Peter Wright has been an imposing figure in the match, laying a career-high six tackles (five of these coming in the opening term). He has also been the most targeted forward inside 50 for the Bombers and has completed four contested marks.
11:29
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Peter Wright)
15:52
Brodie Grundy won a game-high 15 contested possessions against the Eagles last round. He has matched this feat again this week, winning another 15 contested possessions - just one off the most by any Collingwood player this afternoon.
17:21
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Darcy Parish)
18:41
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Andrew McGrath)
19:10
Josh Daicos has set a new career-high for clearances this afternoon with seven. He has attended the fourth-most centre bounce stoppages of Collingwood midfielders with 14.
20:04
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Harrison Jones)
21:05
SCORE GOAL - Magpies (Beau McCreery)
22:43
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Brayden Ham)
23:55
A telling result today has been Essendon’s clearance numbers at ball-up stoppages. Coming into today, Essendon had won the fewest clearances from ball-ups around the ground in the competition. They have managed to compete strongly in this today, leading Collingwood by two clearances at these stoppage types.
25:34
Zach Merrett has continued his prolific form this afternoon, collecting 33 disposals amongst his eight score involvements and six clearances. Merrett has won a career-high 31 disposals per game this season – the fourth-most of any player.
26:44
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Will Snelling)
30:45
SCORE BEHIND - Magpies (Will Hoskin-Elliott)
30:48
Darcy Parish was the absolute standout in the match today with 42 disposals – the equal-most ever won by a player in Collingwood and Essendon’s Anzac Day encounters. This matches the previous record set by Dane Swan in 2012 when he amassed 42 disposals.