Match

Gold Coast Suns vs Sydney Swans

Commentary / 24 Apr 2021

Pre Game

00:00
Sydney are the only team in the AFL in 2021 that have not conceded a score after recording an ineffective clearance that the opposition has then won possession of the ball from.

Quarter 1

00:00
Q1 is now underway.
00:39
SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Sam Reid)
03:33
SCORE GOAL - Suns (Josh Corbett)
04:12
The Suns get their first goal of the game launched from a clearance in midfield to Sam Flanders, his second of the game already. The Suns average 1.4 goals per game from midfield clearances in 2021, the lowest average of any side in 2021.
07:12
SCORE GOAL - Suns (Ben King)
07:42
Back-to-back goals to open the game for the Suns, both from marks inside 50. The Suns average of 9.4 marks per game inside 50 is the equal fifth-lowest average in the AFL in 2021.
09:49
SCORE GOAL - Swans (Isaac Heeney)
10:27
Isaac Heeney has picked up where he left off prior to his hand injury by getting the Swans' first goal after a mark on the lead. Even after missing one match, Heeney ranks fifth in the AFL in 2021 with 13 marks taken on the lead.
12:33
Despite having the the second-highest tackle differential in the AFL at plus-nine tackles per game, the Suns have lost the tackle count 10-2 in the early stages of this match.
13:31
SCORE BEHIND - Suns (Rushed)
16:55
SCORE GOAL - Suns (Ben Ainsworth)
17:27
Despite losing the hitout count 11-2 and the clearance count 7-6 so far this match, the Suns have been much more efficient in converting this to scores, recording 3.0.18 to the Swans 1.0.6 from clearance score launches.
19:08
Suns Interchange - Chris Burgess off due to the blood rule.
19:45
Swans Interchange - George Hewett and is possibly out for the game.
22:42
SCORE BEHIND - Suns (Rushed)
24:47
SCORE GOAL - Swans (Hayden McLean)
26:40
Luke Parker has just recorded his 10th disposal, making him the 145th player in VFL/AFL history since 1965 to record 5000 career disposals.
28:01
Swans Interchange - Nick Blakey off due to an injury.
28:32
SCORE GOAL - Swans (Tom Papley)
29:28
George Hewett has been subbed out of today's match (concussion), to be replaced by Braeden Campbell.
30:22
Sydney are starting to find their groove in the closing stages of the first term, recording their last two goals from intercepts in their attacking midfield zone. They have outscored their opponents by 16 points per game from scores launched in this zone in 2021, the third-highest average scoring margin of any side in the AFL.
31:22
SCORE GOAL - Suns (Nick Holman)
31:25
Touk Miller's 16 disposals and 324 metres gained in the first term are both career-best numbers for a single quarter in each category. Only Tom Mitchell has recorded more disposals in a single quarter in 2021.

Quarter 2

00:00
Q2 is now underway.
04:42
SCORE GOAL - Suns (Ben King)
05:24
Ben King opens the goalscoring from the Suns, and kicks the Suns' fifth goal of the game, all of which have come from set shots. Gold Coast have scored 41 per cent of their goals in 2021 from set shots, the lowest ratio of any side in the AFL from this shot type.
07:57
SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Nick Blakey)
09:27
Sydney rank first in the competition for retention percentage and mark percentage from kicks into the forward 50 this season. However the Suns are outperforming them in each of these categories so far in today's match (62-33 per cent retention rate, 23-11 per cent mark rate).
11:52
SCORE GOAL - Suns (Izak Rankine)
16:24
SCORE GOAL - Suns (Ben Ainsworth)
17:47
SCORE GOAL - Suns (Izak Rankine)
20:14
Gold Coast have been so efficient in converting inside 50's to scores, going at 50 per cent for scores and 40 per cent for goals in today's match so far (8.2.50 from 20 inside 50's). Gold Coast rank 11th and 15th in the AFL in these categories respectively in 2021.
25:29
SCORE GOAL - Swans (Sam Wicks)
26:56
SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Tom Papley)
28:20
SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Josh P. Kennedy)
29:00
Gold Coast have won five of their eight (63 per cent) defensive one-on-one contests in the first half of today's match, and lost none. Their 30 per cent win rate in this category is the sixth-lowest figure of any club this season.
29:43
Gold Coast have had six kicks inside 50 from the corridor and have found marks for teammates from three of them in the first half. By comparison, the Swans have had eight kicks inside 50 from the corridor and have not found a teammate for a mark from any of them.
30:00
Gold Coast's 81 per cent kicking efficiency in the second quarter fuelled their surge on the scoreboard, lead by Noah Anderson who kicked at 100 per cent efficiency from four kicks. His six handball receives in the second term was double that of any teammate in this category.

Quarter 3

00:00
Q3 is now underway.
02:20
SCORE BEHIND - Suns (Rushed)
05:33
SCORE GOAL - Suns (Ben King)
07:44
Gold Coast have recorded the first eight tackles in this quarter. Sydney have attempted four tackles but have not been able to successfully complete any.
08:45
SCORE GOAL - Suns (Ben King)
10:14
Ben King has equalled his career-high of four goals, which he has recorded on two previous occasions (Round 19 against Essendon, 2019 and Round 3 against Adelaide, 2021).
12:10
SCORE GOAL - Suns (Ben Ainsworth)
12:42
As soon as Ben King equals his career-high, Ben Ainsworth sets a new career high with three goals, eclipsing his previous best of two goals which he has recorded on four occasions in his career, most recently in Round 4 against Fremantle in 2020.
16:28
SCORE BEHIND - Suns (Sam Flanders)
17:15
SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Rushed)
18:32
Gold Coast have recorded 27 contested possessions post-clearance to the Sydney's 12 in the third term. Gold Coast have lost this count by an average of four per game, the fourth-lowest differential margin of any side in this category in 2021.
20:46
SCORE BEHIND - Suns (Ben King)
22:36
SCORE GOAL - Suns (Ben King)
23:59
Sydney have recorded 15 inside 50's through the corridor to the Suns' seven in today's match so far, however this has only lead to 1.4.10 for Sydney compared to 5.3.33 from corridor entries inside 50 for the Suns.
26:13
Gold Coast have won six free kicks for holding the ball to one for Sydney. Luke Parker has been the biggest culprit, getting caught with the ball on three occasions.
27:45
SCORE GOAL - Swans (Oliver Florent)
29:27
SCORE BEHIND - Suns (Chris Burgess)
30:51
SCORE GOAL - Suns (Hugh Greenwood)
30:55
After recording 324 metres gained in the first term, Touk Miller has only gained a further 16 more metres in the second and third term combined.

Quarter 4

00:00
Q4 is now underway.
01:44
SCORE GOAL - Swans (James Rowbottom)
02:57
Sydney get the first goal of the last term, and their fourth from an Intercept Possession chain in today's match. All of these goals have been launched from their attacking midfield zone, showing how well the Suns have been able to prevent their turnovers resulting in points against.
03:15
SCORE BEHIND - Suns (Noah Anderson)
05:11
Oleg Markov, who ranks seventh at the Suns for total metres gained and fifth for effective metres gained, has done a great job sacrificing his normal attacking game to quell the influence of Sydney rookie Errol Gulden, who has only recorded seven disposals from the 32 minutes of game time they have been matched up on each other.
05:18
SCORE GOAL - Swans (Will Hayward)
07:45
Swans Interchange - Kaiden Brand off due to an injury.
10:46
Josh Kennedy and Luke Parker have lead from the front for the Swans, sharing the game-high figure of 16 contested possessions for the match. This is Kennedy's 131st game with at least 15 contested possessions recorded, and Parker's 54th, ranked first and ninth respectively in this regard among active AFL players.
12:42
SCORE BEHIND - Suns (David Swallow)
13:30
The Suns have lost the time in forward half differential in four of their five matches. They have recorded a negative differential of eight minutes and 55 second per game, ranked 17th. Today they are winning this differential by approximately 8-9 minutes.
14:19
SCORE GOAL - Suns (Josh Corbett)
15:42
SCORE BEHIND - Suns (Ben Ainsworth)
20:41
SCORE BEHIND - Suns (Hugh Greenwood)
22:59
SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Rushed)
23:50
SCORE GOAL - Swans (Hayden McLean)
24:07
Hayden McLean gets a consolation goal late in the fourth quarter, and their fifth goal from six set shots. The accuracy is a positive for the Swans, who average a goal from 57.5 per cent of set shots, the eighth-best conversion rate of any side in 2021.
27:38
Josh Kennedy is the third player in the AFL to record at least 20 contested possessions in a match in 2021, joining Jarryd Lyons of Brisbane in Round 5 and Clayton Oliver of Melbourne in Round 2. He has also recorded game-high figures in disposals (39) and clearances (11).
27:48
SCORE GOAL - Suns (Lachie Weller)
30:30
This is the Suns first 100 point outing since Round 2, 2018 against Carlton.
31:48
Sydney have recorded the equal sixth-highest hitout differential in VFL/AFL history in today's match (76-20), yet lost the clearances (41-44) and the scores from clearance (20-35) while recording 11 turnovers from clearance in the process.