Match

Geelong Cats vs Essendon

Commentary / 19 Mar 2022

Pre Game

00:00
Geelong’s 2021 Home and Away season was defined by ball usage. Not only did the Cats have the highest kicking efficiency in the league (at 69.0%), but Geelong also had the lowest amount of turnovers (63.4 per game) and retained possession from 64.3% of its kicks - ranked first in the competition.

Quarter 1

00:00
Q1 is now underway.
02:03
Tom Hawkins kicks the first goal of the game from a mark on the lead Inside 50. The 2020 Coleman Medallist averaged 2.3 marks on the lead per game last year, ranked second in the competition.
03:35
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Rushed)
06:06
Tom Stewart is off to a strong start in defence, with four marks in the first ten minutes of the game. Stewart averages 8.9 marks per game, which is the most in the competition.
06:26
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Matt Guelfi)
07:03
Patrick Dangerfield kicks Geelond's second goal and their second goal from a chain that began in their Defensive 50. Last year, Essendon conceded a score from 10.9% of its opponent's defensive 50 chains - ranked 17th in the competition.
08:21
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Jeremy Cameron)
10:00
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Rushed)
10:32
Geelong's blistering start comes from a 13-6 lead in contested possessions so far. Geelong had the second-highest contested possession differential last season, tallying 10.3 more contested possessions per game than their opponents.
12:21
Bombers Interchange - Kyle Langford off due to an injury.
14:29
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Devon Smith)
14:46
Devon Smith steadies the ship for Essendon with his first goal of the game. Since Geelong's last goal, Essendon has evened out the contested possession count to 17-all.
16:33
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Jeremy Cameron)
17:48
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Luke Dahlhaus)
18:01
Luke Dahlhaus' first goal is Geelong's third from a stoppage clearance for the match. They have scored 3.2 (20) from that source so far, while Essendon has not managed a single score.
20:32
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Tom Hawkins)
22:04
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Jye Caldwell)
22:12
Zach Merrett's pinpoint kick Inside 50 leads to a Jye Caldwell goal. Merrett has seven touches so far in his 50th game at the MCG and is currently going at 100% kicking efficiency.
23:20
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Patrick Dangerfield)
25:41
Patrick Dangerfield has amassed five Inside 50s so far this quarter, which is over one-third of Geelong's total. Five Inside 50s in the first quarter is an equal career-high for Dangerfield, and the first time he has reached that total in the first quarter since Round 4, 2018.
27:20
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Tom Hawkins)
27:29
Bombers Interchange - Jayden Laverde off due to an injury.
27:42
Tom Hawkins kicks his second goal and consolidates Geelong's early lead. Hawkins averaged 2.5 goals per game last year, ranked sixth in the competition.
28:07
Cats Interchange - Jeremy Cameron off due to an injury.
28:49
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Tyson Stengle)
31:03
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Zach Tuohy)
31:57
Geelong has now managed two goals from forward-50 intercepts in the first quarter alone. Last year, they only averaged 6.7 points from this source, ranked 15th.
33:36
Patrick Dangerfield now has six Inside-50s in the first quarter, which is a career-high.
33:56
Geelong dominated every ball-movement statistic during the first quarter. They outscored Essendon by 11 points from intercept possessions and by 23 points from stoppage clearances, which are both far above their 2021 averages of 8.1 points for intercept possessions and 1.5 for stoppages.

Quarter 2

00:00
Q2 is now underway.
00:59
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Tom Hawkins)
03:12
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Rushed)
03:41
Geelong has continued their contested possession dominance, amassing a tally of 7-2 in the first four minutes of the second quarter. Essendon averaged 129.7 contested possessions in 2021, ranked 16th.
04:29
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Tom Hawkins)
04:44
Tom Hawkins now has four goals and four contested marks. Four contested marks in the first half is an equal-career-high for Hawkins, and the first time he has reached that total since 2020.
08:20
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Nic Martin)
08:34
Nic Martin kicks his first goal in the AFL in his first game. It is only Essendon's second goal from an attacking midfield chain so far today.
09:55
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Tyson Stengle)
10:14
Geelong immediately responds through Tyson Stengle, who kicks his first goal for Geelong. It is Stengle's first goal since Round 16, 2020, when he played for Adelaide.
12:34
Despite 18 rebound-50s - nine more than Geelong - Essendon's transition into Inside-50s continues to fall, now at a lowly 11%.
13:56
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Devon Smith)
14:37
The ruck battle between Sam Draper and Rhys Stanley is closely fought so far. While Draper leads hitout 17-9, Draper has only managed five hitouts-to-advantage, while six of Stanley's nine hitouts have been to advantage.
15:26
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Rushed)
17:44
The clearance battle has blown out further, with Geelong leading 23-10. A large part of this is down to Darcy Parish, who has not amassed a clearance in the game so far, despite leading the league for clearances in 2021 with 7.6 per game.
18:38
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Rushed)
20:49
Essendon has turned to controlling the ball to try and get back in the game, amassing 29 more uncontested possessions than Geelong so far this quarter. Despite this, they have still been unable to move the ball Inside-50, as from 13 defensive-half chains, they have only entered forward 50 three times.
25:17
Sam De Koning has made a promising start to 2022. The youngster in his second game has amassed four intercept possessions so far, which is the equal-most in the match today.
26:30
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Brad Close)
27:50
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Tyson Stengle)
29:29
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Shaun Higgins)
31:04
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Isaac Smith)
31:22
As brilliant as Geelong has been, the first half was the Patrick Dangerfield show. His nine Inside-50s in the first half is equal-fifth best in the last ten years competition-wide, and his 22 first-half disposals is the third-best tally of his career.

Quarter 3

00:00
Q3 is now underway.
00:34
Archie Perkins has been one of the only shining lights for Essendon so far. He has managed 16 disposals so far, 15 of which came in the first half - the highest first-half total of his career so far.
00:43
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Brad Close)
02:30
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Peter Wright)
02:41
Peter Wright opens his 2022 account with a goal. The goal is Essendon's first goal from a defensive midfield intercept, and is only their second goal from a defensive half ball movement chain.
05:03
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Tom Cutler)
05:04
Cats Interchange - Esava Ratugolea off due to an injury.
05:36
Essendon's post-clearance ball usage has become significantly better in the third quarter. They are leading disposals in this area 17-7 while going at 92% kicking efficiency - much better than the second quarter's 69%.
09:52
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Brad Close)
09:58
Cats Interchange - Sam De Koning and is possibly out for the game.
13:08
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Rushed)
13:48
The game has reached a stalemate in scoring as Essendon's ball movement has become much more effective. From 10 ball movement chains this quarter, six have made it inside-50 - a 60% conversion rate.
14:33
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Patrick Dangerfield)
16:28
Sam Draper's third-quarter impact has been exceptional. Geelong has not registered a hitout this quarter, while Draper has amassed eight, with two to his teammate's advantage.
16:33
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Shaun Higgins)
17:59
Brandan Parfitt registers his eighth clearance for the match. This is the most on the ground by any player today, and is also an equal-career high for Parfitt, with over one quarter still to play.
19:41
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Nic Martin)
19:57
Nic Martin kicks his second goal and consolidates an excellent debut. So far, Martin has 21 disposals, which is ranked third for Essendon, while 16 of his disposals have been uncontested, ranked only behind Zach Merrett, with 20.
23:16
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Tyson Stengle)
25:58
Essendon's improved performance this quarter coincides with an excellent quarter from Nick Hind. He has amassed nine touches this quarter and two rebound 50s. The recruit averaged 3.7 rebound 50s in 2021, ranked fourth for the club.
26:06
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Max Holmes)
27:42
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Tyson Stengle)
28:12
Tyson Stengle has made the most of his opportunity at Geelong. He has now kicked three goals in a game for the first time since Round 17, 2019, and for only the second time in his career.
29:43
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Tyson Stengle)
30:07
Tyson Stengle immediately follows up his third goal with his fourth, and third for the term. It is a career-high for Stengle, and equals Tom Hawkins for most goals in the match.
31:11
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Cameron Guthrie)
32:40
Essendon's much-improved third quarter was completely undone in the last five minutes. In that time, Geelong amassed 23 disposals while Essendon only managed four, with only one of those disposals effective. In that time, Essendon conceded three Inside-50s and three goals.

Quarter 4

00:00
Q4 is now underway.
01:14
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Rushed)
03:25
Zach Merrett has amassed 32 disposals, which is just below his average of 32.4 at the MCG. However, despite attending 14 centre bounces, only seven of those disposals have been in Essendon's forward half.
05:44
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Nic Martin)
06:59
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Nic Martin)
07:12
Nic Martin has now kicked four goals on an extremely impressive debut. He has amassed 16 kicks at 81% efficiency, while also tallying 10 marks, which is the most on the ground by any player.
10:49
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Tom Hawkins)
12:11
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Nic Martin)
12:43
The fourth quarter has been dominated by Nic Martin, who has now kicked three goals this quarter, and the last three goals of the game, alongside six disposals at 100% disposal efficiency.
13:56
While the intensity of the game has dissipated, Essendon has been able to control the ball for the first time all game. In the fourth quarter, they have amassed 22 more uncontested possessions, four more marks, three more tackles and four more groud-ball gets.
14:05
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Max Holmes)
16:05
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Tyson Stengle)
17:43
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Brad Close)
19:26
Patrick Dangerfield has now passed 30 disposals for the fourth time since the beginning of 2021. It is the 51st time he has passed the mark since the beginning of 2016.
20:59
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Max Holmes)
22:04
Max Holmes has now kicked two goals for Geelong, which is the most goals he has kicked in a game so far, having only kicked one goal for the entirety of 2021.
23:23
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Jye Caldwell)
23:55
Brandan Parfitt's move into the centre has been a rousing success. After averaging 12 centre bounce attendances in 2021, he has amassed 26 today, converting that into 30 touches for the third time in his career, alongside 16 contested possessions and 11 clearances.
24:55
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Francis Evans)
26:49
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Jye Caldwell)
28:38
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Rushed)
29:29
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Kaine Baldwin)
31:00
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Peter Wright)
32:06
While Essendon can be pleased they unearthed Nic Martin, their performance, especially in the first half, was far below competitive. When Geelong dominated the first half, Essendon was simply unable to move the ball out of their defensive half. In the first half, Essendon had 40 defensive chains but could only convert that into 10 Inside-50s - an abysmal 25% conversion rate.