Match

North Melbourne vs Geelong Cats

Commentary / 24 Apr 2022

Pre Game

00:00

After being ranked in the bottom five sides in the league in 2021 for tackle differential averaging a margin of five less tackles per game than their opponents, Geelong have been the second-ranked side in this metric over the first five rounds in 2022, out-tackling their opponents by eight tackles per game.

Quarter 1

00:00

Q1 is now underway.

00:18

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Gryan Miers)

01:29

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Jeremy Cameron)

01:35

Two clearances result in two scores to start the match for Geelong. The Cats are the only team to average over four scoring chains from clearances more than their opponents on a per game basis in the first five rounds of the 2022 season.

04:59

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Brad Close)

06:24

SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Luke Davies-Uniacke)

10:05

Not necessarily an accurate start for the Cats in front of goal, but they are converting their inside 50 entries to scores, converting six entries to four scores already in the first term. The Cats rank second in the AFL for scores per inside 50 at 48 per cent efficiency.

13:50

All seven of Geelong's clearances have been recorded on effective disposals. By comparison, two of the three clearances for the Kangaroos have been intercepted by Geelong.

15:08

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Brad Close)

17:29

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Jeremy Cameron)

18:59

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Cameron Guthrie)

20:05

SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Paul Curtis)

21:15

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Hugh Greenwood)

21:25

All three Kangaroo scoring shots have been recorded in general play in the first term. Their 33 per cent general play goal-kicking accuracy from these shots matches their season average, the second-lowest accuracy of any side in this category in the AFL in 2022.

23:13

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Rushed)

26:16

Jason Horne-Francis (four) and Atu Bosenavulagi (three) combined have more pre-clearance contested possessions than the rest of their team (five) in the first term.

27:20

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Rushed)

28:23

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Cameron Guthrie)

29:28

18 midfield intercept possession chains to nine in favour of the Cats in the first term. They have outscored the Kangaroos 2.3.15 to 0.0.0 from these chains. In 2022, Geelong have been outscored by their opponents by one point in differential score margin from this source, ranked 11th.

Quarter 2

00:00

Q2 is now underway.

00:23

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Luke McDonald)

00:33

A good start to the term for North Melbourne, getting the first goal of the term and their first generated from a stoppage clearance. The Kangaroos average 43 points per game from this source in 2022, ranked 14th.

02:53

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Jeremy Cameron)

05:45

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Tom Hawkins)

06:13

Geelong have begun the second term much more efficiently in front of goal than their first term output, getting two goals from their first two inside 50 entries. By comparison, North Melbourne have entered their forward 50 five times in the second term already for just the one goal.

08:23

SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Paul Curtis)

11:39

North Melbourne have just taken their first mark inside 50 from 16 targets so far in today's match. By comparison, Geelong have taken five marks from 13 inside 50 targets, including two marks from just three targets this quarter.

12:31

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Isaac Smith)

16:40

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Jeremy Cameron)

18:46

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Jeremy Cameron)

19:17

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Jeremy Cameron)

19:43

Jeremy Cameron's last three scoring shots inside the last three minutes have come from the Cats' three forward half possession chains they have recorded in this term. By comparison, the Kangaroos have scored one behind from their five possession chains launched from their forward half in the second term.

21:45

SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Paul Curtis)

23:25

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Tyson Stengle)

25:54

North Melbourne have won the groundball gets count 19-15 in the second term, but their 50 per cent forward half kicking efficiency has prevented them from converting that advantage to points on the scoreboard in the second term.

27:50

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Tom Hawkins)

29:16

Kangaroos Interchange - Cameron Zurhaar off due to an injury.

29:30

All eight of Tom Atkins' contested possessions in the first half were intercept possessions, a team-high in this category. He was able to launch half of these intercept possessions into scores for the Cats, the highest and most efficient output of any player on the ground from this source.

Quarter 3

00:00

Q3 is now underway.

02:07

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Cameron Zurhaar)

02:31

The Kangaroos get the first goal of the quarter again after doing so in the second term as well. All three Kangaroo goals have been scored from clearance chains, where the Kangaroos lead the Cats 3.2.20 to 2.4.16 for the match.

05:14

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Gryan Miers)

05:43

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Tom Hawkins)

06:16

On the flipside, that goal to Tom Hawkins is the Cats sixth goal from an intercept possession chain for the match, allowing them to lead the Kangaroos 6.8.44 to 0.2.2 from this source.

07:58

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Gryan Miers)

08:22

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Oliver Dempsey)

08:23

Oliver Dempsey gets the first goal of his career after the Cats pounce on an errant Kangaroo kick-in to score their sixth goal for the match from general play. Just 38 per cent of the Cats' goals in 2022 have been scored from general play, the lowest percentage share of any side.

10:21

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Tom Hawkins)

13:51

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Tyson Stengle)

15:03

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Joel Selwood)

19:36

SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Curtis Taylor)

20:12

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Tyson Stengle)

21:27

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Jy Simpkin)

22:27

North Melbourne (two) is the only team to have scored a goal from a centre bounce clearance chain in today's match, including that goal to Simpkin, who generated the clearance to begin the chain.

23:16

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Isaac Smith)

26:26

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Jeremy Cameron)

27:40

Geelong have gone up a gear in the third term by scoring five of their six goals for the term from forward half possession chains. After scoring seven goals from 32 inside 50's in the first half, they have six goals from just 15 inside 50's in the third term.

30:15

A clinical quarter for Geelong, in which they won the disposal (91-82), contested possession (39-33), tackle (22-16) and intercept possession (26-19) counts for the quarter to stretch their lead to a game-high 64 points.

Quarter 4

00:00

Q4 is now underway.

00:42

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Tom Hawkins)

01:06

Geelong have scored eight goals to zero from within 30 metres of the goal line in today's match, including the first goal of the last term to Tom Hawkins. Prior to today's match, Geelong had kicked 22 goals from this zone in 2022, the equal third-lowest tally of any side from this distance.

02:51

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Jeremy Cameron)

03:01

Jeremy Cameron becomes the fifth player to kick six goals in a game at Blundstone Arena, joining Bayley Fritsch (2021), Josh Bruce (2019), Jarrad Waite (2017) and Brent Harvey (2016).

04:43

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Cameron Zurhaar)

08:40

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Jack Ziebell)

10:29

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Rushed)

12:32

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Jed Bews)

13:19

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Paul Curtis)

13:20

Paul Curtis gets the first goal of his career to cap off the Kangaroos first scoring chain to be launched from their defensive 50 in today's match, and their first goal that was not scored from a stoppage clearance chain. 20 per cent of their scoring chains in 2021 came from this zone, the highest percentage of any side.

13:32

Jason Horne-Francis has as many clearances as Geelong (three) in the final term of this match.

16:58

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Luke Davies-Uniacke)

17:47

Luke Davies-Uniacke kicks the Kangaroos first goal from an intercept possession chain in today's match with just under 10 minutes left to play. The Kangaroos nine points for the match from this source would be their second single-figure score for a match from this source since this category was first recorded in 2002.

19:19

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Tyson Stengle)

20:33

SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Jason Horne-Francis)

21:35

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Mark Blicavs)

22:27

Jeremy Cameron becomes the first player to kick seven goals at Blundstone Arena, and sets a new best return as a Geelong player surpassing the six goals he recorded on two previous occasions.

27:06

Kangaroos Interchange - Ben McKay off due to an injury.

27:58

SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Jack Ziebell)

28:12

A promising game from Luke Davies-Uniacke, who leads all players on the ground with 14 contested possessions and eight inside 50's, as well as team-high figures for clearances (seven) and metres gained (504).

28:37

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Cameron Zurhaar)

31:10

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Jeremy Cameron)

32:02

North Melbourne lead Geelong in the clearance count 38-27, which is their first positive double-digit margin in this metric of the 2022 season.

33:08

Geelong were powered to a 10-goal victory on the back of 11 goals to two from intercept possession chains. This is Geelong's ninth win in a row over the Kangaroos, their longest active winning streak against any side, and their biggest win over the Kangaroos since Round 7, 2011 (66 points).