Match

Geelong Cats vs Melbourne

Commentary / 07 Jul 2022

Pre Game

00:00
Melbourne has won its last three matches against Geelong by an average margin of 37 points.

Quarter 1

00:00
Q1 is now underway.
00:16
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Tyson Stengle)
05:04
Patrick Dangerfield has stood out early at stoppages in a hotly contested game with three of the six clearances in the match.
06:55
After an early forward entry and shot at goal for Geelong in the opening seconds of the match, it has since been played in Melbourne's attacking half with six of the following seven inside 50s going the way of the Demons.
06:58
Bayley Fritsch finally converts on Melbourne's territory dominance with the first goal of the match. Fritsch is one of just two players in the competition to kick at least one goal in every match this season with Mabior Chol.
08:11
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Christian Petracca)
10:53
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Gary Rohan)
11:05
It has been a high-pressure game early with both teams sitting on a pressure factor above 200. Geelong leads the overall pressure (215 to 200) and the general play pressure (219 to 193).
16:02
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Mitch Duncan)
16:26
Geelong takes the lead for the first time tonight on the back of Mitch Duncan's fifth goal of the season.
17:30
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Ben Brown)
18:01
Just as Geelong takes the lead Ben Brown strikes back with his first goal of the night to give Melbourne the lead again. Melbourne is used to playing from in front this season, it has led on the scoreboard in 74% of games this season, the highest percentage of any team.
21:59
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Gryan Miers)
23:30
SCORE BEHIND - Demons (Bayley Fritsch)
26:02
Geelong has a kick-to-handball ratio of 3.43 in its forward half, opting to move the ball by foot in this area of the ground. While Melbourne has a kick-to-handball ratio of 0.72 in its forward half with a focus on moving the ball by hand.
26:05
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Cameron Guthrie)
27:08
Cam Guthrie kicks a spectacular goal from the boundary. To this point, the Cats have goals through Mitch Duncan, Gary Rohan, and Guthrie with their three major goalkickers this season Jeremy Cameron, Tom Hawkins, and Tyson Stengle yet to hit the scoreboard with a major.
28:36
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Zach Tuohy)
30:26
It has been the in-and-under players leading the way for both sides to this point with Patrick Dangerfield and James Harmes each amassing a game-high seven contested possessions. Dangerfield has taken more ground than Harmes (297 metres gained to 93), but Harmes has offered a larger defensive presence to Dangerfield (seven pressure acts to four).

Quarter 2

00:00
Q2 is now underway.
03:49
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Zach Guthrie)
06:43
SCORE BEHIND - Demons (Rushed)
09:13
After gathering just three disposals early in the match, Clayton Oliver has since gathered eight since the 20th minute of the first term. More than any other player in this time.
11:03
It has been an even game defensively with Geelong leading the tackles (24-21) and spoils (13-nine), while the intercept marks are tied at six apiece.
11:12
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Patrick Dangerfield)
13:12
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Tom Atkins)
13:29
Tom Atkins breaks through for the first goal of the term, coming in the 14th minute of the quarter. In the past five minutes, Geelong has dominated the possession count 26 to eight.
15:56
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Clayton Oliver)
16:34
After kicking the second-most goals in a season of his career with 11 last season, Clayton Oliver kicks his third of the season tonight and just his second since Round 2 against Gold Coast.
21:00
The Melbourne ruck duo of Luke Jackson and Max Gawn has proven more prominent around the ground with the pair combining for 19 disposals while Geelong's ruck combination in Rhys Stanley and Mark Blicavs have produced nine disposals between them.
21:39
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Brad Close)
22:51
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Christian Petracca)
23:18
Cats Interchange - Max Holmes off due to an injury.
23:39
For the second time in the match, Christian Petracca responds quickly to a Geelong goal with one of his own from a clearance. In this quarter Geelong has produced both of its goals from intercepts in its defensive arc and transitioning the ball the length of the ground.
24:08
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Patrick Dangerfield)
27:18
SCORE BEHIND - Demons (Rushed)
27:59
SCORE BEHIND - Demons (Rushed)
29:04
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Isaac Smith)
30:29
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Patrick Dangerfield)
30:31
Tom Atkins popped up in the second term to lead all players for the quarter in clearances (six) and pressure acts (10) along with kicking the first goal of the quarter. Clayton Oliver also lifted his output to kick a goal and gather six contested possessions.

Quarter 3

00:00
Q3 is now underway.
01:21
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Tyson Stengle)
02:30
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Gary Rohan)
03:01
Geelong goes end-to-end to kick a goal for the third time in the match, this time through Gary Rohan. They have produced 26 points from the defensive half in this match and have scored 39.3 points per game from defensive half chains this season - ranked No.1.
05:40
SCORE BEHIND - Demons (James Harmes)
06:52
Sam De Koning leads all players in the match with six spoils and has an equal game-high three intercept marks, Jake Lever also has three.
08:02
SCORE BEHIND - Demons (Christian Petracca)
09:13
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Mitch Duncan)
10:22
The Demons have won just one of their six offensive one-on-one contests in this match. In the last four rounds, the Demons have won 16.3% of their offensive one-on-one contests – the worst percentage of any team.
11:52
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Max Holmes)
13:38
Across the first half James Harmes, Clayton Oliver, and Christian Petracca combined for 12 clearances. In this third term, the trio's influence on the match has been subdued with just five disposals and one clearance between the three to this point of the quarter.
15:33
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Patrick Dangerfield)
16:16
The ball use between both sides remains similar throughout the match with Melbourne's disposal efficiency at 73% and Geelong's at 69%. The ball has been turned over 44 times by each side with 10 of Geelong's turnovers unforced and 11 of Melbourne's.
18:58
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Isaac Smith)
19:23
Isaac Smith kicks his first goal of the match in his 250th match. The goal was generated by Patrick Dangerfield who has three clearances in the last 10 minutes after totalling four in the first quarter.
21:29
Geelong has the last 10 inside 50s of the match. 60% of play in this quarter has been in Geelong's forward half.
22:31
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Alex Neal-Bullen)
23:23
Against the flow, Melbourne kicks a goal through Alex Neal-Bullen after entering its forward arc for the first time since the ninth minute of this quarter.
25:49
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Toby Bedford)
27:40
All 48 points from Melbourne in this match have been generated in between the arcs 20 points from the attacking midfield, 22 from the defensive midfield, and six from centre bounce.
29:07
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Jeremy Cameron)
29:43
The Demons have conceded 19.6 shots at goal per game – ranked No.1 defensively. The Cats have 22 shots at goal to this point late in the third quarter.
31:59
Geelong captain Joel Selwood has played just 65% of the match to this point, including being on the ground for only 57% of the third term.

Quarter 4

00:00
Q4 is now underway.
00:16
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Tom Hawkins)
04:55
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Tom Hawkins)
05:16
Tom Hawkins breaks through for his first goal of the match and the first of the final term. The Cats have gotten by without their three leading goalkickers of the season kicking a major in this match but one of them is now on the board in Hawkins.
06:07
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Tyson Stengle)
06:55
SCORE BEHIND - Demons (Bayley Fritsch)
07:32
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Kysaiah Pickett)
11:45
Demons Interchange - Clayton Oliver off due to an injury.
11:53
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Christian Petracca)
12:26
Christian Petracca kicks his third goal of the night and brings the Demons to within just seven points. Petracca averaged 31.3 disposals, 13.3 contested possessions and 8.3 score involvements from three games against Geelong last season.
13:07
SCORE BEHIND - Demons (Bayley Fritsch)
14:08
SCORE BEHIND - Demons (Kysaiah Pickett)
14:51
Kysaiah Pickett has proved a threat in this final term with two shots at goal (including a goal), a clearance, and three pressure acts inside 50.
17:16
The pressure has gone up a notch in the last five minutes with Geelong's pressure factor at 227 and Melbourne's at 237. For the match, Geelong's pressure is 185 and Melbourne's 181.
17:59
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Rhys Stanley)
18:49
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Cameron Guthrie)
19:11
Cam Guthrie breaks through for Geelong's first goal since the fifth minute of the quarter. Guthrie has two goals for the match, eight score involvements, six clearances, and 13 contested possessions.
21:26
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Rushed)
22:33
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Mark Blicavs)
25:50
Despite playing the least amount of time in this match (62%), Joel Selwood has the equal most score involvements with 10.
28:04
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Tyson Stengle)
28:32
After an early Melbourne run in this final term, Geelong has since regained control with 11 inside 50s to one in the last 15 minutes and 21 points to one in this time.
30:06
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Tom Hawkins)
31:36
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Gary Rohan)
32:36
Geelong showed its ability to go coast-to-coast with three goals from chains started in the defensive 50, but in the second half it proved its ability to generate scores from the forward half with 41 points created from this area of the ground during this timeframe. Prior to this match, Melbourne had conceded 28.1 points per game from their opponent's forward half chains – ranked No.1 defensively.