Match

Geelong Cats vs West Coast Eagles

Commentary / 20 Aug 2022

Pre Game

00:00

Since Round 15, Tom Hawkins has recorded 21 score assists, making him the only player in the AFL to record more than 20 assists in this period.

Quarter 1

00:00

Q1 is now underway.

03:45

SCORE BEHIND - Eagles (Jack Redden)

04:19

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Brad Close)

04:38

Geelong open the goal scoring for the afternoon, launching their first goal from the first kick-in of today's match. The Cats launch a score from 11.6 per cent of their defensive 50 possession chains since Round 15, ranked fourth in the AFL in this category.

06:39

SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Jamie Cripps)

09:13

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Tom Hawkins)

10:03

After the first 10 minutes of today's match, the defensive half kicking efficiency of both teams couldn't be more disparate. West Coast are hitting a target from 82 per cent of their kicks, compared to just 29 per cent efficiency by foot for Geelong in their back half.

12:00

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Rushed)

14:20

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Isaac Smith)

15:49

Becoming the 99th player to play 300 VFL/AFL games, Patrick Dangerfield is celebrating by being the most influential player on the ground to begin this match. He leads all players on the ground with six disposals, 139 metres gained, three score involvements and four inside 50's.

15:57

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Gryan Miers)

17:43

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Tom Hawkins)

19:24

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Joel Selwood)

19:44

Back-to-back goals from back-to-back centre clearances for Geelong. The Cats have recorded the last five clearances in a row, all of which have been effective.

20:22

The Eagles just recorded their first disposal in five minutes of elapsed game time.

24:03

SCORE BEHIND - Eagles (Rushed)

25:16

The Eagles have recorded two inside 50's in a row, after conceding the last nine inside 50's to Geelong before that. The Eagles have won the inside 50 count on two occasions this year, most recently against Richmond in Round 16.

26:05

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Cameron Guthrie)

27:20

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Cameron Guthrie)

27:49

Cameron Guthrie gets two goals in just over a minute, making it four Geelong goals from stoppage clearances in a row after the Eagles scored the first goal from a clearance for the match. The Cats have outscored their opponents by seven points per game since Round 15, ranked third in the AFL in this metric.

27:59

Cats Interchange - Jake Kolodjashnij off due to an injury.

29:07

SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Tim Kelly)

30:26

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Rushed)

31:45

Eagles Interchange - Liam Ryan off due to an injury.

32:38

SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Jack Darling)

34:00

Geelong's three goals launched from Centre Clearances in the first term of today's match is their most in any single quarter in 2022.

Quarter 2

00:00

Q2 is now underway.

01:51

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Isaac Smith)

05:59

SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Jack Darling)

06:39

All four of West Coast's goals, including the first goal of the second quarter to Jack Darling, have been scored from set shots at goal. 55.7 per cent of the Eagles goals in 2022 have beens cored from this shot type, the second-largest share of total goals behind Port Adelaide from set shots (56.3 per cent).

08:31

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Tyson Stengle)

09:41

SCORE BEHIND - Eagles (Rushed)

09:49

Both teams have scored 4.1.25 from shots at goal from 40 metres or more out from the goal line in today's match. The Cats have built their lead by scoring 3.2.20 from shots at goal within 40 metres of goal to zero for the Eagles from this distance.

11:04

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Isaac Smith)

12:57

Cats Interchange - Cameron Guthrie and is possibly out for the game.

13:50

SCORE BEHIND - Eagles (Liam Ryan)

15:44

West Coast have recorded seven of the eight contested marks in today's match so far. They have conceded just under one more contested mark per game on average to their opponents in 2022, ranked 11th. Geelong rank first in the AFL averaging 2.3 more contested marks per game than their opposition this year.

16:57

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Jack Henry)

22:13

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Gary Rohan)

22:59

If Geelong fail to record another tackle this term, their 14 tackles will be their lowest half-time tally of the season, and the equal second-lowest of any side in 2022. Their previous lowest tally (15) was recorded in Round 1 against Essendon.

23:38

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Tom Hawkins)

24:39

Since the Eagles last goal, four of the Cats' five goals have been launched from midfield intercept possessions. Both teams have recorded nine intercept possessions between the 50 metre arc's during this period of the game, but the Eagles have scored just one behind from this source by comparison.

27:05

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Zach Tuohy)

28:25

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Isaac Smith)

28:53

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Zach Tuohy)

31:01

Geelong scored 8.2.50 from shots at goal in general play in the first half of today's match, while allowing just one scoring shot from general play for the Eagles for no score. Since Round 12, the Cats are one of two teams to average two goals per game more than their opponents from general play in this span, along with Sydney.

Quarter 3

00:00

Q3 is now underway.

00:41

SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Liam Ryan)

01:49

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Gary Rohan)

01:58

First the Eagles, then the Cats, win a Centre Clearance each and convert it into a goal to begin the third quarter. The Eagles have launched a score from 29.6 per cent of their Centre Clearances in 2022, ranked second. The Cats have scored from 24.2 per cent for their clearances out of the centre this year, ranked 12th.

06:09

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Zach Tuohy)

07:05

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Jed Bews)

08:50

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Tom Hawkins)

09:50

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Tyson Stengle)

13:00

After taking just one mark inside 50 in the second quarter, the Cats have already taken four inside 50 marks this term alone. However, they have only scored one goal from these marks in the third term which matches their output of the second quarter in this regard.

18:22

West Coast have broken even with Geelong in terms of intercept possessions for the quarter at 11 each. However, nine of the Cats intercept possessions have been recorded in the midfield zone, compared to five for the Eagles, with the Cats converting this to 2.1.13 to zero scores for West Coast.

20:10

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Tyson Stengle)

20:47

Just one of Geelong's 14 kicks entering their forward 50 zone this term has been turned over, while 11 have found a teammate inside 50. This is in stark contrast to the Eagles both in terms of volume (four kicks going inside 50) and retention (two kicks retained, two kicks turned over).

22:53

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Tom Hawkins)

24:31

SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Jamie Cripps)

26:22

In game number 200 for West Coast, Jamie Cripps has become the eighth player in club history to record 250 goals for the Eagles in tonight's match.

27:55

After losing the groundball-get count 52-36 in the first half, the Eagles were able to correct this and record 18 groundball-gets to 15 in the third term. The Eagles are the only team in the AFL in 2022 to have averaged over 10 groundball-gets less per game than their opponents.

Quarter 4

00:00

Q4 is now underway.

00:57

SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Jamie Cripps)

02:11

Jamie Cripps gets the Eagles final quarter of the season off to a good start with his third goal of the game to be the leading goalkicker on the ground. Only Jonathon Ceglar (five) has more score involvements than Cripps (three) since half time of today's match.

05:59

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Rushed)

06:44

Junior Rioli has been replaced by the medical substitute Greg Clark.

07:52

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Isaac Smith)

08:18

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Patrick Dangerfield)

09:32

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Tyson Stengle)

12:44

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Tom Hawkins)

14:22

Tom Hawkins is now equal with the recently retired West Coast Eagle Josh Kennedy on the all-time goalkicker list with 723, ranked equal-21st in VFL/AFL history.

15:12

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Tyson Stengle)

16:07

After scoring a goal from their first and only clearance chain so far in the final term, the Cats have converted both of their eighth and ninth intercept possession chains for their first two goals of the quarter from this score source.

17:31

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Tyson Stengle)

18:54

West Coast have recorded four hitouts this quarter, equalling their output in this statistic from the last two quarters combined.

23:19

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Tom Hawkins)

24:20

That goal to Tom Hawkins, his fourth to equal teammate Tysone Stengle for the lead in this regard in today's match, makes it 11.6.72 to 0.0.0 from shots at goal in general play in this match, demonstrating the superiority of the Cats both offensively and defensively in this regard.

25:38

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Rushed)

28:15

The Cats have demonstrated their outstanding defensive structure in tonight's match, recording a pressure factor of just 1.58 for the match, restricting the Eagles to a season-low 27 inside 50's, and turning this defence into offence by outscoring the Eagles 11.11.77 to 2.4.16 from intercept possessions for the match.

29:55

The Cats celebrate Patrick Dangerfield's 300th match with an 85 point win to further continue their dominance of the Eagles at home. They recorded a score from over 57 per cent of their forward 50 entries, their third best offensive performance in this category in 2022.