Match

Melbourne vs North Melbourne

Commentary / 29 Apr 2023

Pre Game

00:00
Melbourne has won four of their last five matches against North Melbourne by an average winning margin of 43 points. North Melbourne won the previous 17 encounters against the Demons before these five most recent matches.

Quarter 1

00:00
Q1 is now underway.
00:46
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Kade Chandler)
03:46
Kade Chandler has scored the first goal of the game - his 11th goal of the season (second-most for Melbourne). Entering the 2023 season, Chandler had never scored an AFL goal since debuting in 2019.
04:53
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Bayley Fritsch)
06:30
Clayton Oliver has started strongly, collecting six disposals in the opening six minutes of the match. In his last 58 career matches, Oliver has only won fewer then 20 disposals in one of the matches.
07:17
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Bayley Fritsch)
08:06
All three of Melbourne's goals have been launched from their defensive midfield zone. This has been a strength of Melbourne's in 2023, averaging 26.7 points from defensive midfield launches - ranked No.1 in the AFL. The league average is 17.8 points.
10:37
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Kysaiah Pickett)
12:19
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Tom Sparrow)
13:29
Melbourne has already piled on five quick goals whilst holding North Melbourne scoreless. This is already Melbourne's highest-scoring first quarter against North Melbourne since 2011.
21:01
The Demons have dominated possession, leading uncontested possessions by 30 (49 to 19) and contested possessions by six (22 to 15). Melbourne has only had one quarter this season where they have won more than 30 uncontested possessions than their opposition.
23:18
SCORE BEHIND - Demons (Rushed)
26:35
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Brodie Grundy)
28:38
North Melbourne has only generated one fewer inside 50 than the Demons. The difference is the conversion of these entries. The Kangaroos have not been able to score from their 11 inside 50s, whereas the Demons have scored six goals from their 12 inside 50s.
30:02
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Cameron Zurhaar)
30:22
North Melbourne has finally been able to convert on their inside 50s, with Cameron Zurhaar scoring their opening goal of the night following their 14th inside 50. The Kangaroos have been able to generate five consecutive inside 50s - the second-time this quarter they have achieved this.
32:25
Kangaroos Interchange - Jack Ziebell off due to an injury.
34:34
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Bayley Fritsch)
36:07
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Kysaiah Pickett)
36:48
Melbourne has scored 8.1 (49) for the quarter - their highest-scoring quarter of the season. They have scored a goal from 50% of their entries.
38:09
SCORE BEHIND - Demons (Rushed)
40:49
Melbourne finishes the quarter with 50 points scored - their fourth-highest ever first-quarter score against North Melbourne and their best result since 1991. They finished the quarter with 37 more uncontested possessions - their best differential in a quarter this season.

Quarter 2

00:00
Q2 is now underway.
02:31
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Trent Rivers)
04:07
North Melbourne is on top at stoppages, leading clearances by five for the match and three for the quarter. Centre bounces have been the main stoppage type that the Kangaroos have benefitted from, leading these clearances seven to four.
07:02
Melbourne’s disposal efficiency stood out tonight as a key difference between the two sides. Their efficiency of 81% is considerably greater than North Melbourne’s 67%. Melbourne has recorded the third-highest disposal efficiency this season.
10:09
SCORE BEHIND - Demons (Rushed)
11:06
Just like in the first quarter, North Melbourne has been able to generate a similar number of inside 50s to Melbourne (Melbourne leads six to five) but is struggling with conversion. They are yet to score from these five inside 50s. North Melbourne’s second quarters have not been strong this season, winning just one of these terms in 2023.
11:41
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Kade Chandler)
15:30
North Melbourne's transition out of defensive 50 has been poor, generating just one inside 50 from their 16 possession chains originating in this defensive zone. The Demons have allowed their opposition to generate an inside 50 from just 17% of their defensive 50 chains – ranked No.1 defensively.
18:07
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Darcy Tucker)
18:21
Melbourne has made the most of their scoring shots, scoring 7.0 (42) from their set shots and 3.0 (18) from general play. Melbourne has recorded a shot at goal accuracy of 57.4% this season – ranked No.1.
18:51
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Nick Larkey)
20:20
Both of North Melbourne's goals tonight have been sourced from forward 50 intercepts. The Kangaroos have not scored more than two goals from this source and zone in any matches this season.
20:37
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Christian Petracca)
23:37
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Alex Neal-Bullen)
24:53
A holding the ball deep inside 50 to Alex Neal-Bullen is Melbourne's eighth tackle inside 50 for the match. Last round against Richmond, The Demons only laid six forward 50 tackles for the match. They average 13 tackles in this zone a match - ranked No. 1 in the AFL.
27:25
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Rushed)
28:18
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Cameron Zurhaar)
29:15
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Kysaiah Pickett)
30:58
North Melbourne's half-time score of 2.3 (15) is their equal third-lowest ever first-half score against the Demons. The last time that the Kangaroos scored a lower first-half score against the Demons was in Round 16, 1948.

Quarter 3

00:00
Q3 is now underway.
04:30
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Christian Petracca)
05:11
Melbourne has scored 6.2 (38) from stoppages and is leading this score source by 36 points. Melbourne's best differential from this score source this season was in round 4 when they outscored the Eagles by 31 points from stoppages.
06:39
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Bayley Fritsch)
08:45
Kangaroos Interchange - Callum Coleman-Jones and is possibly out for the game.
08:51
The Demons have won 19 more post-clearance contested possessions tonight, with Christian Petracca leading the game with 10. The Demons worst two differentials for this stat this season have come in their previous two matches, losing by 16 in Round 5 and 23 in Round 6.
09:10
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Nick Larkey)
11:32
The Demons are leading the time in forward half this match by 16 minutes. The Kangaroos have lost the time in forward half differential by 12 minutes and 37 seconds per game this season – ranked last.
13:19
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Cameron Zurhaar)
14:25
Cameron Zurhaar has scored his second goal of the match - the fourth time this season that he has scored multiple goals in a match. Zurhaar has recorded 10 score assists this season – ranked No. 1 at North Melbourne and the equal tenth-most in the competition.
18:24
SCORE BEHIND - Demons (Christian Petracca)
19:42
Melbourne has converted 33% of their inside 50s tonight into goals - just below their season-best of 35%. The Demons average a goal from 28.2% of their forward 50 entries this season - the second-best conversion in the competition.
20:46
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Cameron Zurhaar)
22:10
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Jacob van Rooyen)
24:11
Melbourne has punished North Melbourne's turnovers, scoring 8.2 (50) sourced from intercepts - 30 more points than North Melbourne has scored from this source. North Melbourne has been outscored by 17 points per game from intercept possessions this season – ranked 17th.
25:50
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Todd Goldstein)
27:10
Melbourne has restricted North Melbourne to four points scored from their defensive-half chains. The fewest points that Melbourne has conceded from defensive-half launches this season is 22 points (Round 1 v Western Bulldogs).
28:20
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Rushed)
29:02
North Melbourne generated two more inside 50s than the Demons in the third quarter, resulting in one more scoring shot for the term. They played a high possession style game in the third quarter, taking 40 marks for the term after only managing 45 marks in the first half.

Quarter 4

00:00
Q4 is now underway.
00:31
SCORE BEHIND - Demons (Rushed)
03:03
SCORE BEHIND - Demons (Max Gawn)
04:03
Melbourne has been the best final-quarter team of the season, winning all six of these terms so far. Conversely, North Melbourne has won one final quarter this season (Round 4 v Carlton). The Demons outscored the Tigers by 20 points in the final quarter last round.
05:42
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Christian Petracca)
06:03
Christian Petracca has capped off a brilliant individual performance with his third goal of the match - his 12th score involvement overall. He leads Melbourne in contested possessions (14), inside 50s (seven) and metres gained (448). Petracca has recorded 547 metres gained per game this season – ranked fifth in the competition
07:54
SCORE BEHIND - Demons (Angus Brayshaw)
08:57
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Jack Viney)
09:13
Ben Cunnington has been one of North Melbourne's best players tonight, leading the game in clearances (seven) and contested possessions (16). Cunnington has now won 16 contested possessions in his last two matches after averaging 9.4 in the first five matches of the season.
09:32
Kangaroos Interchange - Tom Powell and is possibly out for the game.
11:07
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Nick Larkey)
14:57
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Kade Chandler)
15:23
Melbourne's pressure in the last quarter has been on display, leading tackles eight to one for the term. Kade Chandler has been one of Melbourne's best pressure players, applying 22 pressure acts (second-most for Melbourne) to go with his career-high disposals (21) and three goals.
17:22
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Josh Schache)
18:47
Josh Schache has become Melbourne's 11th goalkicker of the night - the third time this season that Melbourne has had at least 11 goalkickers in a match. No other team has achieved this feat in 2023.
19:22
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Jake Bowey)
20:09
Jake Bowey has now scored Melbourne's sixth consecutive goal as the margin surpasses the 100-point mark. Melbourne's last victory over 100 points was in Round 9, 2018 v Carlton. They have had three wins over 100 points against North Melbourne, the most recent coming in the Elimination Final of the 1987 season.
21:27
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Brodie Grundy)
24:18
Clayton Oliver has again won possessions with ease tonight, leading the match in disposals (36) as well as winning 15 contested possessions. Oliver ranks second in the league for both disposals (33.5) and contested possessions (16.3) per game this season.
24:54
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Cameron Zurhaar)
27:51
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Liam Shiels)
30:11
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Ben Cunnington)
30:15
The Demons were way too powerful for the Kangaroos this evening. They won 32 more contested possessions, accumulated 64 more disposals, and also laid six more tackles. Their conversion inside 50 was a highlight, with the Demons leading goals per inside 50 34% to 14%.