Match

Port Adelaide vs Essendon

Commentary / 07 May 2023

Pre Game

00:00
Essendon averages 5.6 points per game from kick-in chains in 2023, ranked first in the league. The Bombers also average 23.0 points per game from scoring chains beginning in their defensive 50 - the best average in the competition.

Quarter 1

00:00
Q1 is now underway.
02:14
The first goal of the game comes through Essendon's Kyle Langford, from a defensive-half intercept possession chain. The Bombers average 30.6 points per game from defensive-half intercepts - ranked first in the league.
04:16
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Sam Weideman)
04:37
Essendon's hot start is reflected in the location of their disposals. The Bombers have collected 13 disposals in their forward half in the first five minutes, while the Power in their forward half have had none.
07:15
Port Adelaide gets on the board through Darcy Byrne-Jones. The goal is the first from a forward-50 stoppage for the game. The Power average 21.9 points per game from forward-50 stoppages - ranked second in the league.
08:51
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Archie Perkins)
11:09
SCORE GOAL - Power (Jed McEntee)
11:32
After collecting 11 clearances as a midfielder last week against Geelong, Jake Stringer has continued his fine form, amassing three clearances so far - half of Essendon's total so far this quarter.
15:53
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Jye Caldwell)
16:42
The Bombers' ball movement in their forward half has been exceptional so far. In the forward half, they have collected 15 handball-receives, while the Power have only had four in their forward half.
18:21
SCORE BEHIND - Power (Jason Horne-Francis)
19:50
SCORE BEHIND - Power (Darcy Byrne-Jones)
20:05
The Power have taken three intercepts in their attacking midfield in the last five minutes. However, they have only converted them into two behinds in that period.
21:00
SCORE GOAL - Power (Junior Rioli)
22:31
Essendon now has seven centre-bounce clearances in a row, while the Power are yet to register a single one. The Bombers have converted these into two goals from centre-bounce stoppage chains.
23:20
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Archie Perkins)
24:09
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti)
25:19
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Ben Hobbs)
28:01
SCORE BEHIND - Power (Jeremy Finlayson)
28:42
Essendon has now scored three goals from centre-bounce clearances in the first quarter. The Bombers also achieved this against Melbourne in Round 5 this year. They did not achieve this once in 2022.
30:23
SCORE BEHIND - Power (Junior Rioli)
31:24
While Essendon has blown Port Adelaide away from centre bounces, scoring three goals from this source so far, they have also taken control of intercepts, scoring 3.1 (19) from intercept possessions. Two of those have come from the Bombers' defensive half - a zone where the Bombers score more than any other team (at an average of 30.6 points per game).

Quarter 2

00:00
Q2 is now underway.
00:56
Brynn Teakle has registered 21 hitouts-to-advantage in his first two games this year. So far today, he has only registered one - while Same Draper has amassed five.
01:42
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Kyle Langford)
03:02
Essendon's centre-bounce dominance is continuing, particularly through Jake Stringer. Stringer has five clearances to his name so far - all of them centre-bounce clearances. Out of his 11 clearances last week, nine were of the centre-bounce variety.
05:03
SCORE GOAL - Power (Todd Marshall)
06:38
Port Adelaide look to have rectified the disposal discrepancy of the first quarter. In the second quarter, they lead total disposals by 11, and have 13 more uncontested possessions than the Bombers. They have also taken nine uncontested marks this term, while the Bombers have none.
08:03
SCORE BEHIND - Power (Sam Powell-Pepper)
10:41
SCORE BEHIND - Power (Jeremy Finlayson)
11:04
The Power have taken three marks inside-50 this quarter in the first ten minutes, however, have only converted them into 1.2 (8).
12:46
Bombers Interchange - Jordan Ridley off due to an injury.
13:10
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Sam Weideman)
13:47
The Bombers even the second-term ledger with another goal through Sam Weiderman. The Bombers have now created 17 defensive-50 chains and entered forward-50 from these five times - scoring 2.1 (13).
17:33
The Bombers have registered 14 more tackles than the Power so far this match. Essendon averages 9.4 more tackles a game than the opposition in 2023, ranked second overall.
19:11
SCORE GOAL - Power (Darcy Byrne-Jones)
20:56
SCORE BEHIND - Power (Charlie Dixon)
21:51
SCORE BEHIND - Power (Rushed)
22:33
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Zach Merrett)
23:22
Darcy Parish is continuing his ball-winning ways. He leads all players on the ground with 17 disposals and nine contested possessions; in 2023 he averages 33.0 disposals (ranked fourth overall) and 13.7 contested possessions (ranked seventh overall).
24:19
SCORE BEHIND - Power (Rushed)
26:07
SCORE BEHIND - Power (Dan Houston)
28:24
Despite only five inside-50s this quarter, Essendon has scored three goals - a conversion rate of 60%. The Bombers average a goal from 26.0% of their forward-50 entries in 2023, ranked fourth overall.
30:27
SCORE BEHIND - Power (Travis Boak)
30:56
Despite winning contested possessions by 16 and clearances by seven in the second quarter, the Power's hard work was completely undone by their scoring accuracy. This was converted into only two goals and seven behinds, leaving the Power to win the quarter by only a single point.

Quarter 3

00:00
Q3 is now underway.
00:53
SCORE BEHIND - Power (Charlie Dixon)
01:02
Essendon's ruckmen have so far had significant control of the ruck battle. Sam Draper and Andrew Phillips have 16 and 13 hitouts respectively - both more than the Power's total of 11. Draper leads the hitout-to-advantage stat with seven.
03:31
SCORE BEHIND - Power (Riley Bonner)
04:05
Port Adelaide is continuing to dominate territory, registering the first five inside 50s of the quarter. However, they have continued to not convert, only scoring two behinds so far this quarter.
05:52
SCORE GOAL - Power (Sam Powell-Pepper)
06:00
Sam Powell-Pepper finally converts a goal for the Power. It is Port Adelaide's second goal from a forward-50 stoppage, and their first since the eight-minute mark of the first quarter.
08:25
The Power have registered 15 handballs this quarter, while the Bombers have not registered any.
08:57
Power Interchange - Tom Jonas off due to an injury.
09:20
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Jake Stringer)
10:37
SCORE BEHIND - Power (Jeremy Finlayson)
12:17
SCORE GOAL - Power (Travis Boak)
13:19
Travis Boak kicks his 200th career goal as the Power continue to score from forward-50 chains. Port Adelaide now has 3.4 (22) from forward-50 chains, while Essendon has not registered a score from the same source.
13:49
SCORE BEHIND - Power (Rushed)
16:21
The Power's last 10 minutes has seen them going at 89% kicking efficiency in the forward half while entering forward-50 five more times than the Bombers. However, they've only had one effective kick inside 50 during that time.
16:39
SCORE BEHIND - Power (Todd Marshall)
20:41
The Bombers have only managed two disposals in their forward-50 this quarter. Port Adelaide has stifled Essendon's ball movement, as from 20 defensive-half chains, Essendon has only managed four inside-50s.
21:13
SCORE GOAL - Power (Charlie Dixon)
23:09
Charlie Dixon is single-handledly turning the game on its head. He has taken four contested marks this quarter, with his last two coming inside-50 and leading to two goals. Dixon has five contested marks in total, while Essendon only has two overall.
24:17
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Zach Merrett)
27:12
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Jye Menzie)
27:26
The Power's tackling has turned the pressure up immensely on the Bombers. Just this quarter, Port Adelaide has amassed 15 forward-half tackles; Essendon, by comparison, has only managed one in their forward half.
29:33
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Sam Weideman)
29:38
Port Adelaide dominated the third term, leading inside 50s by 13 and tackles by seven. Despite registering another five behinds, their four goals were enough to take the lead, overwhelming the Bombers by weight of numbers.

Quarter 4

00:00
Q4 is now underway.
01:46
Dylan Williams had 13 disposals in the third quarter, with 12 of them kicks - his best quarter disposal-wise in his short five-game career. Williams also had four inside-50s for the quarter, equal-most for the Power.
02:22
Power Interchange - Zak Butters off due to an injury.
02:30
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Archie Perkins)
03:38
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Jake Stringer)
06:19
SCORE GOAL - Power (Jeremy Finlayson)
06:35
A costly turnover from Andrew McGrath in the defensive-50 gives Jeremy Finlayson his first goal of the game. It's the Power's second goal for the game from a forward-50 intercept chain.
07:58
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Sam Draper)
10:23
SCORE BEHIND - Power (Riley Bonner)
11:19
Essendon have already managed 20 disposals in their forward half this quarter - five more than the team managed for the whole of the third quarter.
12:35
SCORE BEHIND - Power (Jeremy Finlayson)
13:25
SCORE GOAL - Power (Connor Rozee)
14:11
Another defensive-half turnover from the Bombers leads to another Power goal, this time from Connor Rozee. Rozee leads all Port Adelaide players for disposals (with 28) and contested possessions (with 12).
16:02
SCORE GOAL - Power (Junior Rioli)
19:42
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Rushed)
21:18
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Jake Stringer)
22:39
Darcy Parish now has 37 disposals - eight more than any other player on the ground. He also has 22 contested possessions - 13 more than any other player - and leads all players for clearances with nine. Five of those contested possessions and three of those clearances have come this quarter.
23:49
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Kyle Langford)
25:41
The Bombers are still unable to generate any meaningful movement from their back-half this quarter. From 15 defensive chains so far this term, they have entered forward-50 only twice, for a score of just a single behind.
26:36
SCORE BEHIND - Power (Junior Rioli)
27:11
Port Adelaide has managed to keep the pressure on Essendon this quarter by taking 11 intercept possessions in their forward half so far this term. Essendon, meanwhile, has only managed five.
27:18
SCORE BEHIND - Power (Junior Rioli)
28:16
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Rushed)
30:34
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Andrew Phillips)
31:22
Essendon dominated centre bounces early to amass a 21-point lead, but were unable to hold off a relentless Port Adelaide as the game wore on. Despite scoring 5.3 (33) from defensive-50 chains, they could only manage two behinds from this source for the last quarter, as the Power effectively cut off their most effective avenue to score.