Match

Western Bulldogs vs Port Adelaide

Commentary / 09 Jun 2023

Pre Game

00:00
Port Adelaide’s fortunes have changed in close matches this season – winning all five games that have been decided by 1-10 points. Last season it was 2-4 in these games.

Quarter 1

00:00
Q1 is now underway.
00:22
SCORE GOAL - Power (Charlie Dixon)
01:00
A fast start from the Power with the first goal of the match through the returning Charlie Dixon who hasn't played since Round 8.
02:51
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Aaron Naughton)
03:30
The Bulldogs strike back quickly with a goal of their own - this may be a sign of a high-scoring affair. The Power has been involved in the third-highest-scoring matches this season with a combined score of 176.6 points per game.
04:25
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Cody Weightman)
06:42
SCORE GOAL - Power (Charlie Dixon)
07:27
Both sides have sourced their goals in the same way so far. Each team with one goal from centre bounce and the other goal generated from a turnover in the defensive half.
11:08
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Jamarra Ugle-Hagan)
12:19
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Cody Weightman)
12:33
Cody Weightman began his season in Round 5 against Port Adelaide when he kicked four goals in the match. Since then he has kicked multiple goals in just one match (two against Gold Coast in Round 11). Tonight he has started hot with two goals.
13:58
Port Adelaide won the opening centre clearance of this match which lead to a goal. Since then it has conceded seven unanswered clearances to the Western Bulldogs.
14:22
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Tom Liberatore)
16:15
SCORE GOAL - Power (Charlie Dixon)
17:00
For the fourth time this season Charlie Dixon has three goals in a match, in 2022 Dixon did not tally more than two goals in a match.
20:11
SCORE GOAL - Power (Jason Horne-Francis)
22:00
Entering this round the Bulldogs featured three players in the top 20 of the competition for clearances per match (Marcus Bontempelli, Tom Liberatore, and Adam Treloar). They have gathered the last 11 clearances of the match.
23:12
SCORE GOAL - Power (Zak Butters)
24:07
Zak Butters returns fire quickly to kick a goal in a match for the seventh time this season and give Port Adelaide the lead again. Both sides have combined for 11 scores from 19 inside 50s in this match.
25:14
SCORE BEHIND - Power (Rushed)
26:50
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Jamarra Ugle-Hagan)
27:32
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Rory Lobb)
30:50
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Cody Weightman)
32:03
SCORE GOAL - Power (Todd Marshall)
32:07
It's a match of accuracy early on with Port Adelaide kicking six goals from its seven shots at goal and the Western Bulldogs starting off kicking four goals from six shots before kicking three straight behinds from set shots.

Quarter 2

00:00
Q2 is now underway.
02:15
SCORE BEHIND - Power (Sam Powell-Pepper)
02:56
Tim English is averaging a career-high 19.9 disposals and 11.2 uncontested possessions – the most of any ruckman in the league in both measures. However, he has tallied just two disposals thus far in this match and just two hitouts. Meanwhile, Scott Lycett controls the ruck battle with 13 hitouts.
04:46
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Jamarra Ugle-Hagan)
05:09
Marcus Bontempelli finds Jamarra Ugle-Hagan on the chest to take the first goal of the quarter. Bontempelli amassed nine goal assists across the first eight rounds of the season but just one in the last four rounds.
06:42
SCORE GOAL - Power (Jed McEntee)
09:48
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Adam Treloar)
09:54
The Bulldogs kick their fourth goal from a clearance through Adam Treloar. They are outscoring the Power by 13 points from stoppage despite the Power leading the competition in points from stoppage this season.
12:42
SCORE BEHIND - Power (Darcy Byrne-Jones)
14:03
SCORE GOAL - Power (Connor Rozee)
14:30
Port Adelaide has shown an intent to move the ball with speed in this match. It has played on from 38% of its marks in this match despite playing on from only 25.6% of marks across the first 12 rounds - the 10th most in the competition.
17:04
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Caleb Daniel)
18:00
Caleb Daniel kicks a goal for the fourth week in a row. This is the second time in his career that he has kicked at least one goal in four consecutive matches - the last time was Rounds 17-20 in 2021.
29:32
Tom Liberatore has led the charge for the Bulldogs with a match-leading 11 contested possessions and six clearances. The Bulldogs won the clearance count 13 to five in the first quarter. However, the Power were able to bring the clearances to 10 apiece in the second term on the back of Zak Butters work through the midfield with 14 disposals and three clearances in the quarter.

Quarter 3

00:00
Q3 is now underway.
05:11
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Tom Liberatore)
07:14
Despite kicking at 76% efficiency through the early stages of this third term, Port Adelaide has retained just 29% of its disposals and thus has struggled to move the ball forward with 65% of play in the Western Bulldogs forward half.
08:47
SCORE GOAL - Power (Jeremy Finlayson)
09:33
Jeremy Finlayson has booted 4.10 from beyond 40 metres out this season – compared to 15.7 from 15-40 metres out. Yet Finlayson has been dealing with a lack of opportunity tonight rather than inaccuracy as Port Adelaide adjusts to the recent inclusions of Todd Marshall and Charlie Dixon.
09:58
SCORE GOAL - Power (Charlie Dixon)
12:35
SCORE BEHIND - Power (Todd Marshall)
13:44
SCORE GOAL - Power (Todd Marshall)
13:50
The counterattack of the Power has put the Bulldogs backline under pressure as Todd Marshall takes his third mark inside 50 of the quarter. The Power have outscored the Bulldogs by 23 points from turnovers in this match.
15:38
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Rhylee West)
17:20
SCORE BEHIND - Power (Todd Marshall)
17:59
Arthur Jones is yet to record a disposal but has provided pressure for the Bulldogs with the second most pressure acts for the team in the forward half with seven.
20:18
Bulldogs Interchange - Alex Keath off due to an injury.
20:19
SCORE BEHIND - Power (Connor Rozee)
21:51
Kane Farrell and Zak Butters have proven to be the main territory players for the Power in this match with 641 and 452 metres gained respectively. The next highest for the side is Dylan Williams with 252.
23:52
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Marcus Bontempelli)
25:37
SCORE GOAL - Power (Jed McEntee)
26:16
Darcy Byrne-Jones has proven to be a vital cog in Port Adelaide's attacking forays this season but tonight he has a team-low five disposals. Byrne-Jones had a career-high six score assists last round – the most by any player this season. Only Christian Petracca has had more score assists since Round 4. Despite his reduced contribution tonight, Port Adelaide has found alternative avenues to score from.
27:11
SCORE BEHIND - Power (Rushed)
28:57
After a slow start to the quarter with both sides offering a high-pressure approach, Port Adelaide set itself apart in the final 20 minutes of the third quarter to have 78% of play in its forward half. This included two goals from the centre bounce and seven marks inside 50 after just five in the first half.

Quarter 4

00:00
Q4 is now underway.
01:18
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Jamarra Ugle-Hagan)
02:01
After three goals in the first quarter, Cody Weightman has seen his influence on the match diminish, but a strong pressure act to force Dan Houston into a rare turnover allows the Bulldogs to kick the first goal of the quarter through Jamarra Ugle-Hagan.
04:13
SCORE GOAL - Power (Jeremy Finlayson)
06:15
SCORE BEHIND - Power (Rushed)
07:38
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Tim English)
08:17
Tim English records the Western Bulldogs first contested mark since the first half to set himself up with a shot at goal.
09:33
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Jack Macrae)
14:34
The Western Bulldogs have raised the intensity with the last six inside 50s. Across the last five minutes, the Bulldogs have a substantial lead in the pressure factor at 264 to the Powers pressure factor of 178.
16:10
SCORE GOAL - Power (Jason Horne-Francis)
16:43
Against the flow of play, Port Adelaide transition the field on the back of a Zak Butters broken tackle before the finishing play from Jason Horne-Francis to gather the ball with one hand and kick his second goal of the match. Butters leads all players in this match with nine score involvements.
18:47
SCORE BEHIND - Power (Junior Rioli)
21:46
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Laitham Vandermeer)
24:15
SCORE GOAL - Power (Sam Powell-Pepper)
24:38
Zak Butters tops off a dominant game by forcing a stoppage inside 50 with a strong tackle and follows it up by getting the clearance and feeding the ball out to Sam Powell-Pepper for the goal.
27:29
SCORE GOAL - Power (Sam Powell-Pepper)
29:06
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Aaron Naughton)
32:01
SCORE BEHIND - Power (Rushed)
32:26
SCORE BEHIND - Power (Dylan Williams)
33:13
Port Adelaide produced 62 points from turnover in the match but more impressively scored 25 points from the centre bounce. Prior to this match the Western Bulldogs had conceded 9.2 points per game from centre bounce clearances – ranked No.1 defensively in the competition.