Match

North Melbourne vs Western Bulldogs

Commentary / 18 Jun 2023

Pre Game

00:00

North Melbourne has lost 13 of their last 15 matches at Marvel Stadium. They have conceded over 100 points in 11 of these 15 matches.

Quarter 1

00:00

Q1 is now underway.

02:13

A strong start is important for North Melbourne today, having lost their last eight first quarters. North Melbourne has lost their last 27 matches when trailing at quarter-time.

05:17

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Hugh Greenwood)

06:01

Hugh Greenwood has scored the opening goal of the match following North Melbourne's first forward-half intercept. The Bulldogs have won four forward-half intercepts but have been unable to convert any of these into scores.

06:49

Bulldogs Interchange - Liam Jones off due to an injury.

08:47

Todd Goldstein has started strongly for North Melbourne, grabbing three intercept marks in defensive 50. Goldstein averages 11.6 hitouts to advantage this season – ranked second in the competition.

10:11

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Jy Simpkin)

11:24

North Melbourne's second goal of the match was launched from a defensive 50 chain. The Kangaroos have scored multiple goals from this zone in every match since Round 5.

11:42

SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Mitch Hannan)

14:01

SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Phoenix Spicer)

14:28

The Bulldogs have laid 11 tackles in the first half of this opening term. Last week against Port Adelaide, the Bulldogs only laid nine tackles for the entire first quarter.

14:45

SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Rushed)

15:25

SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Cody Weightman)

17:39

SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Cody Weightman)

18:09

Harry Sheezel has collected nine disposals already in the early stages of this match - the most of any player. He has collected 10 or more disposals in five quarters this season, including a personal best of 15 disposals in the final quarter of Round 4.

19:42

SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Rushed)

20:51

The Bulldogs have taken six shots at goal but have been unable to convert any of these into goals, scoring a wasteful 0.5 (5) from these opportunities. The Bulldogs have scored more goals than behinds in just five of their 13 matches this season.

22:25

SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Aaron Naughton)

24:58

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Paul Curtis)

27:03

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Hugh Greenwood)

27:27

North Melbourne has scored their first goal of the match sourced from a centre bounce. The Bulldogs were outscored by 13 points from centre bounce clearances last round – their worst result this season.

29:05

North Melbourne scored their highest first-quarter score since Round 5 on the back of some impressive conversions inside 50. The Kangaroos scored a goal from 40% of their forward 50 entries - nearly doubling their season average of 21%.

Quarter 2

00:00

Q2 is now underway.

01:14

SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Nick Larkey)

02:57

North Melbourne applied a pressure factor of 191 in the first quarter. North Melbourne has posted a pressure factor of 174 this season – the equal-lowest in the competition. They have not recorded a result over 190 yet this year.

04:06

SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Cody Weightman)

04:47

Cody Weightman and Aaron Naughton are the first two Bulldogs to score goals this evening. The last time these sides met in Round 5 last season, both Weightman and Naughton booted five goals each.

07:08

SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Aaron Naughton)

07:32

The Bulldogs have now taken eight marks inside 50 - six more than North Melbourne. The Bulldogs average 10.5 marks in this zone per game.

09:08

SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Adam Treloar)

12:04

The Bulldogs are dominating territory, leading time in forward half by nine minutes and inside 50s 22 to 12. North Melbourne has recorded the worst time in forward half differential this season.

13:09

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Jaidyn Stephenson)

15:43

Bailey Dale has amassed eight disposals this quarter - the most of any player. He also leads the Bulldogs for metres gained tonight with 238. Bailey Dale was one of four Bulldogs players to reach 30 disposals last round – also having a team-high 615 metres gained.

19:48

The Bulldogs have won 19 groundballs in their forward half - 11 more than North Melbourne has won in their respective forward half. This has been a strength of the Bulldogs this season, having only lost this stat in four matches this year.

22:52

SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Marcus Bontempelli)

23:05

After laying nine tackles in the opening quarter, the Kangaroos have applied 13 tackles in the second quarter - three more than the Bulldogs. Their tackle efficiency of 48% is a season-low.

25:58

Bulldogs Interchange - Tim O'Brien and is possibly out for the game.

26:14

SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Cody Weightman)

28:10

SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Tom Liberatore)

28:22

Kangaroos Interchange - Aidan Corr off due to the blood rule.

29:25

SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Caleb Daniel)

30:47

The Bulldogs generated 20 inside 50s in the second quarter - their equal-most inside 50s in any quarter this season. Three of the five goals scored by the Bulldogs in the first half were launched from their defensive half. The Bulldogs average 25 points from their defensive half this season – ranked third-last.

Quarter 3

00:00

Q3 is now underway.

01:23

SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Rory Lobb)

03:45

The Bulldogs are yet to win an offensive one-on-one contest tonight, despite being involved in five of these events. Since Round 10, the Bulldogs have lost 43.9% of their offensive one-on-one contests – ranked last.

04:55

SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Todd Goldstein)

06:01

SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Rushed)

06:49

SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Rushed)

07:00

North Melbourne has generated four consecutive inside 50s for the first time in the game. In the first half, the Kangaroos were unable to generate more than two consecutive inside 50s whilst the Bulldogs managed to generate six consecutive inside 50s on three separate occasions.

07:50

SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Cody Weightman)

10:13

The Bulldogs have applied 12 tackles inside 50 – 10 more than the Kangaroos. The Bulldogs average 10.6 tackles in this zone this year, with a season-high 21 in Round 6 against Fremantle.

13:24

The strong pressure applied by the Bulldogs continues, with a pressure factor of 212 for the quarter compared to 166 by North Melbourne. The Bulldogs have applied the second-greatest pressure factor over their last four matches, averaging 192 per game in this time.

13:42

SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Bailey Smith)

16:47

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Jaidyn Stephenson)

17:11

North Melbourne has scored their third goal of the match from their defensive 50 zone. The Kangaroos have generated 21% of their defensive 50 chains into inside 50s, with 33% of their kick-ins also resulting in an inside 50. The Kangaroos have launched an inside 50 from 26.3% of their kick-ins this season – ranked No.1

18:24

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Nick Larkey)

19:32

Nick Larkey has scored his first goal of the game following his second mark inside 50. Larkey has been targeted 12 times inside 50, 10 more than any other Kangaroo. Between Round 7 to Round 13, Larkey grabbed 27 marks inside 50 – ranked No. 1 in the AFL.

20:32

SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Cody Weightman)

22:27

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Nick Larkey)

25:37

Cody Weightman has scored a game-high four goals tonight, the second time this season he has scored four goals in a match. Weightman has now scored 13 career goals against North Melbourne from three matches, his most goals against any opposition.

26:33

SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Cody Weightman)

27:31

North Melbourne has scored three goals sourced from stoppages this quarter whilst holding the Bulldogs goalless from this source for the term. Conversely, the Bulldogs have scored three goals sourced from turnovers this quarter whilst holding the Kangaroos goalless from this source.

27:54

SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Marcus Bontempelli)

32:13

Cody Weightman scored three goals in the third quarter in an impressive individual performance. This was the fifth time in Weightman’s career that he has scored at least three goals in a quarter – with three of these coming against North Melbourne.

Quarter 4

00:00

Q4 is now underway.

01:06

SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Adam Treloar)

02:14

Adam Treloar has scored his first goal of the match to go with his impressive numbers around the contest tonight. Treloar leads the match in contested possessions (15) and has won six clearances. He has also recorded 11 score involvements - the equal-most by any Bulldog this season.

02:58

SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Cody Weightman)

04:53

SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Tim English)

08:00

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Tom Powell)

08:30

Aaron Naughton has played as a defender for the Bulldogs in the second half. The last time that Naughton played more than 25% of his time on ground as a defender was in Round 23, 2018 during his first career season.

10:03

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Tom Powell)

10:11

The Bulldogs have won 21 more uncontested possessions than North Melbourne since half-time. The Bulldogs average 23 more uncontested possessions than their opponents this season – the second-best differential in the AFL.

13:04

North Melbourne has scored 7.1 (43) from stoppages tonight. This is the most points that the Dogs have conceded from stoppages this season. The Bulldogs have been the second-hardest team to score against from stoppages this season, conceding an average of 26.7 points defensively from this source per game in 2023.

13:20

SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Jack Macrae)

14:20

SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Rushed)

16:04

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Jaidyn Stephenson)

16:41

North Melbourne has scored the last three goals of the match - the first time tonight they have scored more than two consecutive goals. The Kangaroos have scored three goals from four inside 50s for the quarter.

18:52

SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Marcus Bontempelli)

20:29

SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Mitch Hannan)

21:31

SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Marcus Bontempelli)

22:42

The Bulldogs have now completed a season-high 18 marks inside 50, passing their previous best of 16 marks in Round 6. They have also equaled their season-best for inside 50s with 66.

23:27

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Nick Larkey)

25:40

The Bulldogs have scored 9.1 (55) from defensive half launches - their highest-scoring game from their defensive half this season.

25:43

SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Tim English)

27:28

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Cameron Zurhaar)

28:39

SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Paul Curtis)

29:21

The Bulldogs have managed to beat North Melbourne at centre bounces, leading these clearances 17 to 12. Since Round 10, the Kangaroos have won the centre bounce clearance count by 4.5 per game – ranked No.1.

31:05

SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Rushed)

33:42

SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Jamarra Ugle-Hagan)

33:47

Cody Weightman scored a career-best six goals as the Bulldogs scored 100 points for the second time this season. They set season bests for inside 50s (72), marks inside 50 (20), and their pressure factor (198).