Match

Essendon vs Port Adelaide

Commentary / 29 Jun 2023

Pre Game

00:00
The Power face the Bombers at the MCG for the first time since Round 15, 1998 – suffering a 27 point defeat in that game.

Quarter 1

00:00
Q1 is now underway.
00:27
Darcy Parish wins the first centre clearance of the evening. Only Lachie Neale averages more centre bounce clearances than Darcy Parish this season - as the Bomber averages 3.8 each game.
03:28
SCORE GOAL - Power (Connor Rozee)
04:09
Connor Rozee converts the first goal of the match, with the goal being launched from the attacking midfield zone. This season, the Power average the most points launched from this zone - averaging 35.1 points from this zone each game.
05:59
Port Adelaide have had four of the first five inside 50s of the match. Getting field position hasn't been an issue for the Power this season, they average 7.4 more inside 50s than their opponent each game - the second biggest differential in the AFL.
07:45
SCORE GOAL - Power (Charlie Dixon)
08:24
Charlie Dixon's goal comes through a stoppage, with the goal being launched again from the attacking midfield zone. The Power score from 21.3% of their clearances this year - ranked third in the league.
10:02
SCORE BEHIND - Power (Todd Marshall)
10:09
Port Adelaide have been able to win the territory game to start this game, having 91% of game time being played in their forward half as well as having the last seven inside 50s.
11:34
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Jayden Laverde)
12:14
Essendon's first goal from Jayden Laverde sources from an attacking midfield turnover. Essendon have struggled at scoring from this facet this season as they only average 14.5 points from this source - ranked third last.
12:32
Bombers Interchange - Jye Caldwell off due to the blood rule.
13:45
SCORE BEHIND - Power (Charlie Dixon)
16:42
Kane Farrell has launched both of the Power's goals tonight, well above his average of 0.5 goal launches per game.
18:29
SCORE BEHIND - Power (Rushed)
20:43
SCORE BEHIND - Power (Rushed)
22:20
Essendon has already had eight turnovers in their defensive half in comparison to the Power's two - the Bombers normally average 5.8 in their defensive half in first quarters.
22:46
SCORE BEHIND - Power (Darcy Byrne-Jones)
23:50
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Mason Redman)
25:03
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Matt Guelfi)
25:15
Matt Guelfi slots the Bombers' second goal of the game late in the piece. All goals in this game from both teams have been generated from each teams respective attacking midfield zone.
27:30
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Jake Stringer)
28:21
Although Essendon has had 10 less inside 50s in comparison to Port Adelaide, they have been able to retain their entries 88% of the time in comparison to the Power's 67% and have scored from 50% of their entries - above their average of 46.5% where they rank third in the AFL.

Quarter 2

00:00
Q2 is now underway.
00:59
The pressure for the match has been very low, with the average pressure factor of the teams being 164. Essendon have been involved in the lowest pressure games on average across the AFL, with the pressure factor for games where Essendon have been involved in being 171.
02:44
SCORE BEHIND - Power (Rushed)
04:01
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Ben Hobbs)
04:58
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Kyle Langford)
05:11
Kyle Langford bags the first goal of the second quarter following Dylan Williams turnover. All three of the Bomber's goals have been launched from their attacking midfield where they normally average 20.6 points launched from this zone - ranked second last in the AFL.
07:18
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Rushed)
07:59
SCORE GOAL - Power (Kane Farrell)
08:07
Kane Farrell's goal becomes the first goal for either team tonight that hasn't been launched from the attacking midfield zone. The goal was launched from the Power's defensive 50 where they normally average 11.4 points launched from this zone - ranked fourth last in the league.
10:52
After conceding nine clearances in a row, Essendon has gone on to have the last four clearances of the game. Despite this, they are struggling to be damaging, on averaging 38 metres gained from clearance in comparison to Port Adelaide's 62.
12:34
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Nic Martin)
13:02
Nick Martin kicks Essendon's first goal not launched from an attacking midfield chain, with the goal coming from Essendon's defensive 50. Essendon are the most damaging from launching scores from this zone, averaging 22.6 points from this zone - ranked first in the AFL (the next most points launched from this zone is 17.4 from the Crows).
14:28
SCORE GOAL - Power (Connor Rozee)
15:49
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Archie Perkins)
16:12
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Rushed)
17:00
Essendon has got themselves back on top of the contest, winning the clearance count 6-3 and the contested possession count 18-14 in this quarter. Essendon has lost the contested possession count in eight of their last nine games – only winning the count against the Eagles in this time.
19:13
SCORE GOAL - Power (Quinton Narkle)
20:17
Essendon's pressure has been rejuvenated this quarter, as they register a pressure factor of 187, well above their average pressure factor for the season of 173 - ranked last in the AFL.
22:58
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Darcy Parish)
24:11
Connor Rozee is having an impressive performance tonight, having nine disposals, with 78% of those being effective, five inside 50s and two goals.
26:10
The Bombers have had five repeat inside 50s tonight and have scored 3.0 (18) from those repeat entries. In comparison, the Power have had 13 repeat entries and have only scored 1.4 (10).
28:16
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Darcy Parish)
30:14
The Power were not able to sustain the territory dominance they had in the first quarter, as they only had 53% of game time spent in their forward half in the second quarter in comparison to 70% in the first quarter. They also lost the inside 50 count 10-12 and only scored from 40% of their inside 50s (they average 47.2% - ranked second in the AFL) in comparison to Essendon's 67%.

Quarter 3

00:00
Q3 is now underway.
00:25
Port Adelaide has not lost a game this season from the eight games they have had the lead at half time.
01:39
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Matt Guelfi)
02:18
Matt Guelfi slots his second of the match, with it being the first goal of the second half. The goal was launched from a turnover - All of Essendon's goals today have come from turnovers, with 33 of their 38 points coming from this source.
05:06
Of the seven rucking contests that Jeremy Finlayson and Andrew Phillips have attended together, Phillips leads the hitouts by three and hitouts-to-advantage by one, although Port Adelaide has had four more clearances and have kicked one more goal than Essendon when these two have been opposing ruckmen.
05:51
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Jye Caldwell)
06:11
Essendon has been very aggressive with their ball movement to start the second half. They have played on from 38% of marks (they average 22.6%), and have gained 77 metres from handball receives in comparison to the Power's 58.
07:00
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Kyle Langford)
11:26
Connor Rozee has had the most inside 50 kicks tonight with six, although Port Adelaide has only retained 17% of those entries. Of the top 25 players in the AFL with the most inside kicks, Connor Rozee has the fourth worst retention rate - averaging 38.3% of his kicks inside 50 being retained.
13:32
SCORE BEHIND - Power (Rushed)
16:03
SCORE GOAL - Power (Zak Butters)
17:36
The Bombers have been able to win the ball once it has left the stoppage area, registering five more post clearance contested possessions than Port Adelaide. On average, Essendon lose the post clearance contested possession count by three, the fourth worst differential in the AFL this season.
17:53
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Jake Stringer)
19:51
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Jake Stringer)
20:50
Contrary to the first half, the Bombers have been able to lock the ball in their forward half, having the ball in their forward half for 62% of the quarter. They have found a mark inside 50 from 20% of their entries, contrary to Port Adelaide who are yet to find a mark from an inside 50 entry for the quarter.
21:33
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Darcy Parish)
24:54
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Kyle Langford)
28:50
Essendon leads by their biggest margin of nine at the final break. They had a dominant quarter, where they had 35 more disposals, 12 more contested possessions, seven more inside 50s and two more goals.

Quarter 4

00:00
Q4 is now underway.
00:16
Essendon has won six of the seven games where they have been leading at the final break. On the other hand, Port Adelaide has won three of the five games where they have been trailing at the final break.
01:40
SCORE GOAL - Power (Jeremy Finlayson)
02:22
Jeremy Finlayson kicks Port Adelaide's first goal launched from their defensive 50 for the night, bringing the margin back down to three points. The Power score the fourth-least amount of points from this zone on average - averaging 11.4 points.
05:36
SCORE GOAL - Power (Ryan Burton)
05:42
Ryan Burton puts Port Adelaide back in front for the first time since a minute and 36 seconds into the third quarter. The Power have started the quarter with intent, having four of the first five clearances and inside 50s.
08:36
Bombers Interchange - Sam Durham off due to an injury.
09:40
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Sam Weideman)
10:47
Charlie Dixon has been the most targeted player when going inside 50 tonight for a return of 1.1 (7) on the scoreboard. He is the Power's most targeted player when going inside 50 this season - being targeted eight times on average each game.
12:03
SCORE BEHIND - Power (Sam Powell-Pepper)
13:40
In the wet conditions, Port Adelaide has been strong in the marking contest. They have won 37% of their 1v1 marking contests, where they usually win 26.2% of these contested - ranked fourth last in the competition.
15:26
SCORE GOAL - Power (Connor Rozee)
16:18
Connor Rozee converts his third goal of the night, stretching the lead out to 10 points. They lead the inside 50s for the quarter by nine and have kicked three goals to none off the back of being able to gain ground from turnovers. They are averaging close to 20 more metres gained from turnovers in comparison to the Bombers.
17:22
SCORE GOAL - Power (Darcy Byrne-Jones)
17:26
Power Interchange - Riley Bonner off due to an injury.
19:34
SCORE BEHIND - Power (Sam Powell-Pepper)
20:37
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Jye Caldwell)
20:58
The Bombers score their first stoppage goal for the night late in the final quarter through Jye Caldwell. They have a clearance strike rate of 93.9 this year - ranked fifth in the AFL.
22:34
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Kyle Langford)
23:21
Back to back clearance goals for Essendon after not having one in the first three quarters, with Kyle Langford's goal sourcing from a centre bounce. The Bombers have been the second best team for scoring from centre bounces - averaging 13.7 points from centre bounces.
26:23
Port Adelaide are doing everything they can to keep the Bombers from scoring, having their equal-fourth highest intercept marks in their defensive half in a quarter this season.
28:47
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Jye Caldwell)
28:55
Jye Caldwell with a crucial goal late in the piece. Essendon has won two of their three games this season decided by 10 points or less.
29:53
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Darcy Parish)
32:34
SCORE GOAL - Power (Dan Houston)
32:39
Dan Houston with an absolute thump of a kick after the siren to win the game for the Power by four points to continue their record breaking 12 game winning streak. Port Adelaide were productive in their attacking midfield zone, as they kicked 6.4 (40) from this zone alone.