Match

Geelong Cats vs Essendon

Commentary / 13 Jul 2023

Pre Game

00:00
Geelong has won its last five games against Essendon by an average margin of 46 points. When the sides met in Round 7 – both scored over 100 points.

Quarter 1

00:00
Q1 is now underway.
00:17
Darcy Parish wins the first centre bounce clearance of the night. This season, he is averaging 3.9 centre bounce clearances - ranked No.1 in the AFL.
04:17
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Gryan Miers)
04:31
Gryan Miers kicks the first goal of the match in his 100th game, with the goal coming from a turnover. The Cats average 55.2 points from turnovers this season - ranked second.
06:35
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Tyson Stengle)
06:38
Tyson Stengle's goal also comes from a turnover. Both of the Cats' goals have now come from forward-half turnovers. This year they have scored the third most points from this source - scoring 33.7 points on average from forward half turnovers.
08:39
Cats Interchange - Gary Rohan off due to an injury.
08:51
Bombers Interchange - Mason Redman off due to an injury.
08:56
Cats Interchange - Jeremy Cameron off due to an injury.
09:25
The Cats have had five of the first seven inside 50s of the evening. They average 5.5 more inside 50s than their opponent this season - ranked fifth in the AFL. On the flip side, the Bombers average 5.1 fewer inside 50s than their opponent - ranked fourth-last.
11:13
Geelong has won 12 first quarters this season - ranked equal first alongside Collingwood. Essendon is not far behind this tally, collecting nine winning first-quarter scores this season.
11:19
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Isaac Smith)
12:45
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Brad Close)
13:07
Another forward-half turnover over goal, with it launching through an attacking midfield chain. Geelong averages 4.6 goals from this zone - ranked fourth in the league.
14:12
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Jeremy Cameron)
15:08
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Brad Close)
16:33
Geelong has locked the ball in their forward half, winning the inside 50 count 9-2, 66% of game time has been spent in this zone as well as having seven more intercepts in this zone.
17:15
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Patrick Dangerfield)
17:27
Patrick Dangerfield slots his first goal in three games, with his goal coming from a mark inside 50. Geelong has already had four marks inside 50 tonight. They usually average 14.8 inside 50 marks per game - ranked second in the AFL.
18:55
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Zach Merrett)
19:23
Zach Merrett's kick resulting in a behind becomes Essendon's second disposal inside their forward 50. They normally have 13.7 disposals in their forward 50 in first quarters - ranked third for the season.
20:06
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Mark Blicavs)
22:11
Essendon has been unable to get their game into motion. They are registering a disposal efficiency of 58%, miles below their average of 74.9% where they rank second in the competition, as well as having three more unforced turnovers in comparison to Geelong.
23:26
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Tom Hawkins)
24:33
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Jeremy Cameron)
24:59
Cats Interchange - Gary Rohan off due to an injury.
25:44
Zach Merrett has been able to get his hands on the footy in his 200th game, already collecting 10 disposals, in which five of those were won in a contested manner as well as four clearances. As for many Bombers players, he has been unable to hit targets as he is disposing of the ball at 30% - currently, his equal-second lowest efficiency in a quarter this season.
25:48
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Oliver Henry)
27:32
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Zach Guthrie)
31:22
Geelong with a mighty opening quarter as they booted seven goals to none, with it being their second-best score differential this season. They have already scored 46 points from turnovers in the first quarter alone - they normally average 55.2 points from this source for a game, proving why they are the second best turnover team in the competition.

Quarter 2

00:00
Q2 is now underway.
03:17
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Rushed)
03:22
Essendon has started the second term winning the first two inside 50s, although they are still yet to score a goal. All seven of their inside 50s have not been retained, whereas 16 of Geelong's 21 inside 50s have been retained.
04:24
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Oliver Henry)
05:15
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Gryan Miers)
06:32
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Jake Stringer)
07:16
Jake Stringer converts Essendon's first goal of the game, with the goal coming from a turnover. Although the Bombers only rank eighth for scores from turnover, they score from 21.2% of their intercepts - ranked second in the AFL.
08:16
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Isaac Smith)
09:47
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Tom Hawkins)
10:34
Another goal from a forward 50 mark for Geelong. Normally, Essendon conceded 11.9 forward 50 marks on average. Tonight, they have already conceded eight. Additionally, Essendon are yet to take a mark inside their forward 50.
11:29
Cats Interchange - Jeremy Cameron off due to the blood rule.
14:48
The Cats are retaining their inside 50 kicks at 74% - well above their average of 48.5% where they rank fifth. In contrast, the Bombers have only retained 22% of their inside 50s when they normally retain 52.1% - the best inside 50 kick retention percentage in the AFL.
17:46
Bombers Interchange - Jayden Laverde off due to an injury.
18:02
Pressure has been an issue for the Bombers tonight as it has been for the season. They are registering a pressure factor of 166, well below their average of 174 where they rank last in the AFL.
20:38
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Tom Hawkins)
21:44
The Bombers have been unable to get their ball movement from this defensive 50 to be a threat tonight. They have generated an inside 50 just once from their 26 chains inside their defensive 50. In comparison, the Cats have generated four inside 50s from their 15 chains in this zone.
24:33
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Tyson Stengle)
26:14
An impactful quarter from Tom Hawkins. He has only had five disposals, but four of those have been score involvements as well as being able to kick a goal himself.
27:04
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Peter Wright)
28:12
Peter Wright kicks Essendon's second goal for the night, with it being launched from their defensive half. All goals in the second term have been launched from each team's respective defensive half, whereas five of the seven goals in the first term were launched from the forward half.
28:41
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Tom Hawkins)
29:51
Jye Menzie kicks Essendon's first back-to-back goal for the game, with it being the first goal from a stoppage tonight. The Bombers score from 25.1% of their clearances - ranked fifth in the competition.
30:41
Geelong has been able to win the ball on the inside and the outside, as they have had 15 more contested possessions and 10 more uncontested possessions in comparison to Essendon. Geelong has won four of the five matches this year where they have won these two stats, with their only loss in this circumstance coming against Richmond in Round 9.

Quarter 3

00:00
Q3 is now underway.
00:13
Essendon has only won two of their seven matches when they have been trailing at halftime this season. On the other hand, Geelong has won five of their seven matches where they have had the lead at the main break.
03:17
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Tom Hawkins)
03:37
Tom Hawkins bags the first goal of the second half, with it coming from a set shot. Tonight, Geelong has scored 5.5 (35) from set shots (50% accuracy). They normally average a set shot accuracy of 58% - the second-best accuracy in the AFL.
05:56
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Gary Rohan)
07:07
Rhys Stanley has edged the rucking contest against Nick Bryan as he leads the hitout count 15-11 and the hitout-to-advantage count 6-4, as well as Geelong edging the clearance count by one. Despite this, Geelong has scored five fewer points from stoppage when these two have been rucking opponents.
11:23
Geelong's turnover game continues to be damaging. In the third quarter, they are averaging 51 metres gained from their turnovers in comparison to Essendon's 35 (the AFL average is 47.7), as well as generating five forward half intercepts in comparison to none from the Bombers.
12:41
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Will Snelling)
17:14
Tom Stewart has already had four intercept marks in this quarter (his previous best in a quarter this season was two) and six for the game, as he has been a big pillar in Geelong's ability to constrict Essendon from scoring as well as being able to counter-attack from those intercepts.
19:30
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Tom Hawkins)
20:37
Tom Hawkins has now kicked three goals in this contest. He has kicked multiple goals in nine games this season.
21:25
Bombers Interchange - Jayden Laverde and is possibly out for the game.
21:58
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Tom Hawkins)
24:24
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Rushed)
25:55
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Mark O'Connor)
26:38
Mark O'Connor's goal becomes Geelong's first goal from a stoppage tonight. The Cats average 37 points from stoppages this season - ranked third in the competition.
30:02
Essendon were unable to have any connection between their lines, as they were only able to retain two of their five inside 50 entries. In contrast, Geelong was able to retain 10 of their 16 entries.

Quarter 4

00:00
Q4 is now underway.
01:11
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Jeremy Cameron)
03:12
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Rushed)
04:03
Geelong has had 19 repeat inside 50 entries and has scored 3.5 (23) from those entries, whereas Essendon has been unable to register a score from their six repeat entries.
06:55
Gryan Miers has had the most inside 50s tonight with seven, with four of those being kicks retained at 50%. Out of the top 50 players with the most kicks inside 50 in the AFL, Gryan Miers ranks fifth for inside 50 kick retention with a rate of 58.2%.
08:22
Tom Hawkins kicks another goal taking his goal tally up to five for the night, with his goal resulting from Tanner Bruhn's inside 50 kick. Tanner Bruhn has had five inside 50 kicks and the biggest score resulting from his inside 50 kicks tonight, with his inside 50 kicks resulting in a score of 2.1 (13) on the scoreboard.
10:33
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Mark Blicavs)
13:41
The Cats have not lost a defensive 1v1 contest tonight. They lose 2.5 defensive 1v1 contests per game this season - ranked third defensively. They have also won 38% of all their 1v1 contests tonight where they average a 1v1 contest win percentage of 32.6% - also ranked third defensively.
14:33
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Nick Bryan)
17:12
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Kyle Langford)
18:49
Kyle Langford's goal was launched from Essendon's defensive 50. This is the only zone they have launched multiple goals in tonight's game, launching three goals from this zone.
21:19
The Bombers have been unable to effectively clear the ball out of the defensive 50 tonight, registering a rebound efficiency of 12% from their 44 rebounds. On the flip side, Geelong has a rebound efficiency of 44% from their 19 rebounds, demonstrating their ability to move the ball effectively from their defensive zones.
21:43
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Jeremy Cameron)
24:16
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Matt Guelfi)
25:36
Geelong has been strong once the ball has left the contest, registering 25 more post clearance contested possessions than Essendon - the Cats' biggest differential for the season.
25:49
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Tyson Stengle)
27:35
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Rushed)
30:08
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Rushed)
30:11
Geelong reigned victorious as they kicked a whopping 105 points from turnover, the third most in a game this season. They were most damaging when launching chains from their midfield zone, as they scored 13.6 (84) from this zone in comparison to the Bombers' 3.0 (18).