Match

North Melbourne vs Essendon

Commentary / 12 Aug 2023

Pre Game

00:00
The Kangaroos have been involved in the fifth-highest-scoring games of any side this season with an average of 170.5 points.

Quarter 1

00:00
Q1 is now underway.
01:06
Andrew Phillips wins the first centre bounce of today's match-up. He has won at least one centre bounce clearance in each of his last three games.
03:04
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Jaidyn Stephenson)
03:36
Jaidyn Stephenson converts the first goal of the game, with the goal being launched from an attacking midfield chain. Scoring from stoppages has been an issue for the Kangaroos as they have only been averaging 26.8 points from this source this season - ranked second-last in the AFL.
04:35
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Ben Cunnington)
04:42
Ben Cunnington scores a major in the final game of his career, with it sourcing from a forward 50 stoppage. The Kangaroos have struggled to score from this source in the last seven weeks, only averaging 2.2 points from this source in this time period - ranked last in the competition. They have only scored one goal from this source in this time period as well.
07:40
Bombers Interchange - Andrew Phillips off due to the blood rule.
10:13
North Melbourne has started strong in taking territory, having six of the first 10 inside 50s. They have not won the inside 50 count since Round 10, against the Swans. The Kangaroos have also locked the ball in the forward half for 66% of this quarter.
13:42
The Kangaroos have guarded their defensive 50 well, allowing Essendon to only have one disposal in their forward 50, with the Kangaroos also taking two intercept marks and having five intercept possessions in this zone.
16:22
In and around the stoppages, North Melbourne has been dominant as they have had eight of the 12 clearances today. The Kangaroos have only won the clearance count once since Round 13.
17:20
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Nic Martin)
18:00
Nic Martin bags Essendon's first goal of the game, with the goal sourcing from their defensive 50. This source has been a strength for them this season as they average 19.4 points launched from this zone each game - ranked first in the AFL.
20:08
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Kyle Langford)
20:31
The Bombers score back-to-back goals, with their second coming through Kyle Langford. Kyle Langford is one of 11 players in the AFL to kick four goals in a quarter this season – achieving that feat in the second term last round.
21:31
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Rushed)
22:54
Essendon is beginning to find their feet, scoring two goals (both launched from their defensive 50) and locking the ball in their forward 50 for 66% of the 10 minutes.
23:42
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Nick Larkey)
28:57
The Kangaroos have been able to score from a spread of zones, launching goals from their defensive midfield, attacking midfield and forward 50. In contrast, the Bombers' two goals have both been launched from their defensive 50.

Quarter 2

00:00
Q2 is now underway.
00:47
Curtis Taylor has guarded Zach Merrett for the majority of this game, keeping him to only one disposal in the first term - his lowest disposal count in a first quarter this season.
02:16
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Jye Menzie)
02:23
Jye Menzie bags Essendon's first goal not launched from their defensive 50, with it being launched from their forward 50. In the last four weeks, they have only managed to score 8.5 points launched from this zone - the least amount by any team in this time period.
06:06
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Nick Larkey)
08:59
The pressure in this contest has been below par, with Essendon registering a pressure factor of 163 and North Melbourne registering 174. Essendon averaged the equal-worst pressure factor this season with 175, whilst the Kangaroos averages 177 - ranked thrid-last.
10:19
Kangaroos Interchange - Jy Simpkin off due to an injury.
11:08
Harry Sheezel has started begun this quarter like a house on fire, already having nine disposals. In the first eight rounds of this season, he only dropped below 25 disposals once and averaged 28.6 - the most by any general defender in this time.
11:25
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Kyle Langford)
12:37
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Rushed)
16:45
Essendon has been able to win the ball on the inside and effectively get the ball to the outside, as they have had 15 more contested possessions and 18 more uncontested possessions than North Melbourne. The last time the Bombers won the differential in both of these stats was in Round 17, against the Crows.
18:00
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Jy Simpkin)
19:37
North Melbourne has kicked four goals from stoppages, with two of those coming from forward 50 stoppages. Last time they played in Round 12, they also scored two goals from forward 50 stoppages.
21:50
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Nick Larkey)
24:00
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Nic Martin)
24:33
Essendon's connection between their lines has been much better than North Melbourne's this quarter, retaining 60% and scoring from 40% of their entries in comparison to the Kangaroos' 18% inside 50 retention and 27% scores per inside 50.
26:07
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Paul Curtis)
29:02
The Kangaroos have had the upper hand in stoppages, having three more clearances and three more of the opposition's hitouts sharked. They have also scored four goals to Essendon's one from stoppages, when they are normally outscored from stoppages by 10 points on average - ranked second-last this season.

Quarter 3

00:00
Q3 is now underway.
00:23
Essendon has only won two of the 10 games this season where they have been trailing at halftime. On the flipside, North Melbourne has won two of the five games where they have been ahead at the main break.
00:43
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Jye Menzie)
01:19
Essendon gets a goal from a stoppage after struggling to score and restrict scores from this zone in the first half. Scoring from stoppages hasn't been a damaging factor in the Bombers' game this season as they have only averaged 29.7 points from this zone - ranked fifth-last. They have also conceded from 25.9% of clearances conceded this season - ranked third-last defensively.
04:02
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Rushed)
04:11
Kangaroos Interchange - Jackson Archer off due to an injury.
05:37
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Nick Larkey)
07:35
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Nic Martin)
07:51
Nic Martin converts his third for the game, adding to an already impressive performance. In the last two seasons, he has had 20 or more disposals and kicked two goals on eight occasions - only two other players have achieved this feat on more occasions.
11:47
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Luke Davies-Uniacke)
12:01
Luke Davies-Uniacke chips in with a neat goal to add to his strong performance. He has had game-highs (or equal game-highs) with 22 disposals, 656 metres gained, nine inside 50s, as well as his inside 50 kicks resulting in 2.1 (13) on the scoreboard.
12:23
Kangaroos Interchange - Jaidyn Stephenson off due to an injury.
14:19
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Nick Larkey)
14:42
Nick Larkey has been the most targeted player inside 50 today, being targeted eight times and has kicked 4.1 (25) on the scoreboard. He is the sixth most targeted player inside 50 for the season and kicks a goal 18.5% of the time he is targeted.
16:48
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Peter Wright)
20:36
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Matt Guelfi)
20:47
Matt Guelfi kicks another goal sourcing from a mark, making it the eleventh lead change for the game. When they last played each other in Round 12, Essendon took 19 marks inside 50 and kicked 9.2 (56) from those marks - their second-biggest score from this source.
23:04
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Peter Wright)
26:22
The Bombers have been strong once the ball has left the stoppage zone, having 18 more post-clearance contested possessions in comparison to the Kangaroos. Last week, the Bombers recorded their best post-clearance differential for the season - having 26 more than the Eagles.
26:39
Bombers Interchange - Andrew Phillips off due to the blood rule.
27:40
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Nik Cox)
29:04
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Peter Wright)
30:47
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Jaidyn Stephenson)
31:56
A late goal from the Kangaroos to bridge the gap to seven points at the final break. North Melbourne was able to generate two of their three goals for the quarter from their defensive 50 after not registering a score launched from this zone in the first half. They average 12.6 points launched from this zone - ranked fifth-last in the AFL.

Quarter 4

00:00
Q4 is now underway.
00:15
Essendon has won eight of the 10 games they have been winning at three-quarter-time, whereas the Kangaroos has not won a game when they have been trailing at the final break.
01:50
Both teams have been accurate from set shots, with Essendon scoring 7.1 (43) to North Melbourne's 5.1 (31). North Melbourne ranks fourth and Essendon ranks fifth for set shot accuracy for this season.
02:14
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Nick Larkey)
04:04
Kangaroos Interchange - Tarryn Thomas off due to an injury.
04:17
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Kyle Langford)
08:17
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Rushed)
08:49
Tristan Xerri has been edging the rucking contest against Nick Bryan, winning the hitouts 6-4, as well as the Kangaroos leading the clearances 7-1 and scoring 2-0 goals from clearances when these two have been rucking opponents.
09:02
Bombers Interchange - Archie Perkins off due to an injury.
10:14
Ben Cunnington has had eight clearances, the most of any player today. Ben Cunnington has had six of North Melbourne's top 10 season averages for clearances of all time, with his highest season average being in 2015, where he averaged 7.29 clearances for the year.
10:43
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Andrew Phillips)
12:01
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Jye Menzie)
13:58
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Elijah Tsatas)
14:09
Elijah Tsatas kicks his first goal in the AFL after Essendon had kicked six points in a row. His goal came from a forward 50 intercept, in which the Bombers had not scored a goal from this zone in the previous two weeks.
17:06
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Eddie Ford)
17:28
Essendon has been strong in 1v1 marking contests, winning 42% of theirs today. Normally, they only win 27.2% of their 1v1 marking contests - ranked fifth-last in the AFL.
18:49
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Kyle Langford)
18:59
The Bombers stretch the margin out to 16 points, the biggest lead for today. They have now scored three goals from forward 50 intercepts - a feat they have only done on one other occasion this season back in Round 12, also against the Kangaroos.
21:20
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Jy Simpkin)
23:12
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Ben Cunnington)
24:30
Ben Cunnington with another spectacular goal in his final minutes of AFL football, with his goal sourcing from another forward 50 stoppage. The Kangaroos have now scored five goals from this zone today - their biggest tally in a game this season.
24:57
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Eddie Ford)
28:05
North Melbourne has had four of the last five inside 50s and the last three clearances as they search for a late goal in this contest.
29:03
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Archie Perkins)
31:13
Essendon hold onto the win as they prevail victoriously against the Kangaroos. They kicked their third biggest score from turnovers with 70, with 19 of those turnover points being launched from their forward 50 after struggling to score from this zone this season.