Match

Essendon vs Hawthorn

Commentary / 16 Mar 2024

Pre Game

00:00
Nick Watson will debut for the Hawks today after being drafted with the fifth pick in last year’s National Draft. The Hawks blooded seven debutants last season – the most by any team in the AFL.

Quarter 1

00:00
Q1 is now underway.
02:04
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Matt Guelfi)
03:00
Essendon has generated the first four inside 50s of the game. When these two teams last met in Round 1 last season, the Bombers won the inside 50 count by 17.
04:12
SCORE BEHIND - Hawks (Mitch Lewis)
05:32
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Nic Martin)
06:18
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Peter Wright)
06:32
Peter Wright has scored a goal from Essendon's first mark inside 50 for the match. Wright only played 10 games last season for 19 goals after a career-best 53 goals in 2022.
08:27
SCORE BEHIND - Hawks (Rushed)
10:37
SCORE BEHIND - Hawks (Rushed)
12:00
SCORE GOAL - Hawks (Jack Ginnivan)
12:07
After conceding seven of the first eight inside 50s of the match, the Hawks have fought back to generate the next five forward 50 entries. Their most recent entry has resulted in a goal to Jack Ginnivan in his first game for the Hawks.
15:25
Hawthorn has enjoyed a clear advantage in the ruck contest, leading hitouts to advantage four to zero. Hawthorn ranked No. 1 for hitouts to advantage last season.
18:07
Jake Stringer has converted his first goal of the season, Essendon's third goal for the quarter. Stringer booted four goals when he last faced the Hawks in 2021. He has finished goalless in just two of nine career games against them.
21:30
SCORE BEHIND - Hawks (Luke Breust)
21:45
A key difference between the two teams to start this game has been their kicking efficiency, with the Bombers leading this stat 74% to 57%. Essendon ranked No. 1 in the competition for kicking efficiency last season with an average of 68.9%.
23:42
SCORE BEHIND - Hawks (Jack Gunston)
24:51
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Jake Stringer)
24:57
Essendon has scored 4.0 (24) from their set shots today whilst the Hawks have scored a wasteful 1.3 (9) from these shot types.
27:31
SCORE BEHIND - Hawks (Conor Nash)
27:59
SCORE GOAL - Hawks (James Worpel)
30:04
SCORE BEHIND - Hawks (Mabior Chol)
30:57
Hawthorn transitioned the ball out of defensive 50 with ease in the first quarter, generating four inside 50s and three scoring shots from their defensive 50 chains. Conversely, the Bombers generated just one inside 50 from 10 defensive 50 chains.

Quarter 2

00:00
Q2 is now underway.
01:10
SCORE GOAL - Hawks (Dylan Moore)
02:45
Dylan Moore's opening goal of the game was Hawthorn's first goal launched from the defensive half of the ground. Moore led the Hawks for score assists, smothers, and post-clearance tackles last season.
04:25
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Jake Stringer)
05:13
SCORE BEHIND - Hawks (Josh Weddle)
07:31
Nic Martin, in his new role across half-back for the Bombers, has had mixed fortunes to start the game. He has amassed a game-high 12 disposals but his disposal efficiency of 33% is the lowest of any Bomber.
10:35
Matt Guelfi has played an important role in Essendon’s forward line today, scoring the opening goal of the game as well as assisting on two other goals in the first quarter. Guelfi ranked 10th at Essendon last season for scoreboard impact.
14:34
Hawthorn grabbed six marks inside 50 in the first quarter. The Hawks only managed more than six forward 50 marks in one quarter last season.
15:40
Bombers Interchange - Zach Reid and is possibly out for the game.
15:43
SCORE BEHIND - Hawks (Mabior Chol)
17:02
Despite poor goal-kicking accuracy, a positive for the Hawks has been their ability to convert their inside 50s into scoring opportunities. They have scored from 54% of their inside 50s, considerably higher than Essendon’s conversion of 37%.
18:03
SCORE GOAL - Hawks (Mabior Chol)
18:58
The Hawks are in complete control of the territory contest right now, leading inside 50s in the last 10 minutes seven to one. 75% of the play in this time has been held in their forward-half of the ground.
20:13
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Jake Stringer)
22:01
SCORE GOAL - Hawks (Jack Ginnivan)
23:37
The Hawks have continued to transition the ball out of defensive 50 very easily this quarter, with 80% of their defensive 50 chains resulting in an inside 50. Essendon has generated four inside 50s for the game from their 24 defensive 50 chains.
25:21
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Peter Wright)
28:35
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Jye Menzie)
30:15
Andrew McGrath accumulated 21 disposals in the first half - the most of any player. These disposals were not wasted with a disposal efficiency of 90%, the highest efficiency of any player with 10 or more disposals.

Quarter 3

00:00
Q3 is now underway.
03:08
SCORE GOAL - Hawks (Mabior Chol)
03:15
The Hawks have been capitalising off turnovers, having outscored the Bombers by 24 points from this source. They have generated 13 scores from this source whilst the Bombers have only scored four times from their intercepts.
05:39
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Archie Perkins)
05:50
Archie Perkins' strong performance has continued, scoring his first goal of the game. Perkins has already laid a career-high eight tackles and has won the equal-most clearances in the game with six. Perkins scored an equal-career best three goals when these two teams last met.
09:50
One of Hawthorn's biggest strengths last year was their performance at centre bounces. Hawthorn ranked No. 1 in the competition last season for centre clearance differential. Essendon has quelled this dominance today, leading centre clearances 11 to five.
12:12
SCORE BEHIND - Hawks (Rushed)
14:01
SCORE GOAL - Hawks (Dylan Moore)
14:20
Playing against his former side, new Hawk Massimo D'Ambrosio has been busy all match collecting a team-high 20 disposals. He has already set career-highs for contested possessions (eight) and intercept possessions (seven).
15:10
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Jye Caldwell)
16:43
SCORE BEHIND - Hawks (Jack Gunston)
18:11
Hawks Interchange - Jack Ginnivan off due to an injury.
18:21
SCORE BEHIND - Hawks (Nick Watson)
19:13
SCORE GOAL - Hawks (Jack Gunston)
19:41
Hawthorn's forward-half pressure has allowed been a feature of the game today, with the Hawks leading forward-half intercepts 18 to 11. The Hawks have outscored the Bombers by 23 points from forward-half intercepts today.
20:44
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Archie Perkins)
22:34
In his 50th career match, Sam Durham has attended 10 centre bounces. This is a new midfield role for Durham, who had never attended a centre bounce in any of his 49 career matches prior to today.
25:07
Essendon is leading clearances 26 to 21 today, but the differential would be even greater if not for James Worpel who has won a game-high eight clearances for the Hawks.
25:58
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Kyle Langford)
27:22
SCORE GOAL - Hawks (Karl Amon)
29:33
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Matt Guelfi)
30:40
A high-scoring third quarter with a combined nine goals being scored. The Bombers scored a goal from 45% of their inside 50s whilst the Hawks scored a goal from 31% of their respective entries.

Quarter 4

00:00
Q4 is now underway.
01:16
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Sam Durham)
01:38
Hawthorn only won eight final quarters last season – ranked fourth-last.
03:14
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Sam Durham)
04:41
Essendon has outscored the Hawks by 29 points from stoppages today. The Bombers were outscored by 7.1 points per game from clearances last year – ranked 16th.
08:10
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Jake Stringer)
08:16
Essendon won 11 forward-half intercepts in the first three quarters. They have increased their pressure in this final quarter, already winning six intercepts in their attacking half. Applied pressure was an area of concern for both of these teams last season. Essendon and Hawthorn’s pressure factor ranked second-last and last respectively in 2023.
10:39
SCORE GOAL - Hawks (Mitch Lewis)
11:02
Josh Weddle has recorded his second goal assist for the match - the only Hawk with multiple goal assists today.
13:46
SCORE BEHIND - Hawks (Finn Maginness)
13:57
Ben McKay has provided an immediate impact to Essendon's defence today, grabbing five of Essendon's 11 intercept marks today. All five of these intercept marks have been completed inside defensive 50.
15:55
SCORE GOAL - Hawks (Dylan Moore)
16:45
Dylan Moore has scored three goals today, the first time he has scored three or more goals in a game since Round 5, 2022. Moore leads the game for score involvements with nine.
18:06
After a quiet first half with just two disposals and no score involvements, Kyle Langford has scored two important goals in the second half. Langford was involved in 30.2% of all scoring chains last season – ranked equal-sixth in the league.
19:13
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Jade Gresham)
22:48
SCORE BEHIND - Hawks (Nick Watson)
24:38
Essendon leads the centre clearances 18 to eight today. The last time Essendon won a centre clearance count by more than 10 was in Round 20, 2021 vs Sydney.
25:51
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Kyle Langford)
27:20
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Will Setterfield)
28:27
After trailing the contested possessions by nine in the first three quarters, the Bombers lead this stat by seven in the final term. Essendon won 80% of their matches last season when they won the contested possession count whilst they lost 77% of their matches when they lost this stat.
30:54
SCORE BEHIND - Hawks (Mitch Lewis)
32:31
The Bombers dominated from stoppages today, outscoring the Hawks by 35 points from this source. The Bombers scored an impressive 11.1 (73) from set shots compared to 7.9 (51) from the inaccurate Hawks.