Match

GWS Giants vs North Melbourne

Commentary / 16 Mar 2024

Pre Game

00:00

North Melbourne lost the time in forward half differential by 12 minutes and 35 seconds per game last year - ranked last. The Kangaroos won the time in forward half battle just twice from 23 games.

Quarter 1

00:00

Q1 is now underway.

04:04

SCORE GOAL - GIANTS (Jake Riccardi)

05:02

The Giants kick the first goal of the match courtesy of a possession chain originating in their defensive 50. Last week, the Giants scored 3.1.19 from defensive 50 chains.

06:03

SCORE GOAL - GIANTS (Callum M. Brown)

06:20

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

06:47

Callum Brown kicks the second goal of the match for the Giants. Last week against Collingwood, Brown kicked three goals in the opening quarter on his way to a career-best five goals.

09:18

Sam Taylor has already taken three contested marks from opposition kicks. Taylor led the AFL with 10 intercept possessions per game last season, while he also averaged almost two contested marks from opposition kicks per game, also ranked No.1 in the competition.

11:16

SCORE BEHIND - GIANTS (Toby Greene)

13:47

The Giants lead the inside 50 count by six early in the match. They are transitioning the ball with ease, with seven defensive half chains resulting in six inside 50s.

14:39

SCORE GOAL - GIANTS (Jake Riccardi)

16:25

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Zane Duursma)

18:26

SCORE BEHIND - GIANTS (Jake Riccardi)

20:25

The Giants have laid only one effective tackle in the first 20 minutes. Interestingly, they laid only 36 tackles last week against the Magpies for the whole match.

22:04

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Cameron Zurhaar)

22:33

North Melbourne has started to showcase its foot skills, particularly out of its defensive half. Both Kangaroos goals have come from defensive half chains, with the Kangaroos kicking at an efficiency of 78 per cent, compared to the Giants 65 per cent.

24:00

SCORE GOAL - GIANTS (Jake Riccardi)

24:18

Jake Riccardi is dining out in the first quarter. The Giants forward has six disposals, five score involvements, four marks inside 50 and 3.1.19 already.

26:27

SCORE BEHIND - GIANTS (Jesse Hogan)

28:29

The Giants are taking every opportunity to use the corridor, exiting defensive 50 via the corridor 35 per cent of the time in the opening term. North Melbourne has used the corridor far less when exiting defensive 50, going through the middle 19 per cent of the time.

Quarter 2

00:00

Q2 is now underway.

01:16

SCORE BEHIND - GIANTS (Brent Daniels)

02:42

SCORE GOAL - GIANTS (Tom Green)

03:55

Tom Green has already had a prolific start to today's match, with 14 disposals, five contested possessions and a goal. Green averaged a league best 32 disposals per game in 2023.

03:57

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Paul Curtis)

05:40

SCORE GOAL - GIANTS (Aaron Cadman)

07:40

SCORE GOAL - GIANTS (Aaron Cadman)

08:42

The Giants have kicked 3.1.19 from their first four inside 50s of the quarter, after generating a more modest seven scores from 16 inside 50s in the first term.

10:05

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Nick Larkey)

13:28

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Jaidyn Stephenson)

13:50

When the Kangaroos are able to turn the Giants over in their forward half they are hitting the scoreboard. North Melbourne has won three forward half intercepts this quarter and kicked 2.0.12 as a result.

15:19

Interestingly, there has been only seven stoppages this quarter - all centre bounces. North Melbourne has won the centre bounce clearance on six occasions.

16:03

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Nick Larkey)

16:30

North Melbourne leads the inside 50 count eight to four this quarter, having recorded the last five of the match. The Kangaroos have been efficient going inside 50, kicking 4.0.24 from these entries.

18:19

SCORE BEHIND - GIANTS (Toby Greene)

19:47

SCORE GOAL - GIANTS (Jesse Hogan)

22:24

In what has been a low-pressure game, North Melbourne leads the tackle count 21 to eight. Tristan Xerri and Luke Davies-Uniacke have set the tone with five tackles each.

23:51

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Eddie Ford)

24:15

GIANTS Interchange - Jacob Wehr off due to the blood rule.

25:32

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Zane Duursma)

27:33

SCORE BEHIND - GIANTS (Brent Daniels)

28:06

SCORE GOAL - GIANTS (Jesse Hogan)

31:41

SCORE GOAL - GIANTS (Toby Bedford)

32:20

The Giants continue to transition the ball with ease from defensive 50. For the match, they have launched 16 chains from defensive 50, resulting in nine inside 50s and 4.2.26.

32:46

SCORE BEHIND - GIANTS (Toby Bedford)

33:22

Tom Green has enjoyed another dominant half with 22 disposals, 10 contested possessions, nine score involvements and a goal.

Quarter 3

00:00

Q3 is now underway.

01:43

SCORE GOAL - GIANTS (Jesse Hogan)

03:17

SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Paul Curtis)

04:07

SCORE GOAL - GIANTS (Josh Kelly)

04:27

The Giants have put the foot down to start the third term with two goals from just 18 disposals. Both goals have come via defensive 50 chains, with GWS having now kicked 6.2.38 from defensive 50 chains.

06:16

SCORE GOAL - GIANTS (Jesse Hogan)

06:37

Make that 3.0.18 from 26 disposals to start the second half for the Giants. Three out of their four possession chains have resulted in goals and have all originated from the defensive half of the ground.

07:44

SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Nick Larkey)

08:53

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Jaidyn Stephenson)

11:02

SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Cameron Zurhaar)

12:49

SCORE BEHIND - GIANTS (Tom Green)

14:53

North Melbourne continue to perform strongly at the stoppages. The Kangaroos lead the clearances by six, which is made up of an advantage of seven in centre bounce clearances. The Giants have only outscored North Melbourne 3.2.20 to 2.2.14 from this source.

16:08

SCORE GOAL - GIANTS (Callum M. Brown)

18:17

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Nick Larkey)

20:17

SCORE BEHIND - GIANTS (Callum M. Brown)

20:58

SCORE BEHIND - GIANTS (Toby Greene)

23:48

SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Zane Duursma)

25:16

The Giants lead post-clearance contested possession by 20 for the match. Key defenders Sam Taylor and Jack Buckley have seven apiece, while Jesse Hogan has eight to lead all Giants.

28:32

SCORE BEHIND - GIANTS (Jacob Wehr)

28:43

Jesse Hogan has had another superb game for the Giants with 15 disposals at 93 per cent efficiency, six marks inside 50, five contested marks, 10 score involvements and four goals.

31:16

SCORE GOAL - GIANTS (Jesse Hogan)

31:58

The Giants have kicked 33 of their 34 points this quarter from defensive half chains and have registered 10.6.67 of their 15.11.101 from defensive half chains for the match.

32:13

At three quarter time, 54 per cent of the Giants defensive 50 chains have resulted in an inside 50 and 32 per cent of these chains have resulted in a score. To put this in perspective, the AFL average for converting defensive 50 chains into inside 50s was 20 per cent last year and converting defensive 50 chains into a score was nine per cent.

Quarter 4

00:00

Q4 is now underway.

00:28

SCORE BEHIND - GIANTS (Rushed)

01:27

Kangaroos Interchange - Paul Curtis off due to an injury.

02:02

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Tristan Xerri)

08:22

SCORE GOAL - GIANTS (Jesse Hogan)

08:55

Jesse Hogan kicks his sixth goal of the match, the fourth time in his 142 game career in which he has kicked six or more goals. It is his second time achieving this feat as a Giant, the other two times coming as a Demon.

10:33

SCORE GOAL - GIANTS (Josh Kelly)

12:05

As is his custom, the 2023 competition leader in intercept possessions, Sam Taylor, leads all comers with 12 intercepts today. Seven of these intercepts have been intercept marks. It is the fifth time in his career in which Taylor has had at least seven intercept marks. His career best is nine.

12:31

SCORE BEHIND - GIANTS (Toby Greene)

13:11

SCORE BEHIND - GIANTS (Jake Riccardi)

14:50

Kangaroos Interchange - Tristan Xerri off due to an injury.

15:51

North Melbourne's ball use has been excellent today. The Kangaroos have a kicking efficiency of 79 per cent for the match. All four of North Melbourne's highest ball winners, Harry Sheezel, Luke Davies-Uniacke, Tom Powell and debutant Colby McKercher have all gone at above 80 per cent by foot.

18:11

SCORE BEHIND - GIANTS (Jesse Hogan)

19:18

SCORE BEHIND - GIANTS (Harvey Thomas)

19:49

SCORE BEHIND - GIANTS (Aaron Cadman)

21:26

Kangaroos Interchange - Josh Goater and is possibly out for the game.

22:11

After registering just nine tackles in the opening half of the game, GWS have responded with a more respectable 31 tackles in the second half. Tom Green leads the Giants with seven tackles, complementing his match-high 37 disposals and 16 contested possessions.

24:21

SCORE BEHIND - GIANTS (Connor Idun)

25:13

North Melbourne's ball movement has been a positive, generating an inside 50 from 30 per cent of chains launched from its defensive 50, 10 per cent above last year's AFL average. In total, the Kangaroos have scored 7.1.43 from defensive half chains for the match.

28:37

SCORE BEHIND - GIANTS (Josh Kelly)

30:29

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Paul Curtis)

31:42

The Giants lead the contested possession count by 30 for the match. They have been dominant in the air, taking 21 contested marks to seven. Taking 20 contested marks is a rare feat in a game, in fact it happened only twice last year with the most being 22 contested marks taken by Port Adelaide against Essendon in Round 8.

33:06

It was a comfortable victory in the end for the Giants who showed how potent they are offensively. They recorded 36 scoring shots from 60 inside 50s, a strike rate of 60 per cent. The tall Giants forwards, Jesse Hogan, Jake Riccardi, Aaron Cadman and Callum Brown kicked 13 goals between them as the Giants finished with 25 marks inside 50.