Match

Western Bulldogs vs Essendon

Commentary / 12 Apr 2024

Pre Game

00:00
The Bombers rank third worst in the league for allowing scores from inside-50s and also rank third worst for allowing marks inside-50. This contrasts with the Bulldogs scoring a goal from 27% of their inside-50s, ranked second in the AFL. This is boosted by a league-high scoring accuracy of 67.1%.

Quarter 1

00:00
Q1 is now underway.
00:59
Darcy Parish attended 34 centre bounces across his first two games this season, winning just one centre clearance. He starts in the centre tonight and wins the first clearance of the night.
01:07
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Todd Goldstein)
03:01
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Aaron Naughton)
05:24
Three of the top five disposal winners in the league face off in tonight's game with Nic Martin (33.8 per game), Adam Treloar (32.5) and Zach Merrett (32.2) ranked first, fourth and fifth respectively. They've each found the football already tonight.
05:58
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Rushed)
09:49
Jamara Ugle-Hagan takes a one-handed contested mark and then kicks his set shot goal. Ugle-Hagan is averaging a team-high 2.8 contested marks per game. He ranks in the top 10 for forward 50 targets and third for marks inside-50.
14:08
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Kyle Langford)
16:08
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Rhylee West)
20:29
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Jye Caldwell)
20:35
Jye Caldwell kicks a goal from a free kick against Tim English. English has three frees against, with two resulting in goals for the Bombers.
22:39
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Rhylee West)
26:17
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Nic Martin)
27:05
Nic Martin kicks the Bombers' fourth goal of the evening. Two of their four goals have come from chains starting in their own forward 50.
28:19
Jamara Ugle-Hagan kicks his second goal courtesy of his second contested mark inside 50. The Bulldogs have five contested marks, while the Bombers have none.
30:49
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Alwyn Davey Jnr)
31:56
Alwyn Davey Jnr kicks a goal from the goal square following a 50m penalty. The goal is the first from inside 40m for the Bombers tonight.
32:06
The Bombers take a four-point quarter-time lead. Zach Merrett has been busy with 11 disposals and three marks, while Andrew McGrath has eight disposals, three tackles and three score involvements.

Quarter 2

00:00
Q2 is now underway.
01:13
Nic Martin and Adam Treloar rank first and second for disposals in second quarters this season, averaging 11.2 and 11.0 respectively. Watch for the pair to find plenty of the football in this quarter.
03:01
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Sam Darcy)
04:03
A costly turnover from a Bombers' kick-in results in a Bulldogs goal. The Bulldogs have scored 4.2 (26) from turnovers. The Bombers concede 64.8 points per game from turnovers this season, the second most of any team in the league.
06:33
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Sam Darcy)
08:54
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Kyle Langford)
09:09
The Bulldogs have started strongly in the second term. They lead disposals 39-24 and uncontested possessions 26-14 for the quarter.
09:53
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Rhylee West)
10:20
The Bulldogs rank first in the league for score launches from their forward 50, plus 14 per game against their opponents this season. Rhylee West kicks their first goal from a forward 50 chain tonight.
13:28
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Rushed)
14:14
After having five and four disposals respectively in the first quarter, Marcus Bontempelli and Tom Liberatore have found more of the ball to begin the second term. Bontempelli has seven disposals and Liberatore five. Both have four contested possessions each.
14:50
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Xavier Duursma)
16:04
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Jake Stringer)
16:40
The Bombers were beaten 19-6 in centre bounce clearances in their clash against the Power last week. This -13 differential is the largest seen in any game this season. The Bombers were outscored 26-7 from centre bounce clearances and rank sixteenth in the league for score differential from centre bounces. They have two goals from centre bounce clearances tonight, while the Bulldogs haven't hit the scoreboard.
21:51
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Aaron Naughton)
22:16
Bombers Interchange - Jye Menzie off due to an injury.
24:41
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Kyle Langford)
26:42
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Kyle Langford)
27:08
Before tonight Dyson Heppell was averaging nearly 15 kicks per game, with 72.9% of his kicks being short. He's up to a game-high 11 kicks before reaching half-time, with 10 of these being short kicks.
27:58
The Bulldogs have taken 94.8 uncontested marks per game – ranked first in the AFL this season, but they have been restricted to just 38 uncontested marks to half time tonight.

Quarter 3

00:00
Q3 is now underway.
05:38
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Harrison Jones)
05:46
Harrison Jones kicks the first goal of the third quarter after a Sam Draper kick inside 50 from a boundary throw-in clearance. The Bombers have scored 4.0 (24) to 1.2 (8) from stoppages.
08:10
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Jamarra Ugle-Hagan)
09:02
Jamara Ugle-Hagan takes his third contested mark inside the Bulldogs forward 50 and converts for his third goal of the game.
10:06
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Oskar Baker)
11:34
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Harrison Jones)
12:47
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Aaron Naughton)
14:01
Tom Liberatore has four contested possessions in the quarter so far. No other player has more than two. He had a career-high 28 contested possessions against the Cats last week. He has a game-high 11 so far tonight.
14:45
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Sam Draper)
16:56
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Jake Stringer)
19:48
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Kyle Langford)
20:44
The Bombers have kicked five of the last six goals to stretch the lead to a game-high 15 points.
24:16
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Cody Weightman)
24:27
Cody Weightman has kicked 9.1 in his previous three outings against the Bombers, but misses his first shot at goal tonight, coming deep into the third quarter.
27:45
The Bombers extended their lead by another goal in the third term. They led inside 50s 15-11 and contested possessions 32-25 for the quarter.

Quarter 4

00:00
Q4 is now underway.
00:20
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Rushed)
00:59
The Bulldogs lead handball receives 96-71 for the game, but haven't been able to convert that into a free-flowing attacking game. They trail the inside 50s 40-36.
01:19
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Jamarra Ugle-Hagan)
02:56
The Bulldogs have applied early pressure to begin the final term, with three forward 50 tackles in the opening minutes of the quarter. They lead forward 50 tackles 10-6 for the game.
03:06
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Jamarra Ugle-Hagan)
05:10
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Harrison Jones)
05:46
Essendon now leads stoppage scores 5.2 (32) to 2.3 (15). Harrison Jones has kicked two goals tonight, both coming off the back of boundary throw-in score launches.
07:47
Buku Khamis takes an intercept mark for the Bulldogs, his third for the game, following a career-high six last week. The Bulldogs lead the league in intercept marks with 20.8 per game. They have just seven so far tonight.
08:28
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Jade Gresham)
11:37
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Sam Durham)
12:56
The Bulldogs entered this game ranked second for scores from defensive 50, with a plus 10 differential against their opponents, while the Bombers ranked sixteenth with -7.2 per game. Tonight, Essendon have a plus 17 differential from this zone.
14:44
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Xavier Duursma)
16:22
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Jake Stringer)
17:44
Essendon has kicked five unanswered goals in the final quarter and has 10 of the last 11 goals. The Bulldogs' last goal came at the eight-minute mark of the third term.
20:55
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Jamarra Ugle-Hagan)
22:40
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Sam Darcy)
23:47
The top four players for metres gained tonight are all from the Bombers, Nic Martin 551m, Andrew McGrath 520m, Zach Merrett 469m and Mason Redman 402m.
26:03
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Aaron Naughton)
27:08
Jack Macrae is up to 24 disposals, with 15 uncontested possessions and six inside 50s. Six inside 50s is Macrae's highest output since round 11 2023.
27:48
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Sam Darcy)
30:34
After being blitzed in the centre of the ground last week, the Bombers have bounced back by leading centre bounce clearances 16-10 and scores from centre bounces 19-6.
32:31
The Bombers win by 29 points, dominating stoppages with a 35-27 lead in clearances, fed by their rucks winning the hitouts 35-23 and hitouts-to-advantage 11-7. They doubled the Bulldogs scores from stoppages, scoring 7.2 (44) to 3.4 (22).