Match

St Kilda vs Western Bulldogs

Commentary / 18 Apr 2024

Pre Game

00:00
Rowan Marshall recorded a career-high 16 clearances against GWS last week. This is also the most clearances by a ruckman in any match since Paul Salmon set the VFL/AFL record with 22 clearances for Hawthorn against the Kangaroos in Round 13, 1998.

Quarter 1

00:00
Q1 is now underway.
01:24
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Aaron Naughton)
05:07
SCORE GOAL - Saints (Anthony Caminiti)
05:23
Both teams convert their first mark inside 50 into goals to start the match. The Bulldogs rank equal third in the AFL in 2024 with 34 goals kicked from shots at goal from a mark. By comparison, the Saints rank last in the AFL in this regard with 22 goals from marks.
10:20
The Bulldogs have outscored their opponents by an average of five points per game in the opening 10 minutes of match time this year, which is the third-highest margin in this period of any side. However they have not been able to gain the ascendancy in tonight's match.
12:19
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Rushed)
14:46
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Cody Weightman)
16:27
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Cody Weightman)
18:55
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Cody Weightman)
19:38
Cody Weightman kicks three goals in a five minute blitz to stretch the Bulldogs lead. Since he came into the side in Round 2, and with the inclusion of tonight's goals, he leads the AFL with 13 goals.
20:48
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Aaron Naughton)
23:57
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Sam Darcy)
24:24
Seven of the Bulldogs 18 intercept possession chains have ended up going inside their forward 50 for a highly efficient return of 5.1 (31). By comparison, five of the Saints 15 intercept chains have transitioned inside 50 for a reward of just one goal.
27:39
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Aaron Naughton)
29:05
With his third goal, Aaron Naughton becomes the 419th player in the history of the AFL, and the 24th Bulldog, to kick 200 career goals.
29:54
St Kilda are getting to the ball first at the stoppages, recording 13 first possessions after a ruck contest to the Bulldogs five. However their efficiency in converting on this dominance has been well down, trailing in the clearance count 7-9 and points from clearance 0-6.

Quarter 2

00:00
Q2 is now underway.
01:40
After starting as the substitute last weekend, Bailey Dale is enjoying being back in the starting lineup. He has a team-high 10 disposals to this point of the match, six of which have come from intercept possessions, which leads all players on the ground.
03:41
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Marcus Bontempelli)
06:20
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Rory Lobb)
07:35
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Rushed)
07:42
The Bulldogs pressure rating has been consistently superior to that of the Saints in tonight's match. In the first term the pressure rating sat at 198-170 in the Bulldogs favour, and that has continued into the second term, with the Bulldogs ahead at 189-163.
09:15
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Bailey Dale)
09:56
That goal to Bailey Dale was their sixth goal from their 10th inside 50 entry that travelled through the centre corridor. Prior to tonight's match, the Bulldogs had recorded 79 inside 50's through the corridor in 2024, the fewest of any side in this zone.
12:07
SCORE BEHIND - Saints (Riley Bonner)
14:28
SCORE GOAL - Saints (Zak Jones)
14:46
Zak Jones ends a run of seven straight Bulldogs goals. That was their first score launched from their defensive 50 in tonight's match. They average 4.6 scores from this zone in 2024, ranked equal sixth in the AFL.
17:42
SCORE GOAL - Saints (Hugo Garcia)
20:39
The Bulldogs lead the free kick count 10-2 to this point of tonight's match. The Saints have won 26 more free kicks than they have conceded in 2024, ranked second in the AFL for free kick, whereas the Bulldogs rank third-last having conceded 21 more frees than they have been awarded.
21:14
SCORE BEHIND - Saints (Sebastian Ross)
22:04
SCORE BEHIND - Saints (Jack Higgins)
24:14
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Adam Treloar)
24:37
Both Jack Steele and Marcus Bontempelli are having off nights with their kicking in the first half so far. Only one of Steele's five kicks has been effective, while for Bontempelli it's one effective kick out of six.
26:22
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Aaron Naughton)
27:49
SCORE GOAL - Saints (Darcy Wilson)
29:26
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Rhylee West)
29:47
First St Kilda, then the Bulldogs convert a centre clearance into a goal. The Saints have outscored their opponents by two points per game from this source in 2024, ranked seventh in the AFL, while the Bulldogs have been outscored by three points per game from centre clearances, ranked 13th.
31:16
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Tim English)
31:21
The Bulldogs put up their best first half of the season to show that this is still a talented group of players. Only one of their 29 kicks entering their forward 50 in the first half has been turned over to the opposition, and they have scored 8.3 (51) from the other 28 kicks.

Quarter 3

00:00
Q3 is now underway.
01:17
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Harvey Gallagher)
03:06
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Aaron Naughton)
04:19
Aaron Naughton makes it five goals in a match for the sixth time in his career, and the first time since 2022. He has been the most targeted player inside 50 in tonight's match with six targets, and has taken a game-high three marks inside 50 as a result.
07:55
Bulldogs Interchange - Harvey Gallagher off due to an injury.
09:11
Western Bulldogs have taken 16 of the 17 marks recorded in the third term to this point and have only played on immediately from two of them, helping them take a stranglehold on the momentum of the match.
09:26
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Jack Macrae)
10:45
Jack Macrae seems to be on the way back to his best form, and gets just rewards for his efforts with a goal to become the ninth individual goalkicker for the Bulldogs in tonight's match. He leads all players on the ground in tackles (six) and score involvements (eight).
11:23
SCORE BEHIND - Saints (Jack Higgins)
13:34
Zak Jones has been replaced by the tactical substitute Dan Butler.
15:36
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Aaron Naughton)
18:10
SCORE BEHIND - Saints (Marcus Windhager)
18:26
St Kilda have doubled the tally of their opponents in the clearances in the third term 6-3, including 4-1 at the centre bounce. However they have failed to convert this superiority at the stoppage into any meaningful scoreboard impact despite generating three inside 50's from their six clearances.
19:12
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Rushed)
20:52
SCORE BEHIND - Saints (Tim Membrey)
22:56
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Marcus Bontempelli)
24:51
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Rushed)
25:24
SCORE GOAL - Saints (Mitch Owens)
26:30
St Kilda chain some attacking forward handballs together and go coast-to-coast to score their second goal of the match out of their defensive 50. The Saints have gained a net positive of 10 metres from their 104 handballs in tonight's match. They average a gain of 0.4 metres per handball in 2024, ranked last in the AFL.
27:37
SCORE BEHIND - Saints (Anthony Caminiti)
29:01
The Bulldogs three quarter-time score of 108 is their second largest tally at the final break in any match since the start of the 2020 season. They fell nine points short of their tally recorded against West Coast in Round 11, 2022.

Quarter 4

00:00
Q4 is now underway.
01:27
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Sam Darcy)
01:35
Laitham Vandermeer has been replaced in his 50th match by the medical substitute Ryley Sanders.
03:26
SCORE BEHIND - Saints (Jack Sinclair)
06:33
Saints Interchange - Callum Wilkie off due to the blood rule.
06:59
Bulldogs Interchange - Rory Lobb off due to an injury.
07:02
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Tim English)
07:44
SCORE BEHIND - Saints (Bradley Hill)
09:07
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Marcus Bontempelli)
10:12
Marcus Bontempelli kicks the first goal of the final term and their fourth goal of the match launched out of their defensive 50 zone. The Bulldogs have outscored their opponents by five points per game from this zone in 2024, ranked sixth in the AFL.
11:50
SCORE GOAL - Saints (Tim Membrey)
12:59
SCORE GOAL - Saints (Tim Membrey)
13:24
Back-to-back goals for Tim Membrey to give the Saints some hope of winning the final quarter. The Saints are showing some spirit in the final term as they lead the groundball-get count 11-4 and are ahead in the inside 50 count 7-3 as a result of their improved disposal efficiency (73 per cent).
16:27
Saints Interchange - Dan Butler and is possibly out for the game.
16:37
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Marcus Bontempelli)
17:20
Marcus Bontempelli goals to make this the highest points total conceded by the Saints under Ross Lyon since he returned to St Kilda. Their previous highest tally conceded since Lyon's return was 121 against Adelaide in Round 9, 2023.
18:15
SCORE BEHIND - Saints (Cooper Sharman)
20:55
SCORE GOAL - Saints (Tim Membrey)
23:08
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Rushed)
24:42
10 of Bailey Dale's 12 intercept possessions have resulted in inside 50's, with four of those converted onto goals on the scoreboard in tonight's match. His 39 disposals are a new career-high figure.
26:33
Aaron Naughton's six goals will make it hard for him to not figure as the best-on-ground in tonight's match, but Rhylee West's return of one goal plus three goal assists has also been influential.
27:15
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Tim English)
28:46
SCORE GOAL - Saints (Cooper Sharman)
28:47
Marcus Windhager is starting to develop into an important cog in the Saints midfield. He leads all players on the ground with 15 contested possessions to go with an equal team-high six score involvements, and only Callum Wilkie (nine) has more intercept possessions for the Saints than Windhager (six) tonight.
28:49
It takes a goal after the final siren to save Ross Lyon from his worst loss as a St Kilda coach in his 151st game in charge of the Saints. They won the final quarter to show their character but gave up 36 more clangers than the Bulldogs for the match, which is the largest margin in this stat since the clangers were first recorded.