Match

Sydney Swans vs Gold Coast Suns

Commentary / 21 Apr 2024

Pre Game

00:00
Sydney won both of its matchups with Gold Coast last season – enjoying 24 and 49-point victories in Round 1 and 22, respectively.

Quarter 1

00:00
Q1 is now underway.
00:17
The first centre bounce clearances goes the way of the Swans. The Swans are averaging 2.4 fewer centre clearances compared to their opponent - ranked fifteenth, whilst the Suns have a centre clearance differential of 2.2 - ranked second in the AFL.
01:56
SCORE GOAL - Swans (Joel Amartey)
02:17
The Swans show a great display of their ball movement which has been a real weapon for them this season. Joel Amartey's goal was launched from Sydney's defensive 50, which generates 20.4 points for them this season - ranked second.
04:15
SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Brodie Grundy)
06:24
Six of the first seven inside 50s have gone the way of the Swans. They have already taken three inside 50 marks, of which two have been found from the boot of Errol Gulden. Of the top 50 players with the most inside 50 kicks this year, Gulden has the fourth-best inside percentage of kicks that find a mark inside 50.
08:37
SCORE GOAL - Swans (Isaac Heeney)
09:18
Isaac Heeney slots through Sydney's third goal in a row, with his goal coming from a stoppage. The Swans are averaging seven points more than their opponent from clearances - ranked third for scores from clearance differential this season.
11:01
The Suns have been unable to get any territory to start. They have only had three disposals in their forward half and have only had 15% of the quarter spent in this zone.
12:07
SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Hayden McLean)
13:04
Taylor Adams has been impressive to start, having six disposals, of which six were won in a contested manner, two clearances and a goal assist. Taylor Adams had 17 disposals, nine contested possessions, four tackles, six score involvements, and a goal in his Sydney debut in Round 4.
15:54
Before today, the Suns were the hardest team to convert a chain into a score. Already today the Swans have scored from 38% of their chains.
17:46
Sam Clohesy has had an extraordinary start to his AFL career. He has had five disposals (100% efficiency), 142 metres gained and a goal, which brings his goal tally to four for the season.
19:40
SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Chad Warner)
21:58
SCORE GOAL - Swans (Sam Wicks)
23:46
SCORE BEHIND - SUNS (Brayden Fiorini)
24:00
Sam Flanders continues to enjoy his position change from the midfield to the backline, collecting 10 disposals, 167 metres gained and two intercept possessions.
26:34
SCORE GOAL - Swans (Tom Papley)
28:30
SUNS Interchange - Jed Walter off due to the blood rule.
29:29
The Swans have read the ball well in the air. They have already taken eight intercept marks - the equal-second-most in a first quarter this year.
30:20
Gold Coast have been able to get their hands on the footy, having eight more contested possessions, but have been unable to get the ball to the outside. They are currently -34 for uncontested possessions - Gold Coast had 93 more uncontested possessions than Hawthorn in Round 5 – their third-highest ever differential in a match.

Quarter 2

00:00
Q2 is now underway.
00:18
Noah Anderson had just two disposals in the opening term. This year, Anderson is averaging 30.8 disposals, 579 meters gained, 5.8 marks, 7.0 score involvements, and 3.8 tackles – all career-highs.
01:45
SCORE BEHIND - SUNS (Wil Powell)
03:12
The pressure in this match-up has been good, with Sydney and Gold Coast registering pressure factors of 183 and 192 - both above the AFL average. The Suns have laid three more tackles and smothered the ball three more times than the Swans also.
05:49
The Swans are disposing of the ball by foot 15% better than the Suns. The Suns have had seven more clanger kicks and have had four more unforced turnovers in comparison to Sydney.
06:43
SCORE GOAL - SUNS (Bailey Humphrey)
07:09
Bailey Humphrey kicks a goal from turnover to get things started for the Suns in the second term. The Suns are averaging 54 points from turnovers this year - ranked sixth.
08:41
SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Logan McDonald)
11:14
SCORE BEHIND - SUNS (Bailey Humphrey)
11:20
The Suns have been in control early in this term, having five more inside 50s and four more forward half intercepts. In contrast, 11 minutes into the first quarter they had seven fewer inside 50s and four fewer forward half intercepts.
15:25
Brodie Grundy's ruck work has been a work of art. He has had 14 hitouts, of which seven of those were to advantage (50% hitout-to-advantage rate). He has been averaging a hitout-to-advantage rate of 31.4% - ranked 22nd for the year.
16:03
SCORE BEHIND - SUNS (Nick Holman)
16:59
Swans Interchange - Tom McCartin off due to an injury.
20:10
In this term, the Swans are 3 for hitouts and 2 for first possessions but have had five fewer clearances than the Suns. The Swans rank tenth for first possession to clearance percentage this year after ranking fifth in 2023.
20:15
SCORE GOAL - SUNS (Jed Walter)
21:09
Jed Walter edges the lead to 11 points with a goal from stoppage. The Suns have the fifteenth-worst strike rate from clearances this season with a strike rate of 71.8.
24:58
Ben King is yet to have a kick so far, only having two handballs (one ineffective and one clanger). He has been matched up on Tom McCartin for 41 minutes of this game so far.
28:15
Sydney's pressure factor dropped off, going from 195 in the first down to 186 in the second. On the other hand, Gold Coast's pressure factor went from 182 to 197 in the second term.

Quarter 3

00:00
Q3 is now underway.
01:33
Brodie Grundy has been on top in the rucking contest against Jarrod Witts, leading the hitouts by nine and hitouts-to-advantage by seven, as well as Sydney leading the clearances by three when these two have been ruck opponents.
02:08
SCORE GOAL - Swans (Will Hayward)
02:29
Will Hayward slots Sydney's first goal since the first quarter, with it coming from a forward 50 intercept. The Swans score from 73.7% of their intercepts in the forward 50 - ranked fourth in the league.
05:46
SCORE GOAL - Swans (Logan McDonald)
05:55
The Swans have been able to lower their eyes much better when going inside 50, taking six more forward 50 marks than the Swans. They have capitalized on these, scoring 6.3 (39) from marks compared to 1.3 (9) from the Suns.
09:16
SCORE GOAL - SUNS (Touk Miller)
09:40
Touk Miller scores to keep the Suns in the contest. He has applied 17 pressure acts today - the second-most of anyone today, and is averaging 26.6 pressure acts this season - ranked No.1 at Gold Coast and seventh in the competition.
11:22
Swans Interchange - Nick Blakey off due to an injury.
12:25
SCORE GOAL - SUNS (Ben King)
12:55
Both of Gold Coast's goals this quarter have been generated from the attacking midfield zone. The Suns launch 6.8 scores from this zone on average - ranked eighth this season.
14:47
The Suns have changed the momentum of the game since the first quarter. Since the beginning of the second quarter, the Suns have had seven repeat entries and scored three times from those, whilst restricting the Swans to just two scoreless repeat entries. A complete turnaround from the first term where Sydney had 12 repeat entries and scored four goals whilst the Suns were unable to register a repeat entry.
16:06
SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Justin McInerney)
17:18
SCORE GOAL - Swans (Joel Amartey)
18:46
Jack Lukosius takes a strong mark in a defensive one-on-one marking contest. The Suns have won 80% of their defensive one-on-ones today and have won 40.9% of their defensive one-on-ones this season – the highest percentage in the competition.
19:53
SCORE BEHIND - SUNS (Mac Andrew)
21:46
SCORE GOAL - Swans (Sam Wicks)
22:01
Sam Wicks kicks his second in his return to the side. This goal becomes Sydney's sixth goal from the 40-50 metre range today. The Swans normally score 26.9% of their shots from this distance - ranked eighth in the AFL.
24:13
SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Oliver Florent)
26:23
SCORE GOAL - Swans (Tom Papley)
26:51
Tom Papley scores an impressive goal following another bullet kick from Errol Gulden inside 50. Three of Gulden's kicks inside 50 today have resulted in goals - two more than any other player.
27:51
SCORE BEHIND - SUNS (Nick Holman)
29:39
SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Tom Papley)
30:20
SCORE GOAL - Swans (Chad Warner)
30:51
Chad Warner scores Sydney's first goal not from a set shot today. They have scored 10.4 (64) from set shots, 8.3 (51) from marks and 0.4 (4) from open play today.
31:38
SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Sam Wicks)
33:16
SCORE GOAL - Swans (Joel Amartey)
33:22
The Suns lost the contested possession and clearance counts in the third term after comfortably leading these stats in the second term. The Suns have won both of their games this season when they have won these counts.

Quarter 4

00:00
Q4 is now underway.
02:56
Since the 21-minute mark of the third term, the Swans are leading the inside 50 count 13-2, the contested possession count by seven. Since the start of the 2023 season, teams that have won these stats for the game have won 76% of the time.
03:46
SCORE GOAL - Swans (James Jordon)
06:02
SCORE GOAL - Swans (Will Hayward)
08:06
SCORE GOAL - Swans (Brodie Grundy)
08:54
Nine of Sydney's goals today have been launched from forward half turnovers. They have scored from 36.4% of their forward half intercepts this year - ranked third in the competition.
12:53
Matt Rowell has had a game-high 14 contested possessions. He averages 15.8 contested possessions in four matches against the Swans – his most against any opponent.
13:50
SCORE BEHIND - SUNS (Jed Walter)
14:32
SCORE GOAL - SUNS (Noah Anderson)
14:39
Tom Papley has been the most clinical player inside 50 today. He has been targeted eight times inside 50, taken three forward 50 marks and has a scoreboard impact of 4.2 (26). This year he ranks seventh at Sydney for scoreboard impact - down from his 2023 form which saw him rank first for the club.
20:26
SCORE GOAL - Swans (Joel Amartey)
20:55
The Suns have been stronger once the ball has left the stoppage area, collecting 10 more post-clearance contested possessions than Sydney. Both the Suns and the Swans have won this stat twice from their five games this year.
22:07
SCORE BEHIND - SUNS (Thomas Berry)
22:42
SCORE GOAL - SUNS (Brayden Fiorini)
25:45
SCORE GOAL - Swans (Logan McDonald)
27:58
The Swans have scored 5.0 (30) in this term. They average 29.6 points in fourth quarters this season – the most of any team.
30:06
SCORE GOAL - SUNS (Ben King)
31:08
The Swans were too strong for the Suns in the end, taking home a 53-point win. They were damaging in the front half, scoring 10.4 (64) from turnovers in the forward half. They were lethal in finding a mark inside 50, taking 16 in this zone and scoring 15.4 (94) from set shots.