Match

West Coast Eagles vs Essendon

Commentary / 04 May 2024

Pre Game

00:00
West Coast has lost three of its last four games against the Bombers including last year’s Round 21 clash by one-point.

Quarter 1

00:00
Q1 is now underway.
00:12
Essendon concede the first centre bounce clearance of the game. The Bombers normally average 2.7 more centre clearances than their opponent - ranked second for the season.
00:58
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Mason Redman)
02:36
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Zach Merrett)
04:29
The Bombers lead the inside 50 count 3-2 early in the piece, with all inside 50 entries for either team resulting in turnovers thus far. The Eagles normally lose possession 37% of the time when entering their forward 50 - ranked fifth offensively, whilst the Bombers rank tenth.
06:02
SCORE BEHIND - Eagles (Jamie Cripps)
11:42
The Eagles have been stronger when the ball has been in contention, leading the groundball gets count by five. This year, the Eagles have averaged 9.9 more groundballs than their opponent - ranked second in the AFL.
12:38
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Matt Guelfi)
14:04
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Peter Wright)
14:07
Peter Wright slots the first goal of the term, with his goal sourcing from a stoppage. Essendon outscore their opponents this season by nine points from stoppages - ranked third for stoppage scores differential.
16:00
SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Jake Waterman)
16:22
Jake Waterman kicks West Coast's first goal of the game, with his goal also sourcing from a stoppage. West Coast is averaging 50 points from clearances across the last three rounds – ranked second in the league.
18:42
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Kyle Langford)
18:44
Another stoppage goal for the Bombers, with Kyle Langford getting on the end of this one. Since the 11 minute mark of this quarter, the Bombers have led the clearances 7-1 as well as being able to just under 200 metres more in total from those clearances in comparison to the Eagles.
21:49
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Kyle Langford)
23:04
Sam Durham has been impressive for Essendon in this term. He has collected nine disposals, of which six have been won in a contested manner, four clearances and two score assists.
24:47
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Jake Stringer)
28:14
The Bombers have had four more inside 50s as well as being able to find four marks inside 50, yet have one scored 2.2 (14) from marks tonight. Essendon normally score a goal from 58% of their shots from marks - ranked seventh in the league.

Quarter 2

00:00
Q2 is now underway.
01:06
SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Jake Waterman)
02:00
Jake Waterman kicks his second goal from a mark. He has now kicked the equal-most goals from marks this season - leveling Harry McKay's tally of nine.
04:28
SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Elliot Yeo)
04:48
Elliot Yeo kicks a thumping goal in his 200th career game. He is having a career-best season in terms of disposals and clearance averages - as he is averaging 25 disposals and eight clearances this year.
07:15
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Kyle Langford)
08:08
Kyle Langford's goal becomes Essendon's first goal from a turnover tonight. This season, they are normally outscored by 14 points from this source - ranking them second-last for scores from turnover differential.
09:23
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Peter Wright)
12:58
Essendon's pressure has been well above their usual output, as they are registering a pressure factor of 188 in comparison to West Coast's 173. Essendon rank thirteenth for pressure factor this year, whilst the Eagles rank last.
13:16
SCORE BEHIND - Eagles (Campbell Chesser)
15:21
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Jake Stringer)
15:34
Essendon has owned the ball in this term, having 26 more disposals and 11 more marks. Despite this, they have had the same amount of inside 50s, as well as having five fewer contested possessions and one fewer disposal in the forward half in comparison to the Eagles.
18:35
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Sam Durham)
18:45
A forward 50 stoppage goal from Sam Durham stretched the margin out to 21 points. The Eagles have conceded the third-most points from opposition forward 50 stoppages this season - averaging 11.4 points against per game.
20:43
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Matt Guelfi)
23:14
SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Jack Williams)
23:16
After seven consecutive inside 50s from the Bombers, the Eagles find a way to score an important goal through Jack Williams. This goal was launched from West Coast's defensive 50, which contributes to 18.6% of their scores on average - the fifth highest portion in the league.
27:17
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Zach Merrett)
27:49
Essendon has kicked 4.4 (28) from their attacking midfield tonight - the same amount they were able to score against the Magpies last week for the entirety of the game. The Eagles concede eight scores from this zone per game this year - ranked second-last defensively.
32:33
The Bombers lead by a game-high 22 points at the main break. A dominant second term for Essendon. They were able to lock the ball in the forward half for 54% of the term, as well as having six repeat inside and scoring 3.1 (19) from those. On the flip side, the Eagles weren't able to have a repeat entry in the second quarter.

Quarter 3

00:00
Q3 is now underway.
00:41
Todd Goldstein has been on top in the ruck battle against Bailey J. Williams, as he in leading the hitouts by eight and the hitouts-to-advantage by three, although the Eagles have had two more clearances and kicked a stoppage goal whilst these two have been ruck opponents.
01:08
SCORE BEHIND - Eagles (Jake Waterman)
04:17
SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Bailey J. Williams)
07:50
Tom Barrass has been one of the main contributors for the Eagles tonight. He has collected team-highs with disposals (17), contested possessions (7), metres gained (342) and intercept marks (3).
09:22
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Zach Merrett)
10:11
Essendon has had the last three inside 50s of the game, with the latest resulting in Zach Merrett's goal. The Bombers launch 22.6% of their scores this year from their forward 50 - the fifth-highest percentage in the league.
11:22
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Jye Caldwell)
13:21
The Eagles haven't used the ball in their defensive half as well as they would've liked. They have been forced into making four turnovers, as well as making three unforced turnovers in this zone. The Eagles are ranked third and seventh for forced and unforced turnovers in the defensive half this year.
14:07
SCORE BEHIND - Eagles (Noah Long)
15:18
SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Campbell Chesser)
15:22
Bombers Interchange - Jye Caldwell and is possibly out for the game.
16:58
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Kyle Langford)
19:21
SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Jack Williams)
19:36
Jack Williams kicks multiple goals in a game for the first time in his career to bring the margin down to 10 points. Williams has been targeted twice inside 50, as has taken two marks in this zone.
21:20
SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Jack Darling)
21:37
Jack Darling kicks an important goal to edge the margin to under a goal. This goal was launched from a centre bounce, which sees the Eagles scores 12.9 points a game from - ranked fifth in the competition.
22:56
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Zach Merrett)
23:59
Zach Merrett steps up and kicks his third goal to stretch the margin back to 10 points. He has been elite tonight, collecting 21 disposals, 303 metres gained, 15 handball receives and four score involvements.
25:24
Eagles Interchange - Noah Long off due to an injury.
26:52
Eagles Interchange - Elliot Yeo and is possibly out for the game.
26:58
SCORE BEHIND - Eagles (Jack Williams)
28:30
The Bombers have only found one mark inside 50 this quarter after taking eight and scoring 5.3 (33) from marks in the first half.
29:04
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Xavier Duursma)
33:08
Essendon had a clear motive to move the ball by hand. They registered a kick to handball ratio of 0.88 and were able to gain 351 more metres from handball receives compared to West Coast in the third term.

Quarter 4

00:00
Q4 is now underway.
00:30
The Bombers have won all three games this season when they have been in front at three-quarter time, while on the other hand the Eagles have not won a game this year when they have been behind at the final change.
01:03
SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Jack Darling)
02:23
Out of the centre, Essendon has been stronger winning three more centre clearances, although, they have only generated one point from these chains. On the flip side, West Coast has scored 3.1 (19) from centre bounces.
03:59
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Jake Stringer)
04:08
Jack Stringer misses a vital set shot, making it 6.5 (41) from set shots for the Bombers tonight. Essendon kicked eight consecutive behinds from set shots between the first and third term in Round 7. The most on record consecutively is nine.
09:06
A big effort from Jake Waterman to smother Nic Martin to lock the ball in West Coast's forward half. The Eagles have had seven smothers tonight. They normally average 5.6 - ranked last in the competition.
10:12
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Kyle Langford)
15:04
SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Jake Waterman)
15:13
The Eagles have been flying high in one on one marking contests, winning 33% of these in comparison to the Bombers' 20%. The Eagles rank twelfth for one on one contest win percentage, whilst Essendon rank last.
18:22
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Rushed)
19:31
When his team has needed him, Tim Kelly has stepped up. He has collected 25 disposals, of which 12 were won in a contested manner, eight clearances, 501 metres gained, 24 pressure acts and two goal assists.
22:46
Eagles Interchange - Harley Reid off due to an injury.
24:33
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Kyle Langford)
26:11
The Eagles have only scored 2.1 (13) after the 20 minute mark in all quarters today. They rank fourteenth for points scored after the 20 minute mark this season.
29:05
SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Jack Williams)
30:06
Jack Williams gives the Eagles hope with a late goal from a forward 50 stoppage. The Eagles rank sixth this season for scores from forward 50 stoppages.
31:19
The Eagles lost no suiters as they threw everything they could to get themselves as close as they could, but ultimately just fell short. They had 16 fewer inside 50s but were able to score a goal from 7% more of their entries. In the last term, they were strong when the ball was in contention, winning eight more contested possessions and winning the clearance count by five.