Match

Western Bulldogs vs Sydney Swans

Commentary / 23 May 2024

Pre Game

00:00
Sydney is ranked No.1 in both average points scored (103) and conceded (67) and its percentage (155) is also a clear No.1. Despite being 11th on the ladder, the Bulldogs have the second-best percentage (126).

Quarter 1

00:00
Q1 is now underway.
00:47
A fast start for the Bulldogs with a goal from the opening centre bounce. The Bulldogs average 13.7 points per game from centre bounce clearances (ranked fourth) and concede 10.2 points from this source.
02:09
The Bulldogs have started their games and quarters well this season, ranking second in the opening ten minutes of the first quarter and ranked No.1 in the first ten minutes across all quarters.
04:02
The Bulldogs have an early 8-3 lead in ground balls. Sydney is ranked last in hard ball get differential this season.
05:23
Bulldogs Interchange - Anthony Scott off due to an injury.
07:45
Four of the first five clearances have gone to the Bulldogs and both goals have come from this source. Sydney conceded the first four goals of the game last week to Carlton and has again given a head start to its opposition.
10:39
Sydney has an early 13-2 lead in marks looking to control the ball, but the Bulldogs have a 7-1 lead in inside 50 entries due to clearances (6-1) and forward half intercepts (4-1).
11:29
A forward half intercept was the source of the first goal for the Swans. Sydney has scored from 40 percent of its forward half intercepts this season (ranked No.1) and averages 31.9 points per game from this source (ranked second).
13:13
Adam Treloar won a career-high 23 contested possessions last week and has already won four such possessions tonight with two clearances and three inside 50 entries.
15:01
A pair of early goals to Joel Amartey with the second coming from a forward half stoppage. Sydney has scored from 48 percent of its forward half clearances this season (ranked No.1) and scored 20.2 points per game from this source (also ranked No.1).
17:30
Some slick ball movement from the Swans led to the goal from Hayden McLean. The goal was launched with a defensive 50 intercept and Sydney averages a competition-high 13.3 points per game from this source.
20:28
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Laitham Vandermeer)
21:33
Western Bulldogs lead contested marks 3-1, with the last scoring chain featuring one of these marks from Tim English. The Bulldogs are ranked fifth for differential in this measure in 2024
23:45
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Rhylee West)
25:59
SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Hayden McLean)
26:57
SCORE GOAL - Swans (Chad Warner)
27:09
Chad Warner recorded a career-high 31.2 AFL Player Rating points last week against Carlton and his first score involvement tonight was the last goal which again converted a forward half intercept by the Swans.
29:28
Sydney is ranked No.1 in scores per inside 50 entry this season and has started efficiently tonight with five marks in the forward 50 and five scores from just nine inside 50 entries.
30:08
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Rhylee West)
30:29
Every score in the game so far has come from a set shot at goal. The AFL average is 56 percent of scores come from set shots.
31:57
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Jamarra Ugle-Hagan)
32:29
The last goal from Jamarra Ugle-Hagan again included an assist from Ed Richards (his third already). Richards leads all players for metres gained (275), disposals (11), and score involvements (5).
33:19
Western Bulldogs had the edge in clearances (12-7) in the opening quarter and also dominated contested possession (39-24). Sydney again applied strong pressure (tackles 19-8) and was more efficient in the forward half by foot (71 percent to 59 percent).

Quarter 2

00:00
Q2 is now underway.
00:07
Brodie Grundy is averaging a career-high 5.9 tackles this season, which is ranked second among rucks. In the opening quarter, Grundy applied four tackles and was the No.1 rated player on the ground for pressure.
01:03
James Jordon has performed key defensive roles for the Swans in recent weeks and during the opening quarter, he was primarily opposed to the creative Bailey Dale and restricted him to just three disposals.
02:11
Bulldogs Interchange - Aaron Naughton and is possibly out for the game.
03:55
Ed Richards was the No.1 ranked player on the ground in the opening quarter and the Swans have now switched James Jordon across to mind the dangerous Bulldog.
05:51
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Jamarra Ugle-Hagan)
06:08
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Harvey Gallagher)
07:11
SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Joel Amartey)
08:08
After the first five scoring shots in the game were all goals, the two teams have scored a combined 3.7 since. Last week the Bulldogs scored an inaccurate 8.22 while the Swans are ranked No.1 in accuracy across the last five weeks.
08:35
SCORE GOAL - Swans (Tom Papley)
08:49
Swans Interchange - Harry Cunningham off due to an injury.
09:25
Sydney has now scored 3.0.18 from its seven forward half intercepts continuing its trend of scoring efficiently from this source. The Bulldogs have scored 1.2.8 from their eight such intercepts.
11:03
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Rhylee West)
11:15
The smart loose ball get and snap from Rhylee West continues the dominance for the Bulldogs in loose ball gets (30-17) and forward 50 ground balls (7-2).
12:41
SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Rushed)
14:13
The Bulldogs are dominating contested possession (59-35) and are winning this count both pre-clearance (24-12) and post-clearance (35-23).
15:41
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Rushed)
15:59
The forward half kicking efficiency for the Bulldogs is 55 percent while the Swans have recorded forward half kicking efficiency of 76 percent with this differential the main reason the Bulldogs have not been able to establish a larger margin.
16:30
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Bailey Dale)
18:17
The classy finish from Errol Gulden converted a chain started with a defensive half clearance. This was the first score of the game for Sydney to come from a defensive midfield chain and the Swans average 21.2 points per game from such chains (ranked third).
20:03
SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Tom Papley)
20:16
In their five wins this season, the Bulldogs have restricted their opposition to an average score of just 49 points. In their five losses, the Bulldogs have conceded an average score of 99 points.
21:31
Sydney has won five of the last six clearances and generated the last four inside 50 entries in its first real period of stoppage ascendancy.
23:13
The Swans lead the tackle count 39-21 with the last of these from Will Hayward resulting in his goal. Sydney has now scored 2.2 from four forward half clearances while the Bulldogs have scored 1.2 from eight such clearances.
25:13
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Riley Garcia)
25:51
A crafty piece of play from Riley Garcia has given the Bulldogs their first goal of the game from a forward 50 stoppage. The Bulldogs average 10.1 points per game from this source (ranked third).
26:57
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Laitham Vandermeer)
27:31
Sydney has only trailed at half time once this season (against West Coast in Round 4) and has not conceded more than 14 scoring shots in the first half of any game.
29:32
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Rushed)
31:30
A terrific first half of football with the contested possession dominance of the Bulldogs (75-49) competing with the efficient ball movement of the Swans (68 percent forward half kicking efficiency).

Quarter 3

00:00
Q3 is now underway.
00:03
There have only been two games this season where the contested possession differential at half time has been greater than the 26 it was tonight in favour of the Bulldogs.
00:46
An early goal for the Swans and it was their second of the night to come from a defensive 50 intercept. Sydney now leads 20-9 in points scored from the defensive half.
00:57
Swans Interchange - Oliver Florent off due to an injury.
01:04
Bulldogs Interchange - Ed Richards and is possibly out for the game.
01:59
Nick Blakey averages six intercept possessions and five spoils per game this season. In the first half, Blakey recorded five intercepts and six spoils while also contributing offensively with ten disposals at 100 percent efficiency.
02:30
These are the top-2 ranked teams in the third quarter this season with the Swans outscoring their opposition by an average of 13.1 points during this period. Sydney has made a fast start to the third quarter with two goals before the Bulldogs have had an effective kick.
05:11
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Caleb Daniel)
05:51
The Bulldogs now have an 8-2 lead in contested marks with four of these taken in the forward 50 and four taken by Jamarra Ugle-Hagan.
06:05
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Jamarra Ugle-Hagan)
07:09
Marcus Bontempelli launched the last scoring chain for the Bulldogs and has won a game-high 13 contested possessions and is now the No.1 ranked player on the ground.
09:12
Chad Warner had recorded 25 broken tackles this season before tonight, ranked second in the AFL to Harley Reid (29). Warner has broken another three tackles tonight, had four running bounces, and is looking dangerous this quarter.
12:33
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Riley Garcia)
14:19
Sydney has now scored an efficient 5.0 from shots within 30 metres of the goal while the Bulldogs have scored 6.4 from its shots within the same range.
15:21
While the Bulldogs lead 16-11 in forward half intercepts, they have scored 3.3.21 from these chains while the Swans have scored 4.0.24 from this source.
16:15
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Rushed)
18:12
Sydney has recorded a kicking efficiency of 86 percent this quarter and leads 14-6 in forward half marks. Only once this season has a team recorded a kicking efficiency of higher than 86 percent in a quarter.
21:53
SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Logan McDonald)
23:13
James Rowbottom had laid a competition-high 93 tackles this season before tonight, which is the equal-most over the first 10 games of a season. Rowbottom has applied a game-high eight tackles tonight and is the No.1 ranked pressure player.
25:17
There were 36 around-the-ground stoppages in the first half, but there have been only ten in this quarter with the open free-flowing style of game suiting the efficient Swans.
25:55
SCORE GOAL - Swans (Chad Warner)
26:22
Chad Warner has dominated this quarter with his four score involvements having maximum scoreboard impact with two goals and two goals assists.
28:10
SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Joel Amartey)
28:29
Sydney has broken even at clearances this quarter and without having to defend as many stoppage chains has won the inside 50 count 14-9 and kicked five of the six goals.
30:10
A strong quarter from the Swans led by its midfield dynamo Chad Warner. Both teams have scored 27 points from stoppages, but the Swans lead 50-32 in points scored from turnovers kicking four of its five goals in the third quarter from this source.

Quarter 4

00:00
Q4 is now underway.
00:08
Sydney is the No.1 ranked team for pressure differential this season, and has applied more pressure than its opposition in every game except for its Round 3 loss to Richmond. Tonight the Swans lead 183-170 in pressure rating.
00:56
SCORE GOAL - Swans (Chad Warner)
01:09
A career-high four goals for Chad Warner who has now kicked nine goals across his last three games. The goal again came from a forward half intercept with Sydney now leading 36-21 in points scored from this source.
02:45
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (James Harmes)
03:14
The Swans have conceded only 26 goals to key forwards this season, which is eight fewer than any other team. The Bulldog key forwards have kicked four goals tonight with the injury to Aaron Naughton restricting the Bulldogs in this area.
05:20
Sydney has conceded a goal from only 18.4 percent of opposition inside 50 entries this season (ranked No.1 defensively). Tonight the Bulldogs have scored a goal from 20 percent of their entries with the defence of the Swans holding up strongly again so far.
06:36
SCORE GOAL - Swans (Taylor Adams)
07:09
The Swans now lead 21-1 in points scored from defensive 50 chains. The Bulldogs average 16 points per game from such chains but have found it difficult to move the ball through the defensive system of Sydney.
08:08
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Jamarra Ugle-Hagan)
10:31
SCORE GOAL - Swans (Isaac Heeney)
10:39
A brilliant goal from the pocket from Isaac Heeney makes it eight of the last ten goals to the Swans who have again overrun their opponent. After conceding the first four goals of the game last week against the Blues, Sydney outscored them 17 goals to five thereafter.
12:09
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Marcus Bontempelli)
13:38
A clever knock-on from Caleb Daniel featured in the goal from Riley Garcia. The Bulldogs lead 9-2 in knock-ons tonight and have a major lead in contested possessions (123-89).
17:04
Since Round 7, the Bulldogs have lost 45 percent of their defensive one-on-one contests (ranked last). They have only been involved in four such contests tonight but have not lost any of them.
17:15
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Harvey Gallagher)
19:30
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Rushed)
19:44
The last four scores have all gone to the Bulldogs as they mount a late charge despite having two injured players on the bench. The Bulldogs have also had eight of the last ten inside 50 entries.
21:29
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Rushed)
21:35
There have been 14 stoppages in the forward 50 of the Bulldogs from which they have won four clearances and scored 2.0. Sydney has had only five stoppages in its forward 50 but scored 2.1 from this source.
23:15
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Caleb Daniel)
23:37
The Bulldogs have now scored 19.38 across the last two weeks, Tonight the Bulldogs have had four more shots at goal than the Swans but have kicked only 7.7 from set shots compared to 9.4 for Sydney.
24:15
Swans Interchange - Taylor Adams off due to an injury.
24:42
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Jamarra Ugle-Hagan)
24:50
An excellent snap goal from Jamarra Ugle-Hagan rewards the Bulldogs for the last eight inside 50 entries and they have now had the last seven scores in the game.
26:54
The Bulldogs have a major lead in all of forward 50 disposals (65-35), forward 50 ground balls (21-4), and forward 50 tackles (13-3).
28:41
The Swans have kicked five goals tonight directly from either free kicks or 50-metre penalties with the Bulldogs undoing periods of dominance with an easy goal for Sydney.
31:03
Since Round 4, the Swans have outscored their opponents by 30 points per game from intercept possessions (ranked No.1). Sydney leads 68-47 in points scored from this source tonight.
33:18
Sydney has managed to hang on for a tight win despite the Bulldogs dominating both contested possessions (140-106) and inside 50 entries (60-46). The Swans again won the pressure rating (185-173), were more efficient (forward half kicking efficiency 69 percent), and accurate.