Match

Essendon vs West Coast Eagles

Commentary / 23 Jun 2024

Pre Game

00:00
West Coast has lost 12 of its last 15 matches against Essendon at Marvel Stadium dating back to Round 15, 2000 – by an average margin of 29 points.

Quarter 1

00:00
Q1 is now underway.
01:59
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Kyle Langford)
02:09
Kyle Langford strikes the first goal of the game from a mark inside 50. 18 of his 29 goals have come from this source this season.
05:23
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Peter Wright)
05:39
Another goal for the Bombers early, this time through Peter Wright. Both of Essendon's goals have been launched from their defensive midfield, which normally generates 17.9 points per game - ranked sixth.
06:38
SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Jake Waterman)
07:04
The Eagles slot their first goal of the match through Jake Waterman. This goal was launched from a centre clearance, which generates 15% of the Eagles' scores this season - the third highest portion in the AFL.
08:44
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Peter Wright)
08:54
Three of Essendon's four inside 50 entries have found a mark, ultimately all leading to goals. Normally, only 18% of their entries find a mark - ranked fifth-last.
11:43
Jake Waterman converts his second of the match. He has booted multiple goals just once in seven career games at Marvel Stadium which was in his first match there in Round 2, 2018.
14:12
SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Jamie Cripps)
14:34
Contrary to the Bombers, all of West Coast's goals have been generated from forward half intercepts (excluding centre bounce goals). The Eagles average the second-fewest points from forward half intercepts per game this season.
15:16
SCORE BEHIND - Eagles (Liam Ryan)
18:07
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Jake Stringer)
18:14
The last two goals from the Bombers have been launched from their defensive 50. 25.2% of their rebounds have resulted in an inside 50 this season (ranked sixth), and 6% have resulted in a goal (ranked ninth).
19:27
SCORE BEHIND - Eagles (Jamie Cripps)
21:42
SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Jamie Cripps)
22:25
When the ball has been in contention, the Eagles have been stronger, winning eight more contested possessions, yet they haven't been able to get the ball to the outside effectively as they have had seven fewer uncontested possessions.
23:47
Liam Ryan is enjoying a change of position as he has attended four of a possible nine centre bounces and has spent just under 80% of the match playing in the midfield after previously only attending eight centre bounces for the year. He has collected four disposals as well as two clearances so far.
24:23
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Rushed)
27:22
Zach Merrett has spent 15 minutes of the game matched-up against Reuben Ginbey, but that hasn't been able to nullify his impact. He has collected six disposals (all effective), gained a team-high 191 metres, as well as two of his three inside 50s resulting in goals for the Bombers.
32:34
SCORE BEHIND - Eagles (Jake Waterman)
32:38
Essendon's ball movement from their back half has been pivotal to their game so far. All four of their goals were launched from their defensive half, as well as them being able to convert eight of their 16 chains from this zone into inside 50s.

Quarter 2

00:00
Q2 is now underway.
01:27
The centre bounce midfield combination of Zach Merrett, Jake Stringer and Jye Caldwell wins the first centre clearance of the term. This has been their most common midfield combination in centre bounces today, yet has only been the eighth-most combination for them for the season.
01:52
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Peter Wright)
05:41
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Jake Stringer)
06:24
The Bombers have only had seven more marks than the Eagles, yet have been able to gain just over 300 more metres from marks today.
07:37
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Zach Merrett)
08:13
Zach Merrett continues to step his foot down in this game, scoring his first of the match. He has had 10 disposals now, as well as having game-highs in score involvements and score assists.
10:26
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Nick Hind)
11:59
Six of the last nine clearances have gone the way of the Eagles, as they are now leading the clearance ledger by six. Despite this, the Bombers have gained 13 more total metres from clearances and have scored one more goal from stoppage in comparison to the Eagles.
12:13
SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Campbell Chesser)
15:01
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Jake Stringer)
15:28
A goal from a repeat inside 50 gives the Bombers a 13-point lead. They have had eight repeat entries today, yet have only converted those to 2.4 (16) on the scoreboard. In comparison, the Eagles have scored 1.0 (6) from their singular repeat entry.
18:25
Eagles Interchange - Jamaine Jones off due to an injury.
18:57
SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Jack Darling)
19:22
West Coast scores their first goal launched from their defensive 50. They have struggled to move the ball from this zone today, with only three of their 23 chains in this zone resulting in inside 50s. Since Round 11, the Eagles have scored just six points per game from defensive 50 chains – ranked last.
20:06
SCORE BEHIND - Eagles (Jamie Cripps)
23:38
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Jake Stringer)
24:28
The Bombers have owned the footy in this term, collecting 34 more disposals, seven more contested possessions and 28 more uncontested possessions. Essendon ranks third, fifth and fourth for the differentials of these statistics this season.
25:04
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Nate Caddy)
27:22
Elliot Yeo has been giving it his all, as he has collected 10 disposals, of which eight have been won in a contested manner, five tackles and five clearances. He has also had a game-high 16 pressure acts.
29:07
SCORE BEHIND - Eagles (Rushed)
31:04
Essendon kicks away with the last three goals of the term to give them a 23-point lead at halftime. 64 points becomes their highest-scoring half this season. They have been lethal when finding targets inside 50 as they have retained their entries 31% better than the Eagles, as well as already taking 12 forward 50 marks.

Quarter 3

00:00
Q3 is now underway.
00:40
Today's match pressure factor is currently 168 - well below the AFL average of 182. Both teams are ranked inside the bottom six for match pressure factor.
03:39
SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Jack Darling)
04:29
Jamie Cripps sets up another goal for the Eagles, taking him up to 21 score assists for the season. He ranks first at the club and equal 13th in the AFL for score assists.
06:25
SCORE BEHIND - Eagles (Oscar Allen)
08:22
In his return game, Oscar Allen brings the margin down to 10 points. He has taken a team-high seven marks as well as applying the second-most pressure acts for the Eagles.
09:40
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Matt Guelfi)
12:24
Matt Flynn has edged the ruck contest against Sam Draper, winning the hitout count 16-12 as well as the Eagles leading the clearances by nine. Despite this, the Bombers have score one more goal in comparison to the Eagles when these two have been direct ruck opponents.
13:06
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Nate Caddy)
14:11
A late call-up for Nate Caddy has been fruitful for the Bombers, as he has kicked two goals and taken a great contested mark.
14:55
SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Jake Waterman)
15:00
Jake Waterman kicks his third of the match as he continues to edge closer to Charlie Curnow in the race for the Coleman medal. Waterman has kicked 36 goals which is already well above his most in a season (18).
16:32
SCORE BEHIND - Eagles (Oscar Allen)
17:19
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Nic Martin)
19:02
Nic Martin has spent 85% of this match playing forward, with the other 15% playing as a midfielder. He has only played two games this season with above 40% of time spent as a forward and has not played in a game where he has played less than 45% as a defender.
21:01
SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Elliot Yeo)
23:22
SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Jack Petruccelle)
24:00
The Eagles have got themselves back into the game with the margin getting culled down to just four points. They have gotten some territory dominance, having seven more inside 50s as well as 68% of this term being spent in their forward half. Additionally, the Eagles are scoring from 39% of all chains - up from 19% in the first half.
25:43
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Xavier Duursma)
27:02
There have only been 70 tackles laid in the match today. The average number of tackles in matches this season is 121.
27:59
SCORE BEHIND - Eagles (Jack Petruccelle)
30:46
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Jake Stringer)
30:55
Jake Stringer extends the margin to 15 points as he kicks a season-high five goals. He has been enormous today, collecting 15 disposals, eight marks, 466 metres gained and eight score involvements.
32:27
SCORE BEHIND - Eagles (Oscar Allen)
32:55
The Eagles have scored six scores from centre bounces today from the same amount of centre clearances as Essendon, although have only converted those to 2.4 (16) compared to the Bombers' 2.0 (12).
33:30
SCORE BEHIND - Eagles (Jack Darling)
34:50
The margin sits at 13 points in favour of Essendon going into the last quarter. The Eagles had their chances in front of goal, kicking 4.2 (26) from set shots but only 1.3 (9) from open play in the third term.

Quarter 4

00:00
Q4 is now underway.
01:50
When rebounding from defensive 50, the Eagles have been able to find an uncontested possession 48% of the time. On the flipside, the Bombers have only found an uncontested possession 21% of the time.
03:32
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Jye Caldwell)
05:08
Essendon has won all seven matches where they have had the lead at three-quarter-time. West Coast has not won any of their nine games where they have been trailing at the final change.
06:17
Bombers Interchange - Jye Caldwell off due to the blood rule.
07:49
Despite the Bombers having nine fewer clearances than the Eagles, they have had four more turnovers come from a clearing possession.
08:55
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Matt Guelfi)
08:58
Matt Guelfi has been impactful today, scoring two goals and collecting the second-most forward 50 disposals for the Bombers.
10:22
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Matt Guelfi)
11:11
SCORE BEHIND - Eagles (Rushed)
12:44
Sam Draper has had seven of his 25 hitouts sharked by an opponent - five more than any other player today.
14:08
Tom Barrass has been dominant in the air today, collecting nine intercept marks and four spoils. The most intercept marks in a game on record is 10.
15:38
SCORE BEHIND - Eagles (Jamie Cripps)
18:22
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Nate Caddy)
19:00
Jye Caldwell has been influential in today's match, collecting 23 disposals, of which seven were won in a contested manner, 26 pressure acts, 10 tackles and 443 metres gained.
19:44
SCORE BEHIND - Eagles (Oscar Allen)
22:12
SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Jack Petruccelle)
22:39
Jack Petruccelle give the Eagles hope as he brings the margin down to 13 points with just under six minutes left. The Eagles haven't been able to maintain the ball this term, having 41 fewer disposals as well as 14 fewer marks.
23:23
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Jye Caldwell)
24:30
SCORE BEHIND - Eagles (Rushed)
25:54
Both teams have been able to intercept 20 of each other's clearances, but the Bombers have been able to capitalise on this as they have gained over 450 more metres from stoppage replies.
27:37
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Kyle Langford)
29:11
SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Oscar Allen)
30:52
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Sam Durham)
31:24
Essendon has kicked 8.2 (50) after the 20-minute mark in all quarters today (time-on). In contrast, West Coast hasn't been able to capitalise as they have only scored 5.7 (37).
32:55
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Dyson Heppell)
34:42
The Eagles stayed with the Bombers the whole day, but in the end, the Bombers were far too powerful as they took home a 30-point win. Essendon owned the Sherrin, having 109 more disposals as well as 49 more marks despite losing the clearance ledger. Their ball movement from the back half was lethal as this zone generated 11 of their 19 goals for the match.