Match

Melbourne vs Collingwood

Commentary / 23 Aug 2024

Pre Game

00:00
Since Round 18, only four starting ruckmen in the AFL have averaged a hitout win rate of over 50%. Collingwood's Darcy Cameron is one of these four, winning the hitout at 50.1 per cent of his ruck contests in this period.

Quarter 1

00:00
Q1 is now underway.
00:56
Steele Sidebottom lays the first tackle of the match, and shortly after Scott Pendlebury takes the first mark of the match. Tonight is their 305th match as teammates in their career, which takes them to equal-second in VFL/AFL history with Geelong pair Joel Selwood and Tom Hawkins, and just two games behind record holders Andrew McLeod and Tyson Edwards of Adelaide.
01:51
SCORE BEHIND - Magpies (Will Hoskin-Elliott)
03:53
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Kysaiah Pickett)
04:36
Kysaiah Pickett notches the first goal of the match, and his 35th of the season. Since 2022, he and Bayley Fritsch are the only two players to kick over 100 goals. Third on the list is Christian Petracca at 61.
06:26
SCORE BEHIND - Magpies (Rushed)
07:32
SCORE GOAL - Magpies (Nick Daicos)
08:21
Nick Daicos adds goal 19 for the season and gives Collingwood their first of the night. No other player in the Top 20 average ball-winners in the AFL in 2024 have kicked more goals than Nick Daicos.
11:12
SCORE BEHIND - Magpies (Josh Daicos)
12:21
SCORE BEHIND - Demons (Jake Melksham)
13:49
SCORE BEHIND - Magpies (Will Hoskin-Elliott)
15:09
SCORE GOAL - Magpies (Darcy Cameron)
17:26
Darcy Cameron and Bobby Hill kick goals from the Magpies fourth and sixth marks inside 50 of the match respectively. Over the last four weeks Collingwood have averaged 14 marks inside 50 per game, ranked fourth in the AFL in this period.
20:38
Melbourne are sitting at four disposals per turnover in the early stages of tonight's match. Their season average of 5.13 is the fourth-worst turnover rate of any side in the AFL this year.
22:01
SCORE GOAL - Magpies (Bobby Hill)
23:07
Nick Daicos has just recorded his ninth disposal of the match, making him the fastest player to 2000 disposals in VFL/AFL history. He beats the previous record-holder, Greg Williams, by one match (tonight is Nick Daicos' 70th career game).
23:29
SCORE GOAL - Magpies (Steele Sidebottom)
29:41
Six of the Magpies 13 kicks into their forward 50 zone have been collected by a teammate in the opening term. By comparison, the Demons have only done this on one out of their six kicks into their forward 50.
30:06
Collingwood scored 4.2 (26) from intercept possession chains in the first term. This has been a weakness for Melbourne across the season, as they have lost the scoring margin from intercepts by an average of a goal a game, which is the fourth-lowest margin of any side this year.

Quarter 2

00:00
Q2 is now underway.
03:33
SCORE GOAL - Magpies (Darcy Cameron)
03:42
Darcy Cameron goals from the ninth mark inside 50 for Collingwood to open the scoring in the second term. Melbourne are yet to take a mark inside 50 in tonight's match.
04:41
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Kade Chandler)
05:07
Kade Chandler kicks truly to end the run of six straight Collingwood goals. Had the Magpies scored a seventh straight goal, it would have been the first time in 2024 that the Demons had conceded seven in a row.
07:05
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Jacob van Rooyen)
07:22
After two scoring shots from eight inside 50's in the opening term, the Demons have two scoring shots from their first two inside 50's of the term. The Demons have averaged a score from 43.6 per cent of their inside 50's in 2024, ranked 12th in the AFL.
10:26
SCORE GOAL - Magpies (Joe Richards)
11:39
Melbourne's pressure rating in tonight's match is yet to get above 160, whereas Collingwood's lowest rating has been 184. The Demons 2024 average applied pressure rating of 179 is the equal fourth-lowest of any side.
13:39
SCORE BEHIND - Demons (Daniel Turner)
14:50
Darcy Moore leads all Collingwood players with three spoils in tonight's match. Over the last six weeks, he has recorded 61 spoils. No other player in the AFL has more than 40 spoils in this period.
15:05
SCORE BEHIND - Demons (Jacob van Rooyen)
15:53
After recording 12 disposals in the first quarter, Simon Goodwin has moved Judd McVee to tag Nick Daicos, and it has worked with Daicos notching just one disposal this quarter.
16:04
Demons Interchange - Bayley Fritsch off due to an injury.
16:06
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Kysaiah Pickett)
19:37
SCORE BEHIND - Demons (Kysaiah Pickett)
21:17
SCORE BEHIND - Magpies (Jamie Elliott)
22:26
Demons Interchange - Jake Bowey off due to an injury.
23:39
Collingwood have won all three of their defensive one-on-one contests in the second quarter. The Magpies win 31.7 per cent of their defensive one-on-one's on average in 2024, ranked ninth in the AFL.
24:43
SCORE GOAL - Magpies (Patrick Lipinski)
27:58
Six goals to two from set shots for Collingwood in the first half, off the back of 11 marks inside 50 to just three for Melbourne. Coming into the final round of the Home and Away season, only Richmond (111) and West Coast (135) have kicked fewer goals from set shots in 2024 than Collingwood (143).

Quarter 3

00:00
Q3 is now underway.
02:48
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Jack Billings)
03:36
Both of Melbourne's goals to be launched from their defensive half in tonight's match, including the first of the second half, have come from clearance chains. Melbourne have outscored their opponents by three points per game from this source in 2024, ranked second in the AFL.
05:47
Both substitutes have been activated over the half-time break as a result of injuries, with Jake Bowey (knee) and Darcy Moore (concussion) replaced by Bailey Laurie and Finlay Macrae respectively.
07:32
SCORE GOAL - Magpies (Jamie Elliott)
10:44
SCORE BEHIND - Magpies (Nick Daicos)
12:56
SCORE GOAL - Magpies (Nick Daicos)
15:58
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Daniel Turner)
17:03
For the first time in tonight's match, the Demons are winning the forward half pressure battle, ahead 216-189. In the first half, their best pressure rating forward of centre was 160.
17:47
SCORE BEHIND - Magpies (Bobby Hill)
18:50
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Koltyn Tholstrup)
19:12
After being behind four goals to one at half-time from defensive half chains, the Demons have kicked all three of their goals out of defence to level it at four apiece. That goal to Koltyn Tholstrup was the first by either side to be launched from a kick-in in tonight's match.
22:14
Collingwood have completed just six of their 18 tackles they've attempted in the third term for an efficiency rate of 33 per cent. Melbourne's tackling efficiency is exactly double their opponents, completing eight out of 12 tackles (67 per cent).
23:23
SCORE GOAL - Magpies (Will Hoskin-Elliott)
25:21
SCORE BEHIND - Demons (Rushed)
25:38
Neither team has been able to win a one-on-one contest as the attacking target to this point of tonight's match from nine combined attempts. The Demons have lost just 26.9 per cent of their attacking one-on-one's in 2024, the second best record of any side, with Collingwood just behind them in fifth at 28 per cent.
26:37
SCORE BEHIND - Magpies (Jamie Elliott)
27:32
SCORE GOAL - Magpies (Wil Parker)
27:33
Wil Parker kicks his first career goal in his fifth match for the Magpies. He leads all players on the ground in the third term with six contested possessions.
28:14
Demons Interchange - Judd McVee off due to an injury.
29:33
After the contested possession count was a dead heat in both the first and second quarters, the Magpies edged ahead in the third term winning the count 34-29, off the back of winning post-clearance groundball-gets 22-17.

Quarter 4

00:00
Q4 is now underway.
00:47
SCORE BEHIND - Magpies (Will Hoskin-Elliott)
02:46
SCORE BEHIND - Magpies (Rushed)
04:43
SCORE BEHIND - Magpies (Finlay Macrae)
05:46
SCORE BEHIND - Magpies (Jack Crisp)
06:03
Over the course of tonight's match, Steele Sidebottom has restricted Jack Viney to just eight disposals in 41 minutes of game-time matched up with him. Viney's total of 11 disposals would be his fewest in any game, excluding the COVID-affected 2020 season, since 2019.
07:35
SCORE BEHIND - Demons (Daniel Turner)
09:51
Of the five clearances to be recorded in a rain-affected final term, Nick Daicos has won three of them from four disposals. His 7.6 clearances per game in 2024 ranks fourth among the Top 50 ball-winners in the AFL this year.
12:23
SCORE BEHIND - Demons (Kade Chandler)
12:48
With Steven May out, and Jake Lever a late out with illness, Tom McDonald's ability to stand up in defence has been notable in tonight's match. His 10 intercept possessions leads all players on the ground in this category, and his seven one percenters is equal with Adam Tomlinson for most of any player in tonight's match.
13:30
Collingwood have scored nine goals from 28 inside 50's generated from intercept possessions in tonight's match. By comparison, Melbourne have generated 21 inside 50's from their intercepts but have only turned this into two goals on the scoreboard.
13:40
Play has been stopped as a result of lightning.
50:25
Play has resumed.
51:58
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Koltyn Tholstrup)
55:18
With that goal, the Magpies look set to record their biggest scoring margin from intercept possessions in 2024 as they lead 68-24, eclipsing their 34 point margin from this source against Port Adelaide in Round 6. They have also equalled their season record for marks inside 50 (20).
58:04
SCORE GOAL - Magpies (Edward Allan)
01:18
SCORE BEHIND - Demons (Jack Billings)
02:18
SCORE BEHIND - Magpies (Rushed)
03:22
SCORE BEHIND - Demons (Kysaiah Pickett)
04:51
Nick Daicos has recorded 31 uncontested possessions in tonight's match, which equals his career-best recorded against St Kilda in Gather Round 2023, and is also the best figure by any Magpie in any game this year.
05:56
Collingwood's fluency in attack proved too much for the Demons, outperforming their opponents 150-69 in uncontested possessions in their forward halves which is the third-largest differential in this metric in any game this year.