Match

Collingwood vs Essendon

Commentary / 25 Apr 2025

Pre Game

00:00
With Darcy Moore unavailable, Nick Daicos will captain Collingwood for the first time today. When his father Peter first stood in as captain of the Magpies in Round 1, 1989, he collected 30 disposals and the three Brownlow Medal votes.

Quarter 1

00:00
Q1 is now underway.
01:50
Collingwood has won four of the first five contested possessions to start the game and had all the early play. Both teams are ranked in the top-4 for contested possession differential this season.
02:14
SCORE GOAL - Magpies (Nick Daicos)
02:50
The long-range goal for Nick Daicos (who has started forward) followed a forward half intercept by the Magpies, who have generated the first three inside 50 entries of the game.
04:45
SCORE GOAL - Magpies (Tim Membrey)
04:56
A great start for Collingwood, who have taken the first five uncontested marks of the game and scored both goals from intercepts, with Essendon struggling to maintain possession in the early stages of the game.
08:43
The first goal for the Bombers has also followed a forward half intercept, with ball movement difficult in the slippery conditions. Essendon has scored from 33 per cent of its intercepts in the attacking midfield this season (ranked third).
10:19
SCORE GOAL - Magpies (Harry Perryman)
10:41
Essendon has averaged the most handballs per game this season, but early in the game, it is Collingwood who leads 21-13 in this measure today with its third goal featuring a handball chain.
13:23
SCORE BEHIND - Magpies (Nick Daicos)
14:52
Collingwood has won first possession at 9 of the 12 stoppages to start the game, with Darcy Cameron winning three of these in his ruck battle with the returning Todd Goldstein.
15:59
SCORE BEHIND - Magpies (Scott Pendlebury)
19:27
Collingwood has an early 5-2 lead in hard ball gets and also leads 5-0 in free kicks, with the Magpie players often first to the ball.
20:20
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Nate Caddy)
23:17
Josh Daicos has been prolific in the opening quarter for the Magpies with 13 disposals and over 200 metres gained opposed primarily against Bomber small forward Jade Gresham.
23:39
SCORE BEHIND - Magpies (Jamie Elliott)
24:10
SCORE BEHIND - Magpies (Rushed)
24:58
The last four behinds for the Magpies have all followed intercepts, with Essendon having difficulty clearing the ball from its defensive half. Collingwood leads 8-4 in forward half intercepts and 12-7 in clearances, which is driving the inside 50 advantage (15-8).
27:42
Collingwood now leads 5-1 in forward 50 marks and 20-4 in forward 50 disposals, with the Essendon defenders under constant pressure.
28:49
Essendon has recorded kicking efficiency in its forward half of only 30 per cent, which has resulted in the ball quickly bouncing back on the rare occasions the Bombers have moved the ball forward. Collingwood has a forward half kicking efficiency of 59 per cent.
29:26
The Magpies dominated the opening quarter with 12-3 effective clearances (total clearances 13-7) and were better at applying effective pressure with 80 per cent tackle efficiency compared to 55 per cent for the Bombers. This resulted in Essendon being on the wrong end of an inside 50 count of 8-18.

Quarter 2

00:00
Q2 is now underway.
00:16
Nick Daicos had seven of his eight disposals in the opening quarter in the forward half, with three of these resulting in scores as he spent more time playing as a forward (38 per cent) than has been normal this season.
01:43
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Nic Martin)
01:57
Essendon has generated three early forward half intercepts to start the second quarter, with the last score from Nic Martin coming from this source.
02:36
The last goal from Jamie Elliott came from a kick-in chain and was the first time today that Collingwood has moved the ball from its defensive 50 to generate an inside 50 entry.
03:42
SCORE BEHIND - Magpies (Nick Daicos)
04:42
Collingwood has a 13-3 lead in forward half tackles, which includes 6-1 in the forward 50. The pressure of the Magpies is continuing to make it difficult for Essendon to maintain possession, and Collingwood leads 92-63 in uncontested possessions.
06:33
SCORE GOAL - Magpies (Tim Membrey)
06:51
After Essendon had the first three inside 50 entries of the quarter, Collingwood had the last six, with the repeat entries overwhelming the defence of the Bombers, with 15-7 forward half intercepts.
08:26
Since 2022, when Craig Macrae took over as Collingwood coach, the Magpies have won 23 of the 25 games when they have had at least ten more inside 50 entries than their opposition, and the two losses both came in the first four games of 2022. The Magpies currently lead the inside 50 count 26-11.
09:30
An opportunistic goal from Kyle Langford against the run of play has given the Bombers their second goal of the game from a forward half intercept. The Magpies have conceded only 13.2 points per game from turnovers in their defensive half this season (ranked No.1 defensively and well below the AFL average of 24.6).
12:42
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Sam Durham)
13:02
Four consecutive inside 50 entries for the Bombers have resulted in a pair of goals that have followed midfield turnovers. The first 20 points scored by the Bombers have all come from a chain starting with an intercept in the midfield.
14:06
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Sam Durham)
16:02
The second goal for Sam Durham was the first goal of the game for either team to come from a centre bounce clearance. Essendon averages 11.2 points per game from this source.
16:13
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Archie Perkins)
17:12
Four goals in less than ten minutes for the Bombers, who have won the inside 50 count 7-2 and restricted Collingwood to a kicking efficiency of 25 per cent during this period of ascendancy.
19:02
Collingwood has conceded only 58 points per game across the last five games, making the four-goal burst in less than seven minutes by Essendon quite remarkable.
20:55
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Zach Merrett)
23:04
SCORE GOAL - Magpies (Brayden Maynard)
23:12
Brayden Maynard has recorded a career-high kicking efficiency of 81 per cent this season and has now kicked his fourth goal of the season to end the run of goals to the Bombers.
25:21
Steele Sidebottom is averaging career-highs this season for contested possessions (10.7), tackles (4.7), inside 50 entries (4.3) and clearances (4.0). The veteran Magpie leads all players for contested possessions today with ten.
26:58
Essendon has edged Collingwood for both intercept marks (9-6) and contested marks (6-3), with a number of these marks occurring in critical contests during this quarter.
28:59
Collingwood continues to have the better of the stoppages with 23-14 clearances, while Essendon has won post-clearance contested possessions (47-37), which includes 15-7 crumbs.
30:28
A much improved second quarter from the Bombers, who won more contested possessions (36-32), forward half intercepts (10-7) and generated more inside 50 entries (17-13). Essendon converted this into 4-1 forward 50 marks and 15-5 forward 50 disposals.

Quarter 3

00:00
Q3 is now underway.
00:08
Steele Sidebottom was the No.1 ranked player in the first half, winning a game-high eight clearances among 21 disposals. Only three times in his 337-game career has Sidebottom had more than eight clearances in a game.
00:29
Essendon has won six of the ten one-on-one contests it has defended and lost only one of these contests (the other drawn). This has not been a strength of the Bombers this season, but has been pivotal in Essendon working back into the game.
02:04
Bobby Hill is the No.1 ranked Magpie this season for scoreboard impact with a team-high 12 score assists and an equal team-high ten goals. Hill did not have a disposal in the first half opposed primarily against Andrew McGrath.
03:53
Some slick ball movement from the Bombers has resulted in the first goal of the third quarter. This goal was the first score of the game for Essendon to come from a defensive 50 chain.
05:41
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Isaac Kako)
05:48
A second centre bounce goal for the Bombers and two of their three teenagers playing today have hit the scoreboard this quarter following forward 50 marks. Essendon now leads contested marks 10-3.
07:58
Collingwood has kicked one goal from its four set shots today, while Essendon has kicked four goals from five such attempts.
09:17
SCORE GOAL - Magpies (Bobby Hill)
09:33
A brilliant goal from Bobby Hill has given the Magpies the lead again following another forward half intercept. Collingwood leads 21-16 in such intercepts and 28-19 in points scored from this source.
13:33
The Magpies scored 42 points from clearance chains last round against the Lions. Despite winning the clearances today (26-18), Collingwood currently trails 7-13 in points scored from this source.
13:54
SCORE BEHIND - Magpies (Tim Membrey)
15:37
SCORE GOAL - Magpies (Jamie Elliott)
15:44
After a crafty goal from Bobby Hill, Collingwood has got another opportunistic goal from Jamie Elliott, with the small forward for the Magpies becoming dangerous. The goal from Elliott gave Collingwood some reward for its stoppage ascendancy.
17:00
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Ben Hobbs)
17:29
Essendon now leads post-clearance contested possessions 60-45, and the last of these won by Ben Hobbs resulted in a goal. Both teams rank in the top-4 for this measure in 2025.
20:29
Collingwood is the No.1 ranked team in third quarters this season. Across the last five weeks, it has won this quarter by an average of 22 points.
21:12
SCORE BEHIND - Magpies (Rushed)
21:41
Magpies Interchange - Daniel McStay off due to an injury.
22:01
Jamie Elliott leads all players for score involvements (8) today, which includes three goals and a pair of assists. The Magpies now lead 35-19 in points scored from forward half intercepts.
23:22
SCORE GOAL - Magpies (Jordan De Goey)
23:29
The goal from Jordan deGoey was the first of the game for the Magpies to come from a centre bounce clearance. Collingwood has generated 9 of the last 10 inside 50 entries, with the Magpies winning ground balls 20-10 this quarter.
26:35
Darcy Cameron is the No.1 ranked ruck this season for intercept marks and has already taken four such marks today and three of his intercepts have launched scores for the Magpies.
27:27
SCORE GOAL - Magpies (Ned Long)
28:23
Collingwood leads the inside 50 count this quarter 13-6, and has converted this into 6-2 forward 50 marks and 7-3 shots at goal.
29:59
Steele Sidebottom has now won an equal career-high 12 clearances among his game-high 14 contested possessions (no other player has won ten contested possessions).
32:57
The last ten inside 50 entries have all gone to the Magpies, with six of these coming from the Daicos brothers. Essendon has generated only one inside 50 entry this quarter from a defensive half chain.
33:20
SCORE BEHIND - Magpies (Scott Pendlebury)
34:01
A powerful third quarter from the Magpies, winning ground balls (25-16), forward half intercepts (10-2), and inside 50 entries (19-6). Collingwood converted this into 21-0 points scored from forward half intercepts.

Quarter 4

00:00
Q4 is now underway.
00:12
The biggest three-quarter time margin that Essendon has overcome against Collingwood is 24 points, in the 1951 Preliminary Final.
01:05
Essendon is the only team this season to have won the clearances in its forward 50. However, today the Bombers have won only one clearance from seven such stoppages.
02:39
A goal from a forward 50 stoppage for the Bombers. Essendon trails 5-9 in forward 50 tackles, but the last of these from Peter Wright has resulted in a goal from a set shot. The Bombers have scored 9.0 from shots at goal in the 15-50 metre range.
04:57
SCORE GOAL - Magpies (Darcy Cameron)
05:07
An answering goal from the Magpies, with Darcy Cameron continuing his strong season. Collingwood leads forward 50 marks 13-7, forward 50 ground balls 13-9 and forward 50 disposals 42-26.
07:06
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Nate Caddy)
08:53
The Bombers have scored only 10.8 points per game from defensive 50 chains this season (ranked last) and have again struggled to move the ball with one score from 38 such chains in slippery conditions.
09:47
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Rushed)
10:17
The Bombers have recorded a forward half pressure factor this season of 161 (ranked last). Essendon has again recorded this level of pressure, which has at times allowed the Magpies to clear the ball effectively.
11:33
Jack Crisp, who equals the record for most consecutive games today (244), has spent 87 per cent of game time on the wing this season and is the No.1 ranked wingman in the AFL for winning ground balls (6.5 per game) and contested possessions (8.7). Crisp has won another six ground balls today.
12:53
SCORE BEHIND - Magpies (Bobby Hill)
14:04
Jeremy Howe leads all players for intercept possessions today (10), which includes four intercept marks while also disrupting Essendon's ball movement with seven spoils.
14:30
Bombers Interchange - Dylan Shiel and is possibly out for the game.
15:47
SCORE GOAL - Magpies (Jamie Elliott)
16:07
Jamie Elliott has now kicked 31 goals in his career against the Bombers, which is easily his best return against any opponent. Elliott leads all players for score involvements (10) and forward 50 disposals (9).
21:09
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Nate Caddy)
21:22
Despite the wet conditions, Essendon has had moments in aerial contests today and now leads 15-7 in contested marks, with Nate Caddy and Zach Reid both showing glimpses in this area.
22:22
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Nate Caddy)
23:34
SCORE GOAL - Magpies (Will Hoskin-Elliott)
23:53
Collingwood now leads 32-15 in points scored from defensive half chains, displaying better ball movement on counterattack throughout the game.
25:17
SCORE GOAL - Magpies (Jamie Elliott)
25:43
Jamie Elliott has been the forward 50 target nine times today (the most of any player) and has five goals and three assists among his game-high 11 score involvements.
28:22
SCORE GOAL - Magpies (Brody Mihocek)
28:48
Collingwood has kicked four goals from stoppages in the final quarter. The Magpies lead clearances 44-34 and have converted this into 44-32 points scored from stoppages.
30:45
Essendon has conceded over 100 points in all three MCG games this season. The last time the Bombers conceded 100 points in three consecutive MCG games was to close out 2012.
32:35
Essendon has conceded a score from 35 per cent of opposition chains starting in the attacking midfield this season (ranked last defensively). Collingwood has scored 54 points from such chains today, with the Bombers again struggling to effectively defend these chains.
32:59
An emphatic win for the Magpies, who were on top at stoppages all day (clearances 47-34), won more forward half intercepts (32-22) and finished with 43-19 points scored from these intercepts.