Match

GWS Giants vs Western Bulldogs

Commentary / 26 Apr 2025

Pre Game

00:00
The GWS Giants are coming off their second loss of the season, where they scored a season-low 34 points against the Crows.

Quarter 1

00:00
Q1 is now underway.
00:32
The GWS Giants win the first centre clearance of the match. They have been losing this ledger on average since the start of last season.
02:39
Matthew Kennedy converts the first goal of the night, with this goal being launched from a stoppage. They are outscoring their opponents by 11 from this source - ranked equal-second.
03:53
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Ryley Sanders)
06:36
SCORE GOAL - GIANTS (Jake Riccardi)
06:54
Jake Riccardi slots through his team's first goal of the match, with this goal being launched from a defensive 50 chain. The GWS Giants are launched five scores from this zone on average - ranked equal-fourth.
09:03
Bulldogs Interchange - Jason Johannisen off due to an injury.
11:15
Jack Buckley has been an aerial presence early, taking two contested intercept marks.
14:05
The Bulldogs have been poor by foot, having a kicking efficiency of 43% in comparison to the GWS Giants' 76%. The AFL average is 66%.
14:16
SCORE GOAL - GIANTS (Harvey Thomas)
16:00
SCORE BEHIND - GIANTS (Jake Stringer)
17:21
The GWS Giants have scored a goal just 4.5% of the time they have targeted Jake Stringer inside 50 – the second- lowest rate of the top-50 targets.
20:07
The GWS Giants have been strong in the contest, leading the contested possessions by seven, and have been able to get the ball to the outside, having 22 more uncontested possessions compared to the Western Bulldogs.
21:32
SCORE BEHIND - GIANTS (Finn Callaghan)
22:20
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Marcus Bontempelli)
23:04
GIANTS Interchange - Lachie Whitfield off due to an injury.
23:26
SCORE GOAL - GIANTS (Jake Riccardi)
24:00
Jake Riccardi kicks long for his second, with this goal being launched from a kick-in. They have kicked the third most points on average from kick-ins this season.
24:50
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Rushed)
25:19
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (James Harmes)
29:41
SCORE BEHIND - GIANTS (Jake Stringer)
30:30
The GWS Giants have been able to control the ball, leading the uncontested mark count 32-18. They take 13.3 more uncontested marks than their opponents on average - ranked third.

Quarter 2

00:00
Q2 is now underway.
00:39
The pressure has been evident from the GWS Giants as they are registering a pressure factor of 185 in comparison to the Bulldogs' 162. The AFL average is 179.
03:03
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Rory Lobb)
04:28
SCORE GOAL - GIANTS (Toby Greene)
04:50
Three of the GWS Giants' goals have now been launched from defensive 50. Additionally, they've been able to launched six inside 50s from 12 chains in this zone.
05:40
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Rory Lobb)
06:16
Rory Lobb scores a goal following his switch to the forward line in the second term, with his goal being launched from a centre clearance. The Bulldogs are averaging 24 points launched from centre clearances - ranked second.
07:38
SCORE GOAL - GIANTS (Jake Riccardi)
08:55
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (James Harmes)
10:44
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Jason Johannisen)
11:06
The Bulldogs kick two goals in quick succession, with both coming from forward 50 intercepts. They are only averaging five points from this zone and source this season - ranked second-last.
14:37
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Rhylee West)
15:11
Lachie Ash has been damaging with ball in hand, have an equal team-high 12 disposals (92% efficiency), 272 metres gained and three intercept marks.
16:59
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Tom Liberatore)
18:37
SCORE BEHIND - GIANTS (Jesse Hogan)
19:03
The Bulldogs lead the centre clearance count 7-6. They are averaging 4.5 more centre clearances than their opponents this season - ranked first.
22:49
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (James Harmes)
22:56
James Harmes kicks his third goal of the night to bring the margin up to a game-high 13 points. From the four stoppages in the Bulldogs' forward 50, the Western Bulldogs have won the clearance battle 2-0 and have scored 1.1 (7) this quarter.
24:01
SCORE BEHIND - GIANTS (Toby Greene)
25:24
SCORE GOAL - GIANTS (Jesse Hogan)
26:02
The GWS Giants have scored 4.2 (26) from set shots tonight. The Bulldogs are yet to score from this source.
29:36
SCORE GOAL - GIANTS (Toby Bedford)
30:07
Toby Bedford levels the scores late in the term. Despite the GWS Giants having four fewer entries, they have been able to retain their inside 50s 70% of the time in comparison to 36% from the Bulldogs this quarter.
31:48
SCORE BEHIND - GIANTS (Toby Greene)
35:12
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Tim English)
35:16
A goal after the siren gifts the Bulldogs a five-point lead going into the main break. They were tough when the ball was in contention, leading the groundball gets by 11, and were able to get the ball to the outside, having 18 more handball receives, although, struggled by foot having a kicking efficiency that was 10% worse than the GWS Giants'.

Quarter 3

00:00
Q3 is now underway.
00:19
The Bulldogs were unable to take a mark inside their forward 50 in the first half - the last time they were unable to in a first half was back in 2020.
03:18
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Aaron Naughton)
05:29
Marcus Bontempelli had 30-plus disposals and two-plus goals for the 20th time in his career last week – the most by any player since his debut (Patrick Dangerfield is second with 18). He has had a team-high 18 disposals, 13 contested possessions, five clearances and four goal assists.
06:02
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Rhylee West)
08:11
James Harmes equals his career-high goal tally of four goals. After not having a mark inside 50 in the first half, the Bulldogs have already taken three and scored 2.1 (13) from those marks this term.
10:35
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Matthew Kennedy)
10:55
When the siren went for halftime, the scores were level. 11 minutes into the second half and the Bulldogs are up by 24 points. They have scored two goals from defensive half intercepts this term after not scoring from this zone and source in the first half.
12:36
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Rushed)
13:19
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Ed Richards)
15:27
GIANTS Interchange - Toby Bedford off due to an injury.
16:38
The efficiency of scoring from the Bulldogs this quarter has been elite. They have scored from 35% of all of their chains, in comparison to 0% from the GWS Giants.
19:09
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Rory Lobb)
20:25
The Bulldogs scored 64 points from clearances last round against St Kilda – their equal eighth-most over the last decade. They have scored 6.5 (41) from this source so far tonight.
25:32
The GWS Giants have conceded 42 inside 50s whilst only having 30 for themselves tonight. They are averaging six fewer entries than their opponents this season - ranked fifth-last.
27:10
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Marcus Bontempelli)
30:02
SCORE BEHIND - GIANTS (Callan Ward)
31:50
The GWS Giants were unable to get any fluency in their game in the third term. They only managed to have eight inside 50s for the quarter, retaining two of those and scoring just a singular point late in the piece.

Quarter 4

00:00
Q4 is now underway.
01:29
It has been an even battle in the ruck between Tim English and Kieran Briggs, having the same number of hitouts and hitouts-to-advantage, although the Bulldogs have had eight more clearances and have scored 31 more points from clearance when these two have been ruck opponents.
04:56
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Buku Khamis)
05:21
A strong start to the quarter for the Bulldogs as they have had four of the first five inside 50s and clearances, as well as having laid seven tackles.
07:16
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Rushed)
07:57
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Rushed)
09:03
SCORE BEHIND - Bulldogs (Sam Davidson)
11:05
The Bulldogs have been able to move the ball through handball receives, gaining 767 more metres from this source in comparison to the GWS Giants.
11:48
Bulldogs Interchange - James O'Donnell and is possibly out for the game.
12:55
SCORE GOAL - GIANTS (Toby Greene)
13:12
The GWS Giants get their first goal of the second half through Toby Greene. He has scored 2.2 (14) tonight and has not been involved in any other scores tonight.
14:52
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Rhylee West)
17:26
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Aaron Naughton)
18:26
7.2 (49) of the Bulldogs' 54 points for the second half have come from set shots after registering just one goal from this source in the first half.
21:46
SCORE BEHIND - GIANTS (Jake Riccardi)
22:25
SCORE GOAL - GIANTS (Toby Bedford)
23:02
Despite the score, the pressure has been consistent from GWS Giants. They have registered a pressure factor of 186 - the AFL average is 179.
24:59
GIANTS Interchange - Lachie Ash and is possibly out for the game.
25:26
SCORE GOAL - GIANTS (Tom Green)
27:14
SCORE GOAL - GIANTS (Jesse Hogan)
29:33
Joel Freijah has put together an impressive performance, collecting 26 disposals, a game-high 18 contested possessions and a game-high nine clearances.
29:34
SCORE GOAL - Bulldogs (Sam Davidson)
32:18
SCORE GOAL - GIANTS (Aaron Cadman)
33:39
SCORE BEHIND - GIANTS (Josh Kelly)
34:45
It was a tale of two halves for the GWS Giants. They were able to score from 54% of their entries as well as score 26 points from their defensive 50; a contrast to the second half where they only scored from 38% of their inside 50s and didn't register a score from their defensive 50.