Match

Richmond vs North Melbourne

Commentary / 18 May 2025

Pre Game

00:00
North Melbourne has lost its last nine matches at the MCG, dating back to Round 3, 2018, with an average losing margin of 33 points during this period.

Quarter 1

00:00
Q1 is now underway.
00:34
The Kangaroos won the first centre bounce clearance of the game, but did not score from this chain. North Melbourne has averaged 14.4 points per game from centre bounces (ranked fifth).
02:27
The Kangaroos have been slow starters this season, ranked last in both the first ten minutes of games and in opening quarters.
03:34
The Kangaroos are ranked No.1 in hitout to advantage differential this season, primarily through the work of Tristan Xerri. Richmond has won the first five hitouts of the game today.
06:24
Both teams are struggling to move the ball early in the game, with pressure ratings above 200, and the kicking efficiency for each team is less than 50 per cent.
07:50
The first goal of the game to North Melbourne, and Cam Zurhaar came from a forward half stoppage. The Kangaroos have a strike rate of 168 points per 100 forward half clearances (ranked No.1).
09:09
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Luke Davies-Uniacke)
09:37
The second goal for the Kangaroos was launched with an intercept in the defensive midfield. North Melbourne has scored only 7.6 points per game from this source (ranked last).
10:38
SCORE GOAL - Tigers (Thomas Sims)
11:07
The first goal for the Tigers came from a stoppage. Richmond has scored only 24.9 points per game from stoppages this season (ranked 17th) and scored only 11 points last week from its clearances.
16:28
Richmond has lost the contested possession differential this season by 9.6 per game in the midfield (ranked 17th). The Tigers already trail 9-14 in this measure today.
17:20
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Jack Darling)
17:28
A second goal from a forward half stoppage for the Kangaroos. This season, the Tigers have conceded a score from 32.3 per cent of opposition clearance chains (ranked last).
21:17
Kangaroos Interchange - Aidan Corr off due to an injury.
21:39
Some excellent ball movement from the Kangaroos led to the last goal from Cam Zurhaar. In the last ten minutes, North Melbourne leads 12-2 in uncontested marks and 8-4 in inside 50 entries, with Richmond spending much of this time defending.
23:20
This is the first time that the Kangaroos have kicked five goals in an opening quarter since Round 14 last season against the Magpies, when North Melbourne piled on eight goals.
24:21
North Melbourne has won the first four centre bounce clearances of the game and leads the overall clearance count 13-6. The Kangaroos have kicked three goals from this source.
25:16
SCORE BEHIND - Tigers (Jacob Hopper)
26:33
SCORE GOAL - Tigers (Seth Campbell)
26:38
Some crafty work from the quickly improving Seth Campbell has given the Tigers their second goal. Campbell is the No.1 ranked Tiger for scoreboard impact this season with 15 goals and 10 score assists.
30:01
The Tigers are averaging 16.7 intercept marks per game this season (ranked second). Richmond has an early 6-1 lead in this measure today.
31:17
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Colby McKercher)
31:29
Both teams have now had 14 stoppages in their forward half. Richmond has not won an effective clearance or scored from any of these, while North Melbourne has generated five effective clearances and scored three goals from this source.
35:18
An efficient opening quarter from the Kangaroos, who converted a 17-9 clearance ascendancy into 24-6 points scored from stoppages. North Melbourne kicked with 71 per cent efficiency in its forward half while Richmond posted a return of 47 per cent for this measure.

Quarter 2

00:00
Q2 is now underway.
00:09
Tom Powell was the No.1 ranked player in the opening term with 11 disposals at 100 per cent efficiency. Nathan Broad was the top-ranked Tiger with his seven possessions including four intercepts.
02:18
SCORE GOAL - Tigers (Sam Lalor)
02:36
An early forward 50 stoppage goal for the Tigers to start the second quarter. Richmond has averaged only 4.9 points per game from forward 50 stoppages (ranked last).
03:55
North Melbourne has had the third-most around-the-ground stoppages in its games this season, with an average of 71 per match. There have already been 36 such stoppages in this game.
04:46
SCORE GOAL - Tigers (Hugo Ralphsmith)
05:36
Richmond has a narrow 5-3 advantage in forward half intercepts, with the last goal from Hugo Ralphsmith coming from this source. These are the bottom-2 ranked teams at generating such intercepts.
08:00
North Melbourne won the contested possession count 41-36 in the opening term, but Richmond has started well in this area (13-6) early in the second quarter.
11:19
North Melbourne has a kicking efficiency of only 18 per cent this quarter. More kicks by the Kangaroos have been marked by Richmond (3) than by North Melbourne (1).
13:17
The high number of stoppages is contributing to a tackle count of 44-40 (in favour of Richmond). The Tigers average just 50 tackles per game this season (ranked last).
15:07
Toby Nankervis has already applied an equal career-high 11 tackles. Nankervis had recorded 25 tackles in nine games this season before today.
15:11
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Rushed)
16:50
A pair of second quarter goals for the impressive Sam Lalor with the second coming from a contested mark. Richmond leads 6-2 in contested marks and 10-2 in intercept marks.
19:15
North Melbourne has had 11 chains starting in its defensive 50 today, and none of these have resulted in an inside 50 entry. This is contributing to the ball being locked in the forward half of the Tigers this quarter.
20:48
Four consecutive goals to the Tigers, who have won contested possessions (33-22) this quarter while also recording a pressure rating of 271. This has assisted in generating 6-1 forward half intercepts, from which the last goal came.
23:43
Since kicking efficiency was first recorded in 1999, North Melbourne has never had a quarter with a kicking efficiency of less than 30 per cent. The Kangaroos have posted an efficiency of just 29 per cent so far this quarter.
26:53
Richmond has won post-clearance contested possessions 23-12 this quarter, which includes 12-5 loose ball gets with the Tigers noticeably first to arrive in numbers at the fall of the ball.
29:48
SCORE BEHIND - Tigers (Seth Campbell)
30:54
Sam Lalor is currently the No.1 rated player on the ground. The young Tiger has won eight contested possessions, kicked two goals and registered nine of his 11 disposals in the forward half.
32:47
A third goal for Cam Zurhaar, with two of these coming from contested marks. Zurhaar has now kicked 14 goals in five games against the Tigers, with his goals per game against Richmond his best return against any opponent.
34:06
Richmond dominated territory in the second quarter with a 19-4 inside 50 ledger and 76 per cent time in forward half. The Tigers won contested possessions (44-35) and forward half intercepts (10-2) to put the Kangaroo defence under constant pressure.

Quarter 3

00:00
Q3 is now underway.
00:16
Tristan Xerri won the first clearance of the third quarter. Xerri generated 11 clearances in the second half last round, falling one short of equalling the record of 12 set in 2008 by Shaun Burgoyne.
00:34
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Harry Sheezel)
02:01
Kangaroos Interchange - Cameron Zurhaar off due to an injury.
03:41
SCORE GOAL - Tigers (Kamdyn McIntosh)
04:18
North Melbourne kicked three goals from forward half stoppages in the opening quarter, but since then, Richmond leads 9-4 in forward half clearances and has kicked two goals from this source, including the last from Kamdyn McIntosh.
05:19
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Luke Davies-Uniacke)
06:55
Despite the high number of tackles (67-62 in favour of the Kangaroos), both teams have won only one free kick for holding the ball, with Richmond just winning its first such free kick.
07:00
SCORE BEHIND - Tigers (Sam Banks)
09:10
SCORE BEHIND - Tigers (Tom Lynch)
09:25
Tom Lynch was scoreless the last time he faced the Kangaroos in Round 21, 2021. Lynch has had three shots at goal today but just registered his first score of the game.
11:04
The Tigers have averaged eight tackles per game in their forward 50 this season. Richmond currently leads 18-4 in such tackles, with four of these applied by Rhyan Mansell.
11:45
SCORE BEHIND - Tigers (Seth Campbell)
13:19
North Melbourne has finally generated an inside 50 entry from a defensive 50 chain (24 such chains), and it has resulted in a goal from Nick Larkey.
15:49
In the last four rounds, the Kangaroos have scored from only 14.3 per cent of their intercept possessions, which is the lowest rate in the league. North Melbourne has three scores from 30 intercepts today.
17:41
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Jacob Konstanty)
18:04
When the ball has entered the forward 50 of the Kangaroos, they lead 5-1 in crumbs, with the last of these by Jacob Konstanty resulting in a goal. Four of these crumbs have been won in this quarter.
19:28
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Finnbar Maley)
20:06
The last shot at goal from Finbar Maley resulted in the first behind from a set shot for the Kangaroos. Eight of the nine goals for North Melbourne have been kicked from within 40 metres of goal.
20:35
SCORE GOAL - Tigers (Seth Campbell)
21:34
North Melbourne leads the clearances 9-4 this quarter, but both of the Tiger goals during this period have come from stoppages. The overall clearance count is heavily in favour of the Kangaroos (42-24).
22:13
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Cameron Zurhaar)
22:44
North Melbourne now leads centre bounce clearances 10-3 and has converted this into 14-0 points scored from this source.
25:00
SCORE BEHIND - Tigers (Sam Lalor)
25:10
Richmond has had five shots at goal from beyond the 50-metre line today, with four of these resulting in behinds and one attempt failing to score. North Melbourne has scored one goal from three such long-range attempts.
27:56
SCORE GOAL - Tigers (Tom Lynch)
28:25
Tom Lynch has been the forward 50 target seven times today (game-high), and his first goal of the game came from a forward half stoppage. There have been 86 around-the-ground stoppages, with 59 of these in the forward half of the Tigers.
30:41
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Rushed)
32:58
Five of the six goals in the third quarter came from stoppages (the other came from a kick-in). North Melbourne continues to have the better of clearances (11-8 in the third quarter), and leads 45-30 in points scored from stoppages. The AFL average is 34 points per game from stoppages.

Quarter 4

00:00
Q4 is now underway.
01:09
Nick Vlastuin leads all players for intercept possessions (9), with four of these being intercept marks. North Melbourne does not have any players with five or more intercept possessions and trails 3-13 in intercept marks.
03:04
Richmond has taken only 8.9 marks per game in the forward 50 this season (ranked last), and has again had issues in this area, trailing 5-7 in forward 50 marks.
03:54
A pair of goals for Kamdyn McIntosh in game No.200, and returning to a wing role. It was the first goal of the day for Richmond to come from an intercept in the defensive midfield (25 such chains).
05:57
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Nick Larkey)
07:49
Tim Taranto has won a game-high 18 contested possessions for the Tigers, with 14 of these won pre-clearance. Taranto has won a game-high ten clearances, which is only one short of a career-high for the former Giant.
08:39
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Jack Darling)
09:05
North Melbourne has now scored 7.1.(43) from set shots compared to a return of 4.4.(28) for Richmond. Six of these shots for the Kangaroos have come from within 40 metres of goal compared to just three for the Tigers.
11:36
Harry Sheezel has recorded a game-high 71 pressure points for the Kangaroos today, which is the second-most he has ever had in a game. Only three of the 12 kicks from Sheezel today have been effective, with the ball magnet splitting his time forward and midfield today.
13:54
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Jack Darling)
14:48
North Melbourne has a 48-41 edge in first possession wins at stoppages, but has converted this into 49-30 clearances. Tristan Xerri has won a team-high ten clearances.
16:27
The Kangaroos won the time in forward half differential for the first time in 2025 last week against Brisbane, albeit by just 17 seconds. The Tigers have had the ball in their forward half for 53 per cent of this game.
17:24
SCORE GOAL - Tigers (Tom Lynch)
17:50
Some crafty work in the ruck by Tom Lynch has given the Tigers their second goal of the game from a forward 50 stoppage. It is only the second time this season that Richmond has kicked multiple goals from this source.
20:17
SCORE BEHIND - Tigers (Kane McAuliffe)
20:30
North Melbourne has won only two of its last 13 games decided by a single-digit margin, with its last three games all included in this count.
24:03
SCORE BEHIND - Tigers (Tim Taranto)
24:16
Richmond has generated the last five inside 50 entries and had the ball in its forward half for 82 per cent of the last ten minutes.
26:22
The Tigers now have a major 17-5 advantage in intercept marks and also lead 62-45 in overall intercepts. Richmond has generated twice as many scores from intercepts (12-6), but converted only four of these into goals.
29:53
This game has had the most stoppages of any in 2025, and fittingly, the final minutes have been littered with repeat stoppages.
30:54
After three near misses in recent weeks, North Melbourne has managed to hang on for a four-point win. The Kangaroos had the better of the clearances (54-33) in a stoppage-heavy game, with 14-4 centre bounce clearances and 14-0 points from this source proving crucial.