Match

Essendon vs Geelong Cats

Commentary / 14 Jun 2025

Pre Game

00:00

Geelong has recorded a tackle efficiency of 78 per cent inside its forward 50 this season, ranked No.1 in the competition.

Quarter 1

00:00

Q1 is now underway.

01:58

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Rushed)

03:21

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Shaun Mannagh)

04:51

SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Jade Gresham)

05:24

Both sides have opened their accounts with goals via intercept possession. Bomber debutant Archer May had his first disposal for the Bombers in their scoring chain, a handball that ended as a goal assist.

07:07

SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Peter Wright)

07:30

SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Nic Martin)

11:26

Essendon lead the inside 50 count by five in the early stages of the match, but Geelong have managed to generate a score from 60 per cent of its entries, compared to just 30 per cent by the Bombers.

15:17

Geelong has been deadly in its forward half. The Cats have generated five forward half intercepts, resulting in 3.0.18 already.

16:37

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Shaun Mannagh)

17:57

SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Matt Guelfi)

18:20

In three of their last four opening quarters, Essendon have trailed the Western Bulldogs by 42, Brisbane by 32 and Carlton by 33.

20:09

SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Nate Caddy)

21:50

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Tyson Stengle)

23:07

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Mark O'Connor)

24:20

Bailey Smith continues to drive the Cats from a metres gained perspective. He leads the AFL with an average of 692 metres gained per game and already has nine disposals and 213 metres gained in the first quarter.

26:13

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Shannon Neale)

26:46

Both sides have 15 inside 50s for the match, but it's the Cats that are scoring at will. They lead marks inside 50 six to one and have scored from 60 per cent of their entries, compared to just 33 per cent from Essendon.

28:18

SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Jade Gresham)

30:06

The Cats are moving the ball as they please with 41 uncontested marks to Essendon's 22. The high mark count means that this game is a low pressure one. Geelong has a pressure rating of 166, while Essendon's is at a paltry 151.

30:21

Geelong has outscored Essendon 5.1.31 to 0.3.3 from attacking midfield chains. Four of these goals have been from intercepts.

Quarter 2

00:00

Q2 is now underway.

00:25

SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Archer Day-Wicks)

01:31

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Jeremy Cameron)

03:55

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Jeremy Cameron)

04:41

Jeremy Cameron leads the Coleman Medal with 42 goals for the season, including four already today. He has been in a purple patch since Round 10, with 22 goals in his last four and a half games.

10:49

Cats Interchange - Sam De Koning off due to an injury.

11:03

Geelong has outscored Essendon by 30 points from intercepts already. The Cats are ranked fourth for scores from intercept differential, while the Bombers are ranked 15th.

11:38

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Oliver Dempsey)

13:51

SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Matt Guelfi)

18:33

Bailey Smith continues to rack up incredible numbers in the first half. The Geelong jet has 22 disposals already, 18 coming via an uncontested possession, due to his incredible work rate. He also has 450 metres gained and seven inside 50s, both match-highs.

19:42

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Brad Close)

20:33

It has been a forward half domination by the Cats. They have outscored the Bombers 7.3.45 to 0.4.4 from forward half chains and have kicked 6.2.38 from 16 forward half intercepts.

24:44

SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Archer May)

26:10

SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Matt Guelfi)

26:18

While it has been a high-transition, low-stoppage game, a positive for the Bombers has been that they lead clearances 16 to 10 and have outscored Geelong by two points from stoppages.

29:43

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Patrick Dangerfield)

29:50

Despite his team trailing by 35 points at the main break. Matt Guelfi leads all comers for score involvements with six.

Quarter 3

00:00

Q3 is now underway.

01:14

SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Peter Wright)

03:09

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Max Holmes)

05:40

SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Xavier Duursma)

06:03

Both Essendon goals to start the third quarter have come via stoppage wins in their defensive midfield zone. The Bombers have outscored Geelong 4.3.27 to 2.1.13 from clearances.

10:08

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Jeremy Cameron)

10:28

Cats Interchange - Sam De Koning off due to an injury.

11:22

As he has done for most of the season, Max Holmes continues to produce numbers that are of the equal of his midfield counterpart Bailey Smith. Tonight Holmes has 23 disposals, 16 uncontested possessions, six inside 50sand 573 metres gained. Smith continues to be prolific with 28 disposals, 21 uncontested possessions, seven inside 50s and 543 metres gained.

13:27

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Shaun Mannagh)

15:55

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Jeremy Cameron)

16:56

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Lawson Humphries)

17:14

Geelong continues to score at will, with six scores from nine entries this quarter, a strike rate of 67 per cent. For the match, the Cats have 21 scores from 39 inside 50s, a strike rate of 54 per cent. Geelong ranks third this season for scores per inside 50, scoring from 48 per cent of its entries this season.

20:37

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Shannon Neale)

24:38

SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Archie Roberts)

25:00

Essendon leads contested possession by six this quarter and by 11 for the match. Jye Caldwell leads all players on the ground with 12 contested possessions from his 20 disposals.

27:15

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Patrick Dangerfield)

28:27

Patrick Dangerfield's game, while not prolific, has been one of maximum damage. He has just the eight disposals, but has seven score involvements - three of them scores off his own boot, including two goals, and four score assists.

29:29

SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Isaac Kako)

31:16

SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Peter Wright)

33:06

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Tyson Stengle)

35:18

In total today, Geelong has kicked 104 points from 82 possession chains, an average of 1.27 points per possession chain. Essendon has kicked 55 points from 78 possession chains, an average of 0.71 points per possession chain.

Quarter 4

00:00

Q4 is now underway.

01:19

SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Xavier Duursma)

03:50

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Shannon Neale)

04:00

Geelong have taken 17 marks inside 50, 15 of which have been uncontested. The Cats have kicked 10.2.62 from set shots today.

07:32

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Tyson Stengle)

08:10

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Gryan Miers)

08:48

The Cats have now kicked 9.5.59 from 28 forward half intercepts. In total, Geelong has outscored Essendon by 65 points from intercepts all over the ground.

11:48

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Shannon Neale)

13:55

Patrick Dangerfield has six score assists tonight. Only twice in his 349 game career has Dangerfield had more than 6 score assists in a game. Both of these times he had seven score assists. Since 2022, only Dangerfield and Sam Switkowski have had more than six score assists in a game.

13:58

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Oliver Dempsey)

15:18

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Jeremy Cameron)

17:58

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Gryan Miers)

18:48

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Shaun Mannagh)

20:24

Geelong have now scored 15.9.99 from intercepts, its highest tally from this score source all season and the equal-second highest total by any side. Adelaide kicked 17.7.109 against Essendon in Round 2.

22:13

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Rhys Stanley)

26:14

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Rhys Stanley)

27:15

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Rushed)

28:31

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Oliver Dempsey)

29:10

Geelong have now kicked 16.11.107 from intercepts. The Cats have also kicked 13.7.85 from forward half chains, the most of any side this season.

30:29

Max Holmes and Bailey Smith continue to propel Geelong towards another finals series. Holmes finished the match with 36 disposals, 21 uncontested possessions, 10 inside 50s, eight clearances and 873 metres gained. Bailey Smith finished on the bench for the last 11 minutes, but still amassed 41 disposals, 30 uncontested possessions, nine inside 50s and 764 metres gained.