Match

North Melbourne vs Geelong Cats

Commentary / 26 Jul 2025

Pre Game

00:00
Geelong’s average winning margin in their last 10 clashes with the Kangaroos has been over 50 points. When these sides last met — Round 20, 2024 — Geelong won by 40 points in a game where Tom Stewart recorded 32 disposals, while Jeremy Cameron slotted two goals among 19 disposals.

Quarter 1

00:00
Q1 is now underway.
03:46
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Jeremy Cameron)
05:12
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Oisin Mullin)
05:50
Jeremy Cameron kicks the first goal of the game. Cameron has bagged 19 goals in his four games for Geelong against North Melbourne, including hauls of seven and six goals. The Coleman Medal leader enjoys playing against the Kangaroos.
06:31
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Jack Darling)
08:43
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Paul Curtis)
09:39
Paul Curtis' goal is his 29th of the season, now just one short of his career-high 30 goals in a season, achieved last year.
10:17
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Cameron Zurhaar)
11:59
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Jeremy Cameron)
13:46
The Cats are placing a lot of pressure on their Kangaroo opponents, leading the tackle count 14-3 early in the game.
14:02
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Jeremy Cameron)
16:17
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Patrick Dangerfield)
18:23
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Tyson Stengle)
19:11
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Rushed)
20:01
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Mark Blicavs)
21:56
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Jack Martin)
22:23
Jack Martin has five disposals early in the game but misses an early shot at goal. Martin has recorded 10 or more disposals in all six of his previous appearances for the Cats this season. It’s his longest streak of double-digit disposal tallies since 2021.
24:10
Geelong now lead inside-50s 16–6 and have scored the last three goals. The Cats have scored 3.2 (20) from stoppages so far, while missing some opportunities from turnovers, scoring 1.4 (10) from this source.
26:50
Bailey Smith's eight disposals are a game-high. No other player has had more than six disposals.
27:59
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Brynn Teakle)
32:27
Bailey Smith had 11 disposals for the term, including two inside-50s, while Dylan Stephens recorded nine disposals for the Kangaroos, with 179 metres gained, two rebound-50s, two inside-50s and two score involvements.

Quarter 2

00:00
Q2 is now underway.
00:55
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Mark Blicavs)
02:09
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Tyson Stengle)
02:15
Brynn Teakle had nine hitouts in the first quarter. Teakle recorded 17 disposals and kicked a goal last week — his first game at AFL level for the season. However, while leading their ruck brigade, he managed only five hitouts. Sydney’s total of 80 hitouts in that game was the highest team total of the season, while North Melbourne’s 10 hitouts was the lowest recorded. This week has seen a more competitive ruck contest.
04:56
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Shannon Neale)
06:15
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Charlie Comben)
07:33
Shannon Neale kicked the first goal of the quarter. Neale has been the Cats' primary inside-50 target, having been the target on five occasions, while Jeremy Cameron has been the target four times.
10:12
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Mark Blicavs)
11:58
Geelong lead inside 50s 8-3 for this quarter and maintain their territory dominance. They now lead inside 50s 26-14 for the game.
14:25
With 18 disposals, Bailey Smith has twice as many disposals as any of his teammates. Max Holmes has nine, while Patrick Dangerfield and Oisin Mullin have eight each.
14:59
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Jack Bowes)
16:32
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Gryan Miers)
17:02
North Melbourne entered this round with the second-highest points against in season 2025. The Kangaroos have recorded the highest or second-highest points against in each of the past six seasons — including 2025. They have now conceded the last six goals in this game and the margin has reached a game-high 36 points.
18:55
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Rhys Stanley)
20:42
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Rushed)
21:17
Colby McKercher leads the Kangaroos with 12 disposals. McKercher has averaged 27.7 disposals per game since the conclusion of the bye rounds, ranked 16th in the league and fourth among defenders.
23:45
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Bailey Smith)
25:42
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Jeremy Cameron)
26:38
The Cats have a balanced spread of scores across stoppages and turnovers, scoring 5.3 (33) and 5.7 (37) from each source respectively. They have also launched scores from all zones of the ground, scoring most heavily from forward-50 and defensive midfield, with 3.2 (20) from each.
27:40
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Cameron Zurhaar)
28:28
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Jeremy Cameron)
29:03
Jeremy Cameron kicked the first three goals for the Cats and has now kicked the last two goals, taking his total to five for the game. Cameron's career-high is nine.
32:57
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Cameron Zurhaar)
34:24
Bailey Smith continues to find plenty of the footy, racking up 25 disposals in the first half, including 14 in the second quarter. He has 13 contested possessions. His career-highs of 43 disposals and 17 contested possessions both look likely to be surpassed tonight.

Quarter 3

00:00
Q3 is now underway.
03:10
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Bailey Smith)
04:24
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Jeremy Cameron)
05:17
Geelong's first goal of the second half comes from a chain starting deep in their defensive-50 — their second goal from this zone in the match.
07:21
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Rushed)
08:29
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Gryan Miers)
10:42
North Melbourne have had more of the ball so far this quarter, leading disposals 44–32, but Geelong continue to find their way forward more easily, leading inside-50s 8–4 and scoring the only goal of the quarter.
12:22
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Shannon Neale)
13:06
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Brad Close)
14:28
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Jeremy Cameron)
15:22
Patrick Dangerfield is substituted out of the game as the Cats reach a game-high 69-point margin. Dangerfield leads all players with five score assists in the match.
19:50
Bailey Smith now has 18 contested possessions and 11 clearances, both career-highs. There is still more than seven minutes to play in the third quarter.
20:17
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Lawson Humphries)
21:57
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Shannon Neale)
22:13
The Cats have now kicked 14 of the past 15 goals. They have taken 20 marks inside-50 for the game, while North Melbourne have only four.
23:57
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Shannon Neale)
27:37
Geelong have had 14 of the last 16 inside-50s, leading this stat 19–6 for the quarter and 57–24 for the match. Max Holmes and Tom Atkins have seven apiece. Seven equals Atkins' previous career-high.
28:53
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Tyson Stengle)
30:38
Jeremy Cameron bags his eighth goal off the back of his sixth inside-50 mark. Entering the match, Cameron averaged 2.8 marks inside-50 per game — ranked fifth in the league.
33:02
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Brad Close)
34:13
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Jeremy Cameron)
34:21
Jeremy Cameron has now equalled his career-high haul of goals, reaching nine by three-quarter time. He is one of many Cats smashing their individual personal bests across multiple categories, cashing in against a listless Kangaroos outfit.

Quarter 4

00:00
Q4 is now underway.
01:30
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Jeremy Cameron)
01:42
It took only 90 seconds into the final term, but Jeremy Cameron has now reached a career-high 10 goals, his first time reaching double figures in an AFL game.
04:43
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Paul Curtis)
04:58
Paul Curtis breaks a run of nine consecutive goals for Geelong. This was the second such streak for the Cats, having put through 10 in a row earlier in the game. The Cats have scored 18 of the last 20 goals.
08:17
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Jack Henry)
09:14
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Tyson Stengle)
12:32
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Jeremy Cameron)
14:07
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Cameron Zurhaar)
14:58
Having exceeded his personal best for goals, Jeremy Cameron has now reached eight marks inside 50, just one away from equaling his career high in this category. The Cats have looked for Cameron inside 50 often throughout this game, including twice this quarter, both of which have resulted in marks.
16:43
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Jack Darling)
17:13
North Melbourne have kicked back-to-back goals for the first time since the opening term.
19:15
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Luke Parker)
20:06
SCORE GOAL - Cats (Jeremy Cameron)
24:09
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Rushed)
27:08
Luke Parker has reached 30 disposals — a season high and his highest tally as a Kangaroo. This is Parker’s first time reaching 30 or more disposals in over two years.
27:21
SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Max Holmes)
28:57
With 76 inside 50s, the Cats have surpassed the season high for inside 50s previously held by Carlton from their round five performance against West Coast, which stood at 73.
29:47
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Finnbar Maley)
31:22
The Cats achieved a percentage-boosting win, with many individual stand-out performances. Jeremy Cameron’s career-high 11 goals and Bailey Smith’s equal career-high 43 disposals grabbed the most attention. Max Holmes and Tom Atkins flew under the radar — Holmes had 29 disposals and nine inside 50s, while Atkins recorded 25 disposals and eight inside 50s, the latter being a new career high.