Australian FootballMelbourne
Sporting PaperThe Footy Paper
Match Report
Friday 21 August 2026
No. 3
Round 4
Western Bulldogs14.1599
Essendon9.1165
Marvel Stadium · Sun, 7:20 PM · Attendance 38,786 · FT
Scoreboard
Quarter by Quarter
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Final | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Western Bulldogs | 7.2 | 10.7 | 10.14 | 14.15 | 99 |
| Essendon | 1.3 | 1.7 | 5.9 | 9.11 | 65 |
Scorers
Goalkickers
Western Bulldogs
S. Darcy 3, A. Jones 3, A. Naughton 3, M. Kennedy 1, M. Bontempelli 1, B. Williams 1, L. Bramble 1, J. Dolan 1
Essendon
J. Gresham 3, T. Edwards 2, A. May 2, J. Caldwell 1, P. Wright 1
How the match was won
Scoring Progression
WB · ESS
Head to head
Team Statistics
| WB | Stat | ESS |
|---|---|---|
| 402 | Disposals | 342 |
| 211 | Kicks | 203 |
| 191 | Handballs | 139 |
| 107 | Marks | 103 |
| 14 | Marks Inside 50 | 9 |
| 42 | Tackles | 48 |
| 28 | Hitouts | 38 |
| 38 | Clearances | 24 |
| 54 | Inside 50s | 36 |
| 129 | Contested Possessions | 110 |
| 273 | Uncontested Possessions | 224 |
| 54 | One Percenters | 31 |
| 21 | Frees For | 19 |
| 19 | Frees Against | 21 |
| 14 | Goals | 9 |
| 15 | Behinds | 11 |
The full box score
Players
Western Bulldogs
| Player | # | D | K | H | M | T | G | B |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M. Kennedy | 8 | 36 | 14 | 22 | 5 | 1 | 1 | - |
| M. Bontempelli | 4 | 35 | 15 | 20 | 8 | 3 | 1 | - |
| R. Sanders | 9 | 34 | 10 | 24 | 6 | 5 | - | - |
| J. Freijah | 27 | 26 | 13 | 13 | 3 | 6 | - | - |
| O. Baker | 13 | 24 | 11 | 13 | 9 | 2 | - | - |
| B. Dale | 31 | 22 | 17 | 5 | 3 | 1 | - | - |
| C. Budarick | 19 | 21 | 16 | 5 | 6 | 2 | - | - |
| B. Williams | 34 | 20 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 2 | 1 | - |
| R. West | 14 | 19 | 6 | 13 | 3 | 1 | - | 2 |
| L. Bramble | 29 | 17 | 10 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| L. Jaques | 11 | 17 | 10 | 7 | 4 | 3 | - | 1 |
| J. Dolan | 26 | 16 | 7 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| S. Darcy | 10 | 15 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| R. Lobb | 7 | 15 | 13 | 2 | 10 | - | - | - |
| B. Khamis | 24 | 12 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 2 | - | - |
| S. Davidson | 42 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 1 | - | - |
| J. ODonnell | 18 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 2 | - | - |
| A. Jones | 32 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| A. Naughton | 33 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 6 | - | 3 | 3 |
| J. Croft | 16 | 8 | 3 | 5 | - | 2 | - | - |
| T. English | 44 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | - | - |
| L. McNeil | 30 | 8 | 2 | 6 | - | - | - | 1 |
| M. Sellwood | 37 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 1 | - | - |
Essendon
| Player | # | D | K | H | M | T | G | B |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A. Roberts | 21 | 37 | 29 | 8 | 12 | - | - | - |
| Z. Merrett | 7 | 30 | 15 | 15 | 5 | 7 | - | - |
| Z. Johnson | 40 | 23 | 11 | 12 | 9 | 1 | - | - |
| A. McGrath | 1 | 23 | 10 | 13 | 6 | 2 | - | - |
| J. Prior | 25 | 22 | 16 | 6 | 7 | 1 | - | - |
| J. Farrow | 2 | 21 | 15 | 6 | 12 | 2 | - | - |
| J. Caldwell | 6 | 19 | 6 | 13 | 3 | 5 | 1 | - |
| D. Parish | 3 | 19 | 8 | 11 | 2 | 1 | - | - |
| Z. Reid | 31 | 19 | 14 | 5 | 11 | 4 | - | - |
| X. Duursma | 28 | 15 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 1 | - | 1 |
| S. El-Hawli | 41 | 13 | 10 | 3 | 4 | - | - | 1 |
| S. Durham | 22 | 12 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 6 | - | - |
| K. Langford | 4 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 2 | - | - |
| J. Gresham | 11 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - |
| A. Day-Wicks | 44 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 6 | - | 1 |
| T. Edwards | 45 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 3 | - | 2 | 2 |
| P. Wright | 20 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| A. Perkins | 16 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | - | - |
| I. Kako | 10 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - |
| L. Blakiston | 46 | 6 | 2 | 4 | - | 2 | - | - |
| A. May | 26 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 4 | - | 2 | 1 |
| M. Guelfi | 35 | 5 | 3 | 2 | - | 1 | - | 1 |
| B. McKay | 32 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - |