2025 AFL Round 3: Essendon v Adelaide

This is the match report for the match played on 22 March 2025 between Essendon and Adelaide during round 3 of the 2025 AFL season. Essendon hosted Adelaide at MCG. Zach Merrett captained the hosts with Andrew McGrath as vice-captain. Jordan Dawson captained the visitors. The hosts were coached by Brad Scott and the visitors were coached by Matthew Nicks.

Essendon
Back: A. McGrath (vice-capt.), B. McKay, J. Prior
Half-back: M. Redman, Z. Reid, N. Martin
Centre: B. Hobbs, J. Caldwell, A. Roberts
Half-forward: J. Gresham, N. Caddy, A. Perkins
Forward: H. Jones, S. Draper, I. Kako
Follower: N. Bryan, S. Durham, Z. Merrett (capt.)
Int.: X. Duursma, T. Edwards, D. Shiel, E. Tsatas
Sub.: J. Menzie

Adelaide
Back: J. Worrell, M. Keane, R. Laird
Half-back: W. Milera, N. Murray, M. Michalanney
Centre: I. Cumming, J. Dawson (capt.), L. Sholl
Half-forward: B. Keays, R. Thilthorpe, I. Rankine
Forward: D. Fogarty, T. Walker, A. Neal-Bullen
Follower: R. O'Brien, J. Soligo, J. Peatling
Int.: M. Crouch, D. Curtin, M. Hinge, J. Rachele
Sub.: S. Draper

Essendon (15.10.100) were defeated by Adelaide (25.11.161).

Goalkickers
Essendon: Z. Merrett (4), S. Draper (3), T. Edwards (3), I. Kako (2), J. Caldwell, J. Gresham, N. Martin
Adelaide: B. Keays (4), J. Rachele (4), D. Fogarty (3), R. Thilthorpe (3), A. Neal-Bullen (2), I. Rankine (2), J. Soligo (2), D. Curtin, M. Hinge, W. Milera, L. Sholl, T. Walker

As a result of this match, Essendon were then 16th on the ladder (down from 14th) and Adelaide were then 2nd on the ladder (up from 6th) by the end of the day.

Match Details

Season: 2025 AFL Season
Round: Round 3
Teams: Essendon v Adelaide
Date: Saturday 22 March 2025
Time: 1:20 PM
Venue: MCG
Attendance: 46,688

Match Results

Outcome: Essendon def. by Adelaide
Score: 15.10.100 - 25.11.161

Quarter Breakdown

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
Essendon 3 . 2 5 . 4 9 . 7 15 . 10 15 . 10 (100)
Adelaide 5 . 5 11 . 8 18 . 10 25 . 11 25 . 11 (161)
Margin ADEL by 15 ADEL by 40 ADEL by 57 ADEL by 61 ADEL by 61
Duration 31:32 30:04 34:54 36:36 2:13:06

Honour Roll

Coaches: Brad Scott (Essendon), Matthew Nicks (Adelaide)
Captains: Zach Merrett (Essendon), Jordan Dawson (Adelaide)
Vice-Captains: Andrew McGrath (Essendon), unknown (Adelaide)

Brownlow Votes

Player Team # Votes
Ben Keays ADEL 2 3
Jordan Dawson ADEL 12 2
Zach Merrett ESSE 7 1

Player Statistics

Essendon

# Player Pos. ToG% GL BH DI KI HB MK HO TA CL CR FF FA RF IF
24 Bryan, Nick RU 70% 0 1 14 12 2 1 23 2 5 1 0 1 1 3
30 Caddy, Nate CHF↓ 54% 0 1 5 4 1 2 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1
6 Caldwell, Jye C 71% 1 0 27 10 17 5 0 3 2 3 0 0 4 3
2 Draper, Sam FF 91% 3 0 10 5 5 3 15 1 2 3 2 2 1 1
22 Durham, Sam RR 82% 0 0 21 5 16 2 0 4 7 6 0 3 0 1
28 Duursma, Xavier INT 78% 0 0 13 6 7 5 0 2 1 5 1 3 1 4
45 Edwards, Thomas INT 80% 3 1 8 6 2 2 0 3 0 4 2 1 0 1
11 Gresham, Jade HFFL 82% 1 2 11 5 6 2 0 3 0 0 2 0 0 2
8 Hobbs, Ben WL 74% 0 0 14 3 11 1 0 1 1 3 1 1 0 1
23 Jones, Harry FPL 83% 0 0 9 6 3 2 0 6 0 3 1 2 0 2
10 Kako, Isaac FPR 78% 2 0 9 6 3 2 0 2 0 5 0 2 0 1
37 Martin, Nic HBFR 97% 1 1 20 9 11 5 0 1 0 1 0 1 3 2
1 McGrath, Andrew (vc) BPL 80% 0 0 19 6 13 3 0 1 0 2 1 0 3 0
32 McKay, Ben FB 100% 0 0 5 3 2 2 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 0
29 Menzie, Jye SUB↑ 27% 0 1 3 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7 Merrett, Zach (c) RO 87% 4 1 36 20 16 2 0 3 6 2 3 0 1 11
16 Perkins, Archie HFFR 82% 0 0 17 6 11 2 0 4 2 4 1 0 0 3
25 Prior, Jaxon BPR 83% 0 0 17 13 4 3 0 1 0 5 1 0 4 3
27 Redman, Mason HBFL 83% 0 0 18 15 3 5 0 0 0 4 0 1 3 1
31 Reid, Zach CHB 96% 0 0 10 6 4 4 0 3 0 4 1 0 3 0
21 Roberts, Archie WR 81% 0 0 19 11 8 3 0 2 1 2 2 0 7 1
9 Shiel, Dylan INT 77% 0 0 21 8 13 1 0 2 0 3 0 0 5 2
5 Tsatas, Elijah INT 63% 0 1 25 12 13 1 0 1 11 2 1 0 1 5
Rushed 1
Total (23 players) 15 10 351 179 172 59 38 48 39 62 21 17 37 48

J. Menzie replaced N. Caddy.

Adelaide

# Player Pos. ToG% GL BH DI KI HB MK HO TA CL CR FF FA RF IF
5 Crouch, Matt INT 73% 0 0 32 13 19 7 0 8 7 2 1 0 2 3
44 Cumming, Isaac WL 78% 0 0 9 4 5 0 0 2 1 1 1 1 1 1
6 Curtin, Dan INT 76% 1 0 13 8 5 5 0 4 2 1 2 0 1 1
12 Dawson, Jordan (c) C 79% 0 0 33 22 11 8 0 6 5 4 1 1 0 11
34 Draper, Sid SUB↑ 28% 0 1 9 6 3 1 0 4 1 3 0 2 0 2
32 Fogarty, Darcy FPL 80% 3 1 14 11 3 9 0 0 0 5 0 1 0 3
20 Hinge, Mitch INT 80% 1 0 16 13 3 1 0 5 2 1 3 1 3 2
48 Keane, Mark FB 95% 0 0 10 8 2 1 0 0 0 4 1 2 4 1
2 Keays, Ben HFFL 81% 4 2 22 17 5 11 0 3 2 1 0 0 0 6
29 Laird, Rory BPR 81% 0 0 23 14 9 5 0 2 1 0 0 0 5 1
16 Michalanney, Max HBFR 90% 0 0 15 12 3 8 0 1 0 1 2 0 4 1
30 Milera, Wayne HBFL 79% 1 1 18 16 2 6 0 1 0 1 0 1 5 1
9 Murray, Nick CHB 88% 0 0 13 8 5 5 0 3 0 3 1 2 5 0
28 Neal-Bullen, Alex FPR 84% 2 0 18 9 9 5 0 4 3 5 0 1 0 3
43 O'Brien, Reilly RU 86% 0 0 10 4 6 2 32 3 1 4 0 0 0 3
25 Peatling, James RO 83% 0 0 13 5 8 2 0 3 3 4 1 3 0 2
8 Rachele, Josh INT 85% 4 2 16 13 3 8 0 1 2 2 0 1 1 0
23 Rankine, Izak HFFR↓ 56% 2 1 15 11 4 5 0 1 2 3 0 1 0 5
38 Sholl, Lachlan WR 80% 1 0 19 14 5 9 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 3
14 Soligo, Jake RR 73% 2 0 27 15 12 6 0 2 5 6 0 2 0 2
7 Thilthorpe, Riley CHF 82% 3 1 16 10 6 7 1 2 1 3 3 1 0 6
13 Walker, Taylor FF 76% 1 1 13 10 3 10 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 6
24 Worrell, Josh BPL 87% 0 0 18 11 7 8 0 3 0 5 1 0 2 0
Rushed 1
Total (23 players) 25 11 392 254 138 129 34 60 38 62 17 21 33 63

S. Draper replaced I. Rankine.

Legend

ToG%: Time-on-Ground Percentage, GL: Goals, BH: Behinds, DI: Disposals, KI: Kicks, HB: Handballs, MK: Marks, HO: Hitouts, TA: Tackles, CL: Clearances, CR: Clangers, FF: Free Kicks For, FA: Free Kicks Against, RF: Rebounds Inside 50, IF: Inside 50s

Player Line-Up

Essendon Coach: Brad Scott
BACK FOLLOWER INTERCHANGE
24 J. Worrell 48 M. Keane 29 R. Laird 24 N. Bryan 28 X. Duursma
10 I. Kako 2 S. Draper 23 H. Jones 22 S. Durham 45 T. Edwards
FORWARD 7 Z. Merrett (c) 9 D. Shiel
HALF-BACK

5 E. Tsatas
30 W. Milera 9 N. Murray 16 M. Michalanney

29 J. Menzie
16 A. Perkins 30 N. Caddy 11 J. Gresham



HALF-FORWARD



CENTRE



44 I. Cumming 12 J. Dawson (c) 38 L. Sholl



21 A. Roberts 6 J. Caldwell 8 B. Hobbs FOLLOWER INTERCHANGE
CENTRE 43 R. O'Brien 5 M. Crouch
HALF-FORWARD 14 J. Soligo 6 D. Curtin
2 B. Keays 7 R. Thilthorpe 23 I. Rankine 25 J. Peatling 20 M. Hinge
37 N. Martin 31 Z. Reid 27 M. Redman

8 J. Rachele
HALF-BACK

34 S. Draper
FORWARD



32 D. Fogarty 13 T. Walker 28 A. Neal-Bullen



25 J. Prior 32 B. McKay 1 A. McGrath (vc)



BACK



Adelaide Coach: Matthew Nicks

Score Timeline

Quarter Team Scoring Event Score Time
Q1 ESSE Zach Merrett behind 0.1.1 - 0.0.0 00:29
ESSE Sam Draper goal 1.1.7 - 0.0.0 02:18
ADEL Izak Rankine behind 1.1.7 - 0.1.1 03:36
ADEL Ben Keays behind 1.1.7 - 0.2.2 04:26
ESSE Rushed behind 1.2.8 - 0.2.2 05:57
ADEL Wayne Milera goal 1.2.8 - 1.2.8 07:28
ADEL Ben Keays behind 1.2.8 - 1.3.9 09:01
ADEL Ben Keays goal 1.2.8 - 2.3.15 09:56
ADEL Josh Rachele goal 1.2.8 - 3.3.21 13:58
ADEL Darcy Fogarty goal 1.2.8 - 4.3.27 18:04
ADEL Josh Rachele behind 1.2.8 - 4.4.28 20:14
ESSE Thomas Edwards goal 2.2.14 - 4.4.28 21:12
ESSE Sam Draper goal 3.2.20 - 4.4.28 24:42
ADEL Taylor Walker behind 3.2.20 - 4.5.29 28:19
ADEL Alex Neal-Bullen goal 3.2.20 - 5.5.35 30:24
Q2 ADEL Darcy Fogarty goal 3.2.20 - 6.5.41 02:16
ESSE Nic Martin behind 3.3.21 - 6.5.41 03:40
ADEL Ben Keays goal 3.3.21 - 7.5.47 05:03
ADEL Riley Thilthorpe goal 3.3.21 - 8.5.53 06:44
ADEL Wayne Milera behind 3.3.21 - 8.6.54 10:56
ESSE Jade Gresham behind 3.4.22 - 8.6.54 13:02
ESSE Zach Merrett goal 4.4.28 - 8.6.54 13:18
ESSE Nic Martin goal 5.4.34 - 8.6.54 15:39
ADEL Josh Rachele behind 5.4.34 - 8.7.55 17:50
ADEL Mitch Hinge goal 5.4.34 - 9.7.61 19:31
ADEL Izak Rankine goal 5.4.34 - 10.7.67 21:17
ADEL Darcy Fogarty behind 5.4.34 - 10.8.68 23:15
ADEL Josh Rachele goal 5.4.34 - 11.8.74 26:11
Q3 ESSE Jye Caldwell goal 6.4.40 - 11.8.74 02:01
ESSE Nick Bryan behind 6.5.41 - 11.8.74 03:21
ESSE Jade Gresham goal 7.5.47 - 11.8.74 03:59
ADEL Ben Keays goal 7.5.47 - 12.8.80 06:01
ESSE Nate Caddy behind 7.6.48 - 12.8.80 08:22
ADEL Ben Keays goal 7.6.48 - 13.8.86 12:26
ADEL Taylor Walker goal 7.6.48 - 14.8.92 14:34
ADEL Dan Curtin goal 7.6.48 - 15.8.98 16:37
ESSE Thomas Edwards behind 7.7.49 - 15.8.98 18:26
ADEL Josh Rachele goal 7.7.49 - 16.8.104 20:34
ADEL Izak Rankine goal 7.7.49 - 17.8.110 22:03
ESSE Isaac Kako goal 8.7.55 - 17.8.110 24:30
ESSE Zach Merrett goal 9.7.61 - 17.8.110 29:16
ADEL Riley Thilthorpe behind 9.7.61 - 17.9.111 31:42
ADEL Rushed behind 9.7.61 - 17.10.112 32:25
ADEL Riley Thilthorpe goal 9.7.61 - 18.10.118 34:49
Q4 ESSE Zach Merrett goal 10.7.67 - 18.10.118 00:21
ADEL Jake Soligo goal 10.7.67 - 19.10.124 01:46
ADEL Alex Neal-Bullen goal 10.7.67 - 20.10.130 03:41
ESSE Jade Gresham behind 10.8.68 - 20.10.130 05:19
ESSE Thomas Edwards goal 11.8.74 - 20.10.130 06:23
ESSE Thomas Edwards goal 12.8.80 - 20.10.130 09:34
ESSE Elijah Tsatas behind 12.9.81 - 20.10.130 10:51
ADEL Sid Draper behind 12.9.81 - 20.11.131 11:21
ESSE Jye Menzie behind 12.10.82 - 20.11.131 12:43
ADEL Lachlan Sholl goal 12.10.82 - 21.11.137 14:17
ADEL Darcy Fogarty goal 12.10.82 - 22.11.143 17:34
ESSE Sam Draper goal 13.10.88 - 22.11.143 19:32
ESSE Isaac Kako goal 14.10.94 - 22.11.143 23:21
ADEL Riley Thilthorpe goal 14.10.94 - 23.11.149 26:48
ADEL Jake Soligo goal 14.10.94 - 24.11.155 31:37
ESSE Zach Merrett goal 15.10.100 - 24.11.155 33:01
ADEL Josh Rachele goal 15.10.100 - 25.11.161 34:35