2025 AFL Round 18: Essendon v Gold Coast
This is the match report for the match played on 5 July 2025 between Essendon and Gold Coast during round 18 of the 2025 AFL season.
Essendon hosted Gold Coast at Marvel Stadium.
Zach Merrett captained the hosts with Andrew McGrath as vice-captain.
Noah Anderson captained the visitors.
The hosts were coached by Brad Scott and the visitors were coached by Damien Hardwick.
Essendon
Back:
A. McGrath (vice-capt.), J. Laverde, A. Roberts
Half-back:
B. Hobbs, J. Ridley, A. Clarke
Centre:
X. Duursma, Z. Merrett (capt.), L. Blakiston
Half-forward:
A. Perkins, N. Caddy, N. Martin
Forward:
Z. Johnson, P. Wright, I. Kako
Follower:
T. Goldstein, J. Caldwell, S. Durham
Int.:
L. Lual, A. May, J. Prior, W. Setterfield
Sub.:
J. Gresham
Gold Coast
Back:
B. Uwland, M. Andrew, O. Adams
Half-back:
J. Noble, W. Powell, D. Rioli
Centre:
L. Weller, M. Rowell, B. Fiorini
Half-forward:
B. Ainsworth, S. Flanders, B. Humphrey
Forward:
B. Long, J. Walter, B. King
Follower:
N. Moyle, T. Miller, N. Anderson (capt.)
Int.:
C. Budarick, S. Clohesy, J. Jeffrey, E. Read
Sub.:
A. Sexton
Essendon (11.8.74) were defeated by Gold Coast (18.7.115).
Goalkickers
Essendon: N. Caddy (3), A. May (3), J. Caldwell, A. Clarke, B. Hobbs, I. Kako, P. Wright
Gold Coast: B. King (4), E. Read (3), N. Anderson (2), B. Humphrey (2), B. Ainsworth, C. Budarick, B. Fiorini, J. Jeffrey, T. Miller, N. Moyle, J. Walter
As a result of this match, Essendon remained 13th on the ladder and Gold Coast were then 7th on the ladder (up from 9th) by the end of the day.
Match Details
Season:
2025 AFL Season
Round:
Round 18
Teams:
Essendon
v
Gold Coast
Date:
Saturday 5 July 2025
Time:
12:35 PM
Venue:
Marvel Stadium
Attendance:
29,672
Match Results
Outcome:
Essendon
def. by
Gold Coast
Score:
11.8.74 - 18.7.115
Quarter Breakdown
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Final | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essendon | 3 | . | 0 | 6 | . | 5 | 11 | . | 7 | 11 | . | 8 | 11 | . | 8 | (74) |
| Gold Coast | 3 | . | 1 | 7 | . | 3 | 12 | . | 4 | 18 | . | 7 | 18 | . | 7 | (115) |
| Margin | GCST by 1 | GCST by 4 | GCST by 3 | GCST by 41 | GCST by 41 | |||||||||||
| Duration | 32:42 | 31:25 | 35:03 | 30:59 | 2:10:09 | |||||||||||
Honour Roll
Coaches:
Brad Scott
(Essendon),
Damien Hardwick
(Gold Coast)
Captains:
Zach Merrett
(Essendon),
Noah Anderson
(Gold Coast)
Vice-Captains:
Andrew McGrath
(Essendon),
unknown
(Gold Coast)
Brownlow Votes
| Player | Team | # | Votes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Noah Anderson | GCST | 15 | 3 |
| Matt Rowell | GCST | 18 | 2 |
| Sam Durham | ESSE | 22 | 1 |
Player Statistics
Essendon
| # | Player | Pos. | ToG% | GL | BH | DI | KI | HB | MK | HO | TA | CL | CR | FF | FA | RF | IF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 46 | Blakiston, Lachlan | WR | 100% | 0 | 0 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 30 | Caddy, Nate | CHF | 94% | 3 | 1 | 12 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 6 | Caldwell, Jye | RR | 72% | 1 | 0 | 15 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 36 | Clarke, Angus | HBFR | 78% | 1 | 1 | 13 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| 22 | Durham, Sam | RO | 81% | 0 | 0 | 27 | 14 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 28 | Duursma, Xavier | WL | 82% | 0 | 1 | 16 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 17 | Goldstein, Todd | RU | 81% | 0 | 0 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 31 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | Gresham, Jade | SUB↑ | 18% | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Hobbs, Ben | HBFL | 81% | 1 | 0 | 19 | 8 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| 40 | Johnson, Zak | FPL | 74% | 0 | 0 | 16 | 7 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 10 | Kako, Isaac | FPR | 79% | 1 | 0 | 17 | 8 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 15 | Laverde, Jayden | FB | 100% | 0 | 0 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 34 | Lual, Luamon | INT | 67% | 0 | 0 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| 37 | Martin, Nic | HFFR | 85% | 0 | 0 | 22 | 14 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 26 | May, Archie | INT | 66% | 3 | 0 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 1 | McGrath, Andrew (vc) | BPL | 88% | 0 | 0 | 12 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 7 | Merrett, Zach (c) | C | 89% | 0 | 1 | 40 | 24 | 16 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| 16 | Perkins, Archie | HFFL↓ | 69% | 0 | 0 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 25 | Prior, Jaxon | INT | 77% | 0 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 14 | Ridley, Jordan | CHB | 79% | 0 | 0 | 18 | 14 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 1 |
| 21 | Roberts, Archie | BPR | 82% | 0 | 0 | 20 | 11 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 2 |
| 12 | Setterfield, Will | INT | 73% | 0 | 0 | 22 | 8 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 20 | Wright, Peter | FF | 84% | 1 | 1 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 21 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rushed | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| Total (23 players) | 11 | 8 | 341 | 190 | 151 | 74 | 55 | 67 | 35 | 53 | 26 | 22 | 34 | 55 | |||
J. Gresham replaced A. Perkins.
Gold Coast
| # | Player | Pos. | ToG% | GL | BH | DI | KI | HB | MK | HO | TA | CL | CR | FF | FA | RF | IF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 48 | Adams, Oscar | BPR | 79% | 0 | 0 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 9 | Ainsworth, Ben | HFFL | 77% | 1 | 1 | 14 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 15 | Anderson, Noah (c) | RO | 89% | 2 | 0 | 30 | 18 | 12 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| 1 | Andrew, Mac | FB | 90% | 0 | 0 | 12 | 11 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 1 |
| 35 | Budarick, Connor | INT | 70% | 1 | 0 | 12 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 33 | Clohesy, Sam | INT | 69% | 0 | 1 | 15 | 7 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 8 | Fiorini, Brayden | WR | 84% | 1 | 0 | 20 | 10 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 3 | Flanders, Sam | CHF | 91% | 0 | 0 | 24 | 4 | 20 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 19 | Humphrey, Bailey | HFFR | 88% | 2 | 1 | 18 | 9 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 40 | Jeffrey, Joel | INT | 78% | 1 | 0 | 32 | 19 | 13 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 7 |
| 34 | King, Ben | FPR | 86% | 4 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | Long, Ben | FPL↓ | 72% | 0 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | Miller, Touk | RR | 86% | 1 | 0 | 25 | 8 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| 21 | Moyle, Ned | RU | 83% | 1 | 1 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 35 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 2 | Noble, John | HBFL | 82% | 0 | 0 | 29 | 20 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| 27 | Powell, Wil | CHB | 90% | 0 | 0 | 20 | 10 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
| 20 | Read, Ethan | INT | 67% | 3 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | Rioli, Daniel | HBFR | 88% | 0 | 0 | 19 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| 18 | Rowell, Matt | C | 84% | 0 | 0 | 15 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| 6 | Sexton, Alex | SUB↑ | 11% | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 32 | Uwland, Bodhi | BPL | 92% | 0 | 0 | 16 | 13 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 0 |
| 4 | Walter, Jed | FF | 74% | 1 | 1 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 3 |
| 14 | Weller, Lachie | WL | 69% | 0 | 0 | 17 | 8 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Rushed | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| Total (23 players) | 18 | 7 | 367 | 199 | 168 | 85 | 40 | 78 | 38 | 65 | 22 | 26 | 44 | 53 | |||
A. Sexton replaced B. Long.
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 50sPlayer Line-Up
| Essendon | Coach: Brad Scott | ||||||||||||||
| BACK | FOLLOWER | INTERCHANGE | |||||||||||||
| 32 | B. Uwland | 1 | M. Andrew | 48 | O. Adams | 17 | T. Goldstein | 34 | L. Lual | ||||||
| 10 | I. Kako | 20 | P. Wright | 40 | Z. Johnson | 6 | J. Caldwell | 26 | A. May | ||||||
| FORWARD | 22 | S. Durham | 25 | J. Prior | |||||||||||
| HALF-BACK |
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12 | W. Setterfield | |||||||||||
| 2 | J. Noble | 27 | W. Powell | 17 | D. Rioli |
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11 | J. Gresham | ||||||
| 37 | N. Martin | 30 | N. Caddy | 16 | A. Perkins |
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| HALF-FORWARD |
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| CENTRE |
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| 14 | L. Weller | 18 | M. Rowell | 8 | B. Fiorini |
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| 46 | L. Blakiston | 7 | Z. Merrett (c) | 28 | X. Duursma | FOLLOWER | INTERCHANGE | ||||||||
| CENTRE | 21 | N. Moyle | 35 | C. Budarick | |||||||||||
| HALF-FORWARD | 11 | T. Miller | 33 | S. Clohesy | |||||||||||
| 9 | B. Ainsworth | 3 | S. Flanders | 19 | B. Humphrey | 15 | N. Anderson (c) | 40 | J. Jeffrey | ||||||
| 36 | A. Clarke | 14 | J. Ridley | 8 | B. Hobbs |
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20 | E. Read | ||||||
| HALF-BACK |
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6 | A. Sexton | |||||||||||
| FORWARD |
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| 22 | B. Long | 4 | J. Walter | 34 | B. King |
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| 21 | A. Roberts | 15 | J. Laverde | 1 | A. McGrath (vc) |
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| BACK |
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| Gold Coast | Coach: Damien Hardwick | ||||||||||||||
Score Timeline
| Quarter | Team | Scoring Event | Score | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | ESSE | Ben Hobbs goal | 1.0.6 | - | 0.0.0 | 09:22 |
| GCST | Bailey Humphrey goal | 1.0.6 | - | 1.0.6 | 10:51 | |
| GCST | Ethan Read goal | 1.0.6 | - | 2.0.12 | 12:51 | |
| GCST | Rushed behind | 1.0.6 | - | 2.1.13 | 19:48 | |
| ESSE | Nate Caddy goal | 2.0.12 | - | 2.1.13 | 27:47 | |
| ESSE | Angus Clarke goal | 3.0.18 | - | 2.1.13 | 30:58 | |
| GCST | Ethan Read goal | 3.0.18 | - | 3.1.19 | 32:39 | |
| Q2 | GCST | Joel Jeffrey goal | 3.0.18 | - | 4.1.25 | 01:40 |
| ESSE | Rushed behind | 3.1.19 | - | 4.1.25 | 02:57 | |
| ESSE | Angus Clarke behind | 3.2.20 | - | 4.1.25 | 04:02 | |
| ESSE | Rushed behind | 3.3.21 | - | 4.1.25 | 05:43 | |
| ESSE | Peter Wright behind | 3.4.22 | - | 4.1.25 | 07:39 | |
| GCST | Ben King goal | 3.4.22 | - | 5.1.31 | 09:39 | |
| ESSE | Nate Caddy goal | 4.4.28 | - | 5.1.31 | 11:59 | |
| GCST | Ethan Read goal | 4.4.28 | - | 6.1.37 | 14:04 | |
| ESSE | Xavier Duursma behind | 4.5.29 | - | 6.1.37 | 18:07 | |
| GCST | Ben Ainsworth behind | 4.5.29 | - | 6.2.38 | 22:34 | |
| GCST | Sam Clohesy behind | 4.5.29 | - | 6.3.39 | 22:59 | |
| ESSE | Peter Wright goal | 5.5.35 | - | 6.3.39 | 24:03 | |
| ESSE | Nate Caddy goal | 6.5.41 | - | 6.3.39 | 28:14 | |
| GCST | Ben King goal | 6.5.41 | - | 7.3.45 | 30:05 | |
| Q3 | GCST | Connor Budarick goal | 6.5.41 | - | 8.3.51 | 01:38 |
| ESSE | Nate Caddy behind | 6.6.42 | - | 8.3.51 | 03:09 | |
| ESSE | Isaac Kako goal | 7.6.48 | - | 8.3.51 | 03:40 | |
| GCST | Ned Moyle goal | 7.6.48 | - | 9.3.57 | 07:29 | |
| GCST | Noah Anderson goal | 7.6.48 | - | 10.3.63 | 09:04 | |
| ESSE | Archie May goal | 8.6.54 | - | 10.3.63 | 11:18 | |
| ESSE | Archie May goal | 9.6.60 | - | 10.3.63 | 13:24 | |
| GCST | Jed Walter behind | 9.6.60 | - | 10.4.64 | 15:09 | |
| ESSE | Archie May goal | 10.6.66 | - | 10.4.64 | 16:09 | |
| GCST | Jed Walter goal | 10.6.66 | - | 11.4.70 | 26:42 | |
| ESSE | Jye Caldwell goal | 11.6.72 | - | 11.4.70 | 29:49 | |
| ESSE | Rushed behind | 11.7.73 | - | 11.4.70 | 31:09 | |
| GCST | Ben King goal | 11.7.73 | - | 12.4.76 | 32:12 | |
| Q4 | GCST | Touk Miller goal | 11.7.73 | - | 13.4.82 | 01:23 |
| GCST | Ben Ainsworth goal | 11.7.73 | - | 14.4.88 | 02:58 | |
| GCST | Bailey Humphrey behind | 11.7.73 | - | 14.5.89 | 08:48 | |
| GCST | Ben King goal | 11.7.73 | - | 15.5.95 | 11:26 | |
| GCST | Rushed behind | 11.7.73 | - | 15.6.96 | 15:24 | |
| GCST | Bailey Humphrey goal | 11.7.73 | - | 16.6.102 | 20:34 | |
| GCST | Noah Anderson goal | 11.7.73 | - | 17.6.108 | 22:59 | |
| ESSE | Zach Merrett behind | 11.8.74 | - | 17.6.108 | 24:05 | |
| GCST | Brayden Fiorini goal | 11.8.74 | - | 18.6.114 | 27:04 | |
| GCST | Ned Moyle behind | 11.8.74 | - | 18.7.115 | 30:55 | |