2025 AFL Season Round 18: North Melbourne v Western Bulldogs

This is the match report for the match played on 3 July 2025 between North Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs during round eighteen of the 2025 season of the Australian Football League. North Melbourne hosted the Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium. Jy Simpkin captained the hosts. Marcus Bontempelli captained the visitors with Tom Liberatore as vice-captain. The hosts were coached by Alastair Clarkson and the visitors were coached by Luke Beveridge.

North Melbourne (13.7.85) were defeated by the Western Bulldogs (20.14.134).

Match Details

Season: 2025 AFL Season
Round: Round 18
Teams: North Melbourne v Western Bulldogs
Date: Thursday 3 July 2025
Time: 7:30 PM
Venue: Marvel Stadium
Attendance: 25,009

Match Results

Outcome: North Melbourne def. by Western Bulldogs
Score: 13.7.85 - 20.14.134

Quarter Breakdown

	Q1			Q2			Q3			Q4			Final
North Melbourne	5	.	2	8	.	3	12	.	6	13	.	7	13	.	7	(85)
Western Bulldogs	4	.	2	10	.	4	15	.	10	20	.	14	20	.	14	(134)
Margin	NMLB by 6			WBUL by 13			WBUL by 22			WBUL by 49			WBUL by 49
Duration	33:51			33:07			34:06			30:50			2:11:54

Score Worm

This chart is oriented such that the margin is positive when the hosts (North Melbourne) are in the lead and is negative when the visitors (Western Bulldogs) are in the lead.

Honour Roll

North Melbourne

Captain: Jy Simpkin
Coach: Alastair Clarkson

Western Bulldogs

Captain: Marcus Bontempelli
Vice-Captain: Tom Liberatore
Coach: Luke Beveridge

Brownlow Votes

Player	Team	#	Votes
Tom Liberatore	WBUL	21	3
Ed Richards	WBUL	20	2
Aaron Naughton	WBUL	33	1

AFLCA Champion Votes

Player	Team	#	Votes	5	4	3	2	1

Player Statistics

North Melbourne

#	Player	Pos.	ToG%	GL	BH	DI	KI	HB	MK	HO	TA	CL	CR	FF	FA	RF	IF
25	Curtis, Paul	FPL	82%	1	0	7	5	2	1	0	4	1	3	2	1	0	3
5	Daniel, Caleb	CHB	88%	0	0	25	15	10	5	0	4	1	4	0	2	6	2
9	Davies-Uniacke, Luke	C↓	17%	0	0	6	3	3	0	0	1	2	2	1	1	1	1
18	Dawson, Wil	BPL	85%	0	0	8	8	0	3	3	4	0	2	2	0	4	0
7	Duursma, Zane	INT	62%	0	0	6	3	3	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	3
46	Hansen, Robert	SUB↑	53%	1	0	11	8	3	4	0	3	1	3	1	0	0	1
17	Hardeman, Riley	INT	78%	0	0	20	14	6	1	0	1	1	3	2	2	6	1
37	Harvey, Cooper	INT	75%	1	1	15	10	5	4	0	2	0	4	1	2	2	2
41	Konstanty, Jacob	HFFL	86%	0	0	8	4	4	2	0	5	0	0	1	0	0	1
20	Larkey, Nick	CHF	83%	5	1	9	8	1	6	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0
19	Logue, Griffin	BPR	88%	0	0	13	8	5	6	0	1	1	4	0	2	3	0
39	Maley, Finnbar	FF	83%	1	0	8	2	6	4	5	6	1	2	0	0	0	1
10	McKercher, Colby	HFFR	83%	1	0	32	23	9	9	0	1	1	3	0	0	5	3
2	O'Sullivan, Finn	HBFL	80%	0	0	11	4	7	3	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	1
29	Phillips, Will	INT	71%	0	0	16	8	8	4	0	4	6	2	1	1	0	2
32	Pink, Toby	FB	97%	0	0	10	3	7	4	0	0	0	3	0	2	3	0
24	Powell, Tom	RO	80%	0	0	25	12	13	4	0	8	6	9	1	1	5	3
8	Scott, Bailey	HBFR	83%	0	0	18	9	9	6	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	5
3	Sheezel, Harry	RR	87%	1	1	22	10	12	3	0	6	3	3	2	1	2	3
12	Simpkin, Jy (c)	WR	85%	0	0	16	9	7	2	0	4	6	5	1	2	0	4
15	Stephens, Dylan	WL	91%	0	1	16	11	5	4	0	1	1	2	0	1	2	1
38	Xerri, Tristan	RU	76%	0	0	17	8	9	1	30	5	7	1	1	0	2	3
44	Zurhaar, Cameron	FPR	87%	2	1	10	8	2	4	0	3	1	2	1	2	1	3
Rushed					2
Total (23 players)				13	7	329	193	136	81	38	63	41	61	19	20	44	43

R. Hansen replaced L. Davies-Uniacke.

Western Bulldogs

#	Player	Pos.	ToG%	GL	BH	DI	KI	HB	MK	HO	TA	CL	CR	FF	FA	RF	IF
4	Bontempelli, Marcus (c)	RR	82%	2	1	25	13	12	5	0	10	0	1	2	0	0	4
29	Bramble, Lachie	BPL	73%	0	1	20	11	9	3	0	3	1	0	0	0	3	2
17	Coffield, Nick	BPR	82%	0	0	12	7	5	5	0	3	0	2	1	1	4	1
31	Dale, Bailey	HBFR	85%	2	0	13	9	4	2	0	2	0	1	1	1	1	3
10	Darcy, Sam	FF	82%	4	2	12	8	4	6	4	3	2	5	2	2	0	2
15	Duryea, Taylor	INT	81%	0	0	8	4	4	3	0	2	0	3	0	1	1	2
44	English, Tim	RU	84%	2	1	13	11	2	7	29	4	2	0	0	0	0	3
27	Freijah, Joel	WR	88%	1	0	12	9	3	3	0	1	4	4	1	2	0	4
38	Garcia, Riley	FPR	73%	0	0	18	8	10	0	0	4	3	2	3	1	0	3
6	Hynes, Cooper	INT	68%	0	0	11	7	4	3	0	4	1	2	1	0	0	2
39	Johannisen, Jason	HBFL	82%	0	1	15	11	4	5	0	0	0	1	0	0	3	3
8	Kennedy, Matthew	HFFR	83%	0	0	25	12	13	4	0	5	4	5	0	3	3	6
21	Liberatore, Tom (vc)	RO	80%	2	0	27	16	11	5	0	10	6	1	1	0	1	7
7	Lobb, Rory	CHB	100%	0	0	15	11	4	9	0	1	0	2	1	1	4	3
30	McNeil, Lachlan	SUB	0%	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
33	Naughton, Aaron	CHF	85%	5	2	14	11	3	9	0	1	0	1	1	1	0	2
18	O'Donnell, James	FB	93%	0	0	10	7	3	5	0	0	0	0	1	0	4	2
25	Poulter, Caleb	HFFL	68%	0	0	10	4	6	1	0	4	1	3	0	0	0	1
20	Richards, Ed	C	82%	0	2	26	18	8	3	0	2	9	6	1	2	0	7
9	Sanders, Ryley	WL	89%	0	0	23	9	14	3	0	4	0	3	2	2	1	3
23	Vandermeer, Laitham	FPL	73%	1	1	17	6	11	2	0	2	0	3	0	0	0	3
14	West, Rhylee	INT	84%	1	0	13	4	9	1	0	4	2	2	2	1	0	1
34	Williams, Bailey	INT	85%	0	0	17	7	10	4	0	2	0	1	0	1	2	1
Rushed					3
Total (23 players)				20	14	356	203	153	88	33	71	35	48	20	19	27	65

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

North Melbourne							Coach: Alastair Clarkson
BACK							FOLLOWER		INTERCHANGE
	29	L. Bramble	18	J. O'Donnell	17	N. Coffield	38	T. Xerri	7	Z. Duursma
	44	C. Zurhaar	39	F. Maley	25	P. Curtis	3	H. Sheezel	17	R. Hardeman
FORWARD							24	T. Powell	37	C. Harvey
HALF-BACK									29	W. Phillips
	39	J. Johannisen	7	R. Lobb	31	B. Dale			46	R. Hansen
	10	C. McKercher	20	N. Larkey	41	J. Konstanty
HALF-FORWARD
CENTRE
	9	R. Sanders	20	E. Richards	27	J. Freijah
	12	J. Simpkin (c)	9	L. Davies-Uniacke	15	D. Stephens	FOLLOWER		INTERCHANGE
CENTRE							44	T. English	15	T. Duryea
HALF-FORWARD							4	M. Bontempelli (c)	6	C. Hynes
	25	C. Poulter	33	A. Naughton	8	M. Kennedy	21	T. Liberatore (vc)	14	R. West
	8	B. Scott	5	C. Daniel	2	F. O'Sullivan			34	B. Williams
HALF-BACK									30	L. McNeil
FORWARD
	23	L. Vandermeer	10	S. Darcy	38	R. Garcia
	19	G. Logue	32	T. Pink	18	W. Dawson
BACK
Western Bulldogs							Coach: Luke Beveridge

Score Timeline

Quarter	Team	Scoring Event	Score			Time
Q1	WBUL	Laitham Vandermeer goal	0.0.0	-	1.0.6	00:57
	WBUL	Tim English goal	0.0.0	-	2.0.12	02:48
	NMLB	Harry Sheezel behind	0.1.1	-	2.0.12	05:19
	NMLB	Nick Larkey goal	1.1.7	-	2.0.12	07:02
	NMLB	Nick Larkey goal	2.1.13	-	2.0.12	11:02
	NMLB	Nick Larkey goal	3.1.19	-	2.0.12	12:18
	WBUL	Sam Darcy behind	3.1.19	-	2.1.13	14:27
	WBUL	Tom Liberatore goal	3.1.19	-	3.1.19	17:29
	WBUL	Tim English goal	3.1.19	-	4.1.25	22:45
	NMLB	Paul Curtis goal	4.1.25	-	4.1.25	26:43
	WBUL	Marcus Bontempelli behind	4.1.25	-	4.2.26	28:39
	NMLB	Nick Larkey goal	5.1.31	-	4.2.26	30:55
	NMLB	Nick Larkey behind	5.2.32	-	4.2.26	33:48
Q2	WBUL	Aaron Naughton goal	5.2.32	-	5.2.32	01:24
	NMLB	Harry Sheezel goal	6.2.38	-	5.2.32	03:45
	WBUL	Bailey Dale goal	6.2.38	-	6.2.38	09:42
	NMLB	Nick Larkey goal	7.2.44	-	6.2.38	11:28
	WBUL	Aaron Naughton goal	7.2.44	-	7.2.44	14:45
	NMLB	Cooper Harvey behind	7.3.45	-	7.2.44	19:09
	WBUL	Aaron Naughton goal	7.3.45	-	8.2.50	21:08
	NMLB	Cameron Zurhaar goal	8.3.51	-	8.2.50	24:06
	WBUL	Ed Richards behind	8.3.51	-	8.3.51	25:27
	WBUL	Aaron Naughton behind	8.3.51	-	8.4.52	28:52
	WBUL	Marcus Bontempelli goal	8.3.51	-	9.4.58	30:15
	WBUL	Aaron Naughton goal	8.3.51	-	10.4.64	31:54
Q3	WBUL	Lachie Bramble behind	8.3.51	-	10.5.65	02:32
	WBUL	Jason Johannisen behind	8.3.51	-	10.6.66	05:17
	NMLB	Cooper Harvey goal	9.3.57	-	10.6.66	06:00
	WBUL	Sam Darcy goal	9.3.57	-	11.6.72	09:22
	NMLB	Finnbar Maley goal	10.3.63	-	11.6.72	11:06
	NMLB	Rushed behind	10.4.64	-	11.6.72	13:31
	NMLB	Robert Hansen goal	11.4.70	-	11.6.72	15:00
	WBUL	Tom Liberatore goal	11.4.70	-	12.6.78	18:03
	WBUL	Rushed behind	11.4.70	-	12.7.79	19:15
	WBUL	Ed Richards behind	11.4.70	-	12.8.80	20:41
	WBUL	Marcus Bontempelli goal	11.4.70	-	13.8.86	21:23
	NMLB	Rushed behind	11.5.71	-	13.8.86	23:12
	WBUL	Bailey Dale goal	11.5.71	-	14.8.92	24:01
	WBUL	Rushed behind	11.5.71	-	14.9.93	25:24
	WBUL	Tim English behind	11.5.71	-	14.10.94	27:40
	WBUL	Aaron Naughton goal	11.5.71	-	15.10.100	30:09
	NMLB	Cameron Zurhaar goal	12.5.77	-	15.10.100	31:55
	NMLB	Cameron Zurhaar behind	12.6.78	-	15.10.100	34:04
Q4	WBUL	Rushed behind	12.6.78	-	15.11.101	01:50
	WBUL	Sam Darcy goal	12.6.78	-	16.11.107	03:41
	WBUL	Laitham Vandermeer behind	12.6.78	-	16.12.108	05:22
	WBUL	Joel Freijah goal	12.6.78	-	17.12.114	09:58
	WBUL	Sam Darcy behind	12.6.78	-	17.13.115	12:55
	WBUL	Sam Darcy goal	12.6.78	-	18.13.121	14:52
	NMLB	Colby McKercher goal	13.6.84	-	18.13.121	18:23
	WBUL	Sam Darcy goal	13.6.84	-	19.13.127	21:21
	WBUL	Rhylee West goal	13.6.84	-	20.13.133	25:00
	WBUL	Aaron Naughton behind	13.6.84	-	20.14.134	27:58
	NMLB	Dylan Stephens behind	13.7.85	-	20.14.134	30:23

Links

2025 AFL Season

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