Western Bulldogs v Essendon, Round 4 2026
2026 AFLRound 4
| Club | QT | HT | 3QT | FT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WBD | 7.2 44 | 10.7 67 | 10.14 74 | 14.15 99 |
| ESS | 1.3 9 | 1.7 13 | 5.9 39 | 9.11 65 |
Marvel Stadium, MelbourneLead changes 0
Recap
Bulldogs too strong for Essendon
The Western Bulldogs 14.15 (99) beat Essendon 9.11 (65) at Marvel Stadium in Round 4, a 34-point win.
Bulldogs led at every change.
Sam Darcy kicked three goals for Bulldogs and Aaron Naughton three; Jade Gresham kicked three for Essendon.
Marcus Bontempelli led the way with 35 disposals, a goal and 7 clearances.
A run of five straight goals in the first quarter broke the deadlock to lead by 30.
Bulldogs won the inside-50 count 54–36 and won the clearances 38–24.
In context
- Essendon’s 17th loss in a row, going back to last season.
- A career-high 37 disposals for Archie Roberts (previous best 34).
- A career-high 36 disposals for Matthew Kennedy (previous best 33).
- A career-high 34 disposals for Ryley Sanders (previous best 32).
Best on ground
Bulldogs · #4 · 84% game time
- 35
- D
- 1
- G
- 8
- M
- 3
- T
7 clearances · 6 inside 50s · AFL Fantasy 130
Brownlow votes2026 count
Score worm
Bulldogs aheadEssendon aheadGoalFour or more goals in a row
- 5 goals in a row to BulldogsQ1 7:22 – 15:49
- 5 goals in a row to BulldogsQ1 24:30 – Q2 16:58
- Bulldogs lead by 54Q2 20:51
- 4 goals in a row to EssendonQ3 0:52 – 12:49
BulldogsGoals
- S. Darcy 3.3
- A. Naughton 3.3
- A. Jones 3.1
- L. Bramble 1.1
- J. Dolan 1.1
- M. Bontempelli 1
- M. Kennedy 1
- B. Williams 1
EssendonGoals
- J. Gresham 3
- T. Edwards 2.2
- A. May 2.1
- P. Wright 1.2
- J. Caldwell 1
- Field umpires
- Cameron Jones, Robert O'Gorman, Andrew Heffernan, Harrison Birch
Western BulldogsFinal team
EssendonFinal team
How the FanCrew rating works
FanCrew rating: Champion Data rating points and AFL Fantasy points together, on a 0–10 scale against every AFL game since 2001 (Fantasy points alone before 2012). 6.5 is a typical game, 8.5 and up a standout. Players need 15% game time to be rated.
Bulldogs won the inside-50 count 54–36 and won the clearances 38–24.
WBDAttackESS
- Inside 50s 36
- Scoring shots 9.1120
- Accuracy 45%
54
2914.15
48%
The ball
- Disposals 342
- Contested possessions 110
- Clearances 24
- Marks 103
- Tackles 48
- Free kicks 19
- Biggest lead 0
402
129
38
107
42
21
54
Western Bulldogs14.1599
| Player | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4M. Bontempelli | 35 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 7 | 130 | 15 | 20 | 6 | 1 | |
| 8M. Kennedy | 36 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 11 | 109 | 14 | 22 | 4 | 0 | |
| 9R. Sanders | 34 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 109 | 10 | 24 | 3 | 0 | |
| 27J. Freijah | 26 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 96 | 13 | 13 | 6 | 0 | |
| 13O. Baker | 24 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 94 | 11 | 13 | 4 | 0 | |
| 34B. Williams | 20 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 87 | 11 | 9 | 2 | 0 | |
| 10S. Darcy | 15 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 94 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 2 | |
| 31B. Dale | 22 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 71 | 17 | 5 | 0 | 0 | |
| 19C. Budarick | 21 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 83 | 16 | 5 | 5 | 0 | |
| 29L. BrambleInt | 17 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 68 | 10 | 7 | 4 | 0 | |
| 7R. Lobb | 15 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 76 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| 32A. JonesInt | 10 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 62 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | |
| 33A. Naughton | 10 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 67 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 0 | |
| 14R. West | 19 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 57 | 6 | 13 | 1 | 0 | |
| 26J. Dolan | 16 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 59 | 7 | 9 | 4 | 0 | |
| 42S. DavidsonInt | 11 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 46 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 0 | |
| 44T. English | 8 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 51 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 16 | |
| 11L. Jaques | 17 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 67 | 10 | 7 | 1 | 0 | |
| 24B. Khamis | 12 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 52 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 0 | |
| 18J. O'Donnell | 11 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 41 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 0 | |
| 37M. SellwoodInt | 7 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | |
| 16J. Croft | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 28 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 6 | |
| 30L. McNeilInt | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | |
| Team | 402 | 14 | 13 | 107 | 42 | 38 | 1593 | 211 | 191 | 54 | 28 |
Essendon9.1165
| Player | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7Z. Merrett | 30 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 122 | 15 | 15 | 3 | 0 | |
| 21A. Roberts | 37 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 136 | 29 | 8 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2J. Farrow | 21 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 101 | 15 | 6 | 2 | 0 | |
| 31Z. Reid | 19 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 99 | 14 | 5 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1A. McGrath | 23 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 80 | 10 | 13 | 1 | 0 | |
| 25J. Prior | 22 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 82 | 16 | 6 | 3 | 0 | |
| 6J. Caldwell | 19 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 71 | 6 | 13 | 1 | 0 | |
| 11J. GreshamInt | 11 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 56 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 0 | |
| 3D. ParishInt | 19 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 56 | 8 | 11 | 5 | 0 | |
| 40Z. JohnsonInt | 23 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 88 | 11 | 12 | 0 | 0 | |
| 45T. Edwards | 10 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 52 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |
| 20P. Wright | 10 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 71 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 21 | |
| 26A. MayInt | 6 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 47 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 4 | |
| 22S. Durham | 12 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 52 | 5 | 7 | 1 | 0 | |
| 41S. El-HawliInt | 13 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 51 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 0 | |
| 4K. Langford | 12 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 45 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 0 | |
| 28X. Duursma | 15 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 50 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 0 | |
| 16A. Perkins | 8 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 38 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | |
| 46L. Blakiston | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 33 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 13 | |
| 44A. Day-Wicks | 10 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 58 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 0 | |
| 10I. Kako | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 18 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | |
| 35M. Guelfi | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |
| 32B. McKay | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 21 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Team | 342 | 9 | 9 | 103 | 48 | 24 | 1445 | 203 | 139 | 36 | 38 |
Bold marks each side's best in a column; tap a heading to sort. RTG is the FanCrew rating, AF is AFL Fantasy points.
First quarterWBD 7.2 (44) · ESS 1.3 (9)
- 5:15BehindA. NaughtonWBD0.1 (1) – 0.0 (0)
- 6:41BehindX. DuursmaESSLevel0.1 (1) – 0.1 (1)
- 7:22GoalM. BontempelliWBD1.1 (7) – 0.1 (1)
- 9:58GoalL. BrambleWBD2.1 (13) – 0.1 (1)
- 11:09GoalB. WilliamsWBD3.1 (19) – 0.1 (1)
- 12:47GoalS. DarcyWBD4.1 (25) – 0.1 (1)
- 15:49GoalS. DarcyWBD5.1 (31) – 0.1 (1)
- 19:11GoalA. MayESS5.1 (31) – 1.1 (7)
- 24:04BehindM. GuelfiESS5.1 (31) – 1.2 (8)
- 24:30GoalA. JonesWBD6.1 (37) – 1.2 (8)
- 26:30GoalA. JonesWBD7.1 (43) – 1.2 (8)
- 29:22RushedBulldogsWBD7.2 (44) – 1.2 (8)
- 31:01RushedEssendonESS7.2 (44) – 1.3 (9)
Second quarterWBD 3.5 (23) · ESS 0.4 (4)
- 4:44BehindS. DarcyWBD7.3 (45) – 1.3 (9)
- 6:29GoalA. NaughtonWBD8.3 (51) – 1.3 (9)
- 8:25GoalM. KennedyWBD9.3 (57) – 1.3 (9)
- 9:42BehindA. NaughtonWBD9.4 (58) – 1.3 (9)
- 12:24BehindA. MayESS9.4 (58) – 1.4 (10)
- 15:44BehindA. Day-WicksESS9.4 (58) – 1.5 (11)
- 16:58GoalA. JonesWBD10.4 (64) – 1.5 (11)
- 18:32RushedEssendonESS10.4 (64) – 1.6 (12)
- 19:38BehindJ. DolanWBD10.5 (65) – 1.6 (12)
- 20:51BehindS. DarcyWBD10.6 (66) – 1.6 (12)
- 22:41BehindS. El-HawliESS10.6 (66) – 1.7 (13)
- 24:51BehindL. BrambleWBD10.7 (67) – 1.7 (13)
Third quarterWBD 0.7 (7) · ESS 4.2 (26)
- 0:52GoalT. EdwardsESS10.7 (67) – 2.7 (19)
- 2:20GoalJ. GreshamESS10.7 (67) – 3.7 (25)
- 4:29BehindL. JaquesWBD10.8 (68) – 3.7 (25)
- 6:19GoalT. EdwardsESS10.8 (68) – 4.7 (31)
- 8:02BehindA. JonesWBD10.9 (69) – 4.7 (31)
- 9:26BehindR. WestWBD10.10 (70) – 4.7 (31)
- 12:49GoalP. WrightESS10.10 (70) – 5.7 (37)
- 14:44BehindR. WestWBD10.11 (71) – 5.7 (37)
- 16:45BehindL. McNeilWBD10.12 (72) – 5.7 (37)
- 18:44BehindT. EdwardsESS10.12 (72) – 5.8 (38)
- 20:43RushedBulldogsWBD10.13 (73) – 5.8 (38)
- 23:23BehindP. WrightESS10.13 (73) – 5.9 (39)
- 27:35BehindS. DarcyWBD10.14 (74) – 5.9 (39)
Last quarterWBD 4.1 (25) · ESS 4.2 (26)
- 1:48BehindP. WrightESS10.14 (74) – 5.10 (40)
- 3:10GoalA. NaughtonWBD11.14 (80) – 5.10 (40)
- 7:06GoalJ. DolanWBD12.14 (86) – 5.10 (40)
- 8:15GoalJ. GreshamESS12.14 (86) – 6.10 (46)
- 12:01BehindT. EdwardsESS12.14 (86) – 6.11 (47)
- 13:06GoalA. NaughtonWBD13.14 (92) – 6.11 (47)
- 14:42GoalJ. GreshamESS13.14 (92) – 7.11 (53)
- 16:49BehindA. NaughtonWBD13.15 (93) – 7.11 (53)
- 19:04GoalA. MayESS13.15 (93) – 8.11 (59)
- 20:31GoalS. DarcyWBD14.15 (99) – 8.11 (59)
- 23:26GoalJ. CaldwellESS14.15 (99) – 9.11 (65)