Round 21
Great Western Sydney Giants v Hawthorn Hawks
The Ultimate Eight Point Game
Pregame
Hawthorn is one of the three best-performed teams over the last ten rounds, and after being written off early the season they come into this game knocking on the door of an unlikely finals appearance. A win at Manuka Stadium and the Hawks will only be percentage out of the eight.
The Giants have a huge month of football ahead of them playing teams which are in the finals hunt right up to their necks. While Brisbane, Fremantle and the Western Bulldogs await, the Giants must first take care of the Hawks, and that is no easy task.
So why is this an Eight Point game?
There are many scenarios that can play out depending on which teams wins this match, and they are all ifs.
As it stands before the first bounce today, the Giants are eighth on the ladder with 12 wins and a healthy percentage, while the Hawks be ninth on the ladder with an okay percentage. If either team wins this game by 10 goals or more then the percentage value will place them a step ahead of the competition around them. With ladder positions being so tight from second to tenth (first place is now also open – I am still in denial), percentage will be a deciding factor in the makeup of the final eight.
If the Hawks win, they will be on 12 wins, and depending by how much they win by, they will finish this round at least ninth by percentage, or possibly even take the Giants position in the eight if they slaughter them.
The Giants are in precarious position and if they lose today their season might be heading for mothballs, but if they win then they can be considered a serious player in the run to September. For a team considered one of the favourites for the flag the time to stand up and be counted starts at Manuka Oval.
This is a season defining match for both clubs, and to the winner the season is well and truly on, while for the loser the road to the finals becomes a mathematician’s nightmare.
It is hard to tip the winner of this all or nothing match, and in the words of Olympic champion, Saya Sakakibara, it is time for both of these teams to “just farking go”.
The Crowd
Good to see a real full house at Manuka Oval enjoying the sunshine and the footy. A game of this magnitude deserves a decent crowd. For once the Giants didn’t need to fudge the figures.
Hawthorn’s Haircuts
The local Barber on Glenferrie Road must have made a fortunate last week as I have noticed some very different bouffants running around in the brown and gold. Weddle, Watson (with different coloured boots), Ginnivan and Chol have certainly spruced up their hair a bit, but the best new bouffant goes to Connor MacDonald. MacDonald is sporting a Friar Tuck style on top with shaved sides, complete with a sharpie like mullet with a beaded rat tail – impressive.
I prefer the Hawks haircuts to the Cats players with Alice Bands around their blond locks. I am interested as to what Mrs Mongrel thinks about the Hawkers bouffants (I’ve got her on the job – HB).
Let’s get Started at the End
Brent Daniels – no Cognilio, no Kelly, no worries
At three quarter time, with the Hawks were holding a convincing 28-point lead, I noted that the biggest question in the final quarter was percentage. Could the Giants pull the Hawks’ lead back a bit or would the Hawks extend their advantage?
It was a dumb question in hindsight, as any team that is spearheaded by Toby Greene and Jesse Hogan should never be written off.
Adam Kingsley made two vital moves at three quarter time that changed the whole complexion of this game. Firstly, Kingsley removed himself from the players’ bench and put himself back in the box, and secondly, he moved Brent Daniels into the centre. Both moves paid dividends as the Giants slammed on seven goals in the last quarter to overrun the Hawks in the dying minutes.
Brent Daniels was the architect who straightened the Giants up and created the free-flowing game style in the last quarter, which freed up Jesse Hogan and Toby Greene to finish off the good work up field. In the Giants’ flourish of goals in the last quarter, Daniels himself kicked a ripping goal from just outside 50 metres to reduce the margin to 10-points with four-minute remaining.
Daniels had 12 possessions, three tackles, two marks, and a goal in a dominant final quarter display.
With Daniels winning the ball in the centre, Toby and Jesse provided enough presence up forward to either kick goals (two goals each in the last) or smash the packs allowing the likes of Tom Green and Darcy Jones to feed of the crumbs. It is worth watching the final quarter just to realise how good both Toby and Jesse are in tight finishes.
Up back, Sam Taylor, Harry Himmelberg, Jack Buckley and Harry Perryman were all having quiet games, but in the final quarter they all lifted their ratings. Further, I was critical of the performance of Lachie Whitfield who had the ball on a string for the first three quarters as he was just bombing the ball long into the forward line, however, in the last quarter Whitfield was the conductor, starting a series of Giants half back waves resulting in goals up forward.
While Tom Green snapped the winning goal, it was Jack Buckley with about a minute left on the clock, as the Hawks were surging, who laid a brutal tackle on James Sicily which allowed the Giants to control the ball until the siren went. Personally, I rate Buckley’s tackle as important as Green’s snap from a pack crashed by Jesse Hogan.
So where did it go right and wrong for both teams.
The Hawks owned the first Three Quarters
For the first three quarters, the Hawks dominated the Giants, and with 30 minutes left they were cruising to a seemingly impressive victory.
While the Hawks dominated the first three stanzas, the Giants were not helping themselves with their inaccuracy in front of goals, managing only five goals and 11 behinds to the last break. Reminiscent of Saturday night’s game when the Blues cruelled their season with inaccuracy, it looked like the Giants were about to follow suit.
Apart from Jesse Hogan and a bit of Toby Green action, the Giants were impotent in front of goal. The Giants controlled the early forward territory battle at the start of the first quarter and for the majority of the second and third quarters, but they just never looked like scoring.
As impressive as Lachie Whitfield’s 22 and Lachie Ash’s 16 possessions read at halftime, they were just bombing the ball into the forward 50 hoping Hogan or Green would do the rest. There seemed to be no method in the Giants’ strategy going forward, and they couldn’t figure a way around the Hawks defensive setup.
While the Giants struggled for goals for three quarters, the Hawks were winning the ball from the centre, and they were capable of doing something the Giants weren’t – kicking goals. Karl Amon, Jai Newcombe, Mossimo D’Ambrosio (one of the most improved players in the league), James Worpel and Conor Nash were well on top, not only in the centre, but around the ground as well.
With the Hawks midfielders firing, the first and second efforts of their underrated smalls, Nick Watson, Jack Ginnivan and Dylan Moore, were impressive. Ginnivan seems to be a more rounded team player at the Hawks than when he was at the Pies, while the flashy Watson is playing a team first game and performing the non-negotiables like tackling, smothering and applied pressure on his direct opponent, while Dylan Moore is Mr Consistency.
The Hawks’ defensive pressure in the second and third quarters was off the charts. Hawthorn’s defensive setup forced the Giants mids and backs to bomb the ball from beyond 50 metres out as they set up ring of steel around the 50-metre arc. Danial Andrews himself would have been proud of the Hawkers’ ‘ring of steel’.
For three quarters, the Hawks’ defence led by Sam Frost, Jack Schrimshaw, Blake Hardwick, Changkuoth Jiath, James Sicily and, Jarman Impey effectively repelled forward thrust after forward thrust and their perceived pressure created uncertainty in the Giants forwards when they did get a chance to have a shot at goal. The only thorn in the side of the Hawks was Jesse Hogan, who threatened all match to tear the game apart.
The Five Goal Curse?
For reasons unknown this year, leads of five goals or just under at the last change mean very little. I don’t know if teams go ultra defensive trying to hang on, or they just lose their nerve, but there is a trend this year of teams being run down in the last 30 minutes of matches after having the game under control. The latest victim of the curse of the five-goal lead is Hawthorn, who were followed a couple hours later by Fremantle as they succumbed to the Bombers after leading by 27 points in the last.
How did Hawthorn snatch defeat from the jaws of victory?
As I write this article I am still perplexed as to how the Hawks lost this game. With five minutes left on the clock they still held a 16-point lead, and, as impressive as the Giants were in the last quarter, it still looked unlikely they would win. Well… until Toby Greene and Jesse Hogan stamped their imprimatur on this game.
Only a handful of players in the AFL have the ability to bamboozle and stun opposition teams, and the Giants have two, in Toby and Jesse. Kingsley’s move of Brent Daniel’s to the centre was inspired and it straightened the Giants right up with his burst and run bringing other players into the game, but it was the presence and class of Greene and Hogan who got the Giants over the line.
This is no slight on the young Hawks, but they looked like rabbits caught in the headlights as Toby and Jesse willed their side over the line. Sadly, for the young Hawks, this is the second time this year they have lacked the experience and maturity necessary to at least control tempo when another team is on the charge in the last quarter. This loss was reminiscent of the Port Adelaide defeat.
Come season’s end the Hawks hierarchy will rue their capitulations to both Port Adelaide and the Giants, but given Sam Mitchell has stated over and over he is building a team which can sustain long term success then such losses are part of the learnings required.
Some Quick Mentions
Lloyd Meek and Kieran Briggs
The ruck battle between Meek and Briggs was a ripper, with big Lloyd winning their contest on points, especially around the ground. Of concern for the Giants is Briggs’ shoulder as he looked uncomfortable a few times throughout the match when contact or pressure was applied to his shoulder.
Jack Gunston or Luke Breust?
On paper Jack Gunston had a great game with four sausage-rolls, but the reality was he had only five possessions for the entire game. Very proficient, but from week to week is it sustainable, especially considering Hawthorn’s other veteran Luke Breust is being used predominantly as a super-sub.
Both players have been great servants of the Hawthorn Football Club and performed well this year, but is it in the Hawks best interest to offer both another contract in 2025?
Sam Taylor
Sam Taylor probably didn’t have his best match at Manuka Oval, but in the last quarter he found another gear to help get the Giants over the line. Taylor is slowly getting back to his best form at the right time of the year for the Giants as they prepare for September action.
Aaron Cadman
Aaron Cadman is one of the most frustrating players to watch. Cadman looks like he could rip a game to shreds off his own boot but looks can be deceiving. In many ways Cadman reminds me of a young Tom Boyd and for the Giants sake, I hope he finds his true form and realises his potential in September the same way Boyd did in the September of 2016. At the moment Cadman is just another player not living up to his potential.
Upcoming
Hawthorn has a MUST WIN mini-final against the out of form Blues next Sunday at the MCG, in a game that promises to be a bloody beauty.
GWS head north to the Gabbatoir next Saturday afternoon for a date with destiny against the all-conquering Lions. A huge ask, but these are the games the Giants need to win to maintain their top four credentials.
