Giants “big brother” the Suns, yet again…
The GWS Giants picked up a monumental win for their 2025 flag hopes when they put a dismal and disappointing Gold Coast outfit to the sword at People First Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Giants were relentless with their pressure and impressively efficient in front of goal as they pieced together a magnificent pre-finals tune-up performance, collecting an 11.10 (76) to 17.9 (111) victory.
It was the Giants 15th win in their past 16 games against the Suns, and it was spurred on by insanely accurate goal kicking and career performances to both Harvey Thomas and Harry Rowston.
The visitors nailed 13 of their 14 set shot attempts on the day, while Thomas collected a career-high 23 disposals on the wing and Rowston a career-high four goals replacing the injured Jake Stringer spot in the front half.
Don’t get me wrong, the usual stars still did their thing. Finn Callaghan should secure himself three Brownlow votes for his 29 disposals, eight marks, six tackles and eight clearances, while Lachie Whitfield buzzed around the half back and wing areas putting his sublime skills to good use.
But overall, it was the efforts of some of the less-established boys like Thomas, Rowston and Darcy Jones that ensured GWS always had a response for the next Gold Coast challenge.
The large margin reflected on the scoreboard didn’t blow out until after the half time break, however, following a first half that had it looking like we were set up for a tight finish between two genuine finals contenders.
The Giants struck first on the day when veteran Stephen Coniglio snapped truly on his left foot within the opening two minutes, and they continued to press early.
The visitors won the first six clearances of the day (no easy task given the quality of their opposition midfield) and while the Suns missed their chances, the Giants made no such mistakes as they also snared the next two through Rowston and skipper Toby Greene.
It was a three-goal punch that forced the Suns to respond.
They looked like they had finally woken up when Ethan Read converted his second contested mark for the quarter into his side’s first goal, but a delightful coast-to-coast passage pieced together by Whitfield, Harry Himmelberg and Thomas allowed Bedford to get on the end of it and stretch the lead out again.
The 15-point margin at quarter time could have been larger if Jake Riccardi converted his set shot after the siren. His miss would be the only blemish on GWS’ record for the day, however, as they would go on to convert all of their set shots in the ensuing three quarters.
The second quarter was a tighter contest, with Gold Coast feeling like the better side for much of it.
Matt Rowell was being kept fairly quiet (at least for his lofty standards) in a head-to-head match-up with Tom Green, but Touk Miller and Noah Anderson began to wrestle some clearance momentum back for the home side.
Their efforts helped Ben Long nail the first of the term, but Xavier O’Halloran responded in splendid style when he launched a left-foot bomb from 50m out close to the boundary line.
The Suns continued pressing, though, and they were within a straight kick when Rowell and Ben Ainsworth delivered some much-needed polish.
It appeared the tide had turned in the Suns’ favour, but when you give GWS an inch, they take a mile. The Suns turned the heat off for the last five minutes of the period, and GWS made them pay.
Jy Farrar and Brayden Fiorini both had horror set shot misses, and they came back to bite the hosts as Jones and Aaron Cadman both kicked truly at the other end.
Rowston booted his third on the half time siren, and in the blink of an eye what was a competitive contest had turned into a 22-point gap at half time thanks to a three-goal Giants blitz.
It was the third quarter that proved the backbreaker, however.
Rowston kicked his fourth of the day to get the ball rolling, before Suns spearhead Ben King proved he in fact was alive and breathing (Sam Taylor had made it hard to tell…) with a responding major.
It was at this point, about 10 minutes into the third term, that I wrote the following in my notes: “Big ten minutes coming up for Suns, perhaps for their season – do they have another level?”
It would appear I cursed them for as soon as I looked up from my notepad, the Giants put together another run of three goals that would all but put the game beyond reach.
Max Gruzewski nailed the first of his three second-half goals as an immediate response to the King major, capping off some brilliant work by Jones to keep the ball in a dangerous spot.
Riccardi followed with a strike from distance, and Bedford came next to stretch the margin to 39 points.
The third ended as a six-goals-to-two landslide for the Giants, and from there the fourth felt like a formality.
In the end, it was a massive win for the Giants who now move into sixth on the ladder, while the Suns will likely find themselves out of the top eight (albeit with the extra game in hand) by the time the round is over granted the Bulldogs take care of the Eagles on Sunday.
GWS will need to bring a similar performance to ensure they don’t slip on the banana peel against the Saints next week, while the Suns will brace for an emotional Port Adelaide sending off Ken Hinkley in front of a home crowd before their postponed date with the Bombers.
As always, I can never fit everything I want to say into the match report, so let’s get into some of the things that caught my eye.
Sam Taylor just committed regicide
Yep, the Giants full back killed the King in this one.
Now you don’t need me to tell you how good Sam Taylor is. Almost every footy fan is aware he is one of the best full backs in the game, and he is one of few GWS players that I believe does get the credit he truly deserves.
Still, when he turns in a day like this one, you just have to sit back and applaud.
Ben King had two handballs at half time. That was his entire statline during the period when the game was up for grabs.
But not only did Taylor blanket the second-place Coleman contender (we have to say it that way now since Jezza has it all wrapped up), he still found a way to peel off him at times and help out his fellow defenders with important spoils and intercept marks.
I barrack for a WA club (after Friday night I would prefer not to say which one…), and there is no player in the league I would love to request a trade home more than Sam freaking Taylor.
Meanwhile, the Suns defenders didn’t fare so well
Will Powell had a rough day.
His 21 disposals and six marks on the stat sheet will tell you he went alright, but don’t be fooled by the numbers. What they won’t tell you is how Powell gave up a goal because he let Toby Greene stand in 20m of space all on his own, and how he did the exact same thing for Rowston in the third term.
His actual “defending” in this game was putrid, and his ball use entering inside 50m wasn’t a great deal better.
It’s harsh to single him out, though, as almost all the Suns defenders were below standard.
I thought Bohdi Uwland had a decent day, but John Noble and Joel Jeffrey had little impact on the contest, and these are the guys the Suns need up and running if they are going to win big games.
Sam Collins probably falls somewhere in the middle after an intriguing battle with Aaron Cadman. He did enough to keep the young Giants star off the scoreboard for most of the day, but Cadman was able to impact in other ways, mainly bringing the ball to ground in the aerial contest and letting his small runners feast.
Whatever way you look at it, the Giants’ forwards won the day comfortably over the Suns’ defenders – a worry for Damien Hardwick heading into finals.
GWS “fringe” players are a serious weapon
I use the term “fringe” players loosely, for most of these guys are cemented in the starting team, but the players I am referring to here are the ones that aren’t the established superstars.
Guys like Harvey Thomas, Darcy Jones, Xavier O’Halloran, Harry Rowston and Ryan Angwin: The Giants are chock-full of these chaos-causing runners who seem poised to turn into stars in their own right in the very near future.
Thomas was fantastic from the opening bounce in this one, not just for his running along the wing, but his work in the contest is surprisingly efficient for a bloke of his size. He always seems to make the right decisions, and take a step in the right direction, just as the opposition is closing in.
And while I confessed my desire for Sam Taylor to request a trade back to WA at some point, I would be more than happy to settle for Darcy Jones.
Jones has pace and knows how to use it. He constantly paddles the ball to his advantage and lets his legs do the rest, and his vision and ability to know where his teammates are is elite.
These are the types of players that could make a world of difference when the whips are cracking in the finals, and you’re begging for a breakout play.
Finn Callaghan, good at football
I don’t think I could put it any simpler, but yes, Finn Callaghan can play this game superbly.
His ability to find space when there is little to be found, or to somehow get on his lethal left foot despite how badly the opposition is trying to force him right, makes him so hard to defend.
Being an epic, line-breaking runner seems to a pre-requisite at the Giants, and this bloke has that in spades.
As a footy public, we’ve watched in awe all year as this bloke has put up performance after performance in a breakout campaign – and soon we’ll get to see him in action on the big stage.
I can’t wait to see what Callaghan can do in the finals. He feels built for it.
Some headscratching umpire decisions
I am trying to refrain from writing about umpires in my reports these days. To be honest, the constant whinging discourse that spews out from any losing fan toward the umps after a game is tedious.
However, I feel it’s necessary to get some lines out about this one.
Suns fans have no doubt rolled their eyes through this whole report noting there hasn’t been a single mention of the umpires, and they probably have a right to feel a bit miffed.
While it wouldn’t have changed the result of the game, some of the calls (particularly those against Ben Long) were just plain bad.
Twice the Suns forward was punished with downfield free kicks for… well, I’m not sure what for exactly. The bumps he delivered were not late, and they were not high. It felt like the umpires were calling Long differently based on his reputation as a hard, physical footballer.
He is still allowed to pressure the opposition, and as long he doesn’t dong anyone’s noggin, he is still allowed to put the hip and shoulder in.
Suns fans will no doubt remember plenty of other calls that went against them in key moments, but those happen all the time and are largely just luck of the day. The ones I’m mainly miffed at here at the reactionary ones that punished Long for, basically, doing his job.
And a few quick ones to finish us off…
- Joe Fonti will grow into a bloody good player, but trying to mark when you should spoil is a surefire way to earn a spray from your coach.
- The Green v Rowell match-up was an interesting way for the Giants to take on the Suns superstar. It wasn’t a tag, but maybe putting your own clearance beast on theirs and letting them go at it is the key to at least quelling a little of Rowell’s imposing influence.
- GWS’ ability to put together three or four goals just when they need it most is a wildcard for the finals.
- Touk Miller was very good in this game. If you’re looking for bright spots as a Suns fan, the former captain finding some form ahead of his first finals campaign is one of them.
- Consistently good set-shot goal kicking is just as fun to watch as those impossible-angle majors. Watching the GWS forwards continuously jail them from distance was a thing of beauty.
- On the flip side of that, Jy Farrar might want to spend this week practicing his set shots. Had two nightmare misses in this one.
- The Suns lost the tackle count in this one 50-68, which actually flatters them a little bit. They only laid five tackles in the first term, and GWS brought superior pressure all day.
Alright, that’s enough out of me, hooroo!
