The GWS Giants’ run came to an end at the hands of the Sydney Swans in their 26th Derby.
As the rain made for a slippery affair, it was the Swans who made the most of their chances, punishing the Giants for their poor forward 50 entries, going coast-to-coast on several occasions to hit the scoreboard at the other end.
When you break this game down, it is the sort of contest that indicates the Giants should have won. In just about every key statistic, they were ahead. More inside 50s, more marks, more clearances, more tackles, more disposals, more contested possessions, and less turnovers.
That combination of stats rarely results in a loss, but the one stat that truly matters was what made the difference – kicking for goal.
As the Giants had 25 scoring shots for 12 goals, the Swans only needed 21 shots to register their 15 goals for the game. The result was a very frustrated GWS team and a Sydney team that were able to counter-punch well enough and often enough to make their attacks count.
The Swans finished up 11-point winners and kept their season alive with three rounds to go. As of writing, they sat just percentage outside the top eight and with a bit of momentum behind them now, could be winding up for another September run; something that seemed unlikely just a few short weeks ago.
Plenty to get through in this one – let’s jump into the Mongrel’s Good, Bad, and Ugly of the Sydney win over GWS.
THE GOOD
THE SYDNEY BIGS
The week Lance Franklin retired from the game, the question some were asking (the slow ones… that’s who was asking) revolved around how Sydney filled the void up forward.
Well, for those new to watching Sydney, they had it covered quite nicely, with many Swans supporters well aware of the capabilities of both Hayden McLean and Joel Amartey.
Whilst McLean finished with four goals, which is an outstanding return for a bloke of his size on a wet evening, I would like to focus on what Joel Amartey meant to this game.
In the first quarter, Amartey found himself matched up on Sam Taylor, who has been the best and most consistent key position defender in the caper for the last month and a half. And what did he do in this clash?
It’s quite simple, really – Amartey started demanding the footy, and the pinpoint passing of the Swans provided him with it. Taylor is a wonderful defender and he is always looking to zone off and help his teammates out. Amartey intelligently recognised this and after getting a clean run at the footy twice, had two goals on the board.
This meant that Taylor had a choice. He could either allow Amartey to run his own race and risk a bag of goals kicked, or he could tighten up on the forward and take responsibility for him. I knew what he’d choose, immediately.
To his credit, Taylor really knuckled down after quarter time. Amartey had two touches and two goals at quarter time. By the time the final siren sounded, he had three touches and two goals – yep, one touch after quarter time because Taylor was forced to respect him and stick close to him. The defender still managed to accrue 13 one-percenters and seven intercepts, but his impact was nowhere near the level it had been in the weeks prior. He won the battle, but it was a strategic win for the Swans, as it aided them winning the war. By having their best defensive exponent with his attention on one player, it opened the door for others.
Whilst three disposals does not seem like much – mainly because it isn’t – this was one of those games that you had to watch to appreciate the heavy work Amartey was doing to open up opportunities for others. Little blocks in marking contests, bringing the footy to ground for teammates, and keeping Sam Taylor occupied so he did not have his usual dominant game. That last one, alone, was worth its weight in gold.
As for McLean, he was one of the few players on the ground able to clunk marks with the wet ball. Finishing with four goals to his name, he worked hard both inside 50 and up around the ground when spelling Tom Hickey in the ruck. Adding a goal assist to his totals, it was a very nice night at the office for the big fella.
GOLDEN GULDEN
If someone did a sit-down interview with Errol Gulden, I’d love them to open up with a simple question – Errol, what position do you play?
If Gulden was being truthful, he’d probably say something like “I just go wherever I like on the field”.
And you know what? It may not be that far from the truth.
During the broadcast of this one, someone said he was becoming a star. No, no… he is a star. His last eight weeks have seen him average over 29 disposals per game, which is impressive enough in and of itself, but there is more to that number; we must consider the potency of his kicking. Gulden kills teams with his delivery. He hits targets other players didn’t even realise were there!
The way he was able to sweep onto the left foot and slot home a banana kick with the wet footy in the second quarter… there would not be a team in the league that are not envious of what the Swans have in this bloke.
He is 21 years of age, runs to the right spots, works both ends of the ground, and can pinpoint a teammate in the midst of three or four opposition players whilst making it look like he has acres of space. Gulden’s foot skills are so good that a teammate only needs a metre’s break for him to hit them on the chest.
He finished with two goals of his own in this one, having his way in the final quarter as the Giants attempted to rally. He had 12 of his 32 touches in the tight final period as once again, the cream rose to the top when the ball was slippery.
Between Gulden and Josh Daicos, the AFL is almost being dared to leave wingmen out of the All-Australian team is season. Even though he attended 17 centre bounces in this one, Gulden is still very much considered a wingman (amongst three other roles he plays), and the way he is going, he just might sneak in and pinch our 2023 Wingman of the Year Award. Update on that award coming this week at TMP.
THE FORWARD TAG RETURNS
Lachie Whitfield was coming off a few big weeks for GWS. Working off half-back, he has averaged over 28 touches per game since Round Eight, and had really settled into a role off half-back.
The move of Whitfield was something that former GWS coaches, Leon Cameron and Mark McVeigh had in common. They both believed that by taking Whitfield out of the hustle and bustle of the midfield, he would be able to better use his run and carry, as well as his foot skills t open the game up.
They weren’t wrong, but Horse Longmire didn’t really care about how much attention Whitfield was getting at half-back. All he knew was that he was about to get a fair bit more.
Last season, Ryan Clarke did some big jobs, owning his roles against players like Bailey Dale and Jack Sinclair. His biggest scalps were his dual efforts to curtail Nick Daicos.
And now, he can add Whitfield to the list, as well.
Employing a little bit of a looser tag, Clarke restricted Whitfield to just 19 disposals – his lowest total since Round One. Clarke is a master of gravitating to his target when they look threatening, yet maintaining his distance when they don’t. He is a tagger by nature, but doesn’t subscribe to having to be stepping on their toes all game long.
He finished with just 12 of his own disposals, but being a prolific ball winner was not what he was added t this Sydney team to do. No, Ryan Clarke, when healthy, is one of the best stoppers in the game.
And he stopped Whitfield in this one – just as Longmire requested of him.
The other effort of note came from Will Hayward, who responsibility for Harry Himmelberg. The newly re-signed Giant still managed 22 touches, but was not his usual damaging self. Whilst not as effective as the Clarke-role, Hayward still had moments where he kept Himmelberg busy.
THE BIG BOY UP AND ABOUT AGAIN
The rise of Kieren Briggs continues in the back half of the 2023 season, and he has been so impressive that the abundance of ruck talent at GWS may want to start thinking about where they would like to play their footy next season. Briggs has now moved into the number one position.
The Giants have Brayden Preuss, who is very big and not much else, but they also have Matt Flynn on their books and he has demonstrated a good load of talent as well.
None of them can match what Briggs is doing this season, though. He manhandled Tom Hickey in this game like he was one of Joe Ganino’s inflatable women, hurling him out of ruck contests and using his body to move him under the footy on several occasions.
Briggs was also good around the park, too, picking up 20 touches, as well as a game-high eight clearances. Not to be outdone by the little blokes, he also dug in to register five tackles in an excellent outing for the big fella.
He has now played 11 games this season and has been so good that Dermott Brereton asked, as much to himself as anyone else, whether Briggs could make the All-Australian team with just 14 games played this year.
Sadly, the answer is no – playing 14 of 23 isn’t enough when you consider guys like Tim English have not missed a beat this year. But to have Briggs spoken about like that… it’d have to feel pretty good.
And for the record, Matt Flynn is an unrestricted free agent after this season, and Brayden Preuss is out of contract, as well. Seeya, blokes.
THE FOX AND TOBY
I thoroughly enjoyed the duel between Robbie Fox and Toby Greene in this one, with the enigmatic GWS star unable to fully get off the chain against the Swans, but he did have his moments.
Fox was great reading the footy, finishing with 12 intercepts and six one-percenters against the dangerous Greene, but there were also moments when Greene slipped away to snag a goal or setup a teammate.
Playing on Greene must be a nightmare. You can see what he wants to occur – he wants to hit the contest and lose his opponent- whether he ducks out the back, changes direction at the last second to find space and draw the footy, or gets on the move at pace and hits a stoppage hard, collecting the footy with momentum.
Fox did well to limit Greene from having a big day out, but with three goals to his name from 14 touches and six tackles, this contest probably belonged to Toby…
… just.
THE BAD
DROPPING THE BALL AND THE RESULTS OF NOT PAYING IT
Guys, I am getting a bit of sick of players just dropping the footy in a tackle, or trying to get rid of it, only to lose the footy, and the umpires just standing around calling play on like that is a legal disposal.
It’s not. It’s nowhere near a legal disposal, but we’re at a point now where “he tried” seems like a valid enough reason for the umpires to allow play to continue.
This would be well and good if the ball just started moving and the game continued, but what we saw in this game a couple of times, was non-calls resulting in the team that should have been pinged for incorrect disposal scoring a goal as a result of the non-call.
If this is a league-wide mandate that incorrect disposal is to be allowed as a way of keeping the game moving, then whoever decided this should get a foot up the backside. There were several cases of dropping the ball/incorrect disposal not being called, but one in the first quarter really stood out to me.
Tom Hickey, who at times has trouble getting the ball to his boot, anyway, was caught cold holding the ball. His attempt to dispose of it fell somewhere between a throw and a drop, and as the GWS players all look at the umpire, waiting for the idiot to blow the whistle… nothing happened. Instead, the ball was hacked forward, Hayden McLean marked and goaled, and it left me wondering how the hell this occurs.
As a neutral watching this game, it frustrated me. I can only imagine how it must have left as a spectator with allegiance to one of the teams.
I know I used the Hickey incident as an example, but this was a matter that impacted both teams, with both sides looking pleadingly at the umpire after one of their players executed a perfect tackle, only to go unrewarded and the exact opposite occur as their opposition swooped on the loose ball to drive the team forward.
The AFL may think this is what supporters want to see – a free-flowing game in which there are less stoppages. I cannot speak for anyone else, but what I really want to see is dropping/holding the ball and incorrect disposal paid when it occurs right in front of your bloody eyes, and if that makes the game slow down a little, then so be it.
SPENDING IT BEFORE HE HAD IT
At his best, I reckon Brent Daniels could knock on the door of All-Australian selection. First and foremost, he is a footballer, not an athlete. And when you use that phrase to describe a player, it usually means they have great footy smarts.
Not so in this one, for Daniels, who seemed to have a big case of the fumbles and repeatedly resorted to throwing the ball on his boot as a result. He did manage to grab it 18 times, which is great for a small forward, but he lacked that one-touch aspect of his game that is usually so prevalent.
A natural footballer like Daniels would usually relish the slippery conditions, but for whatever reason, Daniels had a bit of a dirty day, which he added to when he opted to bump Jake Lloyd and got him high in the second half.
Not the best day for Daniels.
THE UGLY
GWS FORWARD ENTRIES
The Giants will be pretty pissed off with themselves when they go back and watch this game. There were long periods when they owned the footy. They moved the ball well from half-back and found teammates in space out wide regularly.
And then it came time to kick inside 50 and it was as though the Monstars came down and stole their talents, leaving them with hack kicks to spots that were not at all beneficial to their forwards. Floating balls inside 50, missed targets, and Tom McCartin smashing the footy out of contests made for a very ineffective day going forward.
Over the course of the game, GWS were +14 for inside 50s, but it was the Swans that had an 11-9 marks inside 50 advantage. The Giants would have someone on a lead – the kicker would drop it ten metres in front of him. The ball would then slide along the wet turf, there’d be a fumble and the Swans would clear.
That was basically the summary of about 50 of their 68 inside 50s. They were shocking, almost as though they were trying to miss targets. If GWS were down the bottom of the ladder this season, you’d swear they were attempting to tank to get their hands on Harley Reid, such was their ineptitude at delivering the footy.
The thing is – I know you could blame the conditions. That had to play a bit of a factor, right?
But it was less of a factor for Sydney, then?
No, this was a GWS team that was just a little off the boil, and the longer they stayed that way, the more the Swans stared walking taller. If you give a team a sniff in the AFL, you’re usually opening yourself up to a world of trouble. In this case, that trouble indicates that the place in finals, that GWS looked pretty certain of given their recent form, is now under threat. They sit seventh, but they are in that congested group fighting for the last two spots in the finals. They could have been a game clear in fifth.
And it is entirely their own fault that they’re not.
OTHER BITS
Toby Bedford got well acquainted with Ollie Florent in this one. Bedford laid three tackles on the Swan, winning two free kicks for holding the ball and one for copping a high fend-off. I like Bedford’s tenacity and creativity with the footy in hand but the running goal to Florent late in the piece made me wonder if he was sneaking out a little trying to get over the back in case of a turnover.
Sometimes, you just pay the price for the way you see things playing out and Florent made Bedford pay full price on that play.
Commentary line of the night goes to Dwayne Russell, who uttered it “was not happy days for Cunningham.” Showing his age there, Dwyano, but I enjoyed it… because I was showing my age, too, I guess.
The bloke is working on another level at the moment.
James Rowbottom is such a fighter and he tends to make up for some of the quick kicks he hacks forward. He had nine turnovers from his 24 touches in this game, but he also had ten intercepts, so you take the bad with the good.
Did we like the forward line without Buddy? I did. I think by the end of the season, people will realise what he was adding to this club in 2023 and how he was forcing them to pay. Let’s face it – Buddy had a gravitational pull when he was on the park. With a setup of McLean, Amartey, and Heeney in th air, and Papley on the deck, the Swans have a better-balanced forward structure.
The Swans are 7-0 over the last two seasons when McLean kicks multiple goals.
And 20 contested touches to Tom Green on the night… the bloke is a bull. You can add ten tackles to those numbers, as he continues to build into one of the best inside mids in the game.
And that might just do me.
Next week, the Giants hit the road and face a suddenly-vulnerable Port Adelaide in what should be a belter. Meanwhile, the Swans play Gold Cast at home, after the Susn were effectively bumped from finals contention this week. Maybe they put the cue in the rack now and the Swans can get hold of them? The Suns have not been that bad at the SCG over the journey.
As always, massive thanks to those who support my work. I actually crashed in a heap last night after doing back-to-back games, and had to finish this Sunday morning. Doing the hard yards, huh?
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