Autopsy 2026 Opening Round – GWS Giants vs Hawthorn, Saturday 7 March, 4.15pm, ENGIE Stadium

[Colonial]

Glad the result vindicated the trip for you.

Me to.
Was great to see. Great and loud crowd too.

 

[Battlepants]

What an incredible win given all of our injuries. A lot of people had written us off (including me at times) but we really showed the quality of our depth here today.

 

[taurus]

A fantastic win! I wrote the boys off today shame to admit... Clayton was a beast. Our pressure was elite, signifying what Kingsley wanted to change during the offseason.

 

[Ichabod Noodle]

Finally home after spending some time with an out of town mate who was up for the game. My thoughts…

Going in I didn’t have much hope to be honest. Our long list of outs vs their single out I just couldn’t see us getting close so I was really blown away by the effort.

Fonti’s whole game was pretty good, but his second quarter was just sublime.
Briggs roving packs scooping up the ground ball like that wasn’t on my bingo card
Cogs back to somewhere well ahead of the last two years
Laverde solid, great addition
Clarry a club debut to remember, let’s hope he keeps it up
Gotthard’s goal at the end, just the perfect icing on the cake - so happy for him
Stringer on fire
I think it was Gru’s best game - still a long way to go, but certainly looking more comfortable at the level
Just the general pressure and work rate was really pleasing to see.

All in all a great night out at the footy.

 

[dlanod]

Well that was an insane day.

Was going to come straight from the eldest's cricket semi-final, no worries.

Then they won (3 dft 2) and 4 dft 1 in the other semi so they're in with a massive chance and they wanted bubble tea in Cherrybrook (the opposite direction!) to celebrate...

Ok. But then the youngest chucked a spac about missing some of the game but I had the membership cards, so the wife ended up taking her in an uber and getting in with photos of the cards...

Got in no worries, but now I'm stuck with a bunch of 12-13 year olds with updates from my wife. When she says it's 39-whatever I assume it's getting closer to half time so we pull the plug and rush over. Run into the stadium to find it's not even half time yet and we'd just been piling on the scores!

Great game in the end, the eldest gets her team catch-up but also Phoenix's debut and first goal (personal favourite of hers ever since he tagged along to a Briggs/Peatling meet and greet at Penno), and everything is good until the Lions lose but I'll take that, all things considered!

 

[MelbourneGWS]

So very proud of our team. We proved the so called experts and the market wrong, and showed what we were capable of. Our players stepped up, and defeating Hawthorn who finished our season last year was very satisfying!

 

[MelbourneGWS]

Crowd was 16,157, our 15th biggest ever home crowd. As expected lower than the capacity crowds that the Opening Rounds vs Collingwood drew, but nonetheless excellent attendance given the forecast bad weather. Noteworthy that it was our highest ever home and away crowd vs Hawthorn (albeit not counting the Elimination Final last year that drew a crowd of more than 20k).

 

[dlanod]

Crowd was 16,157, our 15th biggest ever home crowd. As expected lower than the capacity crowds that the Opening Rounds vs Collingwood drew, but nonetheless excellent attendance given the forecast bad weather. Noteworthy that it was our highest ever home and away crowd vs Hawthorn (albeit not counting the Elimination Final last year that drew a crowd of more than 20k).

We had a big crowd and the Giants supporters were clearly louder. That's a fantastic effort regardless of any pissing by other "pundits" and the like.

 

[Bjo187]

Finally home after spending some time with an out of town mate who was up for the game. My thoughts…

Going in I didn’t have much hope to be honest. Our long list of outs vs their single out I just couldn’t see us getting close so I was really blown away by the effort.

Fonti’s whole game was pretty good, but his second quarter was just sublime.
Briggs roving packs scooping up the ground ball like that wasn’t on my bingo card
Cogs back to somewhere well ahead of the last two years
Laverde solid, great addition
Clarry a club debut to remember, let’s hope he keeps it up
Gotthard’s goal at the end, just the perfect icing on the cake - so happy for him
Stringer on fire
I think it was Gru’s best game - still a long way to go, but certainly looking more comfortable at the level
Just the general pressure and work rate was really pleasing to see.

All in all a great night out at the footy.

Fonti and Thomas have really been good the last part of last year and then again today they were both superb I thought. Have both really developed quicker than expected.

 

[GWS4627]

Life is like a box of chocolates

I see what you did there....

 

[Davidoff]

We played great, what a win.

Stringer looked awesome, back to his best from his AA days honestly. Can be a match winner with all the focus on Hoges and Toby.

Clarry's debut was exactly what we all hoped for. He looked motivated as ****, a change of scenery was exactly what he needed to get back to his best, I'm no longer worried about him after seeing that.

Phoenix's goal at the end was amazing.

Thought the backline held up as well as we could expect for the most part without Sam.

We can compete with anyone regardless of injuries if we bring that energy and effort.

 

[PMBangers]

Came into the season thinking Fonti would cement himself as a regular in our best 23 but I think that was pessimistic to a degree after yesterday, he could actually be the answer for our issues with the elite small forwards of the comp, held Watson well for the most part

 

[dlanod]

Fonti and Thomas have really been good the last part of last year and then again today they were both superb I thought. Have both really developed quicker than expected.

After last year I felt Harvey would be solid depth over time and Fonti probably had another year or so before he became a consistent contributer rather than inconsistent with flashes of ceiling.

Definitely have a bit of egg on my face right now, and happily so.

 

[Orange crush]

After last year I felt Harvey would be solid depth over time and Fonti probably had another year or so before he became a consistent contributer rather than inconsistent with flashes of ceiling.

Definitely have a bit of egg on my face right now, and happily so.

Just had an argument with the missus over breakfast ... I'm feeling ya

 

[JC100]

Came into the season thinking Fonti would cement himself as a regular in our best 23 but I think that was pessimistic to a degree after yesterday, he could actually be the answer for our issues with the elite small forwards of the comp, held Watson well for the most part

He has future AA written all over him. Skillset to lockdown on smalls, able to provide aerial coverage with his leap and provides another avenue to counter attack to take the pressure of Whitfield and ash.

Has played so well the past 12 months that the most vulnerable defender is now HH who would be nervous about Laverde taking his spot

 

[Colonial]

 

[Big Stinky Monk]

The comments about the high standards and pretty much the whole squad coming back 2 weeks early in Nov for optional pre season training was a really positive reflection on the culture in our club. If Clarry fully buys into it (which it sounds like hes off to a good start), he can get back to his damaging best.

Seeing him up close yesterday, i never realised how big he was. He wasnt dwarfed stsnding next to Briggs like alot of others are.

Also had a good laugh during the song in the rooms, with him having no idea what the words were

 

[MelbourneGWS]

Another positive is Kingsley’s willingness to examine his own role and continuously improve. At Thursday’s members connect, Kingsley reflected that he should have moved Toby earlier when Toby was being well beaten by the Hawthorn opponent in the Elimination final last year. From yesterday’s match, these ongoing learnings have been applied by our coach.

GREATER Western Sydney look set to take a horses-for-courses mentality when it comes to the playing positions of veterans Toby Greene

4

Toby Greene

Age

32

Ht

182cm

Wt

85kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

22.7

5star

K

12.5

5star

HB

10.2

5star

M

4.8

5star

T

3.0

5star

G

1.2

4star

D

17.5

4star

K

9.5

4star

HB

8.0

4star

M

4.8

4star

T

1.0

2star

G

2.3

5star

D

26.6

5star

K

12.4

5star

HB

14.2

5star

M

4.8

5star

T

3.6

5star

G

0.0

1star

and Stephen Coniglio

3

Stephen Coniglio

Age

32

Ht

182cm

Wt

83kg

Pos.

M/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

24.5

5star

K

13.0

5star

HB

11.5

5star

M

3.8

4star

T

4.7

5star

CL

4.7

5star

D

21.3

5star

K

12.5

5star

HB

8.8

4star

M

2.4

3star

T

3.8

4star

CL

5.4

5star

D

19.2

5star

K

8.2

4star

HB

11.0

5star

M

3.6

4star

T

2.2

4star

CL

3.0

5star

in 2026, after a successful swap against Hawthorn.

Giants spin the magnets to give veterans new roles

Toby Greene's shift into the midfield had a positive impact on Stephen Coniglio on Saturday afternoon

www.afl.com.au

 

[Drummond]

One player that will never get the accolades, but who I find becoming increasingly important, is Ryan Angwin.

Defensively he ads so much. Tackles, chases, spoils very well, puts his body on the line, runs hard, and when he gets it he’s polished. I’m becoming a real fan, and I’m noticing all the little things he does to help the team win.

It took him a long time to really cement his spot, but I don’t think he looks back now.

 

[PaythePerryman]

One player that will never get the accolades, but who I find becoming increasingly important, is Ryan Angwin.

Defensively he ads so much. Tackles, chases, spoils very well, puts his body on the line, runs hard, and when he gets it he’s polished. I’m becoming a real fan, and I’m noticing all the little things he does to help the team win.

It took him a long time to really cement his spot, but I don’t think he looks back now.

It did take him a minute to find his feet and deal with injuries but he really looks like he's up to the pace and physically of the game now. Also he just has such a nice boot on him. Super important for us and puts in an incredible amount of running.

 

[Adam Giant]

One player that will never get the accolades, but who I find becoming increasingly important, is Ryan Angwin.

I've become a fan too. He's one of those guys you appreciate more watching live than on TV because you notice all the effort areas he excels at.

 

[Maximus 2011]

One player that will never get the accolades, but who I find becoming increasingly important, is Ryan Angwin.

Defensively he ads so much. Tackles, chases, spoils very well, puts his body on the line, runs hard, and when he gets it he’s polished. I’m becoming a real fan, and I’m noticing all the little things he does to help the team win.

It took him a long time to really cement his spot, but I don’t think he looks back now.

Yep! Angwin and Angove are going to be a great 1-2 punch on the wings for us. Loved what Thomas did as well. Is it possible we have too much talent..? Not everyone is going to get a game. So who will be next to leave? I don't so much have an issue with players leaving as long as we get adequate compensation and just keep rolling through top 30 draft picks year in / year out

 

[Ichabod Noodle]

The comments about the high standards and pretty much the whole squad coming back 2 weeks early in Nov for optional pre season training was a really positive reflection on the culture in our club.

When one of the footy sites (AFL, fox, kayo, can't remember) posted this one of the first comments was - This is really bad. It undermines the aflpa who fought to give players more time off and guilts some impressional younger players into coming back early when they didn't necessarily want to.

My reaction was - Huh? GAGF

 

[Maximus 2011]

When one of the footy sites (AFL, fox, kayo, can't remember) posted this one of the first comments was - This is really bad. It undermines the aflpa who fought to give players more time off and guilts some impressional younger players into coming back early when they didn't necessarily want to.

My reaction was - Huh? GAGF

Yep Kane Cornes is hot on this and 100% correct about this. Like he says how many days off a year does Carlos Alcaraz give himself? Maybe 1.

These are professional athletes. The AFLPA have got this wildly wrong

 

[dlanod]

Yep Kane Cornes is hot on this and 100% correct about this. Like he says how many days off a year does Carlos Alcaraz give himself? Maybe 1.

These are professional athletes. The AFLPA have got this wildly wrong

These guys are roughly on the clock pretty much every weekend and most days during the week. They get about six weeks break at the end of the season before having to show up again, and they'll be expected to keep themselves in shape over that period too. The AFLPA are fine - they wanted an extension to be optional, it is, people don't need to show up.

The commentary around it is doubly wrong though - the young players (years 1-4) are mandated to show up from day 1. It's the more senior players that get two weeks of optional offseason who decided to forgo it.