Land of the Giants
Premiership Player
Welcome to season 2022, everyone. I hope we’ve all kept safe and can now start putting the last two years well and truly behind us.
Round 1 sees us back at the Olympic Stadium for the first time since 2016, scene of our maiden finals win. Fond memories indeed, but it’s not our home ground, and the Swans are even offering tickets as a bonus game inclusion for their members. The AFL must be hoping for some kind of grand “back to normal” crowd, which is all well and good, but we should be playing to a packed house at Giants Stadium.
Let’s have a look at the team that won the EF in Launceston and what the changes might be:
B: J Stein, S Taylor, I Cumming
HB: L Ash, N Haynes, L Whitfield
C: J Kelly, S Congilio, H Perryman
HF: T Taranto, H Himmelberg, T Greene
F: Z Sproule, J Hogan, M de Boer
R: S Mumford, J Hopper, C Ward
Int: S Reid, D Lloyd, T Green, C Idun
Emg: K Briggs, T Bruhn, P Davis, C Stone
This was the best we had available that day, and they just managed to hold on in a thriller. Now, Toby is suspended, Mummy has retired, and Reid has been shown the door. So, who replaces them, who might return, and at whose expense? The pre-season might provide some answers.
With the club letting go of Mummy’s hand forever, the moment of truth has arrived for Flynn and Briggs. One of them must step up. Flynn, who's previously had ACL problems and was good last year before needing a shoulder re-construction, has been on the list for seven years. We need a return from him now, and he performed well against the Swans in Albury. It looks promising.
Preuss, who has finally managed a game or two in club colours, also looked quite good against Collingwood and was probably in line for his debut before getting himself suspended with a needlessly rough tackle. If he can stay fit, we might have more depth in the ruck than we thought.
The off-season saw a lot of speculation about the forward line. We need a key marking forward, someone to fill the gap left by JC. That was supposed to be Hogan, and still might be, but I can’t see him go the whole season without getting injured. We rested him against Collingwood after he kicked a couple against the Swans in Albury. He’s supposed to be back for Round 1 but we need more options.
Riccardi looked great against both the Swans and Collingwood and can take the spot filled by de Boer in the EF. If Hogan is out, de Boer will probably take his place. Brander also looked good in the practice match against the Swans and might get his chance replacing Sproule.
There’s been a lot of talk of Taranto spending more time forward, and he probably will, but the main candidates for Toby's spot would be Hill or Bruhn. Hill played in both pre-season games, kicked a few goals, and seemed to show some genuine commitment, so he will likely get the nod. If Lloyd hasn’t recovered from his concussion, Bruhn will probably replace him on the interchange bench.
With the midfield, it’s pretty well packed to the rafters with talent, and it’s great to see Coniglio back to his previous best. He looks like a new man without the burden of being sole captain. We also have some really good depth down back. Davis performed well on Buddy in Albury, and is almost certain to get the job on him again. Another player who might get a recall is Keefe, who’s recovered from an ACL injury.
All up, this is what I think the line-up will be:
B: P Davis, S Taylor, I Cumming
HB: L Ash, N Haynes, L Whitfield
C: J Kelly, S Congilio, H Perryman
HF: T Taranto, H Himmelberg, B Hill
F: J Brander, J Hogan, J Riccardi
R: M Flynn, J Hopper, C Ward
Int: L Keefe, D Lloyd, T Green, C Idun
Emg: K Briggs, M de Boer, T Bruhn, X O’Halloran
In: P Davis, J Riccardi, J Brander, L Keefe, B Hill, X O’Halloran
Out: J Stein (omitted), Z Sproule (omitted), C Stone, (injured), S Mumford (ret) S Reid (del) T Greene (susp)
What about the Swans? They have some new faces and a couple of significant outs, probably the biggest being Papley, who injured his hamstring in Albury. They also lost Dawson and Hewett in the off-season (Dawson actually sang their praises at the B & F, then walked out). Another gun in Mills has been managing an Achilles problem and if he plays will probably be a bit underdone. But despite all this and their dislike of heading west, the Swans won’t lack motivation after we terminated their otherwise good season with yet another finals defeat. There’s also no Toby to torment them. And we’d better watch out for Heeney.
An intriguing sub-plot will be whether Franklin kicks his 1000th goal, and with hype like that, it’s a relief this derby is not being played at the SCG. If he goes ahead and does it, good luck to him - as long as we win.
Footy is back on the biggest stage in Sydney, so let’s turn out in force and make sure our voices are heard when the boys run out. We got a pretty good turnout for the practice games, hopefully that was an omen for the real thing.
Personally, I can’t wait to see our derby guernsey again, it’s a drawcard in its own right.
Let’s go Giants, let’s go!
Round 1 sees us back at the Olympic Stadium for the first time since 2016, scene of our maiden finals win. Fond memories indeed, but it’s not our home ground, and the Swans are even offering tickets as a bonus game inclusion for their members. The AFL must be hoping for some kind of grand “back to normal” crowd, which is all well and good, but we should be playing to a packed house at Giants Stadium.
Let’s have a look at the team that won the EF in Launceston and what the changes might be:
B: J Stein, S Taylor, I Cumming
HB: L Ash, N Haynes, L Whitfield
C: J Kelly, S Congilio, H Perryman
HF: T Taranto, H Himmelberg, T Greene
F: Z Sproule, J Hogan, M de Boer
R: S Mumford, J Hopper, C Ward
Int: S Reid, D Lloyd, T Green, C Idun
Emg: K Briggs, T Bruhn, P Davis, C Stone
This was the best we had available that day, and they just managed to hold on in a thriller. Now, Toby is suspended, Mummy has retired, and Reid has been shown the door. So, who replaces them, who might return, and at whose expense? The pre-season might provide some answers.
With the club letting go of Mummy’s hand forever, the moment of truth has arrived for Flynn and Briggs. One of them must step up. Flynn, who's previously had ACL problems and was good last year before needing a shoulder re-construction, has been on the list for seven years. We need a return from him now, and he performed well against the Swans in Albury. It looks promising.
Preuss, who has finally managed a game or two in club colours, also looked quite good against Collingwood and was probably in line for his debut before getting himself suspended with a needlessly rough tackle. If he can stay fit, we might have more depth in the ruck than we thought.
The off-season saw a lot of speculation about the forward line. We need a key marking forward, someone to fill the gap left by JC. That was supposed to be Hogan, and still might be, but I can’t see him go the whole season without getting injured. We rested him against Collingwood after he kicked a couple against the Swans in Albury. He’s supposed to be back for Round 1 but we need more options.
Riccardi looked great against both the Swans and Collingwood and can take the spot filled by de Boer in the EF. If Hogan is out, de Boer will probably take his place. Brander also looked good in the practice match against the Swans and might get his chance replacing Sproule.
There’s been a lot of talk of Taranto spending more time forward, and he probably will, but the main candidates for Toby's spot would be Hill or Bruhn. Hill played in both pre-season games, kicked a few goals, and seemed to show some genuine commitment, so he will likely get the nod. If Lloyd hasn’t recovered from his concussion, Bruhn will probably replace him on the interchange bench.
With the midfield, it’s pretty well packed to the rafters with talent, and it’s great to see Coniglio back to his previous best. He looks like a new man without the burden of being sole captain. We also have some really good depth down back. Davis performed well on Buddy in Albury, and is almost certain to get the job on him again. Another player who might get a recall is Keefe, who’s recovered from an ACL injury.
All up, this is what I think the line-up will be:
B: P Davis, S Taylor, I Cumming
HB: L Ash, N Haynes, L Whitfield
C: J Kelly, S Congilio, H Perryman
HF: T Taranto, H Himmelberg, B Hill
F: J Brander, J Hogan, J Riccardi
R: M Flynn, J Hopper, C Ward
Int: L Keefe, D Lloyd, T Green, C Idun
Emg: K Briggs, M de Boer, T Bruhn, X O’Halloran
In: P Davis, J Riccardi, J Brander, L Keefe, B Hill, X O’Halloran
Out: J Stein (omitted), Z Sproule (omitted), C Stone, (injured), S Mumford (ret) S Reid (del) T Greene (susp)
What about the Swans? They have some new faces and a couple of significant outs, probably the biggest being Papley, who injured his hamstring in Albury. They also lost Dawson and Hewett in the off-season (Dawson actually sang their praises at the B & F, then walked out). Another gun in Mills has been managing an Achilles problem and if he plays will probably be a bit underdone. But despite all this and their dislike of heading west, the Swans won’t lack motivation after we terminated their otherwise good season with yet another finals defeat. There’s also no Toby to torment them. And we’d better watch out for Heeney.
An intriguing sub-plot will be whether Franklin kicks his 1000th goal, and with hype like that, it’s a relief this derby is not being played at the SCG. If he goes ahead and does it, good luck to him - as long as we win.
Footy is back on the biggest stage in Sydney, so let’s turn out in force and make sure our voices are heard when the boys run out. We got a pretty good turnout for the practice games, hopefully that was an omen for the real thing.
Personally, I can’t wait to see our derby guernsey again, it’s a drawcard in its own right.
Let’s go Giants, let’s go!
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