Review Round 18 2021 - GWS Giants v Sydney Swans, 6.10 pm at Metricon Stadium, Sun 18 July

Nov 23, 2015
11,654
17,071
AFL Club
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Where and When: Sunday July 18, 6.10pm, Metricon Stadium (Gold Coast)

Last time they met:
This will be the GIANTS’ first return match for the season, having beaten the then-unbeaten Swans by two points back in a round four nail-biter. It was an inaccurate day – the GIANTS kicked 9.17 to Sydney’s 10.9 – and the GIANTS had to come from behind late in the game to notch just their second win for the season. A Toby Greene goal with less than four minutes to play opened the door, before a Josh Kelly snap with just 66 seconds left to play pushed the GIANTS into the lead. Buddy Franklin’s five goals meant he was a handful, though defender Sam Taylor also had some big moments in the tense final term. Harry Himmelberg and Jeremy Finlayson combined for four goals, with Kelly, Jacob Hopper, Tim Taranto, Callan Ward and others bringing enormous pressure around the ball.


What it means for the GIANTS: Somehow, a spot in the top eight is still up for grabs, with the GIANTS one of a few teams to blow a chance to grab it last weekend. The one-point loss to the Gold Coast meant the team finished the round in 10th spot rather than 7th, before Richmond and West Coast went on to lose their games. Currently, the GIANTS sit on 30 points, half a game behind Fremantle (7th), the Eagles (8th) and St Kilda (9th). The Swans are further ahead, on 40 points. With six games to go, the door is still ajar for whichever team wants to play in September.

Where’s the opposition at: The Swans are in really strong form. Since their move to Melbourne, they’ve been able to thrash West Coast at Geelong and knock off the Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium. Before that came a narrow loss to Port Adelaide. They were quick, clean and precise against the Dogs, winning the game by 19 points despite losing the clearance count. Callum Mills was excellent in the midfield, taking on Bulldogs captain Marcus Bontempelli with the run and ball use of Jake Lloyd, Jordan Dawson and others a key to the win. Since the GIANTS last played the Swans, youngster Joel Amartey has joined Franklin as a key forward target.

The number: 10. The gradual regeneration of the line-up this year has led to nine already-listed GIANTS having their busiest seasons as senior players: Lachie Ash, Tom Green, Connor Idun, Isaac Cumming, Jack Buckley, Xavier O’Halloran and Bobby Hill have all played more games this year than ever before, with Matt Flynn and Kieren Briggs debuting in their sixth and third seasons at the club. Callum Brown makes it 10, though he was unable to get onto the ground after debuting as the medical sub against Brisbane before the bye. Tanner Bruhn and Conor Stone have also made their first appearances as GIANTS, coming out of last year’s draft.

Capture - GWS v SYD.PNG

Capture - GWS v SYD changes.PNG

As I said in the preview, it's a question of which GWS team will turn up today - Jekyll or Hyde? One can win this game and stay in finals contention, one will be disappointing. It would be nice to think that Cogs' return would have the boys on a high to play well, but we actually seem to play worse in ''sentiment games'' (we have a terrible record in milestone games - see last week as an example!).
 

ClockworkOrange

Club Legend
Jan 30, 2016
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Biggest game vs Swans since the 2016 finals.

Feels like a final referendum on the current leadership of the club.

The Jekyll/Hyde metaphor is perfect.

IMO the hub environment will likely amplify the remainder of our season.

If we win today we could go an improbable run and take advantage of facing Top 8 teams away from their home grounds in future weeks.

Metricon is quite similar to GS, so that surely helps.

If we lose today though, we could fall very hard (the Amazon effect).

I just don’t see how the club’s status quo prevails if it’s the latter.


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Last edited:

ClockworkOrange

Club Legend
Jan 30, 2016
1,504
2,190
AFL Club
GWS
TFG and MdB arbitrarily ruled out by the Qld govt 20 minutes before the match.

Tom Hanks free to play.

IMG_4930.JPG



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ClockworkOrange

Club Legend
Jan 30, 2016
1,504
2,190
AFL Club
GWS
Jon Ralph reporting on Fox that all players would be clear to play if they produce another ‘negative’ test.

He expects all Giants and Swans players will be able to rejoin training tomorrow once negative tests come through

So this game could easily be delayed 24 hours.

The integrity of the competition is in complete tatters.

Great work VFL HQ!


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