Land of the Giants
Premiership Player
Another home-and-away season has come and gone, and although we only won as many games as last year, we still finished sixth instead of seventh. That is progress, even though it didn’t feel like it towards the end.
A couple of weeks ago, the wheels had well and truly fallen off, and if you’ll excuse the pun, we were in the dog-house after truly shocking consecutive losses that had many questions being asked of the coach, the list, the injuries and just about everything else.
How quickly things can change.
Now we have a real spring in our step. Club stalwart Jeremy Cameron has won our first major AFL award, the Coleman Medal (thanks to some inspiring team work to make sure he got there), and one of our most sought-after players, Stephen Coniglio, has told his peers in the AFL he wants to be a Giant for life. No wonder things are suddenly looking up. A great weight has been lifted from our shoulders.
So much in life is about timing, and great news like this could not have been better timed, as we’re hosting an Elimination Final against the team that humbled us at home recently, the Western Bulldogs.
The Dogs also have form against us in finals, prevailing by a single goal in our maiden Preliminary Final back in 2016. Of the team that took the field that day, only fourteen remain on the list, and they include Cameron, Coniglio, Davis, Greene, Haynes, Hopper, Kelly, Mumford, Patton, Shaw, Tomlinson, Ward, Whitfield and Williams. Coniglio and Haynes need to pass fitness tests; Ward is gone for the year, and Patton is probably gone for good.
Let’s talk about who takes the field this time.
Changes to the team
Here’s the line-up that played half a game of football in Round 22:
FB Jake Stein, Phil Davis, Heath Shaw
HB Harry Perryman, Nick Haynes, Lachlan Keeffe
C Lachie Whitfield, Tim Taranto, Josh Kelly
HF Matt de Boer, Harry Himmelberg, Brent Daniels
FF Ian Hill, Zach Sproule, Aidan Corr
F Dawson Simpson, Toby Greene, Zac Williams
I Jye Caldwell, Adam Tomlinson, Adam Kennedy, Sam J. Reid
The good news is that the two Jeremys will be available for selection this time, as will Mumford, Jacob Hopper and Sam Taylor. Nick Haynes will probably be OK, so this is how I think the team will look:
FB Sam Taylor, Phil Davis, Nick Haynes
HB Zac Williams, Heath Shaw, Lachie Whitfield
C Jacob Hopper, Tim Taranto, Josh Kelly
HF Lachlan Keeffe, Harry Himmelberg, Brent Daniels
FF Ian Hill, Jeremy Cameron, Toby Greene
F Shane Mumford, Harry Perryman, Matt De Boer
I Jeremy Finlayson, Adam Tomlinson, Adam Kennedy, Sam J. Reid
If by another miracle Coniglio is declared fit, he would come in for Perryman.
The Umpires
I think we also have to talk about the umpiring.
Measurable evidence suggests we have a problem. Statistics have been published on free kick differentials between the teams for this year’s home-and-away season, and they are revealing.
The Bulldogs were clearly advantaged with a positive differential of plus 86, meaning they received, on average, an extra 4 free kicks in their favour every game. We’ve been just as clearly disadvantaged. Our free kick differential is minus 73, meaning we averaged 3-4 free kicks less every game.
What this means is that when we play the Bulldogs, they can reasonably expect a free kick differential of 7-8 in their favour, which is noticeable enough. But if you look at Round 22, they were up an extra 12 free kicks in their favour. Umpires Fisher, Stevic and DeBoy certainly overshot their KPIs that day.
You can really only control the way you react in situations like this, so we need to accept it's probably going to happen again, and not let it get us down.
The Crowd
Three years ago, against the same opponent, we had half as many members, and now there’s 30,000, so with a 25,000-seat venue, and a decent contingent of Bulldogs supporters, it might be harder to get a ticket than many people expect. But we should be a clear majority.
The Anticipation
I’m really excited about this game. The fog around the club has lifted and we have an almost full-strength list to choose from. We know what to expect and what we need to do. And I can’t wait for the march to Giants Stadium. The whole place will be rocking.
This time, we’re going to send the Dogs packing. You can count on it.
Go Giants!
A couple of weeks ago, the wheels had well and truly fallen off, and if you’ll excuse the pun, we were in the dog-house after truly shocking consecutive losses that had many questions being asked of the coach, the list, the injuries and just about everything else.
How quickly things can change.
Now we have a real spring in our step. Club stalwart Jeremy Cameron has won our first major AFL award, the Coleman Medal (thanks to some inspiring team work to make sure he got there), and one of our most sought-after players, Stephen Coniglio, has told his peers in the AFL he wants to be a Giant for life. No wonder things are suddenly looking up. A great weight has been lifted from our shoulders.
So much in life is about timing, and great news like this could not have been better timed, as we’re hosting an Elimination Final against the team that humbled us at home recently, the Western Bulldogs.
The Dogs also have form against us in finals, prevailing by a single goal in our maiden Preliminary Final back in 2016. Of the team that took the field that day, only fourteen remain on the list, and they include Cameron, Coniglio, Davis, Greene, Haynes, Hopper, Kelly, Mumford, Patton, Shaw, Tomlinson, Ward, Whitfield and Williams. Coniglio and Haynes need to pass fitness tests; Ward is gone for the year, and Patton is probably gone for good.
Let’s talk about who takes the field this time.
Changes to the team
Here’s the line-up that played half a game of football in Round 22:
FB Jake Stein, Phil Davis, Heath Shaw
HB Harry Perryman, Nick Haynes, Lachlan Keeffe
C Lachie Whitfield, Tim Taranto, Josh Kelly
HF Matt de Boer, Harry Himmelberg, Brent Daniels
FF Ian Hill, Zach Sproule, Aidan Corr
F Dawson Simpson, Toby Greene, Zac Williams
I Jye Caldwell, Adam Tomlinson, Adam Kennedy, Sam J. Reid
The good news is that the two Jeremys will be available for selection this time, as will Mumford, Jacob Hopper and Sam Taylor. Nick Haynes will probably be OK, so this is how I think the team will look:
FB Sam Taylor, Phil Davis, Nick Haynes
HB Zac Williams, Heath Shaw, Lachie Whitfield
C Jacob Hopper, Tim Taranto, Josh Kelly
HF Lachlan Keeffe, Harry Himmelberg, Brent Daniels
FF Ian Hill, Jeremy Cameron, Toby Greene
F Shane Mumford, Harry Perryman, Matt De Boer
I Jeremy Finlayson, Adam Tomlinson, Adam Kennedy, Sam J. Reid
If by another miracle Coniglio is declared fit, he would come in for Perryman.
The Umpires
I think we also have to talk about the umpiring.
Measurable evidence suggests we have a problem. Statistics have been published on free kick differentials between the teams for this year’s home-and-away season, and they are revealing.
The Bulldogs were clearly advantaged with a positive differential of plus 86, meaning they received, on average, an extra 4 free kicks in their favour every game. We’ve been just as clearly disadvantaged. Our free kick differential is minus 73, meaning we averaged 3-4 free kicks less every game.
What this means is that when we play the Bulldogs, they can reasonably expect a free kick differential of 7-8 in their favour, which is noticeable enough. But if you look at Round 22, they were up an extra 12 free kicks in their favour. Umpires Fisher, Stevic and DeBoy certainly overshot their KPIs that day.
You can really only control the way you react in situations like this, so we need to accept it's probably going to happen again, and not let it get us down.
The Crowd
Three years ago, against the same opponent, we had half as many members, and now there’s 30,000, so with a 25,000-seat venue, and a decent contingent of Bulldogs supporters, it might be harder to get a ticket than many people expect. But we should be a clear majority.
The Anticipation
I’m really excited about this game. The fog around the club has lifted and we have an almost full-strength list to choose from. We know what to expect and what we need to do. And I can’t wait for the march to Giants Stadium. The whole place will be rocking.
This time, we’re going to send the Dogs packing. You can count on it.
Go Giants!
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