Preview Second Elimination Final – GWS Giants vs Western Bulldogs, Saturday 7th September 2019, Giants Stadium, 3.20pm

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Sep 6, 2012
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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! :thumbsu:
 
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Danny88

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Mar 21, 2014
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It should be a Great contest

The midfield battle will be awesome

I reckon we back the ins to play and put our best team on the park

Haynes hopefully cleared to play (hope someone puts a clean elbow through bont this week) and if lids is right then him too. Doubt cogs will be but I can always hope.

The return of hopper cannot be understated- same with Greene
 

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Sigh, need to ring up to get a family ticket... But the club put Ticketek's phone number on their website for that instead of Ticketmaster. Wasted time, now can't get through to Ticketmaster.
 

Powkid

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Jul 31, 2012
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Why is ticketmaster generating ticketmaster generating GWS member tickets in the Bulldogs cheer squad (Bays 244 & 241)??!
Cannot belive you can’t choose the bay you want!
 

Danny88

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I actually like the giants fans having to sit on the other side (in the sun). That way on TV we will have plenty of orange in the crowd
 

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Trixiii

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Good luck to you Giant boys!

Been living in Sydney for the past 15 years and have adopted the Giants as my second team. I haven't been attending many live matches at Olympic Park over the years (unless the Crows are playing), but I have bought tickets to this game. See you guys there!
 
Sep 8, 2012
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Apologises for the intrusion.

Flying over for the game, never been to Sydney before just wondering if anyone could give me some advice on the best and cheapest way from the airport to the ground?
Hey mate

If you are going straight to the ground your best bet is train. Can get train directly from the airport to central, then change at central onto a line that gets you to Lidcombe

That's where the Olympic Sprint goes from.

The staff are pretty helpful and should point you to the right platform

On SM-N960F using BigFooty.com mobile app
 
Dec 29, 2009
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Hey mate

If you are going straight to the ground your best bet is train. Can get train directly from the airport to central, then change at central onto a line that gets you to Lidcombe

That's where the Olympic Sprint goes from.

The staff are pretty helpful and should point you to the right platform

On SM-N960F using BigFooty.com mobile app

Thanks
 

Bay Giant

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Apologises for the intrusion.

Flying over for the game, never been to Sydney before just wondering if anyone could give me some advice on the best and cheapest way from the airport to the ground?
You doing a hit and run mission or are you staying the night in Sydney?

As Simmofreo said, train from the airport is your best bet, especially if you are on your own. The fares are expensive so if there is a few of you, I'd grab an Ola or Uber or similar and take that to the ground. Will probably cost you $60 absolute maximum but I know if you don't have an Ola account, when you join you get the first 2 weeks 50%, so it will be cheaper than that.

I think and General Giant would know better but I think trains from the airport are about $35 an adult nowdays? And you've got to buy an Opal card (Myki for Sydney)

There's not much to do in the precinct after the game pubs wise, so you might want to look at somewhere like Parramatta or back in to Newtown if you're looking for a frothy after the game.
 
Dec 29, 2009
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Hobart
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You doing a hit and run mission or are you staying the night in Sydney?

As Simmofreo said, train from the airport is your best bet, especially if you are on your own. The fares are expensive so if there is a few of you, I'd grab an Ola or Uber or similar and take that to the ground. Will probably cost you $60 absolute maximum but I know if you don't have an Ola account, when you join you get the first 2 weeks 50%, so it will be cheaper than that.

I think and General Giant would know better but I think trains from the airport are about $35 an adult nowdays? And you've got to buy an Opal card (Myki for Sydney)

There's not much to do in the precinct after the game pubs wise, so you might want to look at somewhere like Parramatta or back in to Newtown if you're looking for a frothy after the game.

Staying one night, at the Novotel near the ground. And yeah on my own
 

Ichabod Noodle

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Sep 13, 2011
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Apologises for the intrusion.

Flying over for the game, never been to Sydney before just wondering if anyone could give me some advice on the best and cheapest way from the airport to the ground?

If you are going straight to the ground your best bet is train. Can get train directly from the airport to central, then change at central onto a line that gets you to Lidcombe


I think trains from the airport are about $35 an adult nowdays? And you've got to buy an Opal card (Myki for Sydney)

There are a couple of T8 trains that go from Domestic Terminal through to Lidcombe (via the city circle) so you don’t actually have to change at central if you get the right one.

Single fair 1 adult one way (buy a single trip opal card) $18.47 off peak. Anywhere between 49minutes and a tick over an hour.

131500.com.au for a trip planner.
 
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