Greater Western Sydney has seen off a stern challenge from Brisbane by 27 points, but their finals hopes have taken a hit, as Jeremy Cameron looks certain to miss weeks for an incident in the first quarter.
Competing for a mark with Harris Andrews, the GWS forward left his opponent unconscious, with the promising Brisbame defender taking no further part in the match.
Cameron was booed every time he went near the ball thereafter, but the booing was extra loud for each of his three goals.
Running machines Josh Kelly and Lachie Whitfield were terrific for the Giants, with 30 and 26 disposals respectively in what was a very tight contest for the majority of the match.
The pressure was high early, and both sides usually had to concede ground when they won the ball, as evidenced with Jeremy Finlayson and Dayne Zorko's long range goals to open the game.
Brisbane’s presence inside was sound, and their intent to move the ball fast and directly was obvious.
Their style paid dividends as they took the ball briskly from one end to the other through Daniel Rich, where Eric Hipwood marked, and kicked truly from the pocket.
But the big talking point for the match came when in-form defender Harris Andrews went back with the flight to effect a terrific spoil.
He saved a certain mark and goal, but it would be his final action of the day, as the price of his courage was a sickening blow to the back of the head from the raised elbow of Jeremy Cameron.
Andrews was unconscious before he hit the ground, where he lay for several minutes before being stretchered off.
To add insult to injury, Cameron snapped a goal minutes later, as it seemed that the Lions had lost focus following the break in play.
But they soon got back on track with another terrific bit of daring corridor football, resulting in a beautiful kick from Tom Cutler sailing through from outside 50.
The midfield contest was intriguing, with Josh Kelly a standout for GWS, but the overall battle was quite even.
A bad situation threatened to become disastrous for the Lions as key defender Darcy Gardiner limped off, however, he returned after quarter-time to play out the match.
Eventually the more mature GWS players wrested control back in their favour.
Cameron kicked another, before Kelly and Ryan Griffen gave the Giants a healthy quarter-time buffer of 12 points.
The Lions were brilliant off half-back, with Luke Hodge, Tom Cutler, and Daniel Rich taking the game on brilliantly.
Hodge and Rich in particular, were superb all evening and finished their afternoons with 30 disposals apiece.
However, GWS had a spare player back in the second quarter, and the Lions’ connection in the front half was disappointing.
Brsibane’s only goal for the quarter came courtesy of a 50m penalty, and then a free kick on the goal line to Eric Hipwood, but nevertheless, the Lions were right in the contest, perhaps even outplaying the Giants.
Cameron Rayner missed a few golden chances, but the Giants hung on to a narrow lead, until at last Tim Taranto widened the gap.
As in the first quarter, the Giants were competitive for longer, and really hurt the tiring Brisbane in the last five minutes.
Jonathon Patton found space up forward in an otherwise quiet half, and kicked the goal, before Cameron kicked his third after the siren, to stretch the margin out to 24 points.
Jacob Hopper kicked the first of the third quarter; a good curling effort out of a pack in the pocket, to put Brisbane on their knees.
Griffen, on the boundary line, flung the ball onto his boot, and at the top of the goal square, Patton reacted quicker than anyone else, and took the mark before goalling.
But a lucky bounce from a Rayner inside 50 cleared Phil Davis’ head, with Oscar McInerney pouncing to bring it back to five goals.
The Lions’ desperation remained, but their skills were crumbling, and the class of the GWS midfield stood tall.
Kelly continued to star, and the combination of Callan Ward, Stephen Coniglio, Whitfield, Hopper and Dylan Shiel was telling, in the packs and on the outside.
The Giants couldn’t quite put the home side away however, as Harrison Himmelberg missed a pair of set shots, and dual key targets Patton and Cameron weren’t finding much of the ball.
Jeremy Cameron sent a towering snap towards goal, and while none of the crowd would have said so, it appeared to be a goal, but it wasn’t paid.
Instead, the Lions whisked the ball downfield, and Jarrod Berry snapped accurately from a tight angle, and brought the margin back within five goals.
After the first and second quarters both finished with GWS kicking the final three goals, the script was reversed in the third quarter when Dayne Beams kicked a delightful goal from a forward 50 stoppage.
The goal gave the Lions their third in a row and brought the margin back to 21 points, and it remained that way until three-quarter time.
The Giants looked nervy to start the last quarter, highlighted by Patton, who found a rare bit of space from his opponent Josh Walker, but dropped an absolute sitter.
Once again, the Lions’ ball movement off half-back was superb, and this time, McInerney and Hugh McCluggage were able to take marks in damaging posiitions across the half-forward line, and eventually Allen Christensen marked in the forward pocket, where he kicked a brilliant goal.
Kelly responded for the Giants to bring the margin back to 21 points, finding more space in a stoppage than he should have.
The two sides then traded mistakes in the back 50, as Sam Reid for the Giants and Zac Bailey for the Lions popped through goals.
Zac Langdon and then Himmelberg at last snuffed out the Lions’ chances with a pair of goals.
Goals had been hard to come by for most of the game, but the intensity dropped, and the game closed with a flurry of goals each way; the most notable was Luke Hodge’s first for Brisbane, courtesy of a 50m penalty.
The final margin was 27 points, which was an accurate reflection of the levels of the sides.
Brisbane will still be searching for their second win of the season against Fremantle next Sunday at Optus Stadium, while Greater Western Sydney will be back at Spotless Stadium to take on Hawthorn on Saturday afternoon.
BRISBANE 3.2 4.4 7.6 12.10 (82)
GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY 5.2 8.4 10.9 16.13 (109)
GOALS
Brisbane: Hipwood 3, Christensen 2, McInerney, Beams, Zorko. Bailey, Berry, Cutler, Hodge
Greater Western Sydney: Cameron 3, Patton 3, Kelly 2, Griffen 2, Reid, Langdon, Taranto, Hopper, Himmelberg, Finlayson
BEST
Brisbane: Rich, Hodge, Taylor, Beams, Zorko, Cutler
Greater Western Sydney: Kelly, Shaw, Cameron, Whitfield, Coniglio, de Boer, Shiel
INJURIES
Brisbane: Andrews (concussion)
Greater Western Sydney: Nil
TALKING POINTS
1. AN UGLY HIT
Jeremy Cameron might be out for four weeks - he jumped, made no effort to mark, was late, and had his elbow cocked.
It looked as though Harris Andrews’ courage took him slightly by surprise, and so he tried to protect Andrews by not attacking the ball hands-first, but it is doubtful that will come into consideration, as Andrews was left unconscious and bloody.
Brisbane, despite being a young side with one less on the bench all evening, didn’t appear to run out of legs, and Josh Walker and Darcy Gardiner played gallant roles in defence.
Andrews was in line for All Australian selection however, and he may miss games as a result of the ugly clash.
The Giants didn’t really capitalise on his absence, and will struggle without their spearhead for the length of his absence.
Jonathon Patton struggled to exert much influence and was flattered by his final tally of three goals, while Rory Lobb is already on the sidelines.
Ryan Griffen, Sam Reid, and Zac Langdon will need to continue to provide goals from ground level if the Giants hope to kick competitive scores in their next few matches, which are against teams contesting for finals.
2. GREEN SHOOTS
A 1-12 win/loss record makes pretty gruesome reading for the Lions, but the signs are so clearly there.
Their ball movement is electric, their intensity and commitment is as good as there is in the AFL (until they tire, as seen at the back end of three of the four quarters), and they still have an abundance of young talented players who just need another pre-season or two to become bona fide stars of the AFL.
For all that, this is a side that hasn’t played finals since 2009, and when they’re down the bottom of the ladder again, it must be tiresome for their fans to have to console themselves with signs for the future.
Will this at least be the last year, before a rise up the ladder, even to a season of something like 6-8 wins, or will there just be more green shoots and gallant losses in 2019?
3. FINALS RACE HEATS UP
The Giants have a date with Hawthorn next Saturday night, and put simply, they will have no chance of making the finals if they don’t win it.
Hawthorn, Melbourne and Geelong are 8-5 (Collingwood are 8-4, but can be pencilled in to beat the Blues tomorrow), and of the three of them, the Hawks look the least credentialed, but have the easiest run.
The Giants, sitting half a game behind, have West Coast, Richmond and Port Adelaide on the horizon after the Hawthorn clash, and will be facing most, or all, of those matches without Jeremy Cameron.
Their midfield is slowly but surely finding its groove and Phil Davis is back playing good footy in defence, so they deserve to be given a chance in most of those games.
If they let Hawthorn widen the gap next week their season looks shot, but if they win they will at last feel like they have some momentum (it would be their fourth win in a row), and the onus would be on the Hawks to retake that eighth spot.
Comments