Greene stands tall for Giants in win over North Melbourne

Giants talisman Toby Greene and his experienced band of midfielders proved too much for North Melbourne on Sunday as they inflicted an 11th straight loss on the Kangaroos.

It was the Giants’ dominance around the contest that eventually overwhelmed North Melbourne from midway through the third quarter when they kicked four unanswered goals to push a one-goal lead out to an unassailable five-goal margin.

It would be wrong to describe the game as highly anticipated. Only diehard North Melbourne and Giants supporters and people nursing hangovers locked this game into their agenda when they woke on Sunday.

Watching two bottom-four teams assembling raw talent while sitting at base camp play each other in Hobart does not make for memorable long weekends.

But for those who did make the effort they were well rewarded in the first half as each team found it impossible to shake their opponent.

Liam Shiels started on the Giants’ Tom Green, Luke McDonald took his opposing captain Greene and Harry Himmelberg played in defence as two teams with 14 wins between them in two seasons tried to finish the afternoon with a rare chance to celebrate.

North Melbourne’s midfield began well, with the rapidly improving Will Phillips and his instant impact sidekick George Wardlaw giving the Kangaroos territory. When their teammates matched that pair’s efforts with brave ball use the Kangaroos looked dangerous.

They kicked the first two goals of the match before the Giants responded with five unanswered goals. At that point, the absence of Jy Simpkin and Luke Davies-Uniacke appeared a negative the Kangaroos would struggle to overcome.

But that was to underestimate the improvement underway at the Kangaroos, with the return of Tarryn Thomas making a huge difference to this team. He showed class to kick two goals in the second quarter, and he can win centre clearances that give forwards one-on-one opportunities.

They fought back to make the game an arm-wrestle for most of the first three quarters. Only a few curious decisions or sub-par efforts at contests from North Melbourne’s experienced defenders kept the Giants with their noses in front.

North Melbourne’s Nick Larkey was tireless, skilful and honest up forward and kicked four goals.

With Cam Zurhaar and Callum Coleman-Jones doing enough to keep other tall defenders Himmelberg and Connor Idun occupied, Jack Buckley battled to keep up when Larkey was on the lead.

By contrast the Giants were robbing Peter to pay Paul when they put Himmelberg back and were reliant on rookies (Lachie Keeffe and Jake Riccardi), a recycled redemptive story (Jesse Hogan) and an Irishman (Callum Brown) to take marks inside 50. Brown kicked three goals in the first half but was never a focal point, while Hogan’s hands were not as reliable as usual.

The Giants were winning at the source, grinding their inexperienced opponents into the ground, but the Kangaroos battled hard.

Kangaroos coach Brett Ratten said the first half of the first quarter showed what the team was capable of doing, but they did not build up a big enough lead during their period of dominance. He sensed momentum shifting towards the Giants just before half-time as the group’s energy flagged, but he saw signs for optimism in Larkey, Wardlaw and Thomas’ performances.

“They are young men and young kids that are really developing into good AFL players, not great yet but good ... they excite us,” Ratten said.

He said Simpkin and Hugh Greenwood were likely to return against the Western Bulldogs but Davies-Uniacke remains unlikely to play as he recovers from a hamstring injury.

It took a 50-metre penalty against Ben McKay to give Riccardi a vital goal when the Giants were pressing to break open a tight game with repeat inside 50s during the third quarter.

The goal was critical as it rewarded the Giants for their territory dominance. With their confidence up, the brilliant Greene kick two goals just before the final break to open up a 26-point lead. It was a critical period with the Giants kicking five goals from clearances, North unable to control Callan Ward, Stephen Coniglio and Green at the source.

From there the result was inevitable with the Giants having too much strength around the ball for the Joeys in North Melbourne’s midfield.

GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY 4.3 7.5 12.9 15.13 (103)
NORTH MELBOURNE 2.4 6.6 8.7 11.9 (75)

GOALS
GWS: Greene 3, Brown 3, Bedford 2, Hogan 2, Riccardi 2, O’Halloran, Ward, Rowston.
North Melbourne: Larkey 4, Thomas 3, Ford, Powell, Wardlaw, Spicer.
BEST
GWS: Greene, Ward, Coniglio, Green, Briggs, Whitfield, Himmelberg.
North Melbourne: Larkey, Thomas, Shiels, Wardlaw, Logue.
UMPIRES
Power, Whetton, Dore, Rebeschini.
VENUE
Blundstone Arena.

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