As it happened AFL 2021 Greater Western Sydney Giants defeat Geelong Cats in shock 19-point win
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That’s all for tonight. What a win by the Giants, they look like they really want to play finals in a season when few teams have really tried to grasp the final few positions in the eight.
The Cats will dust themselves off and come again. Jeremy Cameron will be a welcomed addition to the side next week.
Thanks for following tonight’s blog. Damien Ractliffe here, signing off.
Chris Scott speaks...
on Dangerfield’s injury: “I can’t give you an update with Pat at the moment. My understanding is he got that contact to the throat region and was having trouble breathing. I think they took him to the hospital as a precaution. I think it’s good news we haven’t got a negative update. I’m being told he’s going to stay in overnight but he’s fine.â€
on the Greene fend off on Dangerfield: “I’m a little bit of a believer that contact in the moment is a little bit overplayed these days because of the improvements in camera angles and slow motion. I just encourage people to look at those things in real time. Sometimes contact happens that looks bad in still or slow motion or leads to a serious injury but that doesn’t mean the action in the contest of AFL football is as bad [as the injury].â€
on the Giants’ contested possessions: “Their contested work was fantastic, it was a really high level. We’ve got a high level of respect for those players in there. I thought Ward and Taranto were terrific in there. In the broader context of the game, we dominated the inside-50s, we dominated the scoring shots... I think the positive, even though their hard to find at the moment, is we gave ourselves a chance to win when we were being outplayed. One silver lining from tonight, in a game when a lot of things weren’t going our way... we found a way to give ourselves a chance. In the end they were just too good.â€
on missing their chances: “We had some really good chances early as well. I thought the first six or seven minutes of the game we really dominated. They took it down the end and got a couple of easy goals. When they went forward they had better looks than we did. They made more of their chances.â€
on injury updates: Zach Tuohy hamstring, likely to miss a few weeks, and Gary Rohan hip issue.
on the Hawkins/Sam Taylor battle: “We knew Taylor was a really good player so that didn’t surprise us at all. I thought we kicked it to him a bit. It was roughly plus-20 inside 50s and I thought a lot went to their advantage. Tom didn’t have a good one but... you depend a lot on the delivery up field. A lot of the entries I’m speaking of were rushed, good pressure from the Giants. But he wasn’t on his own. Rohan wasn’t himself tonight from early in the game because of his body and Ratugolea didn’t look like a threat until late in the game.â€
on who the Cats could get back next week: “We might get back Henderson, Atkins, O’Connor, Cameron, Smith. Will we? They’re better than 50/50, all of those guys. Something would have to change over the next week for Cameron not to play, same with Henderson, same with O’Connor.â€
Leon Cameron speaks...
on that performance: “It’s a significant win, we’re not going to deny that. It’s one of the better wins we’ve had. It was really good watching at ground level. They kept on hanging in there, they made some mistakes, they were brave with the footy. Those significant wins mean a lot for us but in seven days’ time we’ve got to do it again. We wake up tomorrow with a smile on our face and look forward to doing it again next week.
on holding off the Cats late: “We made some mistakes there halfway through the last. Geelong clearly came at us hard and got some momentum out of the centre bounce. Everyone played their role. Some guys bobbed up in the first, second third and fourth. I thought our pressure was good for most of the night. To secure that goal by young Tanner and then Harry, it sums up a really good night for us.
on Sam Taylor’s performance tonight: “It’s significant. We clearly missed him when he was out for six or seven weeks with that ankle injury. He reads the ball so well, he wants to take on the big forwards. Clearly there’s none bigger than Hawkins. Sam’s last quarter was first class. He loves those big moments.
on Sam Taylor’s injury history: “He missed from round four onwards so he missed the last 13 games. He couldn’t walk, he was in hospital for three weeks, he had to start again. We got his preseason right... then we lost him with an ankle injury. Sammy’s come back and really stamped his importance in our back seven.
on winning contested possessions: “It was a number of things you’ve got deal with when you come up against such a good team and that was one of them. The boys hunted, they got their shape right. Those young fellas really stood up; that was pleasing. But it wasn’t just in the middle. I thought forward and back we won some really big contests.
on the Toby Greene high fend off that caught Dangerfield high: “I coached from ground level today and to me it just looked like a football incident. I haven’t seen a replay. First thoughts it just looked like a simple football incident.
on his side’s lack of consistency before tonight: “That’s the challenge for us, to get that consistency. We’ve had a little bit of bad luck in the last six weeks but you’re right, if we want to play finals footy we’ve got to turn up and play four quarters and win. In the end [consistency] costs you games here and there. That’s why we were out of the eight. In seven days’ time we play against Richmond and we have to play that way again.
on Brent Daniels’ injury: “I thought he was unbelievably good tonight. It looks like he’s done his other hammy. He’s had a retched run with that this year. He’s such an integral part of our football club. Disappointed because I could see the emotion on his face behind me. Hopefully he’ll be back in a couple of weeks.
Cats’ defender Jake Kolodjashnij has held the title of most games without a goal for several seasons but it took just 37 seconds of this game for him to kick his first AFL goal.
He hands the title to Port Adelaide defender Tom Clurey, who has played 109 game without a goal.
In the same quarter as Kolodjashnij kicked the goal the Giants’ Callum Brown kicked a goal with his first kick in the AFL, which can only be described as the luck of the Irish.
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Players celebrate with Jake Kolodjashnij after the defender’s first career goal.Credit:Getty Images
Geelong have made a horrible start to the weekend, losing to an undermanned Giants while star midfielder Patrick Dangerfield was admitted to hospital at quarter-time with a throat injury.
The Cats also lost Zach Tuohy to a hamstring injury, while Gary Rohan spent the final quarter on the bench with a leg injury as the Giants surged away for a well-deserved 19-point victory that put them in the eight.
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Toby Greene tries to fend off Patrick Dangerfield.Credit:Getty Images
Sam Taylor has joked his teammates played with more of a spring in their step after being united with wives and partners last night.
Fox Footy analysts Nick Riewoldt asked whether that had reinvigorated the players.
“They came in last night, so something must have happened,†laughed Taylor.
The Fox Footy crew decided Taylor was his side’s best tonight, in a three-way battle with Tim Taranto (34 disposals) and Toby Greene (four goals).
Leading disposals: Isaac Cumming (34), Tim Taranto (34), Lachie Whitfield (34), Joel Selwood (27), Cam Guthrie (24), Callan Ward (24), Jed Bews (23).
Goals: Cats: Esava Ratugolea 2, Jack Henry 2, Jake Kolodjashnij, Mark Blicavs, Tom Hawkins, Zach Tuohy. Giants: Toby Greene 4, Tim Taranto 2, Callum Brown 2, Harry Himmelberg 2, Matt Buntine, Zach Sproule, Tanner Bruhn.
Intercepts: Sam Taylor (17), Jed Bews (11), Tom Stewart (10), Mark Blicavs (9)
Clearances: Joel Selwood (9), Callan Ward (7), Cam Guthrie (6), Tim Taranto (6)
Tackles: Cam Guthrie (9), Tim Taranto (9), Lachie Ash (8), Kieren Briggs (7), Zach Sproule (7)
Team stats (Cats-Giants): Disposals 344-359, inside-50s 64-44, hitouts 48-26, clearances 39-32, contested possessions 136-154, marks 103-74, tackles 77-68
The Giants are back in the eight tonight. They’re travelled to Geelong off a five-day break with a depleted side to defeat the second-placed Cats.
No Shane Mumford, no Stephen Coniglio, no Josh Kelly, no Phil Davis. They’re also missing Jacob Hopper, Tom Green and Jeremy Finlayson. This is an incredible result for the Giants who are among the fight for the eight.
“We knew it was a huge challenge. We probably stagnated a bit in the last quarter but that was as brave a win as I’ve seen at this footy club,†Leon Cameron told Seven.
“Clearly we knew we had to create our own energy down here. I thought out voice and direction and our celebrations, the little things were really good.â€
For the Cats, they’ll need to lick their wounds. We wait the result of Patrick Dangerfield’s medical tests following a throat injury.
Joel Selwood will come under scrutiny from the match review officer for a high bump, but the Giants’ player involved was uninjured.
MRO Michael Christian will be busier with the Toby Greene fend-off on Dangerfield however, which sent the Cats star to hospital.
Geelong Cats 1.3, 3.9, 5.10, 8.17 (65)
GWS Giants 5.3, 7.4 11.5, 13.6 (84)
It looks like a left hamstring for Zach Tuohy. He’s strapped up that leg with ice.
Four mintues left on the clock... and Harry Himmelberg makes the margin 20 points!
This will be a massive win for GWS.
Cats 8.16 (64), Giants 13.6 (84)
A horrible passage of play from both sides.
A Giant defender tries to clear the last line of defence and his snap lands straight in the lap of Jordan Clark 15 metres out from goal.
Clark tries to snap the set shot and kicks it out on the full! A very gettable goal would have made the margin three points.
Giants go end to end, Tanner Bruhn lands a big blow, kicking his side’s only goal this quarter. With five minutes to go, the Giants lead by 15.
Cats 8.15 (63), Giants 12.6 (78)
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