By Vince Rugari
If nothing else, the Giants have got jokes. “We lost a GF, that wasn’t nice,” read the banner their players ran through before Sunday’s 30th Sydney derby at the SCG against the Swans. “You got smashed – not once, but twice.”
Salt, meet wound.
The Giants run through a spicy banner.Credit: via Getty Images
The thing about jokes like that is they have to be backed up. Indeed, for most of the first quarter on Sunday, the Giants only had jokes. They certainly didn’t have any answers to an early and decisive blitzkrieg from the patched-up Sydney Swans, whose pent-up frustrations were unleashed on the unsuspecting visitors.
With their season effectively on the line, Sydney’s five-goal burst across the opening 17 minutes breathed new life into it and set up a vital, gritty and deserving 14-point victory, 12.15 (87) to 10.13 (73), which has stripped another layer off the Giants’ premiership credibility. Widely tipped to contend again this year, GWS were simply outfought by, on paper at least, a comfortably lesser side, losing for the third successive week.
It was also the Swans’ fifth derby success in a row, the first time either side has strung together that many wins in this fixture’s 13-year history.
That early charge was almost the best the Swans have looked under Dean Cox, although some of the early damage was self-inflicted by the Giants, whose poor decision-making and ill discipline directly contributed to at least two goals. All five of Sydney’s goals came before the Giants had scored a single major themselves, and despite having a few momentum surges of their own, they never managed to wholly make up that difference, trailing on the scoreboard all day in front of 39,260 fans.
Lewis Melican will face scrutiny for this hit on Toby Bedford.Credit: Getty Images
Don’t let the midweek press conference mutual respect-a-thons fool you. These two teams really don’t like each other. There were spot fires everywhere – particularly during a spiteful second term, in which the Giants returned serve physically and turned Sydney’s 21-point margin at quarter-time into just six at the long break.
The biggest flashpoint was Lewis Melican’s ugly clothesline on Toby Bedford. They were contesting the same ball from opposite directions, and at pace; Bedford got there first, though, and Melican collected him high with an outstretched arm, drawing blood and causing significant swelling and blurred vision (but no concussion) and was withdrawn from the match, substituted out for Jake Stringer at half-time.
Bedford was visibly seething as he came off, pointing fingers in Melican’s general direction, but had no chance to settle any scores himself. That will have to wait for the rematch earlier this year.
Melican, meanwhile, can expect an enforced holiday from the AFL’s match review officer, taking another key magnet off Cox’s board as they face a trip to play Essendon in Melbourne next weekend.
Jake Stringer added spark for the Giants as the sub.Credit: via Getty Images
“I’ve only seen it briefly,” Cox said post-match.
“Obviously, I hope Toby’s OK. Lewis has probably got an immaculate record. The way he plays his footy isn’t malicious. That will play out in the next couple of days.”
Only the Swans’ wayward kicking in front of goal kept the Giants in the game for as long as they were: Justin McInerney, James Rowbottom, Caiden Cleary and Oliver Florent all missed gettable chances across the second half that might have put them clear.
They were helped by the Giants also being wasteful from multiple entries late in the game as they chased an unlikely comeback.
Stringer seemed to be their best hope, pulling a goal out of nowhere in the right pocket early in the final quarter to spark their rally; he went on to kick two more in junk time to push his case for a more substantial role in the Giants’ forward line.
But when the former Essendon ace slipped over while chasing a bouncing ball into a vacant goalsquare, it summed up their afternoon.
The Swans went up the other end moments later and, through James Jordon and then Joel Hamling, put the result beyond any doubt.
“Aside from probably the first 20 minutes, the game was relatively even … but we didn’t show up to defend well enough against their attack,” said Giants coach Adam Kingsley. “We tightened that up after quarter time, but … too little, too late.”