Greater Western Sydney Giants’ awkward problem after huge win over Richmond Tigers

Leon Cameron had a tough time leaving players out of his side’s clash with Richmond, but the Giants coach’s job isn’t about to get any easier.

Cameron has coached the Giants since 2014. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Veteran GWS pair Phil Davis and Stephen Coniglio might have to wait a little longer to break back into the Giants’ line-up after the team produced another sensational performance without them.

GWS backed up its miraculous upset victory over Geelong last week with a clinical dismantling of Richmond on Friday night to tighten its grip on a finals berth with one round to play.

And after experiencing an “extremely hard” week at the selection table, coach Leon Cameron doesn’t anticipate it will get any easier this week ahead of their final game against Carlton, but he wouldn’t want it any other way either.

“The hardest one was Phil,” Cameron said post-game of his former captain who was absent last week due to concussion, but was cleared to play this week.

“I was really rapt with our back seven last week and we wanted to back them in again, so that was really tough.

“But to his credit he’s taken it as well as he possibly could … he’s hurting because he’d love to play AFL footy, but equally his leadership has been absolutely first class.

“Clearly he’s still got some great footy in him. Is it a challenge to get in (the best 22) at the moment? Absolutely. But I’d much prefer this than having it the other way when we had so many injuries.”

In the absence of Toby Greene, Tim Taranto (R) kicked four goals. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

And while Coniglio is no guarantee to return against the Blues, either, he’s made huge strides in a short amount of time in his recovery from a toe injury.

“A week or so ago it wasn’t looking as great and maybe he mightn’t be able to even get back and play footy this year but a really successful return today (in a scratch match) and hopefully he can build on that and start to put pressure on our match committee again which is good because it means everyone is fighting for spots,” Cameron said.

If the Giants were to qualify for the finals, Cameron said he wouldn’t have an issue with the pre-finals bye being scrapped, but he would prefer finals matches to be played in front of crowds, even if that means Melbourne has another year deprived of the biggest month of the season.

He also paid tribute to his team for not adopting a “woe is me” attitude after starting the year 0-3, and recovering adequately to find themselves in the box seat for a top-eight spot.

The Giants all but ended Richmond’s finals hopes on Friday night. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

Richmond coach Damien Hardwick was effusive in his praise for the Giants, saying they looked like “a million bucks” on Friday night, particularly in the decisive first half when they led by 56 points at one stage.

“They might be hitting their straps at the right time because I’d hate to run into them in September,” Hardwick said post-match.

The Tigers coach dismissed suggestion that his team had lost the hunger for success after winning three of the previous four premierships, instead bemoaning the raft of injuries to key players they had experienced throughout the year, particularly in defence as the Giants scored at will without Noah Balta, Nathan Broad, David Astbury or Bachar Houli to contend with.

Richmond would need a minor miracle to qualify for the finals this year, but with a large core of premiership players still at his disposal next season, Hardwick was optimistic of the Tigers’ chances of making another run at a flag in 2022.

“When we have a good pre-season I think we’ll be a hell of a lot better,” he said.

However, Hardwick was non-committal on whether Houli would be part of those plans beyond this season.

“These guys have been outstanding players for us so we’ll give them every opportunity to play on where we can but we’ll certainly make the right decision for the club moving forward,” he said.

Hardwick also admitted his club hadn’t handled all the challenges that have been thrown up as a result of another Covid-impacted season as well as their rivals.

“This year’s been as hard as it’s ever been, whoever wins it (premiership) this year will have an enormous tick beside their club,” he said.

Originally published as Greater Western Sydney Giants’ awkward problem after huge win over Richmond Tigers