Phil Hillyard on why he turned away to shoot GWS players in last minutes of preliminary final
Despair. Anguish. Pure elation. The last minutes of the prelim final had it all. Our man Phil Hillyard explains why he turned his back on the play to capture the emotion of GWS players.
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As GWS Giants held on grimly in the last minutes of Saturday’s preliminary final, Phil Hillyard had his camera trained on the stands.
Suspended Giant Toby Greene, injured teammates Brett Deledio and Stephen Coniglio and GWS chief executive David Matthews crowded into the players’ race, raw emotion etched on their faces.
Veteran snapper Hillyard, who has more than 30 years experience behind the lens capturing events including cricket world cups and Olympic Games, said the images were unlike any in his extensive portfolio.
“At no point did I feel the Giants were going to lose the game,” Hillyard said.
“I just felt I was going to be getting the winning reaction.
“But when there was longer to go than I thought, I became aware that I might be photographing the boys in tears in a minute because Collingwood slot the goal and their dream is over.”
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Hillyard was unaware of what unfolded behind him until Sunday night, when he watched a replay of the engrossing contest.
“It was a big thing for the club and to be there and record it, that’s just what I love doing,” he said.
“Recording pieces of history. That’s there forever, the moment they got into their first grand final and two of their lead players that have been there from the start and their CEO.
“I thought it was quite fitting.”
The images of Greene, Coniglio, Matthews and co. were snapped in a matter of seconds before Hillyard sprinted across the MCG to capture GWS’ celebrations.
“I actually bumped into them in the members, both Stephen Coniglio and Toby, before the game and I just asked them, ‘at full-time, will you be coming down to the race?” he said.
“I didn’t want Toby out on the field with teammates and me miss the picture. I was trying to get an idea of where it might have happened.
This is euphoria. Unbelievable scenes as Toby Greene and Dave Matthews count down the last seconds. What a contest. Mummy massive in those final moments pic.twitter.com/JoJeXfNdc0
— Jon Ralph (@RalphyHeraldSun) September 21, 2019
“I got a message saying they were down there during the last quarter …(and) I knew one thing was for certain.
“If the Giants were going to win, somewhere around that race, there was going to be a picture that night.”
Originally published as Phil Hillyard on why he turned away to shoot GWS players in last minutes of preliminary final
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