AFL 2024: Jesse Hogan addresses GWS’ offensive woes after loss to Western Bulldogs

The Giants’ hot start to 2024 was fuelled by a ruthless forward efficiency, now that has deserted them. But there’s no panic stations yet, as GWS look to get back to their high-flying ways.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – MAY 18: Sam Taylor of the Giants looks dejected during the round 10 AFL match between Greater Western Sydney Giants and Western Bulldogs at ENGIE Stadium on May 18, 2024 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Jason McCawley/AFL Photos/via Getty Images)

Over the past month, the Giants have been a shadow of their former selves. Where they earned a reputation for their incredible speed to transition into attack, that efficiency has completely deserted them in recent matches.

Following their disappointing defeat to the Bulldogs last weekend, GWS has now lost four of their past five matches. On Saturday, they were dominated in the territory battle, losing the inside 50 count 62-41, and they took five fewer marks inside 50 than their season average.

What also stood out was their lack of flexibility in attack. They only had two goal-kickers for the match as Jesse Hogan and Toby Greene both finished with three each. They also had just 13 scoring shots for the match in comparison to the Dogs’ 30.

Hogan was one of the Giants’ shining lights as he celebrated his 150th match, but he knows changes need to be made.

Hogan and Greene were the only two Giants to hit the scoreboard on Saturday. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

“I think our pressure was good, our tackles were good and we had more possessions,” Hogan said. “But our system is just not standing up at the moment.

“I think we’re shooting ourselves in the foot a little bit, to be honest. Our ball movement is still right up there with some of the best teams. We’re getting in positions to win a lot of these games, but then not converting.

“Our system and the way we move the ball is still the most damaging in the competition, but we’re just not showing it at the moment. We have to rebuild that brand up a bit, that’s the reality of it. We’ll get back to the drawing board and go from there.”

The defeat was the second time this season the Giants have failed to adapt to wet-weather footy after also losing to the Swans in the rain.

Hogan became a key outlet down the wing and finished with a game-high four contested marks. But in a sense they were robbing Peter to pay Paul, with Hogan now out of the forward 50 as a target and Jake Riccardi and Aaron Cadman both having quieter days.

The 29-year-old is clearly in career-best form, but the Giants know that they have to put more of an emphasis on finding a variety of ways to score.

“I don’t think our connection going forward was really strong,” Adam Kingsley said. “We didn’t get the ball forward anywhere near often enough, that has an impact on everyone.

“If you don’t really provide the supply, it’s going to be difficult to really capitalise.

“I didn’t think we were too reliant on Jesse last year when we were playing some really strong football. At the moment, we’re not quite at the levels that we’ve been.

“Jesse competed extremely well tonight and provided a really good target for us. But we’ve got to have more than him. And so we’re fully aware of that.”

Hogan became the key target for the Giants, and that turned into an advantage for the Bulldogs. Picture: Matt King/AFL Photos/via Getty Images

“I think what we have at the moment is a player that’s in career-best form and probably attracting a little bit too much ball,” senior assistant coach Brett Montgomery added.

“We need to offset a little bit with our targets, the way we move the ball and just take some load off Jesse. But the silver lining there is we’ve got a really good player in really good form.”

The Giants are not at panic stations yet. Their strong start to the season has given them the platform to still go on a run for a top-four spot later in the year.

But their current form is concerning and Kingsley is determined to turn things around sooner rather than later.

“We’ve got to get our backsides into gear,” Kingsley said.

“We’ve become a little bit unreliable to one another within our system. And that breaks us down a little bit too often.

“You know, we’ve got to pull our fingers out. This competition is very close. There’s a logjam between that middle part of the ladder that we’re a part of now and we need to make sure that we keep our heads above water as best as we can.”

“We take positives out of the game,” Hogan added.

“We’re a very confident group and we have a lot of belief after seeing what we did last year. We just need to fine tweak some things and get our system better.”