No Jeremy Cameron, but GWS sends a giant warning
JONATHON Patton was having a stinker in front of goal but stood up when it mattered most as the Giants put the drama of Jeremy Cameron’s ban behind them to storm back into the top eight.
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GWS has put the drama of Jeremy Cameron’s five-week ban behind it to snare a hard-fought 11-point win over Hawthorn in a mini elimination final at Spotless Stadium.
The victory extends the Giants’ winning streak to four and keeps their finals hopes alive, while also dealing serious blow to the Hawks chances of September action.
Tom Mitchell almost carried the Hawks over the line with an unbelievable 50-possession game.
The Giants were on top early but the midfield dynamo made a massive contribution in every quarter, racking up 25 touches by halftime and 36 at the last break.
It’s the second time this year he has reached the half-century after managing 54 disposals in the season-opener against Collingwood.
“He’s a superstar,” Giants coach Leon Cameron said.
“Every coach weighs up whether to run with someone and does it disturb your structure if you have someone running with Tom all the time. We thought running with Ward, Shiel, Tarranto, Coniglio and Hopper would work better for us.”
Mitchell kept the Hawks in the contest right until the closing minutes when Jonathon Patton sealed victory for the Giants with a strong mark and goal.
He couldn’t put a foot right all night but stepped up when it mattered the most.
The Giants almost kicked themselves out of the match in the second quarter when they dominated possession but were deplorable in front of goal, kicking 1.8 for the term.
Patton was one of the culprits.
The home side went inside 50m 16 times to Hawthorn’s 11 but were outscored 24-14.
“It was really frustrating,” Cameron said.
“We had 30 shots which is about 12 more shots than them and it was really disappointing coming into the half time break. We had there were we wanted and need to put more scoreboard pressure on them.”
The Hawks were as efficient going forward as GWS were wasteful with Luke Breust their main contributor with three goals.
Giants forward Rory Lobb also kicked three goals, which all came in the first quarter.
His shock return was backed up with an equally surprising performance wearing his high visibility long sleeves.
The match was full of anomalies on the stat sheet. GWS won contested possession by a massive 53 (189-136), clearances by 23 (51-28) and inside 50s by nine (56-47) and lost the tackle count by 32 as the Hawks’ tackling forced turnovers and kept them in the game.
“It looked like they were playing in dry weather and we were playing in the wet,” Hawthorn coach Alistair Clarkson said.
“We really missed the class of Gunston and Burgoyne. We didn’t have the evenness of a good side. We can still make the eight but we need to play good footy and we need to play near our capacity.”
The Giants can thank key defenders Phil Davis, Nick Haynes and Aidan Corr for keeping the Hawks at bay as they pushed for the win in the last quarter.
When Ben McEvoy kicked truly midway through the term Hawthorn was within five points, but goals to Lachie Whitfield and Patton got GWS across the line.
Their hard nut midfielders Callan Ward, Jacob Hopper, Tim Taranto and Stephen Coniglio kept the Giants coaching forward and Josh Kelly, Dylan Shiel and Lachie Whitfield did the work on the outside.
They still have plenty of work to do and now face a tough run against West Coast in Perth, Richmond at Spotless Stadium and Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval.
GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY 5.3 6.11 11.15 13.17 (95)
HAWTHORN 1.3 5.4 9.5 13.6 (84)
GOALS
Giants: Lobb 3, Ward 2, de Boer, Himmelberg, Shiel, Hopper, Coniglio, Griffen, Whitfield, Patton
Hawks: Bruest 3, Puopolo 2, Roughead 2, Ceglar 2, McEvoy, Sicily, Henderson, Smith
BEST
Giants: Ward, Coniglio, Shiel, Kelly, Davis, Haynes, Taylor, Corr
Hawks: Mitchell, Sicily, Breust, Smith, O’Meara, Puopolo
INJURIES
Giants: Nil
Hawks: Langford (finger)
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Williamson, Fleer, McInerney
Official crowd: 10,866 at Spotless Stadium
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