Shane Mumford on selling candy to Scott Pendlebury, the Giants-Pies prelim and Kieren Briggs’ emergence
The Giants’ breakout ruckman of 2023, Sydney native Kieren Briggs, has come a long way since he was ‘wasting his time and the club’s time’ when he arrived at GWS.
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It’s one of the most clutch plays in AFL history.
In the dying moments of the 2019 preliminary final, Shane Mumford took the ball out of the ruck over Brodie Grundy.
The Giants were four points up against Collingwood with just over 60 seconds left on the clock. They were pinned into their defensive 50 and staring down the barrel of relinquishing a 33-point lead to lose their place in a maiden grand final.
Retreating towards his own goal square, Mumford begins his kicking motion to launch the ball long. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Scott Pendlebury charging in his direction.
What follows is the textbook definition of selling candy, dragging the ball back into his body and potentially saving the game for GWS.
“If I’d gone through with kicking it, he was going to grab it out of my hands and kick the goal,” Mumford said.
“So, I pulled it back in and then gave it absolutely everything I had.
“The ball went about 25 metres, so you can tell just how spent I was by the lack of distance I got on the kick.”
It was the climax of a remarkable preliminary final that went completely against the script as the Giants silenced the parochial Pies fans.
“It was definitely [one of the best wins],” Mumford said.
“We were absolutely cooked by the time that final siren went. It was ecstasy, thank god I didn’t have to run anymore.
“Up against Grundy, I’d given away the most free kicks in the competition that year by quite a long way. So late in the game when we were just hanging on, every time there was another ruck contest I’m like, ‘Don’t give a free kick, don’t give a free kick’.
“But it was one hell of a win that we won‘t forget any time soon.”
It was a famous day for the Giants because they were without Toby Greene (suspension) and Lachie Whitfield (appendix), while captain Phil Davis played through injury.
But it’s a different story this time around as GWS prepare to take the Pies on again with essentially a full complement of players to select from.
“That was one hell of a challenge that week,” Mumford said.
“We’re certainly playing our best footy at the right time of the year now. We knew it was going to take time to play the new system that Kingers has brought. But it’s starting to click and gel and we’re seeing results off the back of it.
“It‘s going to be fun to sit back on the sidelines and watch the boys go at it.”
Mumford has played a big part in the Giants’ resurgence this season as the club’s ruck and stoppages coach.
The emergence of Kieren Briggs has been one of the stories of the year, and Mumford has had a crucial role in his development.
He was there when Briggs first joined the Giants’ Academy and recalls an early heart-to-heart that set the in-form ruckman straight.
“He has certainly come a long way from the young kid from Pennant Hills that I told to stop wasting his time and club’s time when he came here in the Academy,” Mumford said.
“We certainly had a lot of blood, sweat and tears over the years between Briggsy and I. But to see him transform into the ruck he is today, it’s fantastic to watch.
“A lot of people joke that I was holding him back for all those years because I didn’t want him to go in front of me!”
Briggs’ strength has been a standout feature of his game, and Mumford has seen the work the 23-year-old has put in at the gym to get to that position.
But it’s also his ability to combine it with clearance work that has made his inclusion such a bonus for the Giants, and it’s why Mumford is so proud of how far he has come.
“It’s like watching my son grow up,” Mumford said. “Like all the other boys, they’re known as my sons, so he calls me Dad quite often.
“It’s nice to see the work he’s putting in that he’s bringing it out in the game and doing it to such a high level, contest after contest.
“We’ve done a lot of work with positioning and where he can get guys in the best position to manipulate them. His work has been fantastic and you can see how well it’s working with our clearance numbers.”
Mumford’s experience will benefit the group as they prepare to play in front of almost 100,000 people on Friday night.
The Giants have shown they have no fear of being the underdog, and he hopes the team embrace that.
“You’ve just got to embrace the atmosphere, the noise, and use it to lift you,” Mumford said.
“When the crowd is up and about, you’re relying on your system and your structures and everyone playing it to a tee, which is why we’re playing such good footy at the moment.
“The best thing, because there will be a fair chunk of Collingwood supporters in there, is to shut them up and enjoy the silence when we do shut them up.”
But what about Briggs? Can he add selling candy to his ever-growing list of talents?
“We’ll work on it out there with our captain’s run tomorrow (Thursday).”
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