Inside the GWS rooms after brutal one-point preliminary final loss to Collingwood
The Giants exceeded every expectation set of them in 2023. But that didn’t make the pain of a one-point preliminary final loss any easier to swallow.
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As every Giants player entered the rooms following their one-point preliminary final loss to Collingwood, they received a passionate round of applause.
Friends. Family. Coaches. One by one, they were all clapped into the arms of their loved ones.
None of them felt like they had earned it. It felt hollow, and all they wanted was to wallow in the understandable grief of losing such an important game by the barest of margins.
Yet, it was the exact response they deserved.
This Giants team has exceeded every expectation set of them in 2023.
A bottom-four finish the previous season. A first-year coach trying to implement a new playing philosophy. A 3-7 start to the year.
Their season wasn’t meant to end this far down the track. If you had told them halfway through the campaign they’d be coming to terms with a heartbreaking prelim final defeat, they probably would have taken it.
But the overwhelming feeling among the players was that they felt they still had more to give.
“The run we went on, the momentum we had, it’s tough to finish that way,” Josh Kelly said.
“I feel like even tonight, we had large periods of great football. We’d love the result to have gone a different way, but that’s footy sometimes.
“We’ve got to be disappointed, but be aware of what we achieved, how far we’ve come and not to look at everything as a failure.
“We believe we’re good enough to be there next week and win it all. But losing this week doesn’t mean this season is a failure.
“I’m so proud of the group and where we’ve come and where we’re going as well.”
The journey ahead is what Giants fans, and anyone who got on board the orange and charcoal bandwagon, should really be excited about.
Of the 23 players on the field against the Pies, 14 of the side are aged 25 and under.
Their formidable defence of Sam Taylor, Jack Buckley and Connor Idun is set up to dominate for years to come.
The combination of Kieren Briggs and Tom Green around the stoppages is only going to get better as time draws on.
It’s cliche to say the greatest learnings come from defeat, but this group getting so close to the ultimate success when no one tipped them to could be the thing that truly makes them special.
“The run in the back half of the year, I think it showed a lot of young boys and the group in general what it looks like when we’re all executing our roles,” Kelly said.
“We’ve got a culture that builds belief and builds trust in one another.”
“The Pies were in the same position last year, they lost to Sydney by a point and they’re going on to play in the grand final next week,” Finn Callaghan added.
“Hopefully we can emulate that next year. We really feel like we can, I still think we’re the best team, it just didn’t go our way today.”
The pieces are undoubtedly there for this Giants side. But importantly, they’ve got the right man in charge.
Kingsley’s demeanour in the rooms post-match looked like a coach who had been through it all before.
Of course, he’s experienced heartache in varying forms as an assistant coach for the best part of 15 years. Yet, you would not have known that was his first time handling it as the one everyone looked to.
He has this group in the palm of his hand. They’re malleable and eager to be turned into premiership contenders again in 12 months’ time.
Belief has never been a thing the Giants have lacked. Now they’ve got even more motivation to go with it.
“I’m certainly very proud of the group and their development, the way they fight, the way they hang in every game and play to the last minute,” Kingsley said.
“They’re a really special group. We need to make sure we maintain that level and improve on it.
“I think we’ve put ourselves in a position where we know we can compete with the best teams in the competition. That should give us great confidence.
“But the reality is, next season starts nil-all. We’re going to have to have a big summer of working on a few different things to improve and try and get past this prelim hump.”
GIANT OCCASION SLIGHTLY TOO GREAT DESPITE GWS’ EFFORTS
Lachlan McKirdy
It was the occasion slightly too great for the Giants from Western Sydney.
At their captain’s run in Sydney Olympic Park on Thursday, a smattering of 200 fans and school students farewelled their heroes in orange.
On Friday night, they walked into the MCG cauldron with more than 96,000 in attendance.
Like the Saints and Port Adelaide fans before them, the black and white army were nervous about what to expect from the Orange Tsunami.
But it didn’t show early as they lit the fuse for their side to get off to an electric start.
Yet amid the noise, the Giants never gave up. And the mantra that Adam Kingsley had instilled in his team all season came to the fore.
Why. Not. Us.
The second quarter has been where the Giants have gone to work in the finals series and it was no different on Friday night.
Four goals to none in the term set the tone for an upset of epic proportions with the men in orange starting to believe they could spoil the party for the Pies once more.
It wasn’t as clinical as it had been in previous weeks, but it didn’t have to be. The Giants scrapped harder and found goals to get momentum back on their side.
Toby Greene set the tempo, getting his side’s first of the game for the third week in a row. The industrious Tom Green added a major to his incredible contested ball tally before Isaac Cumming and Jake Riccardi found a way to keep the good times rolling.
But Collingwood was always going to bounce back, and they came out strong in the third term.
A string of goals first to Bobby Hill then to Jamie Elliott and Beau McCreery brought the crowd alive. And suddenly the nerves were transferred to the visitors.
Simple kicks were going astray, handballs were missing their targets. The composure that had been such a staple of their game style in the back half of the season was starting to disappear.
They had their opportunities which is what Kingsley would have emphasised at three-quarter time. A run of four-straight behinds brought a sense of frustration but gave them hope.
With both teams playing for their season, the final term began at a frantic pace. The Pies had the early running but couldn’t capitalise on multiple inside 50s.
It was GWS who struck first thanks to a fortunate 50-metre penalty that gifted Daniel Lloyd a simple goal.
But the teams had completely switched game styles. Collingwood was moving the ball quickly at every opportunity with the Giants trying to slow things down on the wings. They were off their feet.
When Mason Cox got his first of the day, it looked like it might be the dagger, but the Giants have built their brand on not giving up without a fight.
For much of the last quarter, the Pies held on to a seven-point lead. But with six minutes to go, Jesse Hogan emerged with a huge mark and goal to bring the Giants back to life.
One point was all that was in it. But that’s how it would remain.
It might be the end of a remarkable season for the Giants. But the potential that has come to life in Kingsley’s first year in charge feels like it’s only just getting started.
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