AFL Round 22 Brisbane v GWS: All the news and analysis as Giants go on final-quarter rampage
Just when Brisbane Lions looked a red-hot flag favourite, GWS Giants have flipped one of the craziest premiership races on its head. CALLUM DICK looks at what the Giants’ Gabba ambush means.
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The Giants have declared themselves a serious September threat after their stunning smash-and-grab upset of premiership favourites Brisbane at the Gabba on Saturday.
Considered an outside chance even before leaving Kieren Briggs in Sydney for the trip north, Adam Kingsley’s men made it six on the trot with a blistering six-goal burst that put Brisbane’s nine-game winning run to bed in emphatic fashion.
Without their big man in the middle the Giants were expected to be smashed at clearance by the competition’s best on-ball brigade. Instead they won the midfield battle and blew Brisbane away with a brilliant final quarter spearheaded by three rising stars.
It was a result we perhaps should have seen coming amidst the most open premiership race in modern memory. Now, GWS has well and truly thrown its hat into the ring.
The Giants came from 30 points down at the first change to steamroll over the top of the Lions, who this week vowed redemption for the round 7 thumping but instead reverted to the profligate goal kicking that plagued their early season.
Can Chris Fagan complete his Brisbane blueprint in time for September? The Lions coach must be scratching his head after Saturday’s capitulation.
In the midst of their slow start to the season they were defensively sound but offensively inept. Over the past two months, when they rose from 13th to second on the ladder, the attack clicked into gear but there were still defensive wrinkles to iron out.
The previous week’s battering of St Kilda appeared to signal a turn, and the numbers suggested Brisbane’s team defence had started to sing. But the woeful goal kicking returned in full on Saturday at the Gabba.
The Lions led by 30 points at the first change but it should have been much more. They dominated inside 50s 19-4, were plus-25 in contested possession but entered the first change with 4.7 to their name.
Kai Lohmann, Dayne Zorko and Will Ashcroft all cannoned kicks into the post in a first quarter, while a further two attempts went out on the full. It should have been game, set and match.
Instead, after a Kingsley quarter-time bake the Giants came out breathing fire. Three quick goals to open the quarter signalled their intent and then began the arm wrestle.
The Lions were allowed to play their methodical marking game yet forward of centre continued to misfire. They had a plethora of opportunities to kick away in the second half but could never land the knockout blow. So a couple of GWS youngsters decided it was their time to shine.
This was a day for the Giants’ lesser lights to stand tall and be counted and at the top of that list was the hero in the headgear, Darcy Jones.
The speedster had looked likely all afternoon but it wasn’t until the whips were cracking late that he broke the shackles.
In just his ninth game the 20 year old had eight touches in the final quarter including two brilliant goals – the go-ahead and the sealer. His output was crucial on an afternoon where the in-form Toby Greene was well blanketed by Brandon Starcevich.
Rising tall forward Aaron Cadman capped it off with a measured set shot to put the game beyond doubt, finishing with a career best-equalling three goals.
In the middle it was the unheralded James Peatling who went head-to-head with the competition’s best midfield and won.
The usual suspects Tom Green and Lachie Whitfield had plenty of footy but it was 23-year-old Peatling with a game and career-high nine clearances – three more than any other player – to energise the Giants’ engine room.
“From quarter time onwards, I thought it was fantastic,” coach Adam Kingsley said.
“We were able to win the ball, and we certainly controlled the entries and field position far better than what we did in the first (quarter), and put the score on the board.”
A team that has for so long relied on star power won this game with grunt and determination.
Lachie Neale finished with 24 touches and a goal but his influence was blunted by Toby Bedford, who blanketed him at stoppage. He will be filthy that Neale was allowed to play on into an open goal after everyone had stopped at the umpire’s whistle.
This was the win to signal the Giants are a genuine flag fancy. But what of the Lions? Was this the loss they needed before September? Perhaps. But it also leaves them in an awkward position with two games to play.
“To a degree we let them off the hook, but I wouldn’t just completely blame it on accuracy,” coach Chris Fagan said.
“I think after quarter-time their ferocity in the hunt and ferocity to put pressure on us was way better than ours, and that’s the reason why they won.
“We weren’t able to match that and that’s unusual for us. I can’t fault our blokes for a long time in that regard, but today, particularly in the second half, their hunger to win the ball and to put pressure on us when they didn’t have the ball was better than ours.
“I’d like to think we’re going to win every week, but I’m probably not being realistic in this competition. It’s so hard to stay up and play at a high level.
“Maybe this is just the little check we needed to bounce back up again for the final two weeks (of the regular season).”
Next up is the grand final rematch with Collingwood at the MCG.
MIRACLE ON GRASS 2.0? GIANTS KIDS RUN RIOT AT GABBA
— Marco Monteverde
GWS has further displayed its premiership credentials, kicking the final six goals of the game to end Brisbane’s winning streak on Saturday at the Gabba.
Down 60-46 early in the final term, the Giants went on a rampage – inspired by Aaron Cadman and Darcy Jones – to win 13.4 (82) to 8.16 (64).
Between them, Cadman and Jones kicked five goals in the final quarter as the Giants extended their winning run to six games and leap above the Lions on the ladder.
In second place before the match, on the back of nine consecutive victories, the Lions paid the price for inaccuracy, particularly with their set shots.
However, the hosts still led by 30 points at quarter-time and were expected to then complete the job.
But somebody forgot to tell the Giants, who restricted Brisbane to just four goals for the rest of the contest to defeat the Lions for the second time this season after thrashing the Queenslanders by 54 points in April in Canberra.
The Lions had spoken during the week about the loss being the low point of their season, but their bid for redemption was foiled by a determined Giants outfit that responded to a quarter-time spray from coach Adam Kingsley to silence a crowd of more than 31,000.
TWO IN A MINUTE FOR DARCY JONES 🤯#AFLLionsGiantspic.twitter.com/s8j2Qw0Og7
— AFL (@AFL) August 10, 2024
Woodwork dulls early roar
Brisbane’s 30-point quarter-time lead should have been a whole lot more, with the posts and inaccurate goalkicking ensuring there wasn’t a total early blowout.
Three Brisbane players – Kai Lohmann, Will Ashcroft and Dayne Zorko – all hit the woodwork as the Giants hung on for dear life.
Inconsistent kicking for goal also didn’t help the hosts, with the mercurial Joe Daniher providing a mixed bag that included a goal off his shin, a behind that he should have kicked for a major, and an out-of-bounds on the full shocker.
Daniher was otherwise excellent around the ground as the Lions dominated all over the Gabba.
The quarter-time siren couldn’t come quick enough for the Giants, with Brisbane’s superiority evident in the first-quarter statistics that included 13 clearances to four, 19 inside 50s to four and six free-kicks to none.
Not surprisingly, the Giants only point of the quarter came when an Aaron Cadman shot from an acute angle hit the inside of the post.
Giant-sized fightback
The Lions were made to pay for their inaccuracy, as the Giants responded in the second quarter as you would expect from a team that came into the contest on the back of five straight wins.
The visitors showed Brisbane the value of accurate kicking, booting three goals in the opening five minutes of the quarter through key men Jesse Hogan, Toby Greene and Callan Ward to reduce the Lions’ lead to just 12 points.
GWS got as close as five points later in term before Brisbane steadied with two goals from Callum Ah Chee.
However, the game was well and truly up for grabs at half-time with Brisbane holding an 11-point advantage.
“We’ve just got to get better at the contests – it’s as simple as that,” Lions coach Chris Fagan told Fox Footy at half-time.
Scoreboard
BRISBANE 4.7 6.8 7.12 8.16 (64)
GWS 0.1 5.3 7.4 13.4 (82)
GOALS
Lions: Ah Chee 2, Daniher 2, McInerney, Morris, Cameron, Neale
Giants: Hogan 3, Cadman 3, Jones 2, Greene, Ward, Callaghan, Daniels, Gruzewski,
BEST
Lions: Ashcroft, Starcevich, Ah Chee, Berry, Neale
Giants: Jones, Cadman, Green, Hogan, Whitfield
Crowd: 31,364 at the Gabba
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
MARCO MONTEVERDE’S VOTES
3. Darcy Jones (Giants)
2. Aaron Cadman (Giants)
1. Will Ashcroft (Lions)
Originally published as AFL Round 22 Brisbane v GWS: All the news and analysis as Giants go on final-quarter rampage
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