AFL 2020: Swans smash GWS Giants in ugly historic low

The Giants’ finals hopes have suffered a severe beating as the Swans embarrassed their baby brothers in a historic humiliation.

Jeremy Cameron was not a factor against the Swans.

The GWS Giants’ finals hopes have taken a severe beating as they crashed to a lifeless 41-point thumping at the hands of arch-rivals Sydney.

All three of the Giants’ only goals came from dubious free kicks — and the embarrassing 10. 6 (66) to 3.7 (25) scoreboard flattered the out-of-sorts runners-up from 2019.

Giants captain Stephen Coniglio described his team as “hopeless” at half time, while footy legend Jason Dunstall called them “rudderless”.

Here’s why.

The Giants were held to their lowest score — mirroring the nightmare scoreboard from their grand final thrashing at the hands of Richmond last year, the equal-lowest full time score in the club’s history.

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Despite coming into the contest on a three-game winning streak, the Gaints have now gone three wins from six matches in recent weeks — and are set to crash out of the eight by the end of the round.

Dunstall summed up the hot-and-cold Giants with a scathing verdict that they look nothing like a finals side this season.

“They just seem to be rudderless at the moment,” he told Fox Footy.

Leon Cameron had no answers.

“I think everybody had them as an automatic selection for finals this year on the back of making the grand final last year.

“They’re anything but a finals team at the moment. The scary thing from a Giants perspective is that Sydney look more creative.”

Saints legend Nick Riewoldt said after the game, the Giants are “done” in 2020.

“They are a million miles away from playing in a grand final,” he said.

“They don’t look like it. They can’t win the grand final. They can’t achieve anything playing that brand of footy.

“They’re done this year.”

It was also the Giants’ lowest half time score since their disastrous first season in 2012 when they went into the sheds down 5. (32) to 1.3 (9).

When asked what he thought of the first half, Coniglio said: “Yeah, hopeless really.

It was party time for the Swans.

“We’ve been in this position twice in two weeks and we need to find something now.

“They’re cutting us up going forward and it’s simply not good enough.”

They had 52 inside 50s — but managed just three goals, none of which came from clever set-up play.

The Swans kicked the first four goals of the game and the Giants only avoided a goalless first half when Jeremy Cameron was awarded a “dubious” free kick in the 13th minute of the second quarter.

The Giants second goal was also on the back of a questionable free kick which allowed Jeremy Finlayson to briefly claw the Giants back to with 17-points.
It was false hope, however, and the Giants would have been goalless for the entire match if not for the help of the umpires up forward.

It was only Zac Langdon’s goal from a poor umpire decision to award an in-the-back free kick in the 22nd minute of the fourth quarter that saved the Gaints from their lowest score in almost nine seasons of football.

Nick Blakey was everywhere.

Footy commentators went on to brand the Giants “insipid” as a flamethrower was turned on the underperforming stars and Giants coach Leon Cameron.

“Something very wrong at GWS.... how can a team with so many elite players underachieve so consistently,” 60 Minutes reporter Tom Steinfort wrote on Twitter.

Football commentator Daniel Garb posted: “Whatever the end result this has been deplorable from GWS. So much talent wasted far too often”.

Former Carlton player Matthew Lodge wrote: “Absolutely insipid @GWSGIANTS”.

Former Richmond and Western Bulldogs coach Terry Wallace says the Giants have appeared off for most of the season.

“What is going on with the Giants? This has been coming for months. What has gone wrong,” he posted on Twitter.

Originally published as AFL 2020: Swans smash GWS Giants in ugly historic low