GWS Giants just pipped by Richmond Tigers

GREATER Western Sydney almost pulled off a dramatic victory over Richmond at Showground Stadium.

GREATER Western Sydney is shaping as a major threat Richmond coach Damien Hardwick claimed Saturday as the Giants became the second team in as many weeks to embarrass the Tigers in the wet.

While the cheeky and committed Giants did not upset the Tigers at a sodden Skoda Stadium they threatened a boil over for much of the match before losing by 12 points.

“All credit to that footy club,” Hardwick said. “They are going to be an outstanding unit. They’re very tough, they’ve recruited very well.

“The type of player they’ve brought into their footy club is a real credit to their organisation.

“I think they’re going to be very, very good, very, very quickly, which is a concern to the rest of us.”

GWS coach Kevin Sheedy claimed his side played better than it did to beat Gold Coast in round seven.

“Disappointing that we lost but the players are playing somewhere up to near the maximum,” Sheedy said.

He mused that in the Giants’ first match at Skoda Stadium last month, against Essendon, they kicked eight points before their first goal and yesterday booted 12 goals from 14 shots.

The Giants kicked the first two goals of the final term and when co-captain Callan Ward kicked a long range behind at the 21 minute mark GWS had closed to within a goal.

However returning Tigers bad boy Dan Connors booted two late goals to finish with three for the match and make the game safe for Richmond.

Even then the Giants refused to lie down, with Rhys Palmer kicking the last goal of the game.

While all the focus was on number one draft choice Jonathan Patton, who moved nicely and kicked a goal, the real star up forward was fellow 19-year-old big forward Jeremy Cameron, who booted three goals.

It confirmed Cameron as the club’s leading scorer this season with 18 despite missing two matches with injury.

At the other end Jack Riewoldt, playing despite hurting his ankle against Fremantle last weekend, also booted three as the Tigers squandered opportunities to control the match.

After an outstanding month, Richmond lost to struggling Fremantle on a soggy MCG last weekend and did not cope much better with Saturday’s constant downpour.

Hardwick claimed the conditions brought the teams closer together and was pleased going into the bye with six wins from 12 matches, including three against top-eight sides.

“We were running on empty towards the end of today’s game so it’s been a big, big 12 weeks,” Hardwick said, claiming the Tigers were looking forward to the bye to freshen up and get some players back.

When Dylan Shiel ran into an open goal 5 minutes into the third quarter he levelled the scores, reviving memories of the Gold Coast beating Richmond in their first season last year.

In their previous match before last weekend’s bye the Giants also pushed reigning premier Geelong, going in level at half time before being run over.

There was no such second half blow out yesterday, with GWS matching Richmond’s three goals in the third term.

Just 7358 fans turned up for the Giants’ second match at their new home ground and a surprising number were vocal Richmond supporters.

It was well down on the more than 11000 who attended the opening match against Essendon last month but more than the 6700 who saw the Giants play their one and only match for premiership points at Blacktown, against West Coast in round three.Follow @Telegraph_Sport on Twitter and like Telegraph Sport on Facebook