GWS Giants’ sixth-straight win pushes them into finals contention as the form team of the AFL

The Giants showed against Gold Coast why it’s time for the rest of the AFL to fear the team from western Sydney.

Toby Greene of the Giants celebrates a goal with teammates. Picture: Mark Nolan/AFL Photos/via Getty Images

It’s time to fear the Giants in 2023.

A comprehensive second half against Gold Coast on Sunday secured their sixth-straight win, broke their hoodoo in Canberra and catapulted them into the top eight.

Only two months ago, they were in the bottom four with three wins to their name and staring down another year of what-ifs.

The turnaround has been nothing short of remarkable from Adam Kingsley’s men, and if they weren’t already, the rest of the competition is now on notice.

“Not much has changed in terms of how we want to play, we’re just playing a lot better,” said captain Toby Greene.

“A lot of guys are playing career-best footy and we’ve been building and nailing our system.

“Our effort has been there the whole year, probably a few technical things we weren’t nailing. (But) once we get that going we’re a tough team to play against.”

A breakthrough win in Canberra was a long time coming for this Giants side. Picture: Brett Hemmings/AFL Photos/via Getty Images

After a slow start at Manuka Oval, the final two terms against the Suns featured all of the trademarks of Giants footy.

Their impenetrable defence was directed masterfully by Sam Taylor and Harry Himmelberg. The Suns won the inside-50 count 53-49 but kicked 9.9.

Stephen Coniglio, Lachie Whitfield and Josh Kelly all finished with 25-plus touches and were lethal with their inside-50 entries.

Yet the highlight was the individual brilliance of Greene, who finished with three goals and nine score involvements, showing why he’s one of the best players in the competition – even if he didn’t necessarily agree.

“I was a disgrace today,” he said. “Gotta kick it straight. Gotta work on my snaps.

“We haven’t won down here for a while and the crowd always turn up and we needed to perform.

“They were good the first half and our second half was really good, so it was a good solid win.”

The Giants have been reluctant to talk about finals during this run, but anything less would be a disappointment given the form they’re in.

This team deserves to play on the big stage and there are not many teams in the top eight who would feel confident taking them on in September, bar the table-topping Magpies.

The Giants had to adapt against Gold Coast but still came away with the four points. Picture: Phil Hillyard

“Seven-eight weeks ago we weren’t talking finals,” Greene admitted.

“Collingwood gave us a great lesson earlier in the year and they’re probably the benchmark. We’ve got a lot of work to do to get to there, but we’ve got five weeks to do it.

“We’re just taking it a week at a time at the moment. We’ve got a lot of work to do to try and beat those top-four teams.

“Every game is almost a final for us now.”

That stretch starts with matches against their two biggest rivals, the Bulldogs in Ballarat and then the Swans at home.

Those clashes will be the true indicator of where this team is at, yet massive wins on the road against Melbourne and Adelaide have shown they’re up for the challenge.

The Giants are no longer finals smokeys. They’re the real deal.

Originally published as GWS Giants’ sixth-straight win pushes them into finals contention as the form team of the AFL