AFL 2022: GWS welcome back suspended ster Toby Greene
GWS coach Leon Cameron welcomes back Toby Greene from suspension, but says it won’t be ‘The Toby Show’ as his side try to break their form slump.
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GWS coach Leon Cameron has warned the Giants can’t expect the return of spiritual leader Toby Greene to provide a quick fix for the slump that is threatening to derail their season.
The Giants have won just one of six games since Greene was suspended for making contact with umpire Matt Stevic in last year’s elimination final win over the Sydney Swans.
“I’m mindful that it can’t be ‘The Toby Show’, as much as we love him,” Cameron said of Friday night’s clash against St Kilda in Canberra.
“You get an energy lift among the group because he’s there but if we become too focused then other things are not going to work out for us.”
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Since Greene was suspended for his ump bump, the AFL has begun coming down hard on players showing dissent towards match officials.
In round five, umpire dissent led to a free kick or 50 metre penalty on six occasions and on Tuesday, the AFL released a statement doubling down on its tough new stance.
Cameron said the Giants continued to have high expectations of their players when it came to their interactions with umpires.
He admitted, though, that staying emotionally neutral on the field was “extremely hard”.
“In the emotion of the game, players are going to react and that’s the challenge for all 18 clubs,” he said.
“We must play our part as players and coaches and understand that if there’s a free kick or something that goes against you, we need to move on.
“The quicker we do that and understand that, the less these things will be paid.”
GWS now sits in 14th spot on the AFL ladder and Cameron admitted he hoped his co-captain could emulate another of the league’s stars who recently returned from suspension.
“I look at (Adelaide key forward) Taylor Walker and his first two weeks have been absolutely first class. So if we got that sort of return, we’d be over the moon,” said Cameron.
“(Greene) is fit and hard and ready to go.”
But Cameron said fans should be prepared that Greene could take “a week or two” to re-acclimate to the pace of the AFL.
Does Greene believe in Toby Tax?
Greater Western Sydney bad boy Toby Greene claims he has “no issues” with umpires in an exclusive one-on-one interview with Dermott Brereton to appear on Fox Footy’s “Face to Face”.
Greene opens up to Brereton about his controversial bump on umpire Matt Stevic in a Launceston final last year that saw him rubbed out of the game for six weeks and has since led to an AFL crackdown on umpire abuse.
The Giants co-captain is due to return from the lengthy suspension this weekend and is expected to be rushed straight back into Leon Cameron’s struggling side to tackle St Kilda on Friday night.
Greene has revealed he spoke to Stevic in the lead-up to their thrilling second elimination-final win against Sydney in Tasmania last year.
“I was talking to him before the game. I get along with him,” Greene tells Brereton in the interview to screen on Fox at 8.30pm this Tuesday.
“I know there has been a lot of commentary around, perhaps, some of my involvements with umpires — maybe not getting fair treatment and things like that.
“But it’s not something I think about, or I don’t really agree with either. I don’t have an issue at all.”
Brereton questions why Greene made contact with Stevic, while footage shows teammate Josh Kelly is able to step around the umpire at the same time.
“I think it’s how I talk to people, though, when I’m in the heat of the moment,” Greene says.
“I get real close, especially on a footy field. But they (the AFL) didn’t see it like that, mate.”
The Giants and under-siege coach Cameron have struggled without Greene this year, falling to 1-4 after five rounds and losing touch with the top eight.
The new skipper says he looks back on the incident with regret.
“I put myself in that position and I deserved, I deserved … something,” he says.
“That’s disappointing, especially when I was set to miss a semi-final, prelim and then the grand final if we made it.
“I let the boys down. I was certainly super flat for a couple of weeks. I have had a good time to process it now and knew what was coming at the start of this year.”
Greene also acknowledges that he has had to reluctantly change his on field behaviour after a AFL crackdown on his “studs up” action in marking contests.
“I’ve been doing it since I was about six years old. It was probably an attribute, I thought,” Greene says.
“I understand it doesn't look great at times, but I’m not the tallest bloke either. I’ve got to use everything I can. That was one of them.
“Can’t do that anymore. I just have to get the knee up now.”
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