AFL Finals 2023: All the analysis and fallout from the Giants crushing win over Port Adelaide
The Giants have always believed this could be their year – and after what happened on Saturday night, a maiden flag is theirs for the taking, writes Lachlan McKirdy.
The Orange Tsunami has claimed its latest victim.
As the Port Adelaide fans sang INXS’s Never Tear Us Apart after the anthem, little did they know that it would be so ironically prophetic by the end of the game.
GWS arrived at Adelaide Oval with a point to prove. Their round 21 loss to the Power had been eating away at them.
They were overpowered in the midfield and there were fears they had fallen away from the brand of footy that had brought them back into the September reckoning.
From the first bounce on Saturday night, they set the record straight.
Tom Green found Kieren Briggs who put Callan Ward into space for an easy inside 50.
It was death by a hundred handballs and the Giants were happy to be the ones dishing out the misery.
The trend was set for an absolute slaughter around the stoppages. By halftime, the Giants were +17 at clearances, +18 in contested possessions and up nine on inside 50s.
In only his 25th game, Kieren Briggs dominated the ruck contest with the composure of a veteran.
At his feet, Green, Stephen Coniglio and Josh Kelly turned his work into a vintage that even the finest Barossa Valley winegrowers would have been proud of.
Even when Briggs was forced from the ground with a shoulder injury, he typified his team’s desire by strapping it up and getting straight back into the action.
But the man of the moment was the one who finally got his big September moment: Jesse Hogan.
He ran riot against a disjointed Port Adelaide backline, finishing the game with four goals, nine marks and an even bigger grin on his face.
The Giants wanted this more. And that proved to be their only Achilles heel at times.
They should have put the game to bed by half time. Six consecutive behinds in the second quarter prolonged Port Adelaide’s agony and made them believe they were in with a chance
Willie Rioli took that moment and kicked a goal early in the third. Two more to Ollie Lord and Todd Marshall brought the crowd to life.
The Giants had kicked 10 behinds for just two goals since the halfway point of the second quarter – the nerves would have been slowly building.
But that’s when the experienced players lift. As they did against St Kilda last week, they always ensured GWS had the answer.
Coniglio kicked a settler just before three-quarter time to keep the lead at 26 points.
Jake Riccardi silenced the crowd with a beautiful goal from the pocket in front of the famous old scoreboard.
And who else but their skipper, Toby Greene, to kick his third and officially book their place in next week’s preliminary final against Collingwood.
The Giants have always believed that this could be their year. The midfield demolition they handed Port Adelaide confirmed a maiden premiership is theirs for the taking.
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