Toby Greene puts GWS Giants back in business against Richmond
Judgment night for GWS. Two words were written across the floodlit Sydney sky. Must. Win.
Judgment night for GWS. Two words were written across the floodlit Sydney sky. Must. Win.
Toby Greene played like it was his deeply personal mission to make it happen for the Giants, and happen it did, by the skin of his gritted teeth.
He booted five clutch goals, including two superb long-range set shots that were accompanied by the sort of prancing approach you might otherwise get from an equestrian horse. The Giants beat Richmond 9.8 (62) to 6.14 (50) to prove this much … there’s hope yet.
“Backs against the wall stuff,” Greene said after dominating the grand final rematch in arguably the finest individual performance of the season.
“Richmond are obviously a bloody good side and gave us a touch-up last year. It’s a good win. Really important. Just the way we played. Got to stick to it and keep building on it. It’s an encouraging performance. Hopefully it all starts now.”
The Giants started the night in 13th on a congested AFL ladder, no place to be in a shortened season, no country for out-of-form men, and a loss would have annihilated their playoff hopes. The emphatic, tough, nerve-racking, Greene-inspired triumph was momentum-building, face-saving, slump-breaking, perhaps season-defining. There were no ifs and buts about the importance of the result. It was now or probably never on an evening of desperation and inspiration against the injury-ravaged Tigers.
Giants skipper Stephen Coniglio kissed his index finger and pointed it at the heavens on his trot to the pitch. When he looked skywards, perhaps he saw it, too. Must. Win. Ex-Giant Brett Deledio had accused players of being selfish under pressure and in the opening phases, it was as if his words had wounded the Giants. They kept giving up makeable shots to teammates in arguably better positions, as though their sole intention was to prove Deledio wrong. They had all the required marching intensity. Searching for their collective mongrel, they had an individual one in Greene. It’s a compliment. He was brilliant.
Contested marks. Aggression. His 50m goal late in the second quarter faded through the big sticks like an Adam Scott three-iron, the yellow Sherrin looking like a shooting star.
Shai Bolton and Jake Aarts were everywhere, and in everything, for the Tigers, dominating the second quarter until two Giants goals in as many minutes gave them a 5.4 (34) to 3.9 (27) lead at halftime. The Tigers had more behinds than the Kardashians which left them trailing on the scoreboard despite a glut of possession. Dusty Martin was suspiciously quiet. Ominously so?
Greene started the third quarter by landing his third goal after being struck across the chops. It was a blow that might have warranted retaliation but he was as calm and composed as a cardboard cutout.
Greene’s fourth came from close range, albeit at a rather acute angle, after marking a towering kick that resembled a bomb on the other channel in the NRL. The Giants looked home and hosed, up by 26 points, but three goals late in the third quarter spiced things up a bit. Martin was getting busy after spending the opening stanzas more relaxed than he was on holidays with Serena Williams at the Maldives.
He kicked two quick goals and clinched a fist. Very ominously so. Martin or Green would triumph through sheer force of will. Which meant Martin or Greene would be denied. The Giants had an eight-point buffer at the beginning of the final term. The Tigers had all the running. They would leap to second with a win, sending the Giants so far down the ladder they might fall off it.
The visitors kept racking up behinds, though, tiptoeing closer when they had ample opportunities to charge. The Giants oozed nervousness, the result meaning everything. Mountaineers say the key to a long journey is to not think of the destination. It’s more difficult in sport. But then Greene slotted his fifth major to cap his phenomenal evening. The judgment was in. The Giants were back in business.
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