GWS coach Adam Kingsley takes responsibility for Toby Greene’s outburst in Sydney derby

Giants coach Adam Kingsley admits he 'wound up' captain Toby Greene before his suspension-earning outburst in the Sydney Derby clash.

Adam Kingsley has taken some of the responsibility for Toby Greene’s antics in the Sydney Derby, admitting he “wound up” his captain in an attempt to help break his streak of losses against the Swans.

Greene has attracted intense scrutiny for several incidents in last Friday’s encounter, receiving a one-match suspension for striking Isaac Heeney, while avoiding a ban after footage emerged of him attempting to kick out at Dane Rampe.

While clearly the Giants skipper still has some work to do on his temperament in big games, given he will now miss the club’s crucial match against the Bulldogs on Thursday, Kingsley is confident that he has it under control and that it won’t happen again.

Kingsley expects better from his captain, but conceded he was part of the problem with riling Greene up. Picture: Brett Costello

“It is disappointing, obviously it’s an undisciplined act, so we would have preferred he didn’t do that, and I’m sure he would agree,” Kingsley said. “We need him to channel his aggression in a little bit more productive action.

“I’d sort of wound him up a little bit during the week, so I need to be better with the way that I articulate that with him, what I’m asking him to do, being a little bit more explicit around the actions I require and not some of the stuff that happens.

“So, I’ll take responsibility for that and be better next time in instructing him exactly what we need.

“I’m not concerned in the slightest about Toby Greene. He crossed the line on Friday night. I don’t think it’ll happen again. I have full confidence in that. I have full trust in him; he just lost his mind for a little bit.”

Greene won’t be the Giants’ only absence against the Bulldogs, with both Jack Buckley and Josh Kelly to miss the clash with calf injuries.

Buckley, in particular, is a massive blow given the Dogs’ attacking strength, which will require the Giants to be at their best defensively to shut them down.

But with Leek Aleer cleared to return after sitting out last week’s game against the Swans with soreness, his aerial ability could especially be put to use to nullify the threat that is the AFL’s key forward unicorn, Sam Darcy.

Sam Taylor and Leek Aleer will be integral to the Giants’ chances against the Dogs. Picture: Brett Costello

“Leek’s got an awesome jump, and therefore may be able to compete up there (with Darcy), I’m still not sure,” Kingsley said. “We have confidence in our two key backs.

“(Aaron) Naughton’s been in great form, I think he’s probably, with the whole emergence of Sam Darcy, has been underrated, and he’s been flying under the radar a little bit. He’s had a couple of bags of five in the last three games, so he’s been in really strong form and poses an equal challenge, if not a greater challenge than Sam Darcy.

“We need to manage both of those boys, and both Sam (Taylor) and Leek will have those jobs, and we need to ensure that they do those jobs, and we need to support them as best as we possibly can.”

The other challenge for the Giants will be continuing their recent midfield dominance against one of the best contest groups in the AFL.

Kingsley’s side has been the number one side in the competition for clearance to score since round 14, a measure they ranked in the bottom four from up until round 13. He believed their third-term demolition of the Swans, where they kicked nine goals to one, was the “most complete” quarter he had ever seen his team play.

The GWS midfield was heavily beaten by the Dogs in their earlier meeting this season, and will be looking to turn the tide at Marvel Stadium. Picture: Phil Hillyard

But against the likes of Marcus Bontempelli, Ed Richards and Tom Liberatore, maintaining that form as they look to make it seven wins in a row is easier said than done.

“Yeah, I’m confident in the way that we’re progressing. I think our stoppage game has really shifted really well,” Kingsley said. “I think maybe in the last month we’re the best centre-bounce clearance team in the comp, so that gives us great confidence.

“We’ll get no greater challenge than what we’ll get this week in terms of the stoppage game, and they’ve got incredible midfielders, they’ve got a stoppage structure that can really help them score. I think they’re the number one scoring team from stoppage; their forward 50 stoppage is elite.

“We won’t do anything different to how we’ve done over the last however long, we’ve prepared really well, we know the threats, it now comes down to a matter of being able to manage them.”