Nic Nat’s ‘rucking masterclass’ sinks Giants

West Coast has comprehensively beaten GWS on the back of a supreme display from ruckman Nic Naitanui.

GWS’s Harry Himmelberg handpasses the ball in the loss to West Coast at Optus Stadium in Perth. Picture: Getty Images

GWS Giants spent 10 exasperating days playing table tennis in their humbled hub while trying to work out how they could recover from the shocker against Sydney to beat West Coast and return to the top eight with their chests thrust skywards and their premiership hopes ablaze.

Fat chance, it seemed, when they trailed by 32 points in the second quarter at Optus Stadium on Sunday evening. Slim chance, it seemed, when they clawed within 10 points in the third term, playing like their premiership lives depended on it, which they did.

Ultimately they succumbed 9.7 (61) to 7.7 (49) in a rather masterful display from the hyped-up hosts. Callan Ward suffered a gruesome compound finger fracture in another rough night for last year’s grand finalists.

It was spectacular stuff from the Eagles, like a training run at stages. Who hasn’t scored? Andrew Gaff? Here you go, mate, take this one! Xavier O’Neill? Want one on debut? Goal! Giants coach Leon Cameron looked at his telephone like he wanted to do what Russell Crowe did to that one in his New York hotel.

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Crowe blamed his phone-throwing on “jet lag, loneliness and adrenaline”. Perhaps Cameron could relate.

Come this time of the regular season, the struggling side holds the most intrigue before a fixture like this. The Eagles would be third or fifth, clicking their heels either way. The Giants had more at stake. They were left in the murky waters of 11th – not waving, drowning – when a win would have left them in cleaner swell inside the top eight.

Fox Footy commentator Eddie McGuire gushed about “a rucking masterclass” from the Eagles’ Nic Naitanui. Collingwood president Eddie McGuire, direct relation, was thrilled by the result, keeping his Magpies in the eight.

Sunday evening’s fare was billed as must-win by the Giants. We could have sworn they had one of those a few weeks ago, when they shocked Richmond on the back of a blinder from Toby Greene. He returned from injury against the Eagles and needed another blinder, as did 21 of his mates. T. Greene’s name had a tangible effect on a team sheet, like seeing S. Smith back in a Test side or a silly old T20. But it was Naitanui and Jeremy McGovern who proved to be the superstars among superstars.

The Eagles’ Jack Darling kicked the opening goal from a mark that left him with the equivalent of a tap-in putt. He could not have missed if he tried. Naitanui, playing as if single-handedly putting Greene back in his box, caught and kicked in a millisecond to put the Eagles two goals ahead.

Josh Kennedy made it 19-0 and the Giants’ must-win already looked like a loss. Triumphs and defeats have always been as contagious as COVID-19 and for the Eagles, from 4.3 (27) to 0.1 (1) after the first term, the result was really never in doubt.

For the Giants, regardless of their effort, and revival, they were never really in the hunt.

McGovern took a high-flying screamer that was worthy of a photograph to be framed and hung on a wall. Flying Liam Ryan nearly did the same.

The Eagles led 5.4 (34) to 1.6 (12) at halftime and if you were a boxing referee, you might have been tempted to stop the fight. But Eagles coach Adam Simpson warned: “We’ve been lucky.” They ran it well enough, for long enough.

The Eagles’ schedule has become busier than the schedule of the AFL people coming up with the AFL schedule. Five games in 17 days. They’ve won eight on the trot. They’ll be top of the ladder, or knackered, or both, when the whirlwind stops.