Round 11 – Collingwood v GWS: Giants wounded in disappointing loss to the Pies

GWS Giants travelled to the MCG for the first time this year to take on the Magpies in one of the matches of the round. It was also a match for fourth spot as the young Giants had a create history and beat the Magpies for the first time. Unfortunately for the Giants they were unable to win and claim fourth spot. After being a tight contest for three quarters it ended up being a disappointing day for the Giants as they went down by 42 points.

 

The first quarter began with the Giants looking to get on top early. Neither side could get on top as it was a tight contest early with both sides was running equally as hard. After 5 minutes the Giants had the first shot at goal through Lachie Whitfield and unfortunately for him and the Giants it was a miss. Both sides had their running games going, however neither side could get the early advantage in this game. Defences were on top for both sides early in this quarter and because of this the game was turning into a good arm wrestle. It wasn’t until the 15^th minute mark of the quarter that the first goal was kicked and it was for the Giants through James Stewart, score was 9 to 2. The Magpies however quickly responded with two quick goals in a minute and it put the Pies in front by a point. The Pies were starting to get on top as they got another goal and the margin was out to 11 points. The Giants needed a goal as it was starting to become danger signs for the Giants. They were able to get that goal through Cameron after they went coast to coast and the margin was back to 6 points with a minute left in the quarter. It was a good arm wrestle between the two sides. When it looked like that was going to be all she wrote for the quarter the Pies goaled with 14 seconds left in the quarter and the margin was back out to 12. It was disappointing for the Giants by letting that last goal happen. It was an entertaining first quarter as both sides had their opportunities; it was the Pies however who took their opportunities. So at quarter time it was the Pies up by 12, 4.3 to 2.3.

 

The second quarter began with the Giants starting the better side; they had a very early opportunity to goal but were denied after Taylor Adams made a goal saving tackle. The Giants were starting to grow in confidence and after a nice play from the Giants they got a shot at goal but missed. The Giants were very much on top at this stage of the quarter and after a magical goal from the boundary from McCarthy, followed by a quick goal to Devon Smith the Giants had got back the lead. After another good passage of play from the Giants it led to a goal to McCarthy, which got the margin out to 8 points, a mini break for the Giants. They were dominating but couldn’t take their chances as they missed a couple of easy shots. Dylan Shiel was on fire this quarter as he was getting involved in a lot of the Giants play. Collingwood just couldn’t get their hands on the ball. The Pies kicked a goal and the margin was back to four points. After all that domination by the Giants they were only up by four points and the Pies were starting to get back into the contest in general play. Through nice goal to Jesse White the Pies were back in front by 3 points and the Giants had a chance to quickly respond and get back in front but they kicked another behind. They were wasting opportunities and to that point of the quarter they had kicked 3 goals, 5 behinds. It was at this point the Magpies started to get on top and unlike the Giants they converted their chances and just like that the margin was out to 16 points. The Magpies started to dominate and the Giants needed a goal. They had a chance to get that goal after a nice passage of play but it was a behind however, another missed opportunity. The half time siren went and it was the Pies up by 15, 8.6 to 5.9. It was a carbon copy of the first quarter with the Giants dominating early then the Pies getting on top in the second half of the quarter.

 

The third quarter began and it wasn’t good news for the Giants as the skipper Phill Davis had been subbed out through injury. It was a big blow considering he was playing on Travis Cloke. Like the first two quarter the Giants had the early momentum and after shots to McCarthy (twice) and Josh Kelly the Giants could only get the one goal, two behinds. Margin was 8 points, should have been less due to the momentum the Giants had. The Magpies made them pay and the margin was back out to 14 points. After some nice play to the Giants, they were able to get the margin back to eight points again though a goal to McCarthy (his third.) The Magpies then started to get on top of the Giants but they could only manage one goal, four behinds. During this dominance of play by the Pies, Joel Patfull went down with injury after getting crunched by his team mate. This was another blow to the Giants as due to Davis already going down, they were running out of options for someone to play on Cloke. As it was getting close to three quarter time the Giants needed a goal, had an opportunity to do so but were unable to convert and were only able to reduce the margin by one. That was the last score of the quarter and at three quarter time it was the Pies up by 17 and looking to have all the answers, it was 10.10 to 7.11.

 

So as the last quarter was about to begin, the Giants had to pull off something special as they were two players down and the unfortunately for the Giants it was their two big defenders Davis and Patfull. The Giants need the first goal of the quarter but they weren’t able to get it as it was the Magpies were able to get the first and then quickly get two more and the margin was suddenly out to 30 points and the game looked over. It got worse for the Giants as two more players (Mumford, Coniglio) went off with injuries and they had no fit players on the bench. From this point on the Giants had stopped completely and the margin had blown out to 48 points. It was disappointing for the Giants as a tight contest was starting to turn into a blow out. The game was turning into a disaster, not only due to the injuries, as it was also affecting their percentage. The Giants were able to get some late consolation goals but the sting had well and truly gone out of the game. As the final siren went the margin was 42 points, 18.11 to 11.11.

 

So the Giants had lost by 42 points and now need to head back to Sydney, regroup and get themselves up for next week against the Roos. In what was good performance for the first three quarters had turned into a disappointing one. The injuries to three key/ senior players didn’t help. Even though this contributed to the loss, they didn’t help themselves with the inaccurate kicking when they did dominate various stages of the game. While the Giants are improving this game may have shown how they rely on certain players to do well and if they are quiet the Giants struggle.

 

COLLINGWOOD                          4.3    8.6    10.10    18.11 (119)
GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY     2.3    5.9    7.11      11.11 (77)

GOALS
Collingwood: Cloke 5, White 3, Crisp 2, Fasolo, Varcoe, Broomhead, Seedsman, De Goey, Elliott, Pendlebury, Oxley
Greater Western Sydney: McCarthy 4, Cameron 2, Stewart, Smith, Kelly, Ward, Haynes

BEST
Collingwood: Adams, Williams, Brown, Cloke, Pendlebury, Crisp, Varcoe, Swan
Greater Western Sydney: Shiel, Ward, Whitfield, McCarthy, Treloar, Shaw

INJURIES
Collingwood: De Goey (hand)
Greater Western Sydney: Davis (right ankle), Patfull (ribs), Coniglio (right shoulder), Mumford (left ankle)

 

Umpires: Bannister, Margetts, Stevic 

Votes: 3 Williams (Coll), 2 Adams (Coll), 3 Crisp (Coll)

Official crowd: 43,390 at the MCG