Round 19
Essendon v GWS Giants
4.15pm, Sunday 19 July 2026
Marvel Stadium
Hollywood superstar Tom Hanks was captivated by the GWS Giants when he attended their Round 1 clash at ENGIE Stadium earlier this season. While most visitors marvel at Toby Greene, the Sydney skyline or the passionate Orange Army, Hanks couldn’t take his eyes off the goal umpires fascinated by their theatrical flag-waving, finger-pointing and perfectly choreographed signalling. It was Australian football at its quirky best.
Fast forward to the weekends Round 19 clash at Marvel Stadium and the Oscar winner may have been forgiven for thinking he’d wandered onto the set of one of his own films.
Only a fortnight ago the Giants had produced their very own Forrest Gump performance against ladder leaders Fremantle. Like Forrest’s famous line, “Life is like a box of chocolate you never know what you’re going to get,” the Giants delivered a stunning display that nobody saw coming dismantling one of the competition’s benchmark sides with speed, dare and relentless pressure. Then they backed up against the Cats. The Giants were back in town!
But football, much like Hollywood, specialises in sequels that rarely live up to the original. Even more so when Nate Caddy leaves the contest with an elevated heart rate!
Against the struggling Bombers the Giants’ first half resembled one of the most painful scenes ever filmed by Hanks. In Cast Away stranded and alone Chuck Noland is driven to desperation by an infected tooth. With no alternative at hand he wedges an ice skate against the rotten molar picks up a rock and delivers one agonising blow to knock the tooth out. Every viewer winced.
Watching the Giants in front of goal produced exactly the same reaction.
Chance after chance went begging. Straightforward set shots drifted wide. Snap shots curled the wrong side of the post. Opportunities that should have buried Essendon instead merely added to an ever-growing collection of behinds. Every miss felt like another swing of that rock against the ice skate blade. Jake Stringer was the main offender with seven behinds!
By half-time the scoreboard read an ugly 2.9 (21). Nine behinds. Nine moments of collective anguish. Nine reasons for Giants supporters to reach for the painkillers-or an ice skate!
If Tom Hanks was watching he may well have concluded that surviving on a deserted island with only Wilson for company was considerably less painful than enduring the first half of GWS goal kicking.
The agony didn’t end after half-time. If Giants supporters thought the infected tooth had finally been extracted they quickly discovered the anesthetic had worn off. The pain only intensified when captain Toby Greene limped from the field with a thigh injury leaving his side leaderless as Essendon desperately clung to its advantage.
The Bombers who had forgotten what winning felt like after an eternity in the football wilderness hung on by three points sending the Marvel Stadium faithful into raptures as though they had just secured a finals berth. For GWS however it was another chapter in a season that has felt more like a Hollywood survival epic than a football campaign. Defeats to the West Coast Eagles and now the competition’s bottom side Essendon have become the defining scars of 2026.
With the Sydney Swans coming off a loss to the Crows the credits are surely about to roll on for another season of torture for the Orange and Charcoal.
ESSENDON
2.4 3.6 7.6 10.7 (67)
GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY
2.3 2.9 5.12 8.16 (64)
GOALS
Essendon: Farrow 2, Bryan 2, Wright, Sharp, Robey, Redman, Merrett, El Achkar
Greater Western Sydney: Greene 2, Rowston, Ough, Gruzweski, Cognilio, Brown, Angwin
BEST
Essendon: Durham, Bryan, Merrett, Redman, Sharp, Roberts
Greater Western Sydney: Idun, Taylor, Brown, Whitfield, Ash, Callaghan
INJURIES
Essendon: Caddy (elevated heart rate), Duursma (hamstring)
Greater Western Sydney: Greene (quad)
CROWD: 14,601
Malarkey Votes:
3 – Durham Ess
2 – Merrett Ess
1 – Taylor GWS
Read other round 19 match reports HERE
Read more from Richard Griffiths HERE
To return to the www.footyalmanac.com.au home page click HERE.
Our writers are independent contributors. The opinions expressed in their articles are their own. They are not the views, nor do they reflect the views, of Malarkey Publications.
Do you enjoy the Almanac concept?
And want to ensure it continues in its current form, and better? To help keep things ticking over please consider making your own contribution.
Become an Almanac (annual) member – CLICK HERE
Leave a Comment