Game Day Round 14, GWS Giants vs Carlton, Sat 25th June, 4.35pm Spotless Stadium

[Hojuman]

Your hardest game in the run home may be us rd. 23.
Can see you finishing top 2 easily.
Best of luck you guys.

 

[dlanod]

Your hardest game in the run home may be us rd. 23.
Can see you finishing top 2 easily.
Best of luck you guys.

You guys away, Port away and West Coast at home are the three games I'm keeping an eye on for the rest of the season.

Fair to say if we lose any of the others it's our own stupid fault with the two other away games coming against 16th and 17th, and having been undefeated at home so far this year with no one else higher than 11th to come.

 

[Bokonon]

Great to get home and see the result. Cats going down just tightens everything up in th top eight even more. Who would have thought by rd14 Hawks would be on top a game clear? Looking forward to watching the replay of our game tomorrow!

And we've clearly got the wood on them

 

[Giant Strides]

A good result in the end. Before the game, I thought it might have been closer, with us coming off a shorter break and Carlton fresh from its bye. Bit of a funny game - at times we looked to be all over them, spending long periods in the forward half, but either (a) kicking poorly to finish or (b) not even getting a shot on goal. Then at other times Carlton competed really well. Weitering looks composed at the back for them, although perhaps not his best game this year. (Suggest we shouldn't give them Marchbank, that would be an A1 defensive unit.) They managed to defuse our counterattack from defence relatively well, blanking Heater for once, although we probably had more drive out of the midfield than the back because of where the game was played.

The midfield worked pretty well and evenly. We again were worse at centre clearances, but much stronger at stoppage clearances - can't for the life of me figure out why though. I thought that Stevie J has a 5 star game - similar to last week we had a poor start, lots of possession forward but lacking finishing polish and, dare I say it, composure at times. Stevie J really stood tall last night, I thought, to turn that aspect around earlier than against Essendon. Jezza still off, although not helped by poor kicking and decision-making by those kicking to him. The ball went behind him, over his head, at his feet, or got kicked to others in a lesser position, or at goal at times. Thought Haynes really stood up strong in defence - I am in awe of his hands, his marking is so wonderful, plus great positioning and reading of the play.

Overall, happy for the bye and a chance for the boys to rest and recover. (Bloody Barrett curse struck again! ) Looking forward to seeing who's available for the next game against Collingwood. At 10-4, feeling really happy with the efforts so far this season. We always said that the tougher draw would test us, and that if we passed the test we would deserve a place in the finals. Thus far, we are certainly doing that, but can't rest on our laurels. Looking forward to the next couple of home games and hopefully another couple of Victorian clubs changing status from 'unbeaten;' to 'defeated by GWS'.

 

[Land of the Giants]

Saints beat Cats by 3 points.
Opportunity knocks for you guys.

It'll be kicking the down the door if the Suns can knock off the Hawks today. Stranger things have happened.

 

[Bokonon]

You guys away, Port away and West Coast at home are the three games I'm keeping an eye on for the rest of the season.

Fair to say if we lose any of the others it's our own stupid fault with the two other away games coming against 16th and 17th, and having been undefeated at home so far this year with no one else higher than 11th to come.

No not the Port game, anything but the port game.I am going to save the pennies, and go to that game.
Given my views on that club I might be at risk in the general crowd, so I'm gunna do something I never do. Ie ask if I can sit with our cheersquad and practice being loud.
I get it wont help much but it's all I can do!

 

[van peebles]

Phew,weve made the bye without any major hiccups{apart from round1 which was needed}
Comes at a perfect time for the team and will keep us hungry and healthy for the long run home.
Smiffy to prepare for the finals as he and the coach know he will be first into team during september.

 

[Giant Pete]

Interested to see how they play against the Pies.

 

[dlanod]

Anyone know the severity of Phil's calf yet, or scans tomorrow as per the usual procedure?

 

[_GT_]

Anyone know the severity of Phil's calf yet, or scans tomorrow as per the usual procedure?

Haven't seen any word yet. Reckon it'll be scans tomorrow.

 

[Big Stinky Monk]

Williams, Stevie J and Shiel all had their efforts recognised with selections in the AFL team of the week.

 

[Bokonon]

Williams, Stevie J and Shiel all had their efforts recognised with selections in the AFL team of the week.

Great to see. Pity Ward had to drop off in form a bit to give the other mids a go. Think rhat might their fiture for several years though.

 

[Colonial]

I know who it was, what I don't know is what the crowd was.

When we played the dogs and everyone was ragging on our crowd size (which at the time was 10th best at Spotless) across the road the Bulldogs were playing the roosters in front of just over 17,000. But at least they were making a bit of noise.

As I said, on the way back to the car, you couldn't tell there was even a game on such was the quietness of the crowd. I will be interested to see how many of them there were.


Edit: according to nrl.com it was 15,106 which, quite frankly is pathetic.

13k at the penrith souths game. A dricken Sydney derby

 

[TwoMinuteCrane]

13k at the penrith souths game. A dricken Sydney derby

Well I and my son were there on freebie tickets - assume we weren't the only ones - and given the three hundred or so dancing girls from the 20 or so dance academies in Western Sydney that did the half time spectacular for the 50th anniversary, and their parents who were all there, I'm tipping the freebie count was quite high.

But hey, don't ever mention the freebies.

 

[fridgeman]

Great to see Stevie J in full flight even though he has a bit of show pony in him it is justified imo
Shiel looking like he is starting to hit peak form and Ward/Cogs impressive as well
Also Williams is having a great season, showed a few things last year but impressed with his skills both going forward and defensively