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Greater Western Sydney have consolidated their spot in the AFL’s top four with a first-quarter onslaught to set up a 35-point victory over Melbourne.
» Click here to read the full match report
Final score
GWS Giants 14.13.97
Melbourne Demons 10.2.62
The GWS Giants are looking to jump into second on the ladder as they take on a Melbourne Demons side trying to solidify a finals spot in a tight top eight race. Catch all the live scores, highlights and action on The Roar from 1:45pm (AEST).
The Giants snapped a four-game winless streak last week against the Dockers, overturning a final quarter deficit to take a much-needed 12-point win.
They kicked five goals to two in the last term to salvage a scrappy game of footy from the Sydney side, keeping them in touch with the Crows at the top of the table after some shaky form as of late.
The Giants suffered back to back losses to the Tigers and cross-town rivals, the Swans, leading into the Freo game, after an extremely rare sequence of two draws in a row against the Hawks and the Cats.
With their 11th win of the season under their belts though, the Giants are now just two points off Geelong in second place after the Cats lost to the Swans last night, and a win today would put them just two points behind the ladder-leading Crows.
While GWS have a fair bit of leeway in terms of making the finals, things are a little more on edge for the Dees campaign.
Melbourne are sitting in seventh spot on percentage in a hugely tense battle for finals spots.
There are five teams from fifth to ninth separated by a single game and trying desperately to cement a spot for September.
The Demons have struggled with consistency throughout the middle of the season, trading win for loss for six weeks straight now.
They’ll be hoping that trend continues for at least one more week, coming off the back of a disappointing four-point loss to the bottom-dwelling Kangaroos last week.
Unless they win by an outrageous margin, a win today will leave them exactly where they are on the ladder on percentage and create a little buffer inside the eight.
A loss, however, could see them leapfrogged by the end of the round by as many as three teams and drop down to 10th.
Team News
For the Giants, coach Leon Cameron will be without star forward Jeremy Cameron after the 24-year old re-injured his hamstring and will likely miss up to a month of action.
Will Setterfield will also miss out after a concussion suffered last week, joining an omitted Harry Perryman and Dawson Simpson.
Simpson made his club debut last week after nearly 2 years out of the AFL as a replacement for Shane Mumford, but the key ruckman has returned to the side and pushed Simpson back out.
Joining Mumford will be former Tiger Brett Deledio in his first game since joining the Giants.
Veteran Steve Johnson has overcome a knee injury to return to the side alongside Jacob Hopper in his first game since Round 7.
For the Demons, they too will be without a key player for a while after Jesse Hogan injured his collarbone against the Kangaroos.
Mitch Hannan, Jack Trengove and Jay Kennedy-Harris are all omissions for the Dees.
They are making way for the returning duo of co-captain Nathan Jones and Bernie Vince who return from a quad injury and suspension respectively.
Cameron Pederson will replace Hogan, with Corey Maynard the final inclusion.
Prediction
The Demons really need to win this one. They’re in a precarious position at the moment and can’t afford a third loss from four games at this stage of the season.
They have some incredibly tough opposition to work with though, coming up against a Giants side looking to get back on the path to the top of the ladder after a rough month gone by.
Both sides are missing players, but the Giants just look too strong an outfit to dance past for the Dees this week.
Giants to win by 21
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