Roar Guru
The GWS Giants have joined Geelong as semi-final winners in what should be proclaimed as the redemption weekend, savaging a brave but largely outmatched West Coast side by 67 points, and locking in their second consecutive preliminary finals appearance.
» Click here to read the full match report
Final score
GWS Giants 19.11.125
West Coast Eagles 9.4.58
The GWS Giants and the West Coast Eagles have a spot in a preliminary final on the line, but only one can go through to face the Richmond Tigers for a shot at the big dance.
Join The Roar for live scores from the match and a live blog of the first semi-final on Saturday evening at Spotless Stadium, starting from 7:25pm AEST.
Last week GWS got beat up quite badly at Adelaide Oval – the Crows kicked a mountain of goals on them in the second quarter and after that the second half was yawn-inspiring.
Injury was added to insult during the week when it was confirmed that both Jeremy Cameron and Shane Mumford were ruled out for the year due to injury – a more important pair of Giants you would struggle to find.
As for West Coast, a few weeks ago none though they would make finals, but twice in a row they have just narrowly scraped through.
They finished in the top eight by a margin of just 0.2 per cent, and then last week won through over Port Adelaide in an elimination final only following an after-the-siren goal from Luke Shuey, which itself came after an extra-time period.
It wouldn’t be a shock for the Eagles, after living on the edge so long, to come into this one a bit flat – of course, if they can maintain their intensity and desire to survive, then just about anything could happen.
Prediction
There’s every chance the Giants come out and, with the home ground advantage on the side, simply mop the floor with their opponents. That said… I like to live dangerously.
West Coast Eagles by 5.
Join The Roar for live scores from the match and a live blog of the first semi-final between the GWS Giants and the West Coast Eagles on Saturday evening at Spotless Stadium, starting from 7:25pm AEST.