Nothing like a good bottom-of-the-ladder clash to kick off Saturday footy! It’s the GWS Giants hosting Melbourne at Skoda Stadium. We’ll have live scores and a blog from 1.45pm.
Since the VFL expanded outside Victoria in the early 80s, no team has gone through an entire season without managing at least one victory.
That includes several expansion teams from around Australia over three decades, and even the dying Fitzroy Lions saluted once during their final season in 1996.
And yet with just five games to play, Greater Western Sydney find themselves without a win in season 2013.
Looking at their fixture, you’d have to think today is their best chance to avoid being the only team to record a winless season in a national Australian Rules league.
After all, when they last played Melbourne, in Round 4 at the MCG, they led for large chunks of the game, only for the desperate Demons to run over them in the last quarter.
And they’ve had some respectable results lately, getting within a kick of Western Bulldogs in Canberra and pushing Collingwood for three quarters last week.
So the motivation is clearly there for the young Giants today.
Melbourne’s motivation, however, might be a matter for debate.
Certainly they’d be keen to show that they have in fact improved on their ordinary efforts under Mark Neeld early in the season, and caretaker coach Neil Craig wants to establish himself as a candidate for the job full-time.
But then, with the club making an application for priority picks in this year’s national draft on the basis they need extraordinary assistance, it must’ve occurred to one or two people around Melbourne that a loss today would strengthen their case.
Such is the paradox of the AFL’s equalisation policy: sometimes it is better to lose.
Personally though, I reckon a smart club would be more concerned about developing the youngsters they’ve already got rather than worrying about the players they might get in the future, and I’m sure Neil Craig and the Melbourne faithful hope for and expect a full throttled effort to pick up their third win of the season.
On the field, the man everybody wants to see is of course young Jeremy Cameron.
Incredibly, the 20-year-old in the winless team is still a realistic shot at the Coleman medal, just four goals behind with five games to play.
His job might be a little easier today with Melbourne full back James Frawley missing with a hamstring injury.
At the other end, Fitzpatrick, Howe, Watts and Dawes will give the Demons a number of goalscoring options, although they’re probably lacking a dominant forward.
As usual, the most interesting match-up will be in the midfield. No doubt Melbourne will have the edge in experience, where Jones, Grimes, Trengove and Byrnes will try to run the young Giants into the ground.
Shiel, Treloar and Ward have probably been GWS’most consistent performers in that part of the field and they’ll need big games this afternoon.
Former Melbourne number one draft pick Tom Scully has also shown some good form this year for GWS.
He performed well in the game against his former club earlier this year, despite the jeers of his former fans, and I’m sure he’ll want a big performance today.
Some bookmakers have installed GWS as favourites, for the first time in the club’s short history.
You could make a case for the Giants, particularly if they can get the ball to Cameron often enough, but they’ve faded away in the final quarter in almost every game where they’ve been some kind of chance this season.
That’s no coincidence: this young team just don’t have the physical maturity to run out four quarters of footy at AFL-level intensity.
They were belted in the final quarter when these teams last met and I don’t really see why that would change. Expect Melbourne to finish stronger this afternoon.
In this round last season the Giants got over the battling Port Adelaide at Skoda by rocketing out to an early lead. I think they’ll need to do something similar if they’re going to win today.
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
As a GWS supporter, I'll offer you either a #10 pick for Watts, or a player who wants to leave (rumour is Adams), plus steak knives (any kid who hasnt played five first grade games this year) for him.
JR Salazar
Guest
I wish I could have the power to edit my comments outside of the 10-minute window, but I don't. By the way, the Hawks are my first team, and I am not happy with their performance today.
JR Salazar
Guest
No idea what that is but the hand-wringing has begun in earnest.
Connor
Roar Rookie
Wow. What a disaster. From fury to last week to despair and frustration this week. What an awful season it has been. Raped by Essendon, slaughtered by North Melbourne and now thoroughly embarrassed by GWS. We have to be the worst team in the AFL. Weak as water. No wonder most of our supporters disappear to the snow during the season! As a Melbourne supporter who will always love my club no matter what (even if it gets this frustrating), I do believe that we are heading in the right direction under Peter Jackson (and hopefully Neil Craig). However, I have several requests for the club: 1. Garry Lyon, would you please kindly hang yourself. This shambolic mess is your fault. Look at us now: no coach, no president, no sponsor (thank you Opel) and no ability to perform on field. Poor Jim Stynes. 2. Brian Royal, you are a useless midfield coach. Please submit your resignation by Monday morning. 3. Offer reduced price memberships. Take ten percent off or something. 4. Clear out many players from the list. At the first opportunity, de-list Gillies, Spencer, Dunn and Sellar (useless), Davey (a faithful servant to the club, but only plays one good game in four), Watts (no heart for the club, swap him for a good midfielder) and the jury's still out on Sylvia. 5. Make Nathan Jones captain. He gives his heart and soul for the club every week. 6. We have got to fix even the most basic skills. Turnovers are a particular problem, as is running. Has anyone seen how slow we are when we move forward? 7. Do not ask Paul Roos to be coach next year. Like Jack Watts, he doesn't want to be here. 8. Do not pick Tom Boyd. We have enough forwards already, and our defence is improving, especially with the addition of Clisby and Terlich. Get a midfielder instead. We are the worst. We have hit rock bottom. Let's take heart in that the only way is up!
Chris
Guest
As a Giants supporter I can guarantee I'll be consuming much alcohol tonight too. We've broken the duck baby!
TomC
Roar Guru
That's all from me. Hope you all enjoy the rest of your weekend. Demons fans: I recommend alcohol.
TomC
Roar Guru
It's probably Mark Neeld's fault, somehow.
TomC
Roar Guru
Now. Melbourne. *deep breath* A disgrace. An utter disgrace. It's a good thing this site doesn't allow swearing because otherwise I'd limit my description to four letter words. It's not just the skill errors. Even the best players make skill errors. It's the visible lack of effort. I can't recall one Melbourne player laying a shepherd today, but I can recall plenty of times where Melbourne players gave up the chase early, or short-stepped to a contest. They were completely out-run by GWS. Melbourne had fifty-eight fewer uncontested possessions than the team with the worst endurance in the league. Ultimately, that comes down to a refusal to run to space, as well as a failure to find targets when they did present themselves. Nathan Jones is exempted from all of that criticism. He had 29 possessions, many of them contested, and worked hard from beginning to end. But who are their other leaders? Grimes and Trengove are okay young players, but that's all they are. And they were completely outplayed by the GIants' midfield. Colin Sylvia was hardly sighted. Fourteen touches and one tackle. And I can't remember any of those touches. Aaron Davey came on as the sub and contributed one behind. Lynden Dunn played his 113th game today, and if you believe 113 is an unlucky number, he made a number of critical errors when the game was in the balance. The youngsters in his team had to scurry around trying to clean up his mistakes. And Jack Watts' lack of effort today was a disgrace. Oh, he can put his body on the line when he's near it. But when things aren't going his way he just doesn't put the effort in to get into the game. If he hadn't been a number one draft pick he'd have been delisted by now. And now the debate will start in earnest as to whether the Dees should get a priority pick. I suspect they will, because how could you argue that they don't need one? I just hope that they're not given the first pick in the draft, because frankly without significant structural change this team have every chance to ruin the careers of whichever highly talented youngster they'd take with it. There weren't a lot of Melbourne fans today who took the trip up to Sydney to watch this game. I don't blame them.
zach
Guest
Hawthorn. No e. What is it with people misspelling our name lately?
Justvisiting
Guest
To cap off a great day for Melbourne one of their major sponsors Opel has pulled the plug on the Australian market.
john
Guest
Biggest fix since Fine Cotton
TomC
Roar Guru
Full time, and GWS win by 37 points. First I'll talk about the Giants before I tee off at Melbourne. Ward was outstanding today. Apart from a quiet patch in the third quarter he was the dominant player, winning his own ball and presenting well forward of the play. That was where he was most damaging, finishing with four goals. Devon Smith was the other midfielder to do some damage in the forwardline. Always seemed to find space in dangerous places, and kicked three goals to complement his 25 touches. Scully, Whitfield and Treloar all racked up good numbers and generally used it pretty well. Hampton was dangerous off half back, while Josh Bruce was a rock down back, although those last two made a few errors with the ball in hand. Jeremy Cameron kicked four goals, but they didn't need a big contribution from him today. I predicted GWS would struggle to run the game out, which proved entirely wrong. They finished with enthusiasm and, in fact, more composure than they'd showed throughout the rest of the game. I'd say getting a strong finish was a big focus for GWS, and in truth they never really looked like losing once they'd kicked the first two of that final term. The Giants will avoid being the only team in the history of the national comp to go through a season without a win, and they can look forward to better seasons to come with their cluster of talented young players.
JR Salazar
Guest
Touche.
TomC
Roar Guru
Callan Ward kicks his fourth to cap off a great day for the Giants skipper! Roved from a boundary throw in and snapped a neat goal. GWS by 43 points. It's a blow out.
TomC
Roar Guru
There's vision of Jack Watts wandering in the foreground as the Giants go forward, apparently completely uninterested in doing anything defensively. Melbourne do clear and it ends up with Watts, whose kick is turned over. One of a number of Melbourne players who haven't covered themselves in glory today, is Watts. It must be incredibly frustrating to be a Dees supporter when you see that.
TomC
Roar Guru
Hmm. I don't think anyone would pretend that this has been a classic performance.
TomC
Roar Guru
We're in the death throes of this game now. GWS lead by thirty-seven points and all the intensity has gone out now.
JR Salazar
Guest
I'm going to be eating my words about GWS going winless this season very soon. What an effort from the Giants.
TomC
Roar Guru
Clisby steps over the line kicking the ball in for Melbourne. In fact he was about half a foot over. If anyone wants to make a case that Melbourne are tanking that'll be exhibit A. Amateur mistake from someone who's probably been one of Melborne's best today.
JR Salazar
Guest
GWS winning, Hawthorne losing...#TwilightZone