The GWS Giants have locked up a top four spot with a win over North Melbourne on Saturday night in Round 23.
» Click here to read the full match report
Final score
North Melbourne Kangaroos 9.9.63
GWS Giants 14.16.100
The finals picture continues to take shape, as the North Melbourne Kangaroos host the Greater Western Sydney Giants. Join The Roar for live scores and a blog from 7:25pm AEST.
There’s an interesting dynamic in this game tonight, with both sides finals bound, and yet only one of them has anything on the line tonight.
North will finish eighth. Short of St Kilda shattering every single scoring record tomorrow against the Lions, that is guaranteed.
GWS’ fate, however, very much rests on tonight’s result.
They can still finish in the top four, even theoretically in the top two as of Saturday morning.
With Adelaide having lost against West Coast last night, a win tonight will guarantee GWS a double chance regardless of other results. At this stage a Sydney derby at ANZ Stadium looms as the most likely matchup should that happen.
That would mean two finals in Sydney at a minimum – a superb result for the young club and for the AFL.
However, should they lose this game then they could fall as low as seventh after the Eagles’ upset win, denying them any kind of home final.
Ordinarily you might say that there isn’t really much on the line for the Kangaroos. But the events of the week have surely stirred up all kinds of emotions.
The announcements that veterans Nick Dal Santo, Michale Firrito, Drew Petrie and Brent Harvey will not be offered new contracts has shaken up the club and stirred the media and fanbase into strong and largely negative reactions.
All four have been named to play, and this might well be the last time that quartet play footy in front of their home supporters. Whatever the result, expect a stirring tribute from the Shinboner faithful after the final siren.
Also selected for the Roos is Shaun Higgins, returning to the team from injury after a long absence. Defender Luke McDonald also comes back, while Scott Thompson is injured and Brad McKenzie is left out of the side.
GWS have named an unchanged lineup after last week’s big win over Fremantle.
North’s failure to capitalise on a flawless start to the season is well publicised.
The Kangaroos are still missing Jarrad Waite, Taylor Garner and Kayen Turner on top of Thompson, while Ben Jacobs and Sam Wright have been returning from injury in the VFL, but there’s no doubt that the injury list is much healthier than it was a month or so ago.
After last week’s positive display against Sydney it could be that North’s late season slump is behind them. They’ve proved in the last two years that they’re capable of playing their best footy late in the season, so we might well see improved performances from here on.
The Giants have also struggled to maintain their early season form – their victory over the Swans back in round 12 was their last over a finals-bound team.
Lately they’ve suffered surprise losses against Collingwood and the West Coast Eagles, two of the three teams they’ve never managed to beat in their short existence.
The third is in fact their opponents tonight in the Kangaroos. Who knows whether that’s an indication of how the game will go, but it’s a reminder that this is still a young club trying to do a lot of things for the first time.
Looking at the team lists really tells a story – the Roos are far more experienced, but probably not as exciting or potent as the Giants.
With so much on the line for GWS, one would think they’d want to be at their best for this one.
But already this round we’ve seen how relatively inexperienced players can falter so close to the finals. I’d back experience and composure over motivation any day of the week, so I’m tipping the Roos to defy the bookmakers and record a rousing win.
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TomC
Roar Guru
Cheers AD. Thanks once again for your thoughts and your company.
TomC
Roar Guru
» Click here to read the full match report Votes 3. Jonathon Patton - He was the dominant player on the ground. Admittedly he benefited from being opposed by a player past his best, but even so he took full advantage with 17 possessions, 9 marks and 5 goals. A high quality key forward' game. 2. Tom Scully - Typically hard working and direct, with 29 possessions, six clearances and two goal assists. 1. Shane Mumford - Easily won the ruck battle tonight, not just in terms of hitouts but through setting up clearance opportunities with his strong work at stoppages. Dylan Shiel and Devon Smith very close. Harvey and Ziebell were North's best.
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
Tom, thank you yet again for your excellent coverage! Hope my comments/statistics were interesting! I'm gonna guess you aren't gonna be back tomorrow. If you aren't, I hope we meet again on one of these blogs during the finals! Thanks and good night!
TomC
Roar Guru
Match report The Giants got the job done tonight against a rather lacklustre North Melbourne. While the Roos had slightly more possession over all, and did a reasonable job of controlling play at times, they struggled badly to generate real scoring opportunities for most of the night. By contrast, GWS may not have been at their thrilling best, but when given the chance they counterattacked with purpose and direction. Once again, they deliberately and consistently put the ball into dangerous positions in the forwardline, and were rewarded by excellent performances from Jon Patton with five goals, and Steven Johnson with four sharking at the feet of the big forwards. North started the game brightly, with Ben Brown getting on top of the Giants' defence early and kicking three goals in the opening term. The Roos settled into something of a possession-focused game, which kept the contest tight and made GWS work hard for their inside 50s, but also robbed the home side of any real attacking impetus. Consequently, North Melbourne only managed consecutive goals once in the entire match. They simply weren't potent enough. For long periods of the game, both sides were able to hold the ball in their forwardline for several minutes on end, often peppering the goals with shots, but only rarely relieving the pressure with a major. Both teams would be happy with their forward pressure, but perhaps a little underwhelmed with their own scoring effectiveness, ahead of the finals. As the game wore on, repeatedly the Giants took better advantage of their chances, and it was in the third quarter that they turned that into a significant lead, kicking four goals to one to go into the last change with a five goal advantage. With an upset looking unlikely, and North not really with anything to play for, there wasn't much intensity in the last quarter, and the Giants closed it out a bit better to finish 37 point winners. This leaves GWS with a guaranteed spot in the top four, and most likely they'll play crosstown rivals the Sydney Swans in the first week of the finals. That would be a dream result for the AFL, and probably for the young Giants, who comfortably won the last matchup between those two sides. Despite not having the strongest finish to the season all things considered, GWS could now get through to the Grand Final without having to leave Sydney. That's a very promising position to be in. They will be particularly happy with the late season form of Jonathon Patton, who goes into his first finals series in the best form of his career. Devon Smith also appears to be back to his best after spending most of the season injured. North were always going to finish in eighth, no matter the result tonight. There were two things to play for in this game: to send out their four departing veterans in Petrie, Harvey, Dal Santo and Firrito with dignity and pride, and to show something to indicate that they can make more of an impact in the finals than their late season form would indicate. Unfortunately they didn't really achieve either of those. Harvey was one of their better players, with 26 touches and 2 goals. Dal Santo was serviceable, but Petrie and Firrito were both well down tonight, and might well struggle to retain their place in the team for the first week of the finals, with Thompson and Waite to return. North can play a controlled game at times, and they can apply enough defensive pressure to stop an opponent from racking up a big score, but it's very hard indeed to see them scoring heavily against quality opposition based on their indifferent showing this evening. The Roos will probably travel to Adelaide Oval to meet the Crows in two weeks. As disappointing as the Crows were last night, it's hard to see North as anything other than cannon fodder in that contest, a mere footnote in this year's finals series.
Swannies
Guest
Crows or Eagles will be thanking their lucky stars if they get to play North in 2 weeks and guaranteed a place in the Semi-Final.
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
Hmmm, you have a point. When they had the ball, they did a lot more with the ball. North just never really seemed to be in the contest.
TomC
Roar Guru
Apart from inside 50 efficiency, I reckon a lot of those stats are a bit deceptive. The Giants played a lot more direct than North did, and there isn't really a stat for that.
TomC
Roar Guru
The North retirees look a little stern as they acknowledge the crowd's applause.
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
So many numbers, so please don't hold it against me if any were wrong.
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
Despite the scoreline, the two teams were (relatively) evenly matched in most of the major stats. GWS held narrow leads in tackles (52 to 49), kicks (214 to 194), inside 50s (56 to 46). They dominated, as I discussed earlier, hit-outs and stoppages. North held the ascendancy in marks inside 50 (14 to 10), marks (99 to 95), handballs (182 to 157) and overall disposals (376 to 371). The pair were also evenly matched in disposal efficiency (76% to the Kangas and 77% to the Giants) GWS smashed the Kangas in inside 50 efficiency, though (59% to 40%).
TomC
Roar Guru
GWS make the top four for their inaugural finals appearance.
TomC
Roar Guru
Full time North Melbourne 9.9.63 GWS Giants 14.16.100
TomC
Roar Guru
Inside the last two minutes of the game now.
TomC
Roar Guru
GOAL GWS All too easy in transition for GWS that time, as Hopper on the wing puts it in front of Smith running back with the flight of the ball. Smith marks and keeps running, all the way to 30 out for a goal, and drills it through. He's been good, Smith. North 63 GWS 100
TomC
Roar Guru
Daw takes a superb mark in the forward 50. At absolute full strength, the ball nested right in the fingertips. Daw's shot from 35m is unfortunately hooked, and through for a behind. He really could be quite a player if he could get all the elements in his game working effectively together. He kicked a beautiful long goal earlier.
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
Ahhh okay, guess that could explain it.
TomC
Roar Guru
He picked up a knock early and I reckon that might be affecting him a bit.
TomC
Roar Guru
Goal North, sorry. Typing on autopilot a bit.
TomC
Roar Guru
GOAL GWS Higgins attempts a shot from just inside 50, but it falls short. Davis attempts to gather in defence for the Giants. Dal Santo gathers, and handballs to Dumont, who in turn goes back to Cunnington. Cunnington puts up a high shot, and it drifts through for a goal. Good finish Cunnington. North 62 GWS 93
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
I haven't really noticed Lobb tonight. He's been there, but been relatively quiet.