After nine rounds, the GWS Giants’ season has gone into freefall, with four straight losses keeping them out of the eight as injuries mount and the loss of key players at the end of last season start to take its toll.
The club’s percentage dropped below 100 per cent for the first time this season when it went down to Essendon by 35 points at Spotless Stadium on Saturday night, with ex-Giant Devon Smith proving to be the mastermind behind the downfall of his old club.
After being traded out of the Giants following his omission from the club’s semi and preliminary final matches last year, the 25-year-old has proven to be a revelation for the Bombers, leading the competition in total tackles.
It marked the second time in three seasons that an ex-Giant came back to haunt his old club, after Adam Treloar made a successful return to Spotless Stadium in 2016 with his current club, Collingwood, winning by 32 points.
The Bombers set the tone for the night when Mark Baguley, who to that point had kicked only six career goals, kicked the opening goal of the night inside the first 15 seconds.
From that point on, despite the Giants’ eventual charge back into the contest, the visitors were never headed as they ended a three-game losing streak against the Giants and a seven-game losing streak in Sydney, their previous win on both respects being in Round 12, 2014.
While the Bombers’ win gets their season back on track after four straight losses to non-finals teams from 2017, for the Giants, their season continues to unravel and it could take another turn for the worse when they travel to face a wounded Adelaide Crows side at the Oval next Sunday.
Their predicament so far in season 2018 is somewhat of a massive departure from the stunning style of football which took the competition by storm in 2016.
With the assistance of premiership players Steve Johnson and Shane Mumford, who both retired at the end of last season, the club rocketed up the ladder to finish fourth with a record of 16 wins and six losses.
Showing no fear in their maiden finals match, they then proceeded to upset the Sydney Swans in their qualifying final before suffering a heartbreaking preliminary final loss to the Western Bulldogs, which Johnson was absent from due to a suspension arising from a rough conduct charge on the Swans’ Josh Kennedy.
Despite having to contend with a horror injury toll throughout most of last season, the Giants did well to again finish fourth on the ladder and progress to another preliminary final, where it was again defeated by the eventual premiers, this time at the hands of Richmond at the MCG.
Many believed that this would finally be their year after they started the season with a huge victory over the Western Bulldogs in Canberra, followed by an impressive win over Collingwood at the MCG in Round 2.
Josh Kelly of the Giants (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
However, the wheels started to fall off when they were pegged to a draw against lowly St Kilda at Etihad Stadium in Round 5, having led by 18 points halfway through the final quarter.
They then appeared to get things back on track when they defeated a persistent Brisbane Lions side by 34 points in their first game at Spotless Stadium for the season.
The full force of their injury toll was then felt as they went down to the Geelong Cats by 61 points at Kardinia Park in Round 7; for that match, the Giants were without Jeremy Cameron, Josh Kelly, Brett Deledio, Zac Williams, Tom Scully, Rory Lobb and Toby Greene, among many others.
This left Jonathan Patton to ruck against Rhys Stanley after he had been smashed by Stefan Martin in the hit-outs the previous week against the Lions.
Coach Leon Cameron said after the loss to the Cats that his side wasn’t up to ‘A-grade standard’, refusing to use the long injury list as an excuse as they crashed to their worst defeat since late 2015.
Patton was then dropped to reserve grade in an attempt to gain some confidence; he was recalled for the game against the Bombers in which he made little impact.
Greene’s absence, as well as the retirement of Johnson at last season’s end, has been felt the hardest in the Giants’ forward line, which has not scored over 100 points in a match since their 82-point thrashing of the Western Bulldogs in Round 1.
His return to football remains unknown, having rather carelessly suffered a foot injury during an end-of-season trip to New York which ruled him out of the International Rules series last November.
Despite the circumstances surrounding his foot injury, the Giants chose not to take any disciplinary action against him, though he has since admitted regret over the trip to the United States.
He has turned his career around after being suspended by the club for five matches following his involvement in an incident with a barman at a Melbourne nightclub halfway through the 2014 season.
While Josh Kelly made a successful return against the Bombers on Saturday night, Greene’s return, as well as those of Brett Deledio and Tom Scully, can’t come soon enough for the Giants, who face an equally-wounded Adelaide Crows side at the Oval next Sunday.
Like the Giants, the Crows also have their own injury woes to deal with.
Captain Taylor Walker, his deputy Rory Sloane, Brad Crouch, Mitch McGovern and Paul Seedsman (late withdrawal) all missed their 91-point thrashing at the hands of Melbourne, which was their heaviest under coach Don Pyke and heaviest overall since the final round of the 2011 season.
Given their own shaky form so far this season, it’s fair to say that this is not the same Adelaide Crows side which made the grand final last season with the competition’s most potent attack.
It therefore wouldn’t be surprising if we are treated to a low-scoring struggle at the Adelaide Oval, where the Giants have only won once (against Port Adelaide in Round 18, 2016) in six previous visits to the ground.
But then again, given how much the Crows have tormented the Giants throughout their history (think two 100+ point wins in 2012 and 2013), another heavy defeat could be on the cards for Leon Cameron’s men.
It would put the 45-year-old under immense pressure to retain his job, with many believing he might not survive beyond the end of this season if the Giants fail to reach the finals for the first time since 2015.
Removing him as coach after five seasons could have the potential to set the club back significantly, like the Gold Coast Suns did when they sacked foundation coach Guy McKenna at the end of the 2014 season despite them achieving their best season to date, finishing 12th with a 10-12 record.
The Suns have since finished in the bottom four for three consecutive seasons, including a 17th-place finish last year. However, they are showing signs of promise under first-year coach Stuart Dew this year, following their dismissal of veteran coach Rodney Eade towards the end of last season.
On the flipside, we have also seen instances where clubs with coaches under pressure have bounced back hard the following season.
In 2006, after the Cats underachieved despite boasting a talented playing list, it was speculated that Mark Thompson would be sacked as coach after seven seasons at the Cattery, with the best result to that point being reaching a preliminary final in 2004.
The pressure then escalated after they lost three of their first five matches of the 2007 season, but they would then go on a stunning run, losing just one more match en route to ending its 44-year premiership drought.
And most recently, in 2016, Richmond crashed to 13th place on the ladder with just eight wins after a hat-trick of elimination final defeats in the preceding three years.
Coach Damien Hardwick then survived a board meeting which called for his dismissal, and the club’s decision to retain him as coach was vindicated with a premiership win last September.
It will now remain to be seen whether the GWS Giants decide to retain Leon Cameron, who is contracted until the end of the 2020 season, as head coach should they finish outside of the eight at the end of this season.
Leon Cameron (Photo by Adam Trafford/AFL Media/Getty Images)
The former Western Bulldogs and Richmond player has readied himself for the criticism that will come his way during the week, though he has acknowledged that the club is in a form slump which has unsurprisingly left the playing group frustrated to a significant degree.
The frustration has shown in the past two matches, with Jeremy Cameron giving away a match-turning free kick in the loss to North Melbourne in Hobart and Adam Tomlinson giving away a 50-metre penalty in the loss to the Bombers, at which point the match was still evenly poised.
It is natural for teams to be frustrated when they are down on form, but if they let their feelings be known on the field, things will take a turn for the worse, as it has done for the Giants in the past fortnight.
Perhaps getting out of Sydney for the game against the Adelaide Crows this Sunday could be what they need if they are to turn their season around; similarly, the Bombers used the occasion of escaping the media hound in Melbourne to get their own season back on track.
So now it remains – can the Giants revive their season or will their fall from grace continue?
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