A clinical and ridiculously efficient display has lifted the GWS Giants to another statement win as Melbourne produced one of its most uninspiring efforts under Steven King to date.
The Giants were a picture of efficiency on Sunday afternoon, making the most of their inside 50 opportunities to cruise to a comfortable 49-point win, 19.5 (119) to the Demons 9.16 (70), in what Fox Footy commentator Garry Lyon described as a “professional hit job”.
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Round 12
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Despite the Demons’ dominance around the ball in the first quarter (11-5 clearances, 43-24 contested possessions), the Giants — led by their stars in Lachie Ash, Finn Callaghan and former demon Clayton Oliver — punished the Dees off forward half intercepts, kicking three of their first four goals from the source.
The Giants came out of the blocks in the second quarter, lifting their pressure and surging to four of the first five second quarter goals.
The Dees continued their inside dominance but it was the Giants who were able to get on the outside and carve through the Dees by hand as the Giants jumped out to a 25-point lead in the latter stages of the second quarter. But two late Demons goals, including one on the siren from Latrelle Pickett got the margin back to 12.
The Giants fired the first couple of shots in the second half, restoring the order of the second quarter as the Dees struggled to lower the eyes going inside 50.
And the accurate and efficient Giants continued to punish the Dees, kicking 5.1 from their seven inside 50s in the third quarter. Conversely the Dees kicked just two goals from their 18 entries.
The Dees kept themselves in it with two of the last three goals of the quarter to get the margin back to 27 at three quarter time, but they could not run with the tsunami in the last quarter as the Giants smelt blood in the water.
GWS practically walked in some of their final quarter goals as they ran out the game much stronger than the Demons who struggled to get their hands on the footy.
With a bye to look forward to, the Giants kept the foot on the throat, cruising to victory after a five-goal-to-one final quarter, capping off a quite brilliant display.
There was a hamstring scare during the third term for Sam Taylor, who returned for his first game of the season, however he confirmed to Fox Footy post-game it was only cramp.
THE 3-2-1 …
3. ‘DOG’S BREAKFAST’: GOODWIN-ERA FLAW PLAGUES DEES AMID GIANT ‘RECKONING’
It felt like 2023 for a lot of Sunday afternoon’s game.
The Orange Tsunami was at its ruthless, breathtaking best. The Demons were at their inefficient worst.
After their monster win over the Lions last week, the Giants delivered a warning shot to the competition with another impressive and comprehensive performance against the Demons.
The Giants surged by hand and were deadly accurate by foot, indicating they’re a team who have perhaps turned a corner.
“They are right back in the reckoning,” Fox Footy’s Dwayne Russell said.
The Giants finished the match with an incredible 80 per cent disposal efficiency. Fox Footy’s Nick Dal Santo said that number was “off the charts”, while Lyon added: “I haven’t seen anything like it.”
The Giants in 2023 surged from 15th to a one-point preliminary final loss across the back-half of the season. On Sunday they registered consecutive wins for the first time this season. But it was how they won that should scare the rest of the AFL.
As for Melbourne, it was shades of the most frustrating times of the Simon Goodwin era as forward-half inefficiency plagued the team on Sunday.
Despite winning the clearance battle, the Dees were beaten from scores from stoppage for the first time since Round 5 and too often bombed long inside 50, allowing the Giants defence to enjoy a strong performance.
Lyon during the call said it was “as unorganised as Melbourne have looked” under Steven King, labelling their inside 50 entries “a dog’s breakfast”.
“They’re looking a bit rabble-ish at the moment. It’s all a bit too easy,” Lyon said.
“This is a good challenge for this Melbourne team, who have enjoyed a terrific honeymoon period under Steven King. But he’s going to be armed with some ammunition on the back of this game ahead of a Kings Birthday game that’s going mean so much to Melbourne people.
“I imagine this will be their steepest learning curve.”
It was Melbourne’s 12th game in Alice Springs – and its eighth loss. And in an alarming pattern, inaccurate kicking has cost the Demons severely in their past four matches at Traeger Park Oval.
“You get the money for selling it, but if you’re not getting the four points, is it worth it?” Russell posed during the call.
“A win would’ve put Melbourne equal with Geelong in equal-fourth. But they’ve sold this game to this beautiful venue to bring footy to town. Great for footy, but would they have been better playing this at the ‘G?”
2. OLIVER GETS LAST LAUGH
In the lead-up to his meeting with his old Demons mates, Clayton Oliver was quick to shut down any chatter he’ll be the central figure in Alice Springs.
“No, no, it’s the (Toby) Bedford, (Jesse) Hogan, and Oliver Cup,” he cheekily told reporters on Wednesday.
But as Garry Lyon pointed out in the first quarter: “I reckon he (Oliver) had this circled in about October – and every night he would’ve gone to bed and said ‘let me at them’. He will be up for this.”
And Oliver, certainly, was up for it.
In his first match against Melbourne since being traded to the Giants, Oliver finished with 28 disposals and 11 contested possessions, as well as game-high score involvements (8) and clearances (7).
At the opening ball-up, Oliver lined up next to Jack Steele – the ex-Saint who has essentially replaced now-Giant Oliver.
“There’s some synchronicity in that,” Russell said.
After a quiet two-disposal term, Oliver got to work in the second match with 12 disposals.
As the Giants found their rhythm in the second term, triple All-Australian Nick Dal Santo said “this style just suits” Oliver.
“He links up, his running capacity is greater than probably what they expected when he got to the Giants, in the words of Adam Kingsley. But then he got to work like his teammates,” Dal Santo told Fox Footy.
“They sorted out their clearance game and contested possession game and off the back of it, their football looked fantastic.”
Oliver’s teammate Finn Callaghan produced one of his best performances for the Giants. He finished with an incredible 96.8 per cent disposal efficiency from his 31 disposals, as well as six inside 50s, 797m gained, eight score involvements and two goals.
“He’s been enormous. He’s done everything they’ve required,” Dal Santo said.
“He’s tough over the football, but it’s his running capacity … he’s outworking and turning contested into uncontested (possessions) and those metres gained come from those moments.”
1. ‘KNEW HE’D DO SOMETHING SPECIAL’: PICKETT’S GOTY CONTENDER
The Pickett’s were defying physics – to varying degrees – in the first quarter on Sunday afternoon.
Latrelle Pickett, who returned to the Demons’ line-up after being managed last week, almost pulled off a stunning early major.
Pickett pounced on a crumb inside 50, opened up the angle at speed and snapped the ball towards the goalsquare … only for the Sherrin to take a shock right angle bounce that denied him a goal.
“How’s the bounce of the ball? Defied physics, that was going through all the way,” Fox Footy’s Dwayne Russell said.
Fellow commentator Garry Lyon said Pickett was “looking sharp”, while triple All-Australian Eddie Betts added Pickett looked “fresh”.
“He had the week off last week, he’s up and about,” Betts told Fox Footy.
“He’s got so much space where he’s getting up the ground and losing them on the way back.”
Minutes later, Pickett’s cousin took centre stage with a brilliant moment that could be the mid-season Goal of the Year leader.
After working hard into the forward 50, Pickett gathered close to the boundary line. And despite being angled away from goal and on the wrong side for a right-footer, Pickett nailed a breathtaking snap goal from the tightest of angles.
“That is unbelievable,” Betts said. “You have to see where he came from, he was probably on the wing, got a block from Harvey Langford so Toby Greene had to go with them.
“He ran all the way, crumbed that, on the boundary, no look – that is Goal of the Year at the moment.”
When it was pointed out to Betts he was on the panel, Betts said: “I can say whatever I want! That’s an amazing goal.
“Being in Alice Springs, you knew Kozzy was going to do something special.”
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