Summary
The victory moves GWS up to 10th on the ladder and into the logjam of sides on four wins. That list includes Richmond, and for the time being, covers places four to 11. This most unpredictable of seasons remains all to play for.
One thing to note from tonight’s match is there were no obvious serious injuries, which will please both coaches heading into a hectic run of games.
But that’s about all from me tonight I think. Thank you for your company. Let’s do it again soon.
Giants 9.8 (62) beat Tigers 6.14 (50)
Crucial victory for GWS to put their stuttering season back on track. Richmond had their chances, and the momentum was all theirs either side of three-quarter time, but, undermanned, they lacked the cutting edge when it mattered.
Only one individual needs a namecheck, Toby Greene for his 5.0.
It’s almost a year since the 2019 grand final and the Giants have gone some way to exorcising those demons.
Q4: 3 mins remaining: Giants 9.8 (62) v 6.14 (50) Tigers: Free to Rioli, 40m out on an angle to the right of the posts - and he shanks it badly. That was a crucial miss. 6.14 Richmond tonight, that tells its own story.
Q4: 5 mins remaining: Giants 9.8 (62) v 6.13 (49) Tigers: GWS again trying to throttle down and take the sting out of the contest, kick-marking through midfield and half-back, but it’s a risky strategy and looks questionable when their midfield flyers are ignoring space on centre wing.
Or Toby Greene could shark a pack on a rare bomb to the top of the square and seal it. It’s a simple game sometimes. Greene’s 5.0 the difference tonight.
They call him TFG and the F is for five 😉#AFLGiantsTigers pic.twitter.com/9FNZIGgKmF
— AFL (@AFL) July 24, 2020
Updated
Q4: 6.30 mins remaining: Giants 8.8 (56) v 6.13 (49) Tigers: Oh deary me. Downfield 50m against Broad for interfering with Greene invites Daniels to kick for goal from 40m out... but he screws his shot wide. Let-off for the Tiges.
Q4: 7.30 mins remaining: Giants 8.7 (55) v 6.13 (49) Tigers: Chol does superbly in the ruck, then Martin dazzles in midfield, but his superb pass forward is butchered by Pickett and Richmond can only muster a point when six were at their mercy. The margin is now just one kick though, and GWS don’t look as if they know whether to stick or twist.
Q4: 9 mins remaining: Giants 8.7 (55) v 6.12 (48) Tigers: Lynch misses a snap from 30m out in the right forward pocket after good work from Martin. The Tigers are coming.
Q4: 10 mins remaining: Giants 8.7 (55) v 6.11 (47) Tigers: The Giants are trying to slow the game down, but it looks nervous, not authoritative. They’re inviting Richmond to take it on, and we know they have the players to do just that, and one of them - Martin - is warming to the task.
Q4: 11 mins remaining: Giants 8.7 (55) v 6.11 (47) Tigers: Finally a GWS inside-50, but it’s a slow loopy delivery from a free-kick that Richmond smother with the minimum of fuss. The Giants maintain territory though and almost kick some breathing space but Daniels has his effort tipped over the line.
Q4: 13 mins remaining: Giants 8.6 (54) v 6.11 (47) Tigers: GWS cannot clear their lines, they have hardly been out of their own half since midway through the third quarter. They should escape in the last passage but Finlayson drops a chest mark on centre wing. The pressure is huge.
Q4: 14 mins remaining: Giants 8.6 (54) v 6.11 (47) Tigers: Richmond are making GWS sweat for everything, and after a turnover Bolton kicks a point when more were on offer. This is on like Donkey Kong.
Q4: 15 mins remaining: Giants 8.6 (54) v 6.10 (46) Tigers: The final quarter begin with Richmond on the attack but Keefe does well to prevent Riewoldt marking inside 50. This one could be a tight 15-minute tussle as the next-goal-wins pressure tells.
Greene is dominating the stats sheet with his 4.0 from 14 possessions but the all-round games of Kelly, Coniglio and Whitfield have been crucial for the Giants. Dustin Martin stood up for Richmond when it counted, wresting momentum from GWS when the game was ebbing away. Big Soldo also deserves a namecheck for a strong run of minutes in his ruck duel with Jacobs.
3QT - Giants 8.6 (54) v 6.10 (46) Tigers
Just one team has come from behind at three-quarter time this season. Can Richmond make it two? They have all the momentum...
Jack Riewoldt loses Phil Davis at the stoppage and gets one back!#AFLGiantsTigers pic.twitter.com/ASKTYg498s
— AFL (@AFL) July 24, 2020
Q3: 1 mins remaining: Giants 8.6 (54) v 6.10 (46) Tigers: Richmond pouring forward now! This is a remarkable surge. First Pickett should do better on the run from 50m but his blushes are spared by Martin who wheels around and snaps his second. The margin down to eight and it’s game on again! This is an incredible comeback late in this third term.
Q3: 2 mins remaining: Giants 8.6 (54) v 5.10 (40) Tigers: That tempo change pays dividends eventually, Riewoldt emerging from a stoppage deep in GWS territory to snap into an unguarded goal. Brilliant ruck work from Soldo for the assist.
Q3: 3 mins remaining: Giants 8.6 (54) v 4.10 (34) Tigers: Oooh, Chol got plenty on a mark about 20m from goal but it wasn’t paid! Richmond a bit stiff there but GWS clear their lines. The tempo has lifted in the past couple of minutes though, the Tigers scrapping hard to remain in it at the final break.
Q3: 4 mins remaining: Giants 8.6 (54) v 4.9 (33) Tigers: A full blooded but scrappy couple of minutes of footy, which suits GWS as they look to deny Richmond momentum. Haynes has once again stood out, playing in front of Lynch and Riewoldt, chopping off anything heading their way.
Q3: 7 mins remaining: Giants 8.6 (54) v 4.9 (33) Tigers: Richmond need something special now, and Martin is determined to deliver it, holding on with strong hands to a contested mark under serious pressure, then shrugging off the responsibility to bang home the set shot from range. That’s the first Tigers goal since midway through the second quarter.
Toby Greene is the best player in the AFL. Don’t @ me. #AFLGiantsTigers
— Dylan Buckley (@dylan_buckley) July 24, 2020
Q3: 7 mins remaining: Giants 8.6 (54) v 3.9 (27) Tigers: 20 entries inside-50 for 14 scores for GWS. Just three majors for Richmond from 29 entries.
Q3: 8 mins remaining: Giants 8.6 (54) v 3.9 (27) Tigers: Not to worry. Greene kicks his fourth, hooking a set shot around his body after watching a Finlayson misshit clear the pack and land in his bread basket. That looks like game over to me.
Q3: 9 mins remaining: Giants 7.6 (48) v 3.9 (27) Tigers: Oh wow! Brent Daniels hammers the post from 15m out straight in front on the run. That should have been pretty much the sealer.
Updated
Q3: 10 mins remaining: Giants 7.5 (47) v 3.9 (27) Tigers: A breathless helter-skelter passage of play with Martin trying to drag his team back into things but the troupe of elite GWS midfielders are holding their ground, Whitfield and Kelly especially.
Q3: 14 mins remaining: Giants 7.4 (46) v 3.9 (27) Tigers: Rinse and repeat, only replace Finlayson with Greene and GWS have four goals from their last five entries inside-50 and they have broken this match wide open. Nothing complicated about the past couple of minutes; win the ball, belt it up the ground, let the forwards go to work. Perhaps Leon Cameron might be reconsidering his possession-heavy gameplan.
Q3: 15 mins remaining: Giants 6.4 (40) v 3.9 (27) Tigers: The Giants get first hands on the footy, lump it forward, and Finlayson bulldozes through for a stupendous pack mark. The big lad steadies himself, goes back, and kicks his side into the biggest lead of the night. A three goal burst either side of the main break and the game is very much on the Giants’ terms.
Fair grab from Jezza Finlayson! #AFLGiantsTigers pic.twitter.com/e7OVQmUx83
— AFL (@AFL) July 24, 2020
Updated
Here we go - the second half is underway!
That second quarter was not as pretty as the first, and it should have ended with Richmond enjoying a healthy lead, but instead the second half will begin with the Giants’ noses in front. Greene kicked the tide-turning goal, and he is the only multiple goal-kicker of the night. Whitfield leads allcomers with 16 touches but it’s his teammate Kelly, and Bolton of the Tigers, that have really caught the eye.
The team stats are pretty even until you get to inside-50s. Richmond lead 26-14, and dominate 11-1 when it comes to tackles inside-50. However, the scoreboard indicates a seven point lead to the hone side, and that’s what counts.
14 disposals, five clearances and this goal!
— AFL (@AFL) July 24, 2020
What a first half from Josh Kelly 🙌#AFLGiantsTigers pic.twitter.com/JdElNXTEyY
Updated
HT - Giants 5.4 (34) v 3.9 (27) Tigers
The Giants are ahead. Somehow, not quite sure how.
Q2: 2 mins remaining: Giants 5.4 (34) v 3.9 (27) Tigers: Of course they make it two in a minute. A nondescript attack turns dangerous when the Giants receive a free for a push in the back around 55m from home. The bomb into the hot zone is brought to ground where Kelly crumbs and snaps beautifully across his body from a narrow angle.
Q2: 3 mins remaining: Giants 4.4 (28) v 3.9 (27) Tigers: Wouldn’t you know it - after all that territorial dominance and avalanche of inside-50s Richmond somehow find themselves behind again. The first meaningful GWS attack for the quarter ends with Greene roosting a massive bomb from outside 50 that just clears the man on the line. What a huge moment. How are the Giants ahead!?
Q2: 5 mins remaining: Giants 3.4 (22) v 3.9 (27) Tigers: Martin has upped his own tempo in the past couple of minutes and his hunger earns a free-kick just within range, but he slams his effort narrowly wide. This quarter has been all Richmond but they have yet to convert that dominance on the scoreboard.
Q2: 7 mins remaining: Giants 3.4 (22) v 3.8 (26) Tigers: 17 of the last 18 inside-50s to Richmond. GWS cannot clear their lines and win any key contests. They’re still trying to play that neat possession footy but it is like watching them wade through treacle.
Q2: 9 mins remaining: Giants 3.4 (22) v 3.8 (26) Tigers: Richmond definitely on top now, but it’s an arm-wrestle compared to the open first quarter. That is until Bolton wallops a huge snap from 50m to put the Tigers ahead. He has caught the eye tonight the #29, dynamic whenever Richmond have flashed forward.
Shai Bolton has been in spectacular form lately!#AFLGiantsTigers pic.twitter.com/diQkyfHZZf
— AFL (@AFL) July 24, 2020
Updated
Q2: 12 mins remaining: Giants 3.4 (22) v 2.7 (19) Tigers: The first long spell of midfield scrapping for the night ends with a free to Richmond for a very very tight call against a Giant for tripping Pickett on the 50m arc. The set shot trails wide.
The consensus from the ex-players on TV is that the Tigers are looking the likelier around the ground.
Q2: 15 mins remaining: Giants 3.4 (22) v 2.6 (18) Tigers: Cameron outmarks Broad on the lead just outside 50, but then butchers the kick like you could not believe, shinning it straight to a Tiger for a territory loss. It’s obvious the Giants are trying to control their possession, but perhaps to their own cost on occasion.
The QT stats are a microcosm of the season so far - GWS with plenty of possession but not a heap of inside-50s whereas Richmond turned 46 disposals (only 22 uncontested) into 12 inside-50s and eight scoring shots.
QT: Giants 3.4 (22) v 2.6 (18) Tigers
That was a rollercoaster of a quarter. The Giants threatened to run away with it with their dominance of the clearances and control of possession, but then Richmond’s ability burst forward at speed and apply pressure on the GWS back line dragged them back into the game. This could go either way.
Jason Castagna gets the Tigers off to the perfect start!#ColesGoals | #AFLGiantsTigers pic.twitter.com/r1ERkoIjyx
— AFL (@AFL) July 24, 2020
Q1: 1 mins remaining: Giants 3.4 (22) v 2.6 (18) Tigers: Not only have Richmond interrupted that three-goal burst from GWS they have taken control of the middle of the ground. A couple of behinds narrow the gap but both were the product of swift direct attacks that promised more.
Q1: 3 mins remaining: Giants 3.4 (22) v 2.4 (16) Tigers: Oh boy, what a gift from the Giants! Corr was under immense pressure in his own goal square, but instead of stepping over for a rushed behind he feared the deliberate call, played on, and then was gang tackled. Aarts completed the humiliation from the free kick.
Aidan Corr didn't know where to go and Jake Aarts got him! #AFLGiantsTigers pic.twitter.com/zKJhkAzbAn
— AFL (@AFL) July 24, 2020
Updated
Q1: 4 mins remaining: Giants 3.4 (22) v 1.4 (10) Tigers: The Tigers almost interrupt GWS’s run of three goals in a row but first Castagna doesn’t get his angles right from the right forward pocket, then after Chol applies superb forward pressure Martin is pinged for a throw when a goal was at Richmond’s mercy.
Q1: 5 mins remaining: Giants 3.4 (22) v 1.3 (9) Tigers: The Giants are flying now. Greene gets in on the act with a sumptuous set shot from the boundary in the left forward pocket. Think the inverse of Robbie Gray’s matchwinner last weekend. Can Richmond stem the bleeding?
Q1: 7 mins remaining: Giants 2.4 (16) v 1.3 (9) Tigers: Himmelberg kicks across his body to put the Giants in front after he engineered front position ahead of his marker Grimes, earning a free kick just 10m from home. Again, the umpires sharp on anything impeding the leading forward. An excellent delivery inside 50 from Hopper, set that up, the latest indication the GWS midfield are looking for targets instead of blasting away for goal themselves - perhaps stung by criticism during the week accusing them of selfishness.
Q1: 9 mins remaining: Giants 1.3 (9) v 1.3 (9) Tigers: The game has largely been on the home side’s terms in the early exchanges, and after they win the centre clearance they find a chain of slick handballs before tearing into open space. A 50m free hands them a scoring opportunity on a platter but Langdon misses.
Not for the first time Richmond catapult out of defence at pace and it ends with the blistering Bolton hitting the post with a shot on the run from 50m out. A terrific start here with contrasting styles on display.
Q1: 11 mins remaining: Giants 1.1 (7) v 1.2 (8) Tigers: The Giants are spraying the ball around as they are wont to do with some lovely crisp kicks across the ground. Do they have the killer touch though? They do this time! Kelly, receiving a flowing move 50m out thumps one into the mixer where big Jacobs stands tallest to take the mark and kick the unmissable goal. An unexpectedly open start to this one.
Q1: 13 mins remaining: Giants 0.1 (1) v 1.1 (7) Tigers: Lynch will be disappointed not to slot his set shot from 45m after receiving a free kick for a block into the marking contest. That free, added to Cameron’s earlier suggests rule of the week might be defenders interrupting key forwards attacking the ball.
Q1: 15 mins remaining: Giants 0.1 (1) v 1.0 (6) Tigers: The Giants get first hands on the footy, working the ball nicely from the centre clearance down the ground where Cameron earns a free kick just outside 50. GWS keep the ball alive for a spell until Kelly has a shooting opportunity on the arc, that he rejects, setting the ball up to the top of the square and it eventually lands behind for a point.
Rattled by that imposing start? Not Richmond. They go end-to-end for the game’s first major, profiting down the line then enjoying Castagna defeating Davis one-on-one, following up his own strong work overhead by lashing home the goal off the ground.
Bounce!
Here we go!
The opening bounce is imminent. Richmond are in their familiar black and yellow guernsey, accompanied by white shorts. GWS are in their orange and charcoal number with that big white G across the chest.
There’s a minute’s silence taking place for Shane Tuck. The Richmond players lock arms and bow their heads.
Thank you @GWSGIANTS for your contribution to the poignant pre-game ceremony for Tucky 💛 pic.twitter.com/JljcR2Y6nE
— Richmond FC 🐯🏆 (@Richmond_FC) July 24, 2020
Updated
And if you want a heated debate in the closing minutes before the opening bounce, get stuck into this comment piece from my colleague Scott Heinrich about the need for the grand final to move away from the MCG.
My two cents: I appreciate the importance of tradition, especially to footy - and there is nothing like the MCG on grand final day - but it does feel a tad anachronistic in the AFL era, especially when ground familiarity is such a relevant competitive factor.
Presumably this year will be a test case, let’s see how it goes...
The fixture is a week-to-week proposition in this oddest of seasons, and there was some more news today with AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan confirming at least two clubs will relocate to a hub in Cairns, with three or more games to be played at Cazaly’s Stadium.
GWS XXII
GWS are bolstered by three handy inclusions, especially that of gun small forward Toby Greene, to help improve an attack that has only kicked more than 70 points twice this season so far.
The Giants are missing a few names from their probable best 22, including Callan Ward and Zac Williams, but they are much closer to full strength than the Tigers.
FB: Heath Shaw, Phil Davis, Aidan Corr
HB: Nick Haynes, Lachlan Keeffe, Harry Perryman
C: Josh Kelly, Stephen Coniglio, Lachie Whitfield
HF: Brent Daniels, Jeremy Cameron, Toby Greene
FF: Harry Himmelberg, Jeremy Finlayson, Jacob Hopper
RR: Sam Jacobs, Tim Taranto, Matt de Boer
I/C: Jye Caldwell, Lachie Ash, Zac Langdon, Daniel Lloyd
In: Sam Jacobs, Toby Greene, Daniel Lloyd
Out: Shane Mumford (neck), Jackson Hately, Bobby Hill (omitted)
Richmond XXII
One change for the Tigers after their mauling of North Melbourne last time out with Patrick Naish replacing the hamstrung Josh Caddy.
Caddy joins a lengthy list of absentees featuring the likes of Dion Prestia, Shane Edwards, Bachar Houli, Toby Nankervis and skipper Trent Cotchin.
B Nathan Broad, Dylan Grimes, Noah Balta
HB Nick Vlastuin, Liam Baker, Jayden Short
C Kamdyn McIntosh, Jack Graham, Patrick Naish
HF Daniel Rioli, Jake Aarts, Jason Castagna
F Tom Lynch, Dustin Martin, Jack Riewoldt
Foll Ivan Soldo, Marlion Pickett, Kane Lambert
I/C Shai Bolton, Jack Higgins, Derek Eggmolesse-Smith, Mabior Chol
In: Patrick Naish
Out: Josh Caddy (hamstring)
“He’s back!” 😄 @PatNaish #AFLGiantsTigers #gotiges pic.twitter.com/73RxWmVU8R
— Richmond FC 🐯🏆 (@Richmond_FC) July 24, 2020
Tonight is the first game following the sad news of the death of former Tiger Shane Tuck. Black armbands will be worn as a mark of respect.
An extremely brave and courageous warrior on-field. A big-hearted character off the field.
— Richmond FC 🐯🏆 (@Richmond_FC) July 20, 2020
You will be missed enormously by everyone, Tucky 💛
Preamble
Hello everybody and welcome to goal-by-goal coverage of the 2019 AFL grand final rematch between GWS and Richmond. We’ll be underway at Giants Stadium around 7.50pm.
Unlike the last time these sides met, this is not a contest between the best two teams in the competition. The undermanned premiers sit fifth on the ladder, enjoying a run of three wins following a difficult start to the season. The Giants meanwhile are languishing in 13th and dare not lose to another top-four contender after consecutive defeats to Port Adelaide and Brisbane.
To add to the pressure on GWS, this will be the last time they experience home comforts for a while. Their sixth match at Giants Stadium this campaign will be their last before joining the rest of the competition on a nationwide tour.
If you want to get in touch at any point, you can find me on Twitter or by email.
