Skip to main content

Magpies Hold Off Gallant Giants for Grand Final Date

Collingwood banner (Densham/AFANA)

Greater Western Sydney captain Toby Greene won the toss and kicked to the Punt Rd end. With the pinnacle of his footy career in his mind, the Preliminary final against Richmond in 2018, American Mason Cox started in the ruck and won the first hit out. His teammate McStay drew two huge cheers from the predominantly Collingwood crowd first when he marked and then when he connected for a goal from 30 meters out. Jack Crisp doubled the score with a quick kick off a step and off the outside of the boot to kick the Magpies second goal. The nearly 98,000 in the crowd (almost all Magpie fans) were ecstatic.

Now the Giants had their turn when Irishman Callum Brown was put in range with a 50 meter penalty but a poor kick off the boot went wide to give the Giants their first but single point. McStay came from the back of the pack to somehow lead to the ball and marked strongly 20 meters but missed the shot on goal. Mihocek added another point for the Pies behind before quarter time, while Riccardi and Daniels added singles for the Giants. 

Read more

Hogan's Heroes Shut Off the Power

Hogan Goals (file photo/AFANA)

The Greater Western Sydney Giants have booked a preliminary final appearance after a masterful display of fast football at Adelaide Oval on Saturday evening. The crowd was left stunned as Port Adelaide had no answers to the Giants clinical ball movement and midfield dominance. Veteran Giants forward Jesse Hogan was magnificent booting four goals along with his nine marks and 17 disposals on the night. Lachie Whitfield (33 disposals) and Stephen Coniglio (30 disposals) were unstoppable for the Giants, Coniglio racking up an unbelievable 13 score involvements for the match. 

Willie Rioli had two early goals on the board for Port, only to see his efforts matched by Giants superstar Toby Greene. The scoreboard showed just a three-point lead to GWS at quarter time, but the statistics suggested unless Port could turn around a clearance dominance by the Giants then things would turn ugly for the home crowd. That is exactly what happened. 

Read more

The Sounds of Elimination Drum Saints Out of Finals

Finals Warning (Kim Densham/AFANA)

An overcast spring day greeted the 68,465 supporters at the MCG. The Saints started the first quarter strong with an early mark at top of the goal square by Sharman and he made no mistake with the simple set shot. GWS were quick to respond with an entry to the forward 50. Hard running from Toby Greene saw them rewarded with a goal when he ran onto the ball just outside the goal square. A long ball inside 50 almost saw King with an easy roller off the ground for a goal, but the ball trickled away from his boot. Marshall had better luck though when he added the Saints second goal, able to mark the ball at the top of the square. 

GWS again responded, this time through Hogan who marked in the pack seven meters out from goal. His kick around the corner was a goal.  The Giants took the lead for the first time in the game when Toby Bedford kicked long and straight from 49 meters out. His goal was the first kicked for the day from any significant distance. Callum Brown and Daniels added goals to put the Giants three goal up just before quarter time. Sharman could have ended the quarter as he began it with a goal but his kick from the pocket went wide of the big sticks resulting in a behind to the Saints.

Read more

Dockers Dominate Sleepy Giants

Sproule marks over Darcy

In a hot autumn afternoon when the mercury sat at 89 degrees as the game opened, the Greater Western Sydney Giants wilted and allowed the Fremantle Dockers to run out easy winners. It was only the Dockers’ kicking inaccuracy that saved the Giants from a complete belting. To make matters worse this was the first time since 2013 that the Giants have lost their two opening games. The Giants started with strong intent in an opening spurt, which saw Jacob Hopper swoop on a loose ball and kick truly to open the Giants’ account within the first minute of play. However, from there it was the Dockers who got players to the contested ball to outnumber the Giants in packs. The Dockers won contested possessions 145 to 113 and then outran the Giants in open space to rack up 278 uncontested possessions to 113. The Giants simply did not have the desire to work hard in close and appeared not to have the will to run with the Dockers when the ball found open territory.

Read more

Grand Final Background: Richmond vs GWS

Dustin Martin Straight Arm

There is an old adage in footy that a team has to lose a few finals to win one. it proved true for Richmond as they lost their first ever final in 1916 - a semi-final against Carlton. They then lost their first Grand Final to Collingwood in 1919. They lost again to Carlton in 1920 in a semi-final, but since there were only four teams eligible at that time, they were still through to the Grand Final which they won. They have since gone on to win another 10 premierships.

Read more

Giants Stand Tall Again; Defeat Magpies

A Giant Victory

This was supposed to be a one sided affair. The in-form Collingwood taking on the injury hit and sixth seeded Greater Western Sydney Giants with the result surely leading to a Richmond vs Collingwood Grand Final, to the delight of the AFL and Melburnians. The only problem with this narrative was that the Giants didn’t read the script.

In one of the biggest surprises in recent Preliminary Final history, GWS stunned the locals by first taking a big lead, then by defending grimly when a late Collingwood surge looked like taking the Magpies back to the Grand Final in consecutive seasons. The end result shows the Giants winning by just 4 points, but so much happened throughout this game. A frantic last quarter, that a crowd of mostly 70,000 strong Collingwood fans were left as empty shells in a roller coaster of a final.

Read more

AFANA AFL Power Poll - Round 21

The Eagles are Flying

Our top three on the AFANA AFL Power Poll all came through with wins this week, with Brisbane crushing the Suns, the Eagles defeating the Crows and Richmond too strong in the wet for the improving Carlton.

The Giants took a big hit on Friday night footy, registering a rare loss in Canberra while playing in even rarer conditions – snow! Yes, for the first time in a home and away AFL contest, snow fell at Manuka Oval in Canberra as Hawthorn gave the Giants a football lesson. Geelong took care of the Kangaroos in similar fashion, with Rhyce Shaw’s men managing just a single goal for the entire match.

Read more

AFANA AFL Power Poll - Round 14

Cameron with His First Goal!

The bye rounds are over, and as we head into round fifteen the battle for the coveted top four spots and the race for the finals is well and truly on. Geelong moves to top spot on the AFANA AFL Power Poll despite dropping a game on the road to an impressive Port Adelaide, while Collingwood continues to win despite not being at its best in recent weeks. 

The big movers are the Adelaide Crows, moving from 8th to 5th on the back of a three game winning streak while Fremantle and Port continue to look the most likely to take a spot in the final eight unless Richmond can end its free fall down the AFL ladder.

Read more

AFANA AFL Power Poll - Round 6

ANZAC Day Banner 2019. Kim Densham for AFANA.

An extended round six kicked off with the unusual Wednesday night game that saw Richmond victorious by 43 points over the struggling Melbourne Demons. The Anzac Day battle between Collingwood and Essendon was a classic that ended with the Magpies hanging on to win by four points in controversial circumstances as the Bombers fell just short of pulling off a great comeback. Brisbane, Port Adelaide, Fremantle and the Giants took care of business as expected while Carlton almost pulled off back to back victories before succumbing by just five points to a frantic Hawthorn down in Tasmania.

Read more

AFANA AFL Power Poll - Round 1

Bruce and the Saints are Flying

Welcome to the first AFANA AFL Power Poll for 2019, and what a crazy couple of rounds of footy we have witnessed to kick off the season! If what we have seen so far is any indication, Aussie rules football fans are in for a crazy ride in 2019. Nothing should surprise us given the last three premiers have come from 8th, 13th and 6th on the ladder in the year prior to taking out the big one. 

Read more

Recent content

Partners

Worldfootynews.com

 

We Recommend:

ENJOY 40% OFF SITEWIDE!

  • The future of vitamins is here! Say goodbye to generic multivitamins cluttering your table top. 
  • With Vitable, you get personalized daily vitamin packs tailored to your unique diet, lifestyle and health needs.
  • All you need to do is complete a simple online quiz and unlock your expert recommendation. 
  • Join the 400,000+ people embracing the Vitable way with 40% OFF your first order
  • Use the promo code AFANA40 at checkout.