Australian Football

Match Report

The increasingly threatening might of GWS was on display in all its glory at the Sydney Showground in Saturday's twilight match as the Giants flexed their muscle and convincingly defeated Carlton.  The Giants set up the win with a six-goal-to-three first term, held the Blues at bay with narrow wins in the middle two quarters, and then blew Carlton away in the final term, kicking seven goals to two to win by more than 10 goals. 

GWS certainly looked threatening from the beginning, with five scoring shots to nil in the first six minutes of play. This constant attack yielded goals to Jeremy Cameron and Steve Johnson, along with three behinds, as the Giants raced to a 15-point lead. Carlton to its credit settled soon after that, and majors to veterans Andrew Walker and Kade Simpson had the Blues back within a point midway through the term. The Giants quickly regained control, however, adding 4.4 to 1.0 to lead by 23 points at quarter-time.

Something of a stalemate was played out in the early stages of the second term, a fact mainly attributable to the fact that both sides kept missing shots at goal. The Giants went first, adding behinds via Rhys Palmer and Rory Lobb, with the Blues responding with behinds to Sam Kerridge and Ed Kurnow. GWS then added further minor scores through Jonathan Patton and Tom Scully. It was the Blues who finally found the target, and goals to Andrejs Everitt and Walker had them back within 13 points at the 16-minute mark. They added another behind to make the difference an even two goals, but late majors to Josh Kelly and Scully saw GWS go to the long break with a comfortable four-goal buffer. 

Carlton came out full of running after half time, and goals to Matthew Wright and Jason Tutt, playing his first senior match of 2016, had the Blues back within two goals and seemingly ready to make a real match of it. Unfortunately for them, their remaining scoring shots in the third quarter were all behinds, and the Giants responded with 3.3, the goals going to Johnson, Stephen Coniglio and Lobb as they went into the final break with a 29-point lead. 

The Giants did not take their foot off the pedal in the first 10 minutes off the final term, attacking heavily and having six scoring shots. Johnson kicked his fourth and Dylan Shiel his first, and with behinds also to Johnson (two), Cameron and Rhys Palmer, the lead blew out to 45 points. Walker clawed one back for Carlton with his third but GWS the m went on a rampage, adding five consecutive goals before Simon White scored a final consolation goal for the Blues to see a final winning margin of 62 points for the Giants. 

Shiel was a stand-out contributor for the victors, with two goals accompanying his 34 possessions. For Carlton, Bryce Gibbs played a fine 200th AFL match, collecting 29 touches and laying nine tackles. 

After a bye in round 15, the fourth-placed Giants will return to the Sydney Showground to host Collingwood on Saturday week, while Carlton's next match is also against the Magpies, next Saturday night at the MCG. 

GOALS
GWS: Johnson 4; Cameron 3; Shiel, Kelly 2; Williams, Patton, Whitfield, Scully, Coniglio, Lobb, Greene
Carlton: Walker 3; Wright 2; Simpson, Everitt, Tutt, White

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
GWS: Shiel, Coniglio, Johnson, Williams, Ward, Mumford, Kelly
Carlton: Docherty, White, Gibbs, Kerridge, Walker

BEST - THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
GWS: Shiel, Johnson, Ward, Coniglio, Scully, Griffen, Williams
Carlton: Gibbs, Docherty, Curnow, White, Rowe

INJURIES
GWS: Phil Davis (calf)
Carlton: Nil

UMPIRES: Donlon, Nicholls, Harris, McInerney

TELEVISION BROADCAST: Fox Footy

COMMENTATORS: Anthony Hudson, Jason Dunstall, Dermott Brereton, Barry Hall