GWS coach Adam Kingsley believes his side were close to finding their best footy ahead of last night's thrilling shoot-out with Carlton, and were crucially able to finish their work inside 50 as the last piece of their search for form.
Conceding 52 points in the opening term, the Giants responded in the second and third quarters to produce some of the best footy played under Kingsley's tenure, booting 14 goals to three en route to a 116-104 victory.
Us after QT. https://t.co/LJnUjYbzTS pic.twitter.com/CY4YNy1Au1
— GWS GIANTS (@GWSGIANTS) July 7, 2024
The performance was stunning, given the club's two-month form slump in the lead up to the match.
"If you look back two months, we weren't moving the ball well at all, we weren't generating inside 50s... averaging 41 for a month there. And we weren't scoring," Kingsley analysed post-match
"I feel like we tidied up our offence. We started to generate inside 50s over the last month, but we still weren't scoring.
"So the last piece is being able to finish our work now.
"Tonight we generated inside 50s... and we scored."
"There's a bit of a lag effect when you do work on stuff... the other guys get paid too, so they're trying to stop you from doing it."
A number of troops produced either career-best or season-best performances in the match, much to the delight of Kingsley, who seems eager to refill his side's confidence in their late season surge to September.
Ruckman Kieran Briggs was dominant in the ruck, using his body on the slimmer Tom De Koning, while contributing in all facets of the game, forward, back and centre.
"I thought it was probably his best game for the season and one of the best games he's play for us," Kingsley said.
Veteran Callan Ward was typically selfless in his shifted role but critical in playing it, controlling the wing against highly respected opposition.
"He's highly intelligent, smart player, he's obviously played over 300 games so his experience supports him," Kingsley said of his 34-year-old trooper.
"When he gets it, typically something happens good for us. He's able to get back, support his backs but also get forward and finish his work. Pretty good wing role.
"He's not the best runner in the team but he just finds a way, and that's been Wardy over his 300 games.
"He's so diligent playing his role, he's such a team man.
"I think Carlton have the best wings in the game in (Ollie) Hollands and (Blake) Acres, I thought they play the wing role really well (but) Wardy has done that over his last three or four weeks to that level."
A few more were singled out for their efforts, including youngsters Darcy Jones and first-gamer Joe Fonti, as well as his key position players for their resilience with tough matchups.
Jesse Hogan in particular was a game-breaker inside 50, producing one of the strongest displays of key forward dominance and accuracy in front of goal this season, booting five straight with six contested marks.
Reigning two-time Coleman Medallist Charlie Curnow nearly had his record streak of games with a goal halted by opponent Jack Buckley, who cursed himself when the Carlton superstar seized a late chance to continue the run.
"I thought Jack Buckley on Curnow was fantastic."
"Connor Idun looked back to his best... Himmelberg, Perryman, Fonti in his first game didn't look like it was his first game."
"He's a good runner (Fonti), he's got really good speed. He's been playing that way in the VFL for a really long time now."
"We'd like a few more (Darcy Jones')... the growth in him, what he could become is enormous."
"He's got great speed, he's got a real want to pressure and tackle, but he's also a beautiful finisher."
It was one of the performances of the year in one of the games of the season, the Giants re-establishing themselves in the top eight before a convenient run of games against Richmond and Gold Coast at home to reignite their status among the league's most prominent contenders.
