Greater Western Sydney have opened their 2022 account with a dominant 26-point win against Gold Coast on Saturday afternoon.
The 83-57 win is a crucial one for Leon Cameron in particular, who has faced speculation on his coaching future throughout the week.
Gone was the Giants slow play that struggled to penetrate the Tigers’ defence last week, Cameron’s men instead looking swift and stylish with ball in hand.
Their hunt on the ball was also clearly up all game, former Adelaide coach Brenton Sanderson labelling that the “most important part” of the win in commentary for AFL Nation.
The Giants jumped the Suns from the opening bounce, kicking five goals to one in the opening quarter. Stuart Dew’s men never really seemed to lift, but bravely remained in the contest.
However, the biggest problem was the Suns simply couldn’t score. Had Levi Casboult not brought his kicking boots, Gold Coast would have been in serious trouble up to three-quarter time, the former Blue bagging three of the club’s four goals to the final break.
The Suns somewhat rescued the scoreboard late in the fourth term, however it’s fair to say the final figures don’t reflect GWS’ stranglehold over the contest.
“They have made the scoreboard respectable, which hopefully doesn’t give them any false sense of belief, the Gold Coast Suns, because they’ve been badly beaten today,” Sanderson added.
Unlike the opening rounds, the Suns couldn’t get on top around stoppage and stroll out the front, Lachlan Ash having a big say over that when restricting Touk Miller to just 17 touches, by far his lowest count of the opening three rounds.
Matt Rowell battled hard and laid a massive 12 tackles, some four more than anyone else on the ground. However, the Giants on ball unit, led by Stephen Coniglio, was too strong.
The GWS skipper has been solid to start the season but roared back to form with a remarkable 32 disposals, 13 contested possessions and ten clearances. His AFL career looked in serious strife just last year, however Coniglio’s performance against the Suns confirms his best is still in there.
It wasn’t just the weight of what Coniglio did, but the manner in which he did it, going almost the entire game without a clanger and looking dangerous every time he went near the ball.
He was well supported by Tom Green all day, the youngster continuing what shapes as a breakout season with another 28 disposals, game-high 15 contested possessions and two goals of his own.
In credit to Dew’s men, they did rally when the contest was all over, but it won’t be enough to spare the fledgling club of intense criticism for the poor performance in the coming week
The Giants get their chance to square the ledger when taking on the Dockers next week, while the Suns simply have to respond against a Carlton outfit brimming with confidence next week.
FULL SCORE
GWS: 5.4, 8.7, 9.9, 12.11.
Gold Coast: 1.4, 3.5, 4.6, 5.7.
GOALS
GWS: Himmelberg 3, Green 2, Hogan 2, de Boer, Hill, Keefe, O'Halloran, Taranto
Gold Coast: Casboult 3, Chol 2, Sexton
BEST
GWS: Coniglio, Green, Taranto, Preuss, Hogan
Gold Coast: Rowell, Witts, Fiorini, Collins, Ballard
INJURIES
GWS: Hayes (ankle)
Gold Coast: N/A