AFL: Magpie woes return with GWS smashing
Magpie Jordan Roughead (L) and Giant Daniel Lloyd clash in Sydney. Photo: Getty
GWS reignited its AFL campaign and raised more questions about Collingwood’s prospects with a comprehensive 47-point win at Giants Stadium on Saturday.
An eight-goal blitzkrieg from GWS set up the 19.8 (122) to 11.9 (75 ) win, which snapped a three-match losing streak and handed the Pies a third defeat from their last four.
It was Collingwood’s heaviest loss of the season and the first time this year they have conceded more than 100 points
Spearhead Jeremy Cameron kicked six goals and fellow talls Harry Himmelberg and Jeremy Finlayson nailed four and three respectively.
GWS captain for the day Toby Greene and Zac Williams showed up well in a new-look midfield, with four of their most senior players in that department missing through injury.
Williams, Greene Tim Taranto, Lachie Whitfield, Nick Haynes and the tall forwards were all prominent in one of the Giants standout performances of the season.
The three talls combined for the Giants first eight goals, as they consistently out-marked their defenders and the home team racked up 44 straight points to lead by 43 at the first break.
GWS won 19 more contested more possessions and finished just four-points shy of their club record first-quarter score.
The early goal feast then turned into a famine for the Giants as a chastened Collingwood fought their way back in the second quarter,
They had 12 more inside 50s, but clawed back just seven points by halftime, with Ben Crocker kicking both their goals.
Collingwood trimmed the deficit to 30 points only to concede a last-minute goal to Himmelberg, who joined his tall forward colleagues on three majors by halftime.
In the third quarter Sam Reid goaled after 40 seconds for the Giants, but the Pies responded with back-to-back majors.
However, three straight Giants goals blew their lead out to 46 points in the third term.
Collingwood regrouped to bridge the gap to 28 early in the final quarter but GWS notched the next four goals, including the first for ruckman Dawson Simpson in his 17th appearance.
Brodie Grundy toiled hard for Collingwood, tallying 31 possessions despite facing two specialist ruckmen.
Carlton wins, but Suns improve
Carlton have held off a much-improved Gold Coast performance, continuing their AFL surge under caretaker coach David Teague with a 24-point win.
The Suns pressed in the second half, but Carlton had enough of a buffer and won 15.9 (99) to 11.9 (75) on Saturday at Marvel Stadium.
Matthew Kennedy kicked a career-best four goals – he had kicked four goals for the season – and Blues defender Liam Jones was outstanding with 11 marks.
Blues co-captain Patrick Cripps clearly struggled after he was crunched in a first-quarter tackle.
Carlton first-gamer Josh Deluca gets a goal and is mobbed by his teammates.
Suns onballer Will Brodie also was impressive on Cripps, with 10 tackles and six clearances.
The game attracted a healthy crowd of 31,765, especially given it was the second-last Blues against the bottom side.
Carlton now have won four out of six under Teague.
Unless Melbourne somehow beat West Coast on Sunday, the Blues have relegated the Demons to second-last on the ladder in a season when they started as premiership hopefuls.
After two 90-plus point beltings, the Suns were in big trouble again when they fell 43 points behind midway through the third quarter.
But Gold Coast were rewarded for a much stronger effort – they impressively won the tackle count 90-72 – when the game unexpectedly flipped.
Gold Coast kicked five of the last six goals of the quarter and only trailed by 18 points at three-quarter time.
Kennedy’s fourth goal early in the last term was the circuit breaker that Carlton needed and they were not threatened for the rest of the match.
Blues young gun Sam Walsh added to his massive Rising Star claims with a 27-possession game and fellow onballer Ed Curnow had a team-high 31 disposals.
-AAP