While it wasn’t as interrupted as the year prior, 2021 was still a season for the history books as the impacts of the pandemic caused another highly unusual set of circumstances across the season.
The GIANTS’ AFLW side kickstarted 2021 as it entered the fifth season of the elite female competition, which for the first time saw the league forgo its conference format in place of a traditional consolidated ladder.
Competing against 13 other clubs across a nine-match home and away season, the GIANTS recovered from an 0-2 start to win four of their final seven matches but ultimately finished ninth to miss out on finals.
Young superstar Alyce Parker was the standout for the GIANTS, becoming the first back-to-back winner of the Gabrielle Trainor Medal following another stellar season.
Parker also finished second in the league best and fairest and was named an All Australian for a second time.
Parker was also included in the AFL Players’ Association’s 22under22 squad alongside fellow teammate Georgia Garnett, who shone after debuting in round three against the Suns.
Meanwhile, Australia’s ability to handle the pandemic meant the beginning of the 2021 AFL season saw crowds flock to the footy until a mid-season COVID spike saw the landscape change once again.
The GIANTS were slow out of the starting blocks in 2021 until an impressive 30-point win over Collingwood in round four saw the big big sound blasted throughout the MCG.
Back in Sydney the following round, the GIANTS made it two on the trot with a thrilling come-from-behind two-point win over the Swans at the SCG.
After splitting their next nine games with four wins, four losses and a draw, the GIANTS were forced to spend the final eight weeks of the season outside of New South Wales due to restrictions caused by the pandemic.
Despite most of the remainder of their season being played in Victoria, plus two games on the Gold Coast against the Swans and the Bombers, the GIANTS overcame all obstacles thrown their way to finish seventh and qualify for finals once again.
With heavy COVID restrictions still prevalent in Victoria and NSW, the AFL’s preference to play finals before a crowd saw the GIANTS face off with the Swans in Tasmania in the most unusual of venues for an elimination final Sydney Derby.
As had been the case the two times prior, the GIANTS took down their cross-town rival in a cut-throat clash to maintain their perfect finals record against the Swans with a thrilling one-point win at UTAS Stadium.
The GIANTS’ strong 2021 season ended the following week after falling to Geelong by five goals in a semi-final at Perth’s Optus Stadium.
Josh Kelly capped off his stellar season by taking home the Kevin Sheedy Medal, while Toby Greene was rewarded for another standout campaign with selection in his second All-Australian side.
In a tight top-three finish, Kelly was tied with Greene coming into the final two matches of the season before polling strongly across the finals series to claim his second club champion award ahead of Greene and Jacob Hopper.
Meanwhile, the club farewelled GIANT Shane Mumford- again - after the popular ruckman called time on his 13-year career for the final time after returning to the club in 2019 following his first retirement in 2017.
