The GIANTS - with nine AFL listed players - were defeated by the Brisbane Lions in round five of the VFL.
Jake Riccardi, Callum Brown and Wade Derksen all stood out for the orange and charcoal, but it wasn't enough as the GIANTS fell to an 11.8 (74) to 23.19 (157) defeat at Blacktown International Sportspark.
Toby Bedford also impressed while making his long-awaited return to the field after being sidelined with a hamstring injury since the pre-season.
GIANTS’ VFL coach Wayne Cripps said he was proud of his inexperienced side’s effort.
“We fielded an inexperienced side, and we knew we would struggle around the contest, but I’m really proud of the effort,” Cripps said.
“We went up against an experienced side with 16 AFL listed players compared to the nine we had.
“We showed some good signs during the game but in the end, we just weren’t hard enough for long enough.”
Cripps shared his assessments of the AFL listed players who played in the match.
AFL Listed Players:
- Toby Bedford
12 disposals, 1 goal
It was great to have him back, he brought a lot of energy all afternoon. You could see his work rate from contest to contest and his craft around goal stood out. I think he’s now ready for AFL level.
- Leek Aleer
It was disappointing to see Leek go down with injury again. I thought up against some great key forwards he looked like the Leek we all know in that first quarter and hopefully it’s a speedy recovery for him.
- Jake Riccardi
4 goals, 19 disposals, 13 marks
It was great to see Jake come back and provide us with a contest forward of the ball. He looked really dangerous up the ground when he was in the ruck.
- Cameron Fleeton
23 disposals, 8 marks
Had another typical ‘Cameron Fleeton’ game where he defended really well. His execution by foot was great and it’s starting to become a big asset for us moving the ball forward.
- Toby McMullin
12 disposals, 1 goal
He gave us some great impact on the inside in the midfield. He’s given us a point of difference on the ball with some of his clean hands and composure with the ball in hand.
- Max Gruzewski
6 disposals, 2 goals
He competed really hard and brought the ball to ground. He took a couple of nice marks, and he continues to improve each week from a forward craft point of view and understanding what his role is - when he needs to mark and when he just needs to make a contest.
- Jason Gillbee
20 disposals, 3 marks
He came up against a really experienced midfield. I think he would’ve taken a lot from the afternoon in terms of positioning and running patterns but we’re happy with his work ethic and that’s all you can ask for.
- Wade Derksen
24 disposals, 4 marks
Wade had to play as our primary ruckman for the afternoon and he did a fantastic job against two rucks with a lot of experience in that position. He played almost like an extra midfielder for us with his versatility and work on the ground. We’re really happy with how he went.
- Callum Brown
20 disposals, 8 marks
I thought he was probably our best player. Defensively he was great one-on-one and got involved offensively with our ball movement.
VFL Listed Players:
Coaches Call Out: Harvey Thomas
A 17-year-old product from our GIANTS Academy program. He came in and played across half-forward, he took a really good mark and kicked a nice goal. I think he's going to be a really promising player for the GIANTS moving forward.
- Ryan Hebron
7 disposals, 1 goal
- Jaelen Pavlidis
12 disposals, 2 marks
- Darcy Emends
15 disposals, 4 marks
- Jakob Anderson
13 disposals, 6 marks
- Barry O’Connor
19 disposals, 8 tackles
- Tom McCaffrey
10 disposals, 4 tackles
- Will Shaw
8 disposals, 2 marks
- Billy Clark
10 disposals, 3 marks
- Mitchell Conn
20 disposals, 3 marks
- Andrew Mathieson
10 disposals
- Brodie Romensky
14 disposals, 4 tackles
- Harvey Thomas
8 disposals, 1 goal
- Ronald Fejo
9 disposals, 1 goal
