A WSU GIANTS side with just nine listed players has gone down to second-placed Aspley on the road in Brisbane.
It was just a two-point margin at three-quarter time as the undermanned GIANTS stayed in touch with the Hornets for much of the afternoon but a eight goal to three final quarter earned Aspley the four points with a 30-point victory.
“We went up to Brisbane with nine listed players and 13 top-ups so playing against one of the more experienced big-bodied sides in the NEAFL we knew it was going to be a fair challenge,” said NEAFL coach Brad Miller.
“The guys were outstanding and really rose to the occasion. I thought they competed and scrapped and fought right until the end so I was really proud of their effort.”
With an extensive injury list and taking a travelling emergency to Adelaide, the WSU GIANTS had a young and relatively inexperienced side on the park against one of the NEAFL’s top teams.
But it gave some of the lesser-known GIANTS the chance to shine and rookie-listed forward Daniel Lloyd rose to the challenge, finishing the game leading both possessions (26) and goals (three) for his side and adding 13 tackles and nine clearances to his superb performance.
“We lost Adam Tomlinson, Jack Steele and Sam Reid out of that team from last week who are all leaders in their own regard so guys had to step up and I think Daniel Lloyd was outstanding,” Miller said.
“He really got the boys going and communicated strongly all day and just played like a man so I was really impressed with his performance.
“I thought Dawson (Simpson) did a good job as a stand-in skipper for Sam Reid, then also young guys like Matty Kennedy, he had to shoulder a lot of responsibility around the ball and I thought he was terrific as well.”
With the senior side’s backline again hit by injury in their clash with the Crows, Miller said there was a crop of young defender coming through in the NEAFL.
“We’ve got Harry Himmelberg, Jeremy Finlayson and Patrick McKenna who are all playing down there at the moment,” he said.
“They’re all doing a good job, I think Harry’s really striking the balance between defence and attack.
“He’s an attacking, running sort of half-back flanker but he’s had to play against bigger opponent and I just think he’s starting to get the balance right as to when to defend and when to run off and attack so he’s performances continues to improve.”
Fifth-year GIANT Will Hoskin-Elliott played limited game time in his return from a quad injury and worked his way into the game.
“He was on 60 per cent game time so we used him quite sparingly, he looked like he’d missed a fair bit of footy early, he fumbled a couple of balls, but it was to be expected after missing a fair bir of footy over the past couple of months,” Miller said.
“He got better as the game went on and finished the game with two important goals.”
The WSU GIANTS travel to the Northern Territory to take on the NT Thunder at TIO Stadium on Saturday night.
ASPLEY HORNETS 16.12 (108)
WSU GIANTS 11.12 (78)
Goals:
Daniel Lloyd 3, Will Hoskin-Elliott 2, Matthew Flynn, Tom Downie, Mathew Walker, Connor Byrne, Connor Owen-Auburn, Logan Gray
Best:
Daniel Lloyd, Tom Downie, Matthew Kennedy, Harry Himmelberg, Connor Byrne, Connor Owen-Auburn
