VFL coach Wayne Cripps is taking the silver lining from Saturday’s 14-point loss to Frankston on Saturday, singing the praises of hard-nosed midfielder Xavier O’Halloran following his best-on-ground display in another strong VFL outing. 

Doing his best to will the GIANTS over the line against the Dolphins on Saturday, O’Halloran finished with 31 touches, 11 clearances, 11 tackles and a goal in what was the 23-year-old's second consecutive game at VFL level after featuring in each of the GIANTS’ opening eight AFL matches.

Always focused more on the development of players and giving them opportunities to play AFL football rather than the win-loss column, Cripps said O’Halloran had been a standout over the past two weeks as he presses his claims for an AFL recall.

“Our focus is on teaching guys our system or hopefully getting some guys into pretty good form and I think we’ve been able to do that,” Cripps said.

“’X’ [O’Halloran] was outstanding on Saturday. He showed great leadership and great attitude and effort all day.

“He had 11 clearances and 11 tackles, and he led the way with the pressure he was able to put on and then when he got the ball, his run and his drive from contest really stood out.

“It’s been good to see ‘X’ come back [to VFL level] and have a big couple of weeks and get his hands on the ball. He leads the way with his defensive pressure and his drive from contest, so I’m really happy from that point of view.”

While O’Halloran shone, it was a gloomy affair for the GIANTS in Blacktown on Saturday as inaccuracy and wastefulness going forward saw them fall short to the Dolphins in wet and slippery conditions.

“Unfortunately, we just didn’t capitalise on our work,” Cripps said of the two-goal loss.

“We definitely had enough [inside-50] entries but we just went in a little bit scrappy. We didn’t play our method or system ahead of the ball and we didn’t kick straight which doesn’t help.”

The second wet-weather game in as many weeks following a rainy clash with the Swans the week prior, Cripps said his side needs to better adjust to different conditions.   

“There’s been great learnings for us in terms of being able to adjust to more surge-mode football which we haven’t done as well as the opposition over the last two weeks, so we’ll get some good learnings from that,” he said.

Back at Blacktown on Saturday to host Footscray, who the GIANTS fell by 17 points to in an entertaining round-one match-up at Whitten Oval, the GIANTS will welcome the return of tough inside midfielder Marc Sheather, who will return after serving a four-game suspension for rough conduct.

“It’s been pretty obvious the last couple of weeks that we’ve missed his big body in there,” Cripps said of the former AFL-listed Swan.

“He would have loved the conditions in the last two weeks, so it’ll be good to get him back in this week.”

The GIANTS will host Footscray at 11:05am on Saturday at Blacktown International SportsPark.

Cripps also shared his assessment on the 14 AFL-listed GIANTS who appeared in Saturday’s loss to the Dolphins. 

AFL-listed GIANTS: 

9. Ryan Angwin  

20 disposals, four tackles, four marks 

“We had him down back this week and he spent four quarters there which was good for his development and learning some of his defensive craft. He led the way for us with loose-ball gets and possession-gains which is a great sign for a small back.”

10. Jacob Wehr

20 disposals, five marks, four tackles, one goal 

“He was really good. He competed hard all day, running up and down the wing all day - both offensively and defensively. His tackle pressure and his contest work were at a high level.”

21. Leek Aleer (subbed out with concussion early in second term) 

Four disposals, two marks 

“Unfortunately, we lost Leek early to concussion. He started the game off really well. He took a nice intercept mark and had a couple of big spoils and was looking really good but unfortunately, we lost him.”

24. Harry Rowston 

23 disposals, one goal, 10 tackles, five clearances 

“He’s building each week. He’s consistently finding a lot of the ball now. He’s still working on certain parts of his game defensively but he’s getting better and better at that each week and he’s slowly starting to put it all together.”

25. Lachlan Keeffe 

Seven disposals, three marks, three tackles

“He was good. He took a couple of nice contested marks. He competed really hard all day. He did some really nice follow-up things at ground level. It was tough conditions for the big boys but as always, he gave 100 per cent.”

29. Phoenix Gothard  

13 disposals, one goal, eight tackles  

“Phoenix was probably the shining light out of the small forwards. A lot of our small forwards struggled to put pressure on, but he ended up with eight tackles and worked his way into the game. He also kicked a nice goal and had some really good moments.”

31. Toby McMullin    

26 disposals, seven clearances 

“He was good - he had the most contested possessions on the ground. We really want him to work on his contest and his step in pressure and I thought he did those to a really high level. It was probably the best game he’s played as a midfielder so far this year.”

33. Xavier O’Halloran  

31 disposals, 11 clearances, 11 tackles, one goal 

“’X’ was outstanding. He showed great leadership and great attitude and effort all day.

He had 11 clearances and 11 tackles and he led the way with the pressure he was able to put on and then when he got the ball, his run and his drive from contest really stood out.”

34. Josh Fahey

36 disposals, four tackles

“As always ‘Fahesy’ gave us really good drive from the back half. He used the ball really well considering the conditions and he probably adjusted to the conditions better than most on the day. He’s making much better defensive decisions as well and starting to put together some good football.”

35. Max Gruzewski  

Eight disposals, one goal

“He competed hard and also spent a little bit of time as a relief ruck which was a great experience for him to build on that craft.  It wasn’t a big day, but he just had to bring the ball to ground and he was able to do that.”

37. Joe Fonti    

10 disposals, seven tackles

“Joe has become really consistent for a first-year player, he just doesn’t play bad games. He’s really starting to have a focus on the defensive side of his game which is really starting to show. And as always, every time he gets the ball, he is looking to take the game on which is becoming a week-by-week trait that we are seeing.”

41. Nick Madden   

18 disposals, 13 clearances, 53 hit-outs, three tackles

“He’s another one that’s starting to build together a really good body of work. He’s joining in around the ground on offence and defence and consistently getting his hands on the ball. And he’s a big presence at stoppage. He’s worked really hard on his craft and his game and its starting to show.”

43. Cooper Hamilton   

Three disposals, seven tackles 

“’Coop’ had a really good defensive day. He had seven tackles and a lot of smothers. He did all the scrappy, hard things for us. He didn’t get much of a lick of the ice cream from a possession point of view, but he works as hard as anyone on the ground, and we value defence.”

45. Wade Derksen  

18 disposals, four marks 

“’Derk’ was good. He’s starting to make some really good aerial decisions and he’s becoming really consistent in that area. He’s another that’s becoming a lot more consistent in his game.”