VFL coach Wayne Cripps says there’s several GIANTS banging down the door of AFL selection through strong VFL form.
On Saturday Cripps’ side overcame extremely windy conditions to storm past the visiting Gold Coast Suns by 27 points in Blacktown.
A host of AFL-listed GIANTS shone in the win, with Cripps thrilled with the continued form of several troops at VFL level.
“We’ve got easily half a dozen guys who could easily slot into the AFL side at the moment. They’re working really hard on their craft and learning our system and executing our system consistently. I’m really comfortable pushing a lot of these names forward,” Cripps said.
Cripps was quick to highlight Conor Stone (33 touches, 15 marks) as one of those more than ready if needed in the AFL side following another strong performance in his new role as a rebounding defender.
“Stoney’ was really impressive, especially his second half with his ability once again to give us that run and drive,” Cripps said of the 22-year-old.
“And he gets the footy in good ways, he’s getting it from uncontested marks and handball receives which is what you want to see from your offensive backs. He’s really starting to put together a really strong body of work down there. It was probably his best game yet.”
First-round draft pick Phoenix Gothard also received high praise, with the 18-year-old producing his best performance yet, finishing with four goals to go along with 19 touches, seven clearances and five tackles.
“It was great to see him kick a mini bag of four goals. We also put him on ball in the last quarter to give us some speed and those fast feet and he played a really important role with a couple of centre clearances for us in the last quarter.”
Wingman Jacob Wehr also continued his strong VFL form as he showed off his running power in another tireless display to finish with 29 touches and nine marks.
“’Wehry’ was really solid again. Not only in joining in our chains but getting back and supporting the backs. He finished with seven possession gains which is a good number for a winger. With his contest and his work rate, he’s ticking all the boxes for a winger at the moment.”
Along with Gothard, fellow first round draft pick James Leake continues to impress, backing up his 24 possessions, eight tackles and four clearances against the Blues two weeks ago with 25 touches, 12 tackles and five clearances in another strong game.
“His development has been really good. He only had seven touches at half-time, but he really worked his way into the game in the second half.
“He had a game-high 16 contested possessions for us, and a game-high 12 tackles. That’s impressive stuff for a first-year player in his fourth game.”
Meanwhile Nick Haynes (38 touches, 13 marks) showed he’s ready whenever his name is called for an AFL return with another stellar performance down back.
“nce again just his ability to read the play and win the ball back for us was at a high level. It was good to see his offensive chains this week where he really got us going with speed. He was involved in a team-high number of scoring involvements which is what we want to see.”
GIANTS veteran Kennedy also put in arguably his best game of the season, with the 32-year-old’s composure and dash off half-back a highlight as he finished with 18 touches and a 65m goal in just his fourth game back after more than a year out with an ACL injury.
“I thought he played a really good game. He defended really well but also gave us really good drive offensively again. He got that balance right, especially with helping us play with speed from the back half.”
Following the win over the Suns, the GIANTS’ VFL side will now face the Casey Demons at Casey Fields on Saturday at 11:35am.
AFL-listed GIANTS’ stats against Gold Coast on Saturday:
9. Ryan Angwin
13 disposals, 10 tackles
10. Jacob Wehr
28 disposals, nine marks
18. Conor Stone
33 disposals, 15 marks
19. Nick Haynes
38 disposals, 13 marks
21. Leek Aleer
11 disposals, five tackles
25. Lachlan Keeffe
Nine disposals, one goal, 13 hit-outs
29. Phoenix Gothard
19 disposals, four goals, seven clearances, five tackles
30. James Leake
25 disposals, 12 tackles, five clearances
35. Max Gruzewski
15 disposals, nine marks, 2 goals
40. Adam Kennedy
18 disposals, four marks, three tackles
42. Nathan Wardius
11 disposals, 2 goals
45. Wade Derksen
22 disposals, five marks
46. Callum Brown
16 disposals, one goal, four marks
VFL Player Shoutout: Nicholas Quigg
21 disposals, eight tackles, three clearances
“He had a great balance of winning it on the inside and outside on the weekend which has been a real work on for him so it was nice to see him get a bit more of it on the outside. He also laid eight tackles, so it was a solid game from ‘Quiggy.’
