Callan Ward led a GIANTS tackling assault on premiers Hawthorn at the MCG on Sunday and set a new benchmark for Leon Cameron’s young team.
Ward had 13 tackles, a personal best for the GIANTS and one shy of Adam Treloar’s club record, as the GIANTS topped triple figures in team tackles for the third time.
The team tackle count against the Hawks favoured the GIANTS 103-82 as they fell just shy of the club best of 115 tackles set against Melbourne at Spotless Stadium in Round 3 this year, and the effort of 107 tackles against Fremantle in Perth in Round 20 last year.
For the first time in club history the GIANTS had more than one player in double figures in the tackle column in the same game. And on Sunday they had three, with Jacob Townsend making a career-best 11 tackles, and Devon Smith 10.
Dylan Shiel (7), Treloar (6), Heath Shaw (6), Shane Mumford (6), Tom Scully (5), Rhys Palmer (5) and Kristian Jaksch (5) also excelled as the GIANTS continued to push their average tackle count up.
Having averaged 58.0 tackles per game in 2012 and 59.0 in 2013, they average 73.7 this year.
GIANTS players who have had 10 or more tackles in a game for the club have been:
14 – Adam Treloar – Round 3, 2014 v Melbourne
13 – Callan Ward – Round 11, 2014 v Hawthorn
12 – Mark Whiley – Round 17, 2013 v Essendon
11 – Sam Reid – Round 11, 2013 v Geelong
11 – James McDonald – Round 4, 2012 v Adelaide
11 – Stephen Coniglio – Round 1, 2014 v Sydney
11 – Callan Ward – Round 3, 2014 v Melbourne
11 – Jacob Townsend – Round 11, 2014 v Hawthorn
10 – Mark Whiley – Round 18, 2013 v Collingwood
10 – Devon Smith – Round 20, 2013 v Fremantle
10 – Jacob Townsend – Round 4, 2014 v Western Bulldogs
10 – Devon Smith – Round 11, 2014 v Hawthorn
Ward also narrowly missed the GIANTS record for most contested possessions in a game on Sunday.
In a measure of his extraordinary in-and-under capabilities, 22 of the co-captain’s 29 possessions against Hawthorn were contested as he fell just two contested possessions short of his own club best, set in Round 1 this year against Sydney.
Treloar is the only other GIANTS player to have topped 20 contested possessions in a game. He had 21 against the Western Bulldogs in Round 4 this year.
Stephen Coniglio, with 18 contested possessions against Melbourne in Round 3 this year, sits next on the list equal with Ward’s 18 against Adelaide in 2012.
The GIANTS had a team total of 156 contested possessions against Hawthorn to nudge the premiers by one in this statistic. Only twice have they had more – 168 against Sydney in Round 1 this year and 163 against Melbourne in Round 3 this year.
Smith had a career-high 15 contested possession against Hawthorn, Treloar 14 and Lachie Whitfield a career-high 12.
Despite the heartbreak of a seven-point loss on Sunday which coach Cameron said should have been a win, there were a raft of significant statistical notes to come out of the game.
Having not previously taken a quarter off the 2013 premiers in two previous meetings in which they were beaten by 162 points at the MCG in 2012 and by 83 points in Launceston last year, the GIANTS won two quarters on Sunday.
And they split the second half, which each team scoring 7-5 after halftime.
Despite back-to-back 100-point losses in Rounds 8-10, the GIANTS already have bettered their entire effort in this area last year. They’ve now won five halves and split one after only winning a total of five halves last year.
They’ve also won 12 quarters of football in 10 games this year compared to 19 quarters in 22 games last year.
The positive 106-point turnaround from Round 10 to Round 11 was the second biggest in club history, behind only the 154-point turnaround from a 120-point loss to Collingwood at Spotless Stadium in Round 18 2012 to a 34-point win over Port at the same venue the following week.
Also on Sunday, Tom Scully, who had a season-high 26 possessions, became the third player to post 50 games for the GIANTS, joining Jonathan Giles and Ward in the 50 Club. He’s also the youngest 50-gamer at 23 years and nine days.
With Giles omitted from the side last week after a club record 38 consecutive games, Ward joined the big ruckman as the GIANTS games record holder at 51.
Nineteen-year-old Whitfield became the fifth GIANTS teenager to have 30 possessions in a game. His career-best 32 touches against the Hawks saw him join a list which also includes Toby Greene, Treloar, Coniglio and Taylor Adams.
Devon Smith, with four goals on Sunday, leap-frogged Giles to number two spot on the GIANTS’ all-time goal-kicking list. He has 42 to trail only Jeremy Cameron (110).
Will Hoskin-Elliott, with two goals against Hawthorn for a career total of 21, also joined Cameron, Smith, Giles (39), Treloar (24), Palmer (24), Jonathon Patton (22) and Ward (21) beyond the 20-goal mark.
Jaksch, included for his first AFL game of the year, joined Aidan Corr in playing at the MCG for the first time in what is all part of the learning and development process for the AFL’s youngest club.
