GIANTS ball magnet Toby Greene posted a treasured possession record as Devon Smith cruised past two key milestones in Saturday’s eight-point loss to Collingwood at Spotless Stadium.
Greene, finishing the season in spectacular form, had a stunning 42 possessions to surpass Callan Ward’s previous GIANTS record of 40, set against Port Adelaide in Canberra in Round 7 this year.
It also topped Greene’s previous career-best of 38, which he had twice in 2012 against Melbourne and North Melbourne.
And it reclaimed for the GIANTS the Spotless Stadium single-game possession record, which stood at 39 to the credit of Geelong captain Joel Selwood against GWS in Round 18 this year, and North Melbourne’s Scott Thompson against GWS in 2012.
Greene, who has collected hauls of 14-35-32-27-35-29-42 possessions to average 30.6 possessions per game in seven games since returning from a mid-season suspension, now has five of the top eight possession games in GIANTS history.
Games of 35 possessions or more have been:
42 – Toby Greene v Collingwood, Spotless Stadium, Rd 22 2014
40 – Callan Ward v Port Adelaide, StarTrack Oval Canberra, Rd 7 2014
38 – Toby Greene v Melbourne, StarTrack Oval Canberra, Rd 21 2012
38 – Toby Greene v North Melb, Spotless Stadium, Rd 23 2012
37 – Adam Treloar v Collingwood, Spotless Stadium,, Rd 18 2012
36 – Callan Ward v West Coast, Blacktown, Rd 3 2012
35 – Toby Greene v Collingwood, Spotless Stadium, Rd 18 2012
35 – Toby Greene v Fremantle, Patersons Stadium, Rd 17 2014
Smith, with 24 possessions and two goals against the Pies, became the fifth GIANTS player to reach 1000 possessions in total, and the second GIANTS player to kick 50 goals.
Smith, now with 1021 possessions, joins a 1000 Club that includes Ward (1459), Greene (1328), Adam Treloar (1360) and Tom Scully (1061).
He reached this mark in his 58th game. Greene was quickest in 40 games, followed by Ward (42), Treloar (44) and Scully (52).
The ever-consistent Smith joins Jeremy Cameron beyond the 50-goal mark, beating Jonathan Giles (39), Rhys Palmer (39), Jon Patton (34), Will Hoskin-Elliott (33) and Treloar (32) to the half-century.
Greene and Smith were among a raft of GIANTS standouts in a game which will forever be remembered as one that got away after they led by seven points at quarter-time and halftime, 10 points at three-quarter time, and as many as 21 points in the second quarter.
It was the third time the GIANTS have been beaten after leading at each change.
They previously suffered a similar fate twice against the Western Bulldogs in Canberra – in Round 15 last year and Round 4 this year.
In other noteworthy statistics to emerge from the GIANTS’ 9-13 (67) to 11-9 (75) loss:
- Heath Shaw captained the GIANTS for the first time, stepping in to become the first caretaker captain in club history when Phil Davis was a late withdrawal due to concussion. This made it the first time that nominated co-captains Davis and Callan Ward had been missing at the same time. For the record, the captaincy honour roll now stands at Ward (61), Davis (45), Shaw (1).
- Having won the last three quarters against Melbourne in Round 21 the GIANTS won the first three quarters against Collingwood to make it a record six in a row.
- Adam Treloar’s 27 possessions against the Pies took his season tally to 500. He’s just the second GIANTS player to this mark in a single season behind Toby Greene, who collected 539 possessions in 2012.
- Toby Greene had 16 contested possessions on Saturday to become the third GIANTS player to a career total of 500. Ahead of him are Callan Ward (711) and Adam Treloar (544).
- Josh Kelly posted a personal best possession count for the second week in a row, collecting 28 touches against Collingwood after 27 against Melbourne in Round 21.
- Tim Golds had a career-best 11 possessions after shedding the substitute’s vest to replace Jono O’Rourke late in the first quarter.
- Collingwood’s 20 scoring shots, a victory for the collective defensive effort of the GIANTS, was an equal record low against the club. It matched that of St Kilda in Round 2 this year and Brisbane in Round 13 this year.
- Even with the inclement weather, the crowd of 10,581 was the fourth-biggest at Spotless Stadium and the second-largest for the year.
