Nick Haynes, lifesaver
He has saved the day many, many times before but without Nick Haynes in the backline it would have been a much rougher night against the Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium. After being sent in to meet Marcus Bontempelli for the coin toss the GIANTS defender did his best to slow the Dogs’ scoring as they took charge during the first half. Haynes does some of his very best work against the flow, and it was the case again tonight. A few big intercept marks stopped the Dogs in their tracks when they had the run of play in the second quarter – he grabbed one while wedged between two players – and a back-to-ball spoil prevented another likely shot on goal. The 24-point margin could have been a lot larger without him there.
Whitfield ruled out
It was an early and unfortunate end for Whitfield, who had his head down over the ball on the half-back line when Aaron Naughton came steaming through. Whitfield made his way to the bench a few minutes later and was ruled out after being assessed on the bench and in the rooms. With Toby Greene ruled out before the game with a minor knee problem and Josh Kelly a late out with calf soreness, it left the GIANTS well down on some of their usual star power.
Harry Perryman - Coleman Medal watch
It was a horrible night for scoring but Perryman managed to add another two goals to his season tally, taking him to eight for the year and – with seven games to go for the round – keeping him clear on top of the Coleman tally. Perryman’s first goal got the GIANTS on the board in the first quarter, while his second set shot during the third term gave them a slight chance to get back into the game which the team wasn’t able to turn into anything more. Perryman finished with 23 disposals for the night, to be one of the better performed GIANTS.
The first-gamer
After being presented with his No. 7 jumper in the rooms before the game, Ash made a promising start to what should be a long career in orange and charcoal. Like the rest of the backline group Ash had his work cut out down back in game one and didn’t get much chance to show off his dash, but he made some good decisions and showed some composure under pressure.
Baby-faced midfield
The absence of Kelly and Tim Taranto gave Jye Caldwell and Jackson Hately the chance to play some meaningful midfield minutes and on a tough night against strong opposition both were able to get their hands on the ball. In his fourth game Caldwell found 14 times possessions and racked up four tackles but missed a couple of shots on goal, while Hately won 21 possessions and worked hard from start to finish.
Forward line woes
The delivery didn’t help at times, with ball movement a struggle all night, but after kicking just two first half-goals against North Melbourne last week the GIANTS only had one on the board at the big break against the Bulldogs. The 1.4 (10) tally was, unfortunately, the lowest half-time score since the club’s inaugural season in 2012, and third lowest ever. Goals to Jeremy Cameron and Perryman late in the third quarter kept the GIANTS hanging in there, but the Dogs kept finding ways to respond, and a goal to Tom Liberatore after the three-quarter-time stretched the lead to 27 points and left the GIANTS with too much work to do.
