The fast start 

The GIANTS have had to do some chasing in recent weeks, but this week made a much faster start. The midfielders got to work early, dominating the centre clearances, tackling hard and getting their hands on the ball: Stephen Coniglio, Tim Taranto and Josh Kelly did a lot of work to set this win up. When they got the ball forward, Jeremy Cameron, Harry Himmelberg and Jake Riccardi all played with presence and appreciated the quick and constant supply, the GIANTS taking six marks inside 50 to Freo’s one for the quarter. Around the ground, the team grabbed 27 to 11 marks, and racked up 12 tackles to eight despite getting more of the ball in the contest and on the outside. With Lachie Whitfield providing relentless drive off the half-back line, the quarter set the game up and sent the team towards its second biggest score for the season.

#RiccardiParty

Jeremy Cameron kicked his first four-goal bag for the season and the GIANTS shared the goals around: seven players hit the scoreboard in the 38-point win. But there was something a bit special about Jake Riccardi’s third quarter. The 20-year-old made a big impression in his debut game against West Coast last week - taking 10 marks and kicking two goals – but he was better again against the Dockers. After kicking one of the GIANTS’ first-term goals he added three in the third, taking a nice big pack mark, finding space, looking sharp on the lead and threading his set shots. That he did it after Fremantle scored the first two goals of the term to reduce the margin to 14 points said something about him too.

The Dash Brothers

They enjoy playing alongside each other on the backline, and they both played a huge part in an important win. Whitfield was sensational early, setting the tone with his running, his ball use and taking a courageous mark on the wing with two players charging towards him. He’s a player you want to see with the ball in his hands, and he had it 18 times before half-time. The speed of Williams made a difference two, and the half-backs had plenty of help. Lachie Keeffe was able to deny the in-form Matt Taberner many chances in front of the goals. Nick Haynes did Nick Haynes things all day, Lachie Ash and Aidan Corr were solid and Heath Shaw was too. The Dockers were mounting a mini-charge late in the first half – and would have scored two goals in a row - had Shaw not reached for a Lachie Schultz snap on the goal line and managed to get a fingertip to it.

Welcome back, Matt De Boer 

Matt De Boer made it back from his hamstring injury just in time. Not for the first time, he got the job on his former teammate Nat Fyfe. And not for the first time he did it very well. As the GIANTS midfielders got to work early, De Boer didn’t let Fyfe do likewise, restricting him to just three possessions for the first quarter and four first half as the GIANTS set up their six-goal win. In the same time, De Boer had played a hand in four of the GIANTS' score. He had help from his teammates when Fyfe headed from the midfield to the forward line but was ready each and every time he came back the other way, and played as important a role as any of his teammates in the win. The relentless work of Shane Mumford can't be overlooked either: the 34-year-old ruckman had six clearances for the game, and played with enormous energy and presence.

A milestone win

The game against the Dockers was a significant game for the club – the GIANTS’ 200^th  AFL game. With original co-captains Phil Ward and Callan Ward sidelined with injury, just four members of the side that played Sydney in round one, 2012, were out there still wearing orange: new skipper Stephen Coniglio, Toby Greene, Adam Kennedy and Jeremy Cameron. Shane Mumford (then a Swan, now a GIANT) and Nathan Wilson (then a GIANT, these days a Docker) made it six. The win made it 89 wins from those 200 games, with three draws and 103 losses. The gap is starting to narrow.

Up next

The GIANTS will fly back to Queensland on Sunday, and set up camp on the Gold Coast for the final stage of the season. The team’s next match – against Carlton – will be played at Metricon Stadium on Thursday night, and there will then be a quick trip to Adelaide to take on the Crows before games against Melbourne and St Kilda to wrap up the regular season. The win pushed the team back up into the top eight and brought with it a handy percentage boost: from 96.8 to 101.5 with three games to be played before the end of the round. Josh Kelly will be the GIANT under immediate injury watch, after an accidental knee to the head from Shane Mumford just before half-time left him concussed and unable to play out the game.