The Giants head to Adelaide holding no fear playing away from home in their do-or-die semi final against Port Adelaide.
GWS made history in 2023, becoming the first AFL side to record wins at 11 different venues in the same season in a remarkable achievement for Adam Kingsley’s men.
But they’ll face a tough task to unsettle Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval – a venue where the Power came away with a 51-point win when the two sides met last month.
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A game Port coach Ken Hinkley was all too happy to remind his rivals of on Friday.
“(GWS) are marching toward a bit of belief in their own game,” Hinkley said.
“What they do need to remember is they came here last time and got beat by 50 points, so hopefully that‘s the outcome we get this time.”
In fact, the last time the Giants got a win over the Power was back in 2019 – the same year GWS marched to their inaugural grand final.
The Power have been ruthless at the selection table, dropping forward Jeremy Finlayson after he revealed his form struggles while dealing with his wife’s terminal cancer battle.
Maynard looking to move on from incident | 01:33
Big man Charlie Dixon returns for his first game since July after battling a foot issue.
Interestingly, both Todd Marshall (hip) and Trent McKenzie (knee) have been named despite appearing to struggle in the big qualifying final loss to Brisbane last week.
But Hinkley is adamant his club isn’t taking a risk on those players.
“The outcome of the game is usually the thing that people reflect on and say ‘did you take unnecessary risks’,” Hinkley said.
“If you win, none of those questions come up. That‘s just fact.”
For the Giants, Stephen Coniglio returns after missing last week’s elimination final win with an eye injury.
This match gets underway at 7.40pm AEST from Adelaide Oval.
Watch it live on Fox Footy (channel 504) from 6.50pm AEST.
QUARTER BY QUARTER MATCH REPORT
There were no late changes, with Jeremy Finlayson (Port Adelaide) and Xavier O’Halloran (GWS) named the starting subs.
Play was stopped inside the opening minute after Port youngster Jason Horne-Francis copped a stray poke to the eye from Giant Stephen Coniglio.
“A bit of an issue there… looking in pain Jason Horne-Francis,” commentator Luke Darcy said.
“Accidental poke to the eye which can be nasty.”
Luckily for the teen, he was able to stay out on the field as it was teammate Willie Rioli who got Port Adelaide on the board first.
But with clearances becoming an early issue for the Power, GWS skipper Toby Greene took full advantage to level scores.
Darcy Byrne-Jones headed down to the rooms with an ankle issue to keep the Port medical staff busy, but was able to return midway through the quarter.
When Rioli applied the pressure to Giant Harry Himmelberg, forcing the turnover, it was Horne-Francis who got on the end to kick his side’s second.
Greene kept the Giants in the contest with his quick snap from the congestion.
“It must be so frustrating for most of the league to watch Toby Greene make a difficult game so simple,” commentator Hamish McLachlan said.
“He’s just so unique,” Darcy added.
“He just does things others find impossible and makes them routine.”
Both sides went goal for goal as Rioli proved a handful for the highly-touted Giants’ back six.
“It’s the smalls getting it done,” Daisy Pearce said of the two teams.
After last week’s horror show in front of goal, Todd Marshall got on the board after some Miles Bergman dash through the corridor.
When Jesse Hogan took a big grab and slotted his set shot, the Giants had already eclipsed their entire half time score the last time the two sides’ met at Adelaide Oval.
Greene was proving a handful once more, but his post-siren shot sailed just wide as GWS took a 28-25 lead into the first change.
“That’s a match up they just have to change,” Fox Footy’s Jason Dunstall said of Greene.
“They persisted with Ryan Burton and it’s not working. He’s just had his head in a spin, he doesn’t need how to keep a hold of Toby Greene.
“He just keeps getting turned around. I don’t know why they haven’t made the change.”
David King described the match up as a “disaster” for the Power.
“He’s out the back on every occasion … you cannot give Toby goalside.
“He’s (Burton) that rattled, I think you need to make a change to save the player.”
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