Game Review

Blues bow to Giants
Fortunes in footy can change awfully quickly – just ask Greater Western Sydney. In grave danger of missing the finals altogether just a matter of weeks ago, GWS continued its charge into the top four with a brutal 105-point victory over Carlton on Sunday. On a weekend that typified a wild and unpredictable season, the Giants continued to look like one of the League's most assured sides in seeing off the Blues 23.13 (151) to 7.4 (46). But if the club's performances over the last two months had changed its fortunes for the better, injuries to a host of key players could soon swing them back the other way. Remarkably, the Giants played the majority of Sunday's second half with no one on the bench after Brett Deledio (calf), Toby Greene (hamstring), Dawson Simpson (ankle) and Sam Taylor (hamstring) all limped from the field on either side of the main break. It meant, incredibly, the Giants played periods of the last quarter with just 16 players on the field – with two players at a time coming for a rest without replacements.

Injury now appears the only threat to GWS' momentum as it marches towards September. With eight victories under their belt from their last nine matches, the visitors were typically polished around the footy to control proceedings from the outset at Etihad Stadium. That winning run has coincided with Josh Kelly's return to the team, with the classy midfielder again front and centre at every contest to continue his stellar form streak. Kelly finished with 41 disposals, 10 clearances, 16 inside 50s and four goal assists in a terrific performance that justified his position as one of the game's best players. Stephen Coniglio (36 disposals, two goals) and Callan Ward (34 disposals, nine clearances) were also influential, while Lachie Whitfield (28 disposals) was prolific across half-back. In his first game back following a five-match ban, Jeremy Cameron shook off early rustiness with a three-goal second quarter as the Giants swarmed to a 51-point lead at half-time. Aiden Bonar enjoyed an afternoon to remember on debut, booting two goals as the Giants continued to pile the misery on the Blues in what resembled a second-half training drill. In the midst of the Giants' onslaught, Harry McKay offered a glimmer of hope for the Blues. Along with Patrick Cripps, who again battled manfully throughout the afternoon, McKay stood tallest for Carlton to kick three goals from 15 disposals and eight marks. Unfortunately for the hosts, it provided little resistance, with the Giants simply too strong. - Riley Beveridge for afl.com.au

This was Carlton's 2nd smallest crowd at the Dome with the smallest crowd was also against GWS in Round 7, 2015 at 16,676.

Team

B:	24 Cam O'Shea	17 Sam Rowe	13 Jed Lamb
HB:	38 Ciaran 'Casey' Byrne	22 Caleb Marchbank	6 Kade Simpson
C:	35 Ed Curnow	9 Patrick Cripps (VC)	3 Marc Murphy (c)
HF:	16 Darcy Lang	30 Charlie Curnow	33 Jarrod Pickett
F:	46 Matthew Wright	10 Harry McKay	29 Cam Polson
Ruck:	27 Matthew Lobbe	7 Matthew Kennedy	2 Paddy Dow
Interchange:	4 Lochie O'Brien	5 Sam Petrevski-Seton	32 Nick Graham
	39 Dale Thomas
Coach:	Brendon Bolton
Emg:	1 Jack Silvagni, 11 Sam Kerridge, 36 Patrick Kerr, 41 Levi Casboult

Jacob Weitering was replaced in the squad by Cam O’Shea who was replaced by Levi Casboult the squad on Friday and Nick Graham replaced Jack Silvagni in the selected side on Sunday

Milestones

Lowest score: This was the Blues lowest score against GWS, previous to that it 7.9.51 Round 22, 2015 at Spotless Stadium
Losing records: It was GWS's greatest winning margin against the Blues beating its 81 point margin Round 22, 2015 at Spotless Stadium
Highest score: This was GWS's largest score kicked against the Blues beating its 19.21.135 Round 7, 2015 at Etihad Stadium
Last Game: Cam O'Shea

AFLCA Votes

10 - Josh Kelly (GWS)
8 - Stephen Coniglio (GWS)
3 - Adam Kennedy (GWS)
3 - Callan Ward (GWS)
3 - Lachie Whitfield (GWS)
2 - Jacob Hopper (GWS)
1 - Adam Tomlinson (GWS)

Brownlow Votes

3 - J. Kelly (GWS)
2 - S. Coniglio (GWS)
1 - C. Ward (GWS)

Best & Fairest Votes

Harry McKay 7, Caleb Marchbank 6, Patrick Cripps 4, Dale Thomas 4, Matthew Wright 2, Ciaran 'Casey' Byrne 1, Paddy Dow 1, Jed Lamb 1, Matthew Lobbe 1, Marc Murphy 1, Sam Petrevski-Seton 1, Kade Simpson 1.