A career-best performance from Dylan Shiel has led a brutal GIANTS assault on the club record books.

Shiel had 39 possessions in the GIANTS’ 66-point win over the Gold Coast Suns in Canberra, which had the statisticians in a fluster counting the ‘firsts’ and ‘bests’ to emerge from arguably the GIANTS’ best performance.

Shiel’s monster haul was one possession short of the GIANTS’ club record in the national capital and the best ever at StarTrack Oval, set by Callan Ward against Port Adelaide last year.

And it was the third-highest single-game total in club history behind Toby Greene’s 42 possessions against Collingwood at Spotless Stadium last year, and Ward’s aforementioned 40 against Port in Canberra last year.

On a day that will long be remembered by GIANTS fans, the team posted their biggest win in club history, surpassing the 64-point win over Melbourne at the MCG in round 21 last year, and the third-highest score in club history, behind the 19-11 (125) against Brisbane at the Gabba last year, and the 19-10 (124) v Melbourne at Spotless Stadium in 2013.    

Also, it was the first time in club history they’d won all four quarters in a match as the celebrated in fine style Rhys Palmer’s 100th AFL game and Phil Davis’ 50th game with the GIANTS and his 50th game as club captain.

In other statistical highlights

•    Team Possessions

The GIANTS had a club record total of 459 possessions. This surpassed the previous best of 414 against Collingwood at Spotless Stadium in 2012. Interestingly, the only other time the club has topped 400 was when they posted 406 in the narrow round three loss to the Sydney Swans a week earlier. The GIANTS finished +158 in this category against the Suns, surpassing the previous best team possession dominance of +80 against Brisbane at the Gabba last year.  The GIANTS finished +26 in contested possessions against the Suns on a 160-134 tally. That, too, was a club record, bettering the +14 against North Melbourne at Spotless Stadium in 2012. 


•    Quarters Won

The GIANTS out-scored the Suns by 20 points, six points, 26 points and 14 points as they swept each quarter for the first time. The closest the club had gone to a clean sweep was against Brisbane in round 13 last year, when they won three quarters and split the fourth. It was just the fourth time the club has won both halves of a game after they did so three times last year – against Melbourne at Spotless in round 3, Brisbane at the Gabba in round 13, and Melbourne at the MCG in round 21. It was the seventh time they’ve led at every change and won, and the first time they’ve had back-to-back wins in Canberra.

•    Scoring Shots

The GIANTS had a club record 39 scoring shots. This bettered the previous best of 30 against Brisbane last year and Sydney a week earlier. Having averaged 16.4 scoring shots in 2012, 19.1 in 2013 and 22.7 in 2014, the GIANTS have had 27-26-30-30 scoring shots in four games this year at an average of 30.5 per game.

•    On the Ladder

Four weeks into the season the GIANTS sit an unprecedented second on the AFL ladder. This surpasses their previous best standing at the end of round two this year, when they were third.

•    Cam McCarthy

'Sunshine' equalled the single-game club goal-kicking record in Canberra with five, matching Jeremy Cameron’s five-goal bag in the club’s visit game to the venue against Western Bulldogs in 2012. McCarthy, in just his fifth AFL game, became the fifth different GIANTS player to kick five or more goals in a game. Cameron holds the club record with seven goals against Collingwood at the MCG in 2013, and also has a six-goal bag against Essendon at Etihad Stadium in the same year. Will Hoskin-Elliott (twice), Cameron, Setanta O’hAilpin, Devon Smith and now McCarthy have five-goal hauls to their credit. McCarthy also had a career-best 18 possessions against the Suns.


•    Jeremy Cameron

Jezza had a career-best 21 possessions to go with his four goals.


•    50 x 20

Toby Greene and Adam Treloar each topped 20 possessions in a game for the club for the 50th time.  Callan Ward is next best with 48, followed by Shiel (32), Tom Scully (29) and Stephen Coniglio (28).


•    Adam Treloar

The gun midfielder became the second GIANTS player to a career 1500 possessions for the club behind Callan Ward (1560).