A four goal to none final quarter wasn’t enough for the WSU GIANTS as they went down to reigning premiers NT Thunder in Darwin on Saturday night.
A slow start had the GIANTS chasing the Thunder for most of the night in the warmer conditions at TIO Stadium in the top end and it was too little too late as the reserves suffered their fifth loss of the season.
“The guys fought it out really well. Their last quarter was really impressive, the way they kept coming,” NEAFL coach Brad Miller said.
“I think we scored four goals to zero in the last quarter and we nearly got there. I think if we had another five or six minutes we might have just been able to pip them because we had all the momentum.
“Unfortunately our first half wasn't at the level required and I think they scored seven or eight of their 12 goals in the first quarter and a half. That just wasn’t good enough and it put us in a position to be chasing tail for the rest of the game unfortunately.”
The GIANTS went into the game with just 10 GIANTS players and 12 top-ups from the GIANTS Academy with the club’s listed players leading from the front.
“Tom Downie was excellent in the ruck,” Miller said.
“Sam Reid kicked another four goals and played like a leader, was good around the contest and tackled well and really hard. He just gives his best week-in, week-out.
“Jeremy Finlayson played on the most prolific goal kicker in the competition and kept him to one goal and eight touches so I thought Jeremy was really good, I think he used the ball really well.
“Harry Himmleberg was good in the backline again, he uses the ball well. Unfortunately his man got a few goals on him, he kicked three goals, but I thought his offensive stuff is coming along really well, we just need to tighten up his defensive role.”
While it wasn’t the result they were after, Miller was proud of his side for handling the different conditions and pushing last year’s premiers right until the end.
“We had 10 of our boys and 12 kids from the Academy which is always going to make it tough,” he said.
“The conditions are a challenge for any team that goes up there, it’s really humid and turns into a really wet and greasy game which they handle really well obviously because they play there all the time.
“That was a factor, it wasn’t the reason why we lost but it definitely was a factor. I was really proud of the guys and their ability to fight the game out even though we were six or seven goals down at one point.”
The loss leaves the side sitting in sixth place on the NEAFL ladder with four wins and five losses for the season after round 10.
The WSU GIANTS’ next match is back home at Spotless Stadium on Sunday afternoon against the ladder leaders the Swans Reserves, who are undefeated in 2016. The match kicks off at 1pm as a curtain-raiser to the huge Sydney Derby X.
NT THUNDER 6.5 10.8 12.12 12.15 (87)
WSU GIANTS 2.3 5.5 7.6 11.9 (75)
GOALS
Sam Reid 4, Charlie Bance 2, Derrick Visser, Nathan Coxall, Daniel Lloyd, Tom Downie Luke Redfern
BEST
Sam Reid, Tom Downie, Jeremy Finlayson, Will Hoskin-Elliott, Harrison Himmelberg, Daniel Lloyd
