A nine-goal haul from Jake Riccardi has lifted the GIANTS to their fifth win of the VFL season, defeating the Northern Bullants by 110 points at Preston City Oval on Sunday afternoon.

Riccardi was the stand-out performer for the GIANTS, who bounced back following a disappointing draw against Sandringham last week to claim a 5.8 (38) to 23.10 (148) win.

2:11:38

Tanner Bruhn responded well after being omitted from the senior side, registering 31 disposals and a goal, with Kieren Briggs also pushing for senior selection after yet another strong display in the ruck.  

Jacob Wehr (27 disposals, one goal) and James Peatling (28 disposals) were both impressive, with Zach Sproule, Conor Stone, Josh Fahey, Jarrod Brander and Xavier O'Halloran all likely to come into contention for AFL selection this week.

GIANTS VFL coach Damian Truslove credited the win to his side’s dominant opening quarter. 

"We set the game up in that first quarter," he said. 

"Our pressure was fantastic and we were really effective with our skills up forward.

"We finished the game strongly which was pleasing because it's been a challenge for us so far this season." 

Truslove shared his assessments of the AFL and VFL listed players who played in the match.

AFL Listed Players:

5 Tanner Bruhn

31 disposals, 1 goal

Tanner dropped back to VFL level with a really good attitude. He hunted the ball really well and we were impressed with his running patterns off the ball.  

10 Jacob Wehr

27 disposals, 1 goal

Continued his really good form in the VFL. He ran hard and used the ball well by hand and foot. 

18 Conor Stone

17 disposals, 1 goal

It was good to get him back following injury. He ran hard both offensively and defensively and used the ball well.

20 James Peatling

28 disposals, 4 marks

Gave us a lot of offensive drive out of the back half and was hard and tough in the contest.

21 Leek Aleer 

7 disposals, 1 goal

Had an important role down back. He defended first and was really good with his contested work in the air.

26 Jake Riccardi 

9 goals, 10 marks

Jake had been close to a big performance for a few weeks now. His work rate was first class and he was extremely accurate all afternoon. 

04:05

28 Zach Sproule

3 goals, 6 marks

Another player returning from a lengthy stint on the sidelines. He worked really hard in our front half and hit the scoreboard on the back of his good leading patterns.

29 Cameron Fleeton

13 disposals, 5 marks

Attacked the ball and opposition with aggression as per usual, and we were pleased with his involvement in our ball movement out of the back half. 

31 Jarrod Brander

25 disposals, 1 goal

Played an important role on the wing and ran really hard. 

32 Kieren Briggs

29 hit-outs, 22 disposals

Had to compete against two opposition rucks and did it really well. He gave our midfielders first use of the ball off the back of his impressive stoppage work.

33 Xavier O'Halloran

23 disposals, 1 goal

Hard and tough in the contest, Xavier's been a fantastic leader for us in the VFL. He really got us going in that first quarter. 

34 Josh Fahey

27 disposals, 5 marks

Exciting ball use off half back. He was involved in a lot of our scoring chains and used the ball really well by foot.

35 Will Shaw 

9 disposals, 1 goal

Looked dangerous in the first quarter and continues to run really good patterns as a high half forward.

46 Callum Brown

12 disposals, 4 marks

One of his better games this season. He defended first and had great offensive rebound off his good positioning.

VFL Listed and Academy Players: 

47 Josh Green

10 disposals, 1 mark

Played as our second ruck, competed well at stoppages and led hard at the ball as a forward. 

49 Sam Frost  

12 disposals, 4 marks

Played an important and selfless defensive role with a good team-first attitude. 

50 Billy Clark  

17 disposals, 7 marks

Played on the wing and down back. He ran good patterns to help out the defence and was composed with ball in hand. 

51 Ryan Hebron

13 disposals, 5 marks

Played forward and led up well at the ball really well. He puts a lot of defensive pressure on the opposition in the front half. 

53 Bailey Stewart

16 disposals, 3 tackles

Played in the midfield and worked hard. He spread hard to outnumber the opposition at the stoppages across the ground.

54 Max Monaghan 

11 disposals, 2 goals

Played forward this week, led at the ball well and his defensive pressure was good.

55 Kyle Veerhuis 

4 disposals, 1 tackle

Played as a key defender in a selfless team first role and won or halved many critical contests.

63 Ricky Monti

9 disposals, 1 goal

Played as a small forward and looked dangerous with his energy. He kicked a really good goal and had plenty of opportunities. 

64 Lachlan Benton

18 disposals, 1 goal

Lachlan's first game for the club, he found plenty of the ball and was really good in the contest.