After a strong opening half, the GIANTS – who finished the game with only five AFL listed players - were overrun by Werribee in round nine of the VFL.
Ryan Angwin (23 disposals, one goal), Cameron Fleeton (18 disposals, six marks) and Leek Aleer (five marks) impressed for the GIANTS, but it wasn't enough as the GIANTS fell to an 8.6 (54) to 16.11 (107) defeat at GIANTS Stadium.
“Overall, I thought we were really solid," said GIANTS VFL coach Damian Truslove.
“We went in undermanned, with injuries and illness, but I was happy with how our VFL listed players fought out the game for the entire contest.”
Truslove shared his assessments of the AFL and VFL listed players who played in the match.
AFL Listed Players:
9 Ryan Angwin
23 disposals, 1 goal
His best game for the best part of a month. He played in the midfield and found plenty of the ball both on the inside and outside with his good running patterns.
21 Leek Aleer
9 disposals, 5 marks
Leek’s had two really good games in a row. His spoiling, jumping and contested marking was a big feature for us, and he got involved with our back half ball movement.
29 Cameron Fleeton
18 disposals, 6 marks
Another solid performance, we were pleased to see him involved with our ball movement and he really stood up as a leader with his communication.
34 Josh Fahey
12 disposals, 1 goal
Injured his shoulder in the second quarter, but prior to that gave us a lot of offensive drive off the half back and used the ball well by foot.
35 Will Shaw
15 disposals, 4 marks
Played his first game across half back this year and gave us great offensive drive. It’s going to be exciting to see how he performs in that new position.
43 Cooper Hamilton
10 disposals, 5 marks
It was a good effort from Cooper to play considering he wasn’t 100%, I thought he fought through the game really well.
46 Callum Brown
12 disposals, 6 marks
Another good performance, for the third game in a row. He attacked the ball well and backed his ability and leg speed to take on the opposition.
VFL Listed and Academy Players:
47 Josh Green
18 disposals, 4 tackles
Outstanding job for four quarters in the ruck. He scraped and fought hard around the stoppages and contest and found plenty of the ball on the back of his work ethic.
48 Harry Grintell
6 disposals, 3 goals
He started on the wing before we moved him forward in the second quarter. He managed to kick three really important goals for us.
49 Sam Frost
14 disposals, 5 marks
Hard and tough in the back line, playing with a corked thigh for the majority of the contest. I was pleased with his involvement with our ball movement.
50 Billy Clark
14 disposals, 6 marks
Played most of the game on the wing and gave us good run and carry on the outside of the contest.
51 Ryan Hebron
15 disposals, 10 marks
Played a mixed role, half as a forward and half as a back. It was another solid performance from the captain, he really led the way with his communication.
52 Brodie Romensky
13 disposals, 7 tackles
Started up forward and then we moved him onto the ball in the second half. He was hard, tough and tackled with aggression.
53 Bailey Stewart
18 disposals, 6 tackles
Played as an inside midfielder this week. He worked hard at stoppages and his gut run was impressive between contests.
54 Max Monaghan
10 disposals, 1 goal
Played up forward and led at the ball well. He put a lot of pressure on the opposition.
56 Cameron Edwards
8 disposals, 2 tackles
Played deep forward, led well at the ball and presented well when we entered the forward line. He’ll get better with more exposure at VFL level.
57 Sebastian Quirk
6 disposals, 2 marks
Presented well at the ball as a forward and ran hard to apply pressure on the opposition.
58 Xavier Barry-Murphy
10 disposals, 6 marks
Played as a back and it was a good lock-down defender performance. We were pleased with his involvement with our ball movement.
60 Leyton Chisholm
17 disposals, 1 goal
Played a combination of forward and midfield. He was hard and tough at the stoppages and spread hard to outnumber the opposition.
62 Wilson Mudge
4 disposals, 2 kicks
Played as a pressure forward and attacked the ball and opposition with aggression.
64 Ethan Grace
7 disposals, 1 goal
Has been in really good form in the GIANTS Academy. He gave us plenty of offensive drive through the middle of the ground.
66 Nick Eynaud
8 disposals, 3 tackles
Nick’s first game for the club on the back of some really strong local form. He was hard and tough around the stoppages and will continue to get better with more games at VFL level.
70 Josh Boag
3 disposals, 7 hit-outs
His first game for us this year, Josh played forward and in the ruck. He competed hard and brought the ball to ground in our forward half really well.
The GIANTS will look to bounce back when they clash with Geelong at GMHBA Stadium in Geelong on Sunday at 12:05pm.
The AFL will live stream every match of the VFL season at afl.com.au/stream-vfl.
