The GIANTS have moved into the top four on the VFL ladder, defeating Williamstown by 18-points at Williamstown Oval on Saturday afternoon.
Jake Riccardi, Zach Sproule, Jacob Hopper and Jarrod Brander starred for the GIANTS as they held-off the spirited Seagulls to record a 9.10 (64) to 11.16 (82) win.
Youngster Xavier O’Halloran responded well to being omitted by senior coach Mark McVeigh registering 19 disposals and two goals, with Jake Stein, Braydon Preuss and Kieren Briggs likely to come into contention for AFL selection this week.
“It was a really pleasing result, especially to beat them at home where they’re traditionally strong,” GIANTS VFL coach Damian Truslove said.
“Overall, it was a great team performance and our ability to fight it out until the end was impressive.”
Truslove shared his assessments of the AFL and VFL listed players who played in the match.
AFL Listed Players:
2 Jacob Hopper
32 disposals
A strong performance in the midfield. He was tagged again this week but handled it really well and found plenty of the ball around the stoppages. He covered the ground better this week, which is what we were looking for.
11 Braydon Preuss
6 disposals, 30 hit-outs
The dominate ruck on the ground, his positioning around the ground was good. He’ll get to work with his contested marking craft this week.
26 Jake Riccardi
3 goals, 5 tackles, 10 marks
He presented really well at the ball. He had plenty of contested marks and brought the ball to ground for the small forwards. It was pleasing to see him hit the scoreboard when given the opportunity.
28 Zach Sproule
3 goals, 16 disposals
Played a combination of wing and forward this week. He ran hard all day and grabbed his opportunities in front of goal.
29 Cameron Fleeton
11 disposals, 4 marks
Played a really disciplined role in the back half. He was hard and tough around the contest and used the ball well by foot.
31 Jarrod Brander
21 disposals, 1 goal, 8 marks
Another strong game on the wing. He found plenty of the ball and his running patterns were elite for the entire contest.
32 Kieren Briggs
15 disposals, 18 hit-outs, 6 marks
Played both forward and in the ruck this week. He competed well in the air and his running patterns have really improved.
33 Xavier O’Halloran
19 disposals, 2 goals, 4 tackles
Played most of the game as a high half forward. He was hard and tough around the contest and his fall of ball position was outstanding.
35 Will Shaw
14 disposals, 4 tackles
Played a combination of wing and forward this week. He ran hard up and down the ground and looked dangerous inside our forward half.
42 Jake Stein
15 disposals, 5 marks
He won or halved many of his contests down back. He was a good leader for our back six all day and fought really hard.
43 Cooper Hamilton
13 disposals, 3 tackles
Hard and tough in the back half. His effort was relentless for the entire contest and was crucial in our ball movement.
45 Wade Derksen
10 disposals, 3 marks
Played a new role on the wing this week. It’ll take time to adjust and learn the new position but he ran hard to provide an option on the outside.
VFL Listed and Academy Players:
47 Josh Green
27 disposals, 3 marks
Another good tough performance in the midfield. His connection with the rucks at the stoppages was crucial.
48 Harry Grintell
9 disposals, 3 marks
Played a combination of back and forward again this week. His speed and run was important for us as the game went on.
49 Sam Frost
4 disposals, 4 marks
A good team first performance playing down back. He defended hard for four quarters and his leadership was outstanding yet again.
50 Billy Clark
6 disposals, 2 tackles
Played a defensive role this week and gave us great drive off half-back
51 Ryan Hebron
9 disposals, 4 marks
Played the majority of the game down back. He got better as the game went on and had a huge last quarter.
52 Brodie Romensky
6 disposals, 4 tackles
Played in the midfield this week. He was good around the stoppages and continues to work hard on his fitness to help his running patterns.
55 Jacob Conlan
9 disposals, 1 goal
Jacob’s first game for the club. His leading patterns at the ball were really impressive and he was really solid defensively in our forward half.
59 Brad Rauter
10 disposals, 6 marks
An outstanding performance down back. He played on their most dangerous key forward and won that contest.
60 Leyton Chisholm
20 disposals, 9 marks
Another solid performance in the midfield. He worked hard to get involved in our ball movement and it was another hard and tough performance.
63 Euriah Hollard
11 disposals, 8 tackles
Outstanding defensive pressure, he had 8 tackles on the day and created many opportunities on the back of that.
64 Riley Rice
10 disposals, 1 goal
Another first gamer for the club this week. He played as a forward and ran hard across the ground to provide a valuable option.
