ESSENDON tried to tag Tom Green. It just didn't work.
The Greater Western Sydney star tore it up through the midfield in the club's important 48-point win over the Bombers on Thursday, with his first half proving particularly costly to the home side.
Green racked up 16 disposals and nine clearances to half-time, before going on to finish with 30 touches, 16 clearances, and a goal.
BOMBERS v GIANTS Full match coverage and stats
"We double-teamed Tom Green, and then we triple-teamed him, and then that wasn't quite working either," Essendon coach Brad Scott said with a laugh after the match.
"No, he was so dominant in the first half … we tried different players, we tried different structures, and this is the challenge when you've got a really dominant midfielder, but you've also got players you're trying to look after off the back of the contest as well.
"We didn't want to give the Giants a free Lachie Whitfield, or (Lachie) Ash. So, you rob Peter to pay Paul a little bit. But he was, I just thought he was an exceptional player all night, and really the difference between the two teams in the first half."
It wasn't only Green who was causing some pain for the Bombers, it was their own conversion at goal. They kicked eight consecutive behinds to open the match, only breaking through for a major late in the second quarter via the boot of debutant Liam McMahon.
"We just missed. I mean, there's some high-quality shots in that … the hardest thing is generating the entries and generating the shots, and we'll keep going and work on our goal kicking," Scott said.
"But, I mean, I don't think goal kicking cost us the game tonight. It was execution and polish all over the game, all over the ground."
Essendon was without tough midfielder Sam Durham for a 20-minute patch in the third quarter, after requiring a head injury assessment (HIA) following a tackle from Giants ruck Kieren Briggs. While Durham passed the HIA, it meant Scott was forced to flick some magnets around to cover the loss through the middle.
Forward Jade Gresham and defender Andy McGrath spent some time in the midfield in Durham's absence.
"(It was a) frustrating one for us because (Durham) came off and said, 'I know I've got to do the test but I'm fine, I'm fine'. But the rules are the rules and so he had to stay off," Scott said.
Giants coach Adam Kingsley, meanwhile, was pleased to get a win but not necessarily with the method taken.
"I thought we were a bit clunky with the ball. I thought we gave the ball back a fair bit," Kingsley said.
"I don't know what the back half turnovers for us ended up being but (I) thought we allowed them to pin us in a little bit too much."
In the front half, it was former Bomber Jake Stringer who became the connector. Kicking three goals of his own, but also generating opportunities for teammates, it is exactly the kind of performance that Kingsley was after when drawing Stringer to the club during the off season.
"I think that's been a bit of a trademark in his last month for us," Kingsley said of Stringer's unselfish play.
"You know, he's been able to kick some miraculous goals, particularly that Gold Coast game, whenever that was, four weeks ago. But then the West Coast game, we saw a real selfless (Stringer), giving goals off where he had every right to take those shots.
"And then we saw that again tonight. Running into open goal and handballs to a guy in the goal square … So, I think we've been really pleased with him. His intent to chase, tackle, pressure, feels like it's at a really good level. I think he creates some scores for us on the back of that, but we know when that ball's kicked to him, particularly when it's a low number contest, he's so hard to play on."
The form of Stringer, alongside that of Callum Brown, Jake Riccardi, and Aaron Cadman creates a squeeze for spots at the club. Jesse Hogan, who missed with a foot concern, is expected to be available next week, as are Jake Kelly (hip) and Sam Taylor (toe).
Key defender Jack Buckley was substituted out of the game in the third term to help manage an ankle concern picked up in round 17 against West Coast, but is expected to be available for next week's all-important Sydney Derby.
The Giants now sit fourth on the ladder, amidst a glut of finals hopefuls, and must best cross-town rival Sydney to maintain a strong place heading toward a finals series.
"We've still got a lot of work to do in order to qualify," Kingsley said.
"It would appear that there's nine teams who can make it, maybe 10 with the Swans, and we play them next week, and we haven't beaten them for a little while so we're pretty keen to rectify that."
