To make the finals GWS needed to win at 10 completely different stadiums in 2023 and the prospect of successful at an eleventh in an MCG showdown with St Kilda holds no concern for coach Adam Kingsley.
The Giant could must tackle the Saints within the elimination closing with out doubtless All-Australian fullback Sam Taylor, who was a late withdrawal from the 32-point win over Carlton on Sunday that thrust Kingsley into the finals in his first season as coach.
Taylor harm his hamstring throughout a 126-point smashing of Essendon the earlier week and Kingsley conceded he could be “touch and go for the Saints game”.
“We’ll rehab him and see how he responds,” Kingsley stated, understanding Taylor’s presence might be essential in opposition to a St Kilda ahead line boasting Max King.
“He hurt it during the second quarter (against Essendon) actually and he kept plugging away probably hoping it would go away.
“So we didn’t really know about it, and then he reported it post-game. We thought it was just a knock or a bit of DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) and as the week wore on, it just didn’t recover like a knock would.”
It took till the ultimate spherical for GWS to lock in a finals spot and for a short interval within the closing quarter on Sunday, it appeared just like the Giants have been on monitor to host a closing in opposition to the Saints.
When Toby Greene put them up by 45 factors, they have been provisionally in sixth place with a share of 107.80 – 0.03 forward of St Kilda’s 107.77.
But they gave up the final two objectives and slid again right down to seventh, that means a possible month and 4 finals on the street to get to the grand closing.
Road wins have been their journey this 12 months, nevertheless, with eight wins from 12 video games on the street and wins at a document 10 venues this season.
But they haven’t gained on the MCG, which Kingsley stated was one other “carrot” for his males to maintain their journey going.
“We lost our only game there against Collingwood, so if that‘s where we play, then it will be another little carrot for us to try and knock that one over,” Kingsley stated.
“We’re glad we made finals, that was our priority – whether that was at home or away, I mean we had the opportunity (to secure a home final) but we can’t be too greedy.
“We’re obviously really happy to be able to make finals, give ourselves a chance to start the new season as they call it.
“Right to this point with the body of work that’s been done, it shows that we are capable and the work that we’ve been doing as a coaching group has paid off.
“But again, we’ve got higher aspirations than just making finals – we now want to try and win a final.”
Originally revealed as GWS has gained at 10 grounds in 2023 besides the MCG the place they’ll play an elimination closing
Source: www.dailytelegraph.com.au
