A FRUSTRATED Adam Kingsley has warned that early sluggishness, poor pressure and recurring stoppage issues are fuelling dangerous inconsistency as Greater Western Sydney enters the final stretch of the season.
Sydney capitalised on turnovers to power to a commanding 51-point victory on Saturday to retain second spot on the ladder.
“That’s disappointing,” Kingsley said regarding the turnover differential.
“They kicked too many turnover goals in their forward 50 to start – that was essentially the difference at the end of the game.
“We’re disappointed with our ability to cope with their forward pressure, which is strong in their forward 50, and the fact that we didn’t get the stoppage done again. It’s not the first time I’ve sat here and said that, so we’ve got to be better, we’ve got to work harder on it, and we’ve got to find a way to compete in that space, because when we have been strong at stoppage, we’ve been a really good team.”
When asked about the most frustrating part of the match, Kingsley singled out the team’s sluggish start, noting that conceding early, easy scores was the core issue.
“They scored too easily,” he said, explaining that four early goals came directly from stoppages because of an “inability to really stop their territory and defend it”.
Given the high stakes of a Sydney Derby and the Giants’ desperate need for a win, Kingsley admitted he was both “surprised and disappointed” by how slow they were out of the gate.
The Giants sit 12th on the ladder with an 8-11 record, making a push for the wildcard round almost unattainable.
When pressed on the vast gap between the Giants’ best and worst performances, Kingsley didn’t hide his concern.
“You don’t see the fluctuations in the best teams like you see with us this year,” he said, conceding that their wild swings in form suggest “we’re not one of those absolute elite teams”.
With a finals spot hanging in the balance, he acknowledged the harsh reality of their situation.
“If we’re fortunate enough to make that playoff round, which looks difficult to make but we’ll continue to try (for), we’ll need to win five games in a row. You can’t do that if you’re inconsistent.”
To make matters worse, star midfielder Finn Callaghan’s game ended prematurely late in the fourth quarter when his leg buckled while jumping for a mark, injuring his ankle and forcing him to hobble from the field.
“I didn’t see the incident. It looked like he rolled his ankle, but I haven’t spoken to our medicos yet, so we’ll keep our fingers crossed,” Kingsley said.
It capped a tough outing for Callaghan, who was held well by James Jordon and restricted to just eight disposals in the first half, though he managed to exert a bit more influence in the second.
“We tried him at half-back thinking that might make it a little bit easier for him against Jordon. We knew Jordon would come to him – he’s done that the last couple of times. I still think Finn had really good moments. He defended well,” Kingsley said.
“If you do a comparison, you know, Jordon had six touches for the game, Finn had 21, and they played on each other the whole night. If I’ve got a player keeping his opponent to six touches a game, I’m probably pretty happy with them. So, I think Finn did a pretty good job.”
Meanwhile, Sydney coach Dean Cox was pleased with how the Swans executed their gameplan and successfully used their fast-paced style from the opening bounce, valuing the quality of their execution as much as the result.
“It was great to see from the outset,” he said.
“What we’ve been working on for a number of weeks is to stick to the process and then to get the job done … and the way and the method at which we did it – that was the most pleasing thing.”
On multiple occasions this season, opponents have built momentum by kicking consecutive goals. This time, however, Sydney answered quickly whenever GWS threatened, holding the Giants to no more than two consecutive goals and maintaining control throughout.
Cox noted that it was one of the team’s best performances of the year in curbing opponent momentum.
“That’s really important throughout a season,” he said.
“We’ve had periods where we’ve conceded too many shots on goal, so being able to respond tonight was great. It’s starting to show maturity from the playing group – they understand what the game demands, and then how to execute under pressure.
