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Giants crush road strugglers Suns in AFL finals push

3 minute read

Greater Western Sydney have claimed a 39-point victory against Gold Coast, with the Suns' poor form on the road leaving them outside the top eight.

DAMIEN HARDWICK.
DAMIEN HARDWICK. Picture: Scott Barbour/Getty Images

Greater Western Sydney have inflicted Gold Coast with more pain on the road, beating them by 39 points to claim a third consecutive AFL win.

The Giants surged into the top four with a comprehensive 14.5 (89) to 6.14 (50) victory in windy conditions at Engie Stadium on Saturday.

Damien Hardwick's Suns are now winless from all eight matches away from Carrara this season, apart from two home wins in Darwin.

The Suns have yet to make a finals appearance since debuting in 2011 and their chances this year are slim.

They sit 11th with five home-and-away rounds remaining, while the Giants could rise to second should results this weekend go their way.

Poor goal conversion will be number one on Hardwick's agenda, with the Suns managing 66 inside-50s to the Giants' 47.

In-form Jesse Hogan got the edge in the Coleman Medal race against Suns forward Ben King, kicking four majors to make him equal leader with Carlton's Charlie Curnow on 49 goals.

King, who was on 45 before their match, could not shake the yips and kicked three points from seven shots.

Jack Lukosius was Gold Coast's only multiple goalscorer with two majors, while Lachie Weller got one in his first game since recovering from an ACL injury.

"I thought we exerted dominance. We just couldn't capitalise on the scoreboard," Hardwick said

"It's a frustrating game, AFL footy, because we're measured by outcome and we understand that, but we did a lot right today without getting the result we're after."

Giants defender Jack Buckley was outstanding with 14 intercept possessions, while Toby Bedford, who successfully overturned a three-match ban earlier in the week, had a game-high 13 tackles.

"He (Bedford) was really strong around the contest," GWS coach Adam Kingsley said.

"Didn't get himself into trouble this week, which is nice.

"He was a bit more of a reasonable player in his tackling."

Brent Daniels, in his 100th game, got the hosts on song early with two goals alongside Hogan's opening two to help fire the Giants to a 14-point lead at quarter-time.

GWS were only able to build the buffer by two points as the Suns desperately tried to lift before the main break.

But any chance of a Gold Coast resurgence was quickly snuffed out when Giants captain Toby Greene opened the third term with a stunning overhead kick for his second goal of the evening.

The Suns only kicked two goals in the second half, falling to their 13th loss in 14 editions of the so-called 'Expansion Cup' between the competition's two newest sides.

GWS will be sweating on the fitness of defender Isaac Cumming, who was taken off in the second term with hamstring tightness.

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