The GWS Giants’ heartbreak has been laid bare after coughing up big leads two weeks in a row to be eliminated from the finals in straight sets for the first time in the AFL club’s history.
Just a week after a 20-point fourth-quarter lead went begging against Sydney, the Giants on Saturday night watched a 44-point third-quarter lead over Brisbane slip to 20 points with 8:30 still to play in the last term.
The Lions then hit the front with 2:30 left on the clock, and when the final siren sounded GWS players sunk to the turf in anguish.
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Several players looked to be on the brink of tears before the emotions well and truly spilled over for many in the rooms.
As veteran midfielder Josh Kelly fronted up to speak on the defeat, young forward Aaron Cadman could be seen in the background reckoning with the result.
He wrapped both arms around a loved one and buried his head into her shoulder.
Cadman, the No.1 draft pick two years ago, kicked one goal to end his second season with an impressive haul of 30.
Kelly said there were “similar things” GWS didn’t get right in both finals losses but the bigger questions surround whether they went too conservative.
“That’s two weeks in a row where we gave up a lead in a big game. We probably didn’t handle those moments good enough,” he told Channel 7.
“Pretty devastating. Going to have to review it pretty hard and analyse those things. The group’s shattered. Yeah, it’s not good enough.
“I think the main message is learning from it. We’ve got to accept that we weren’t good enough this year. We had the belief that the group was good enough.
“In moments our best football stacked up, so we’ve got to be optimistic in that sense, but at the same time that it didn’t amount what we wanted it to amount to.
“Very disappointing but it’s a young group, it’s an exciting group, we’ll come back hungry and ready to go again.”
More to come…
