GWS Giants prove they’re built for September after dismantling Geelong at Kardinia Park

The GWS Giants are making noise at exactly the right time of year.

On Sunday afternoon at GMHBA Stadium, Adam Kingsley’s side dismantled Geelong by 47 points, a result that has shifted the conversation around this group from ‘could they?’ to ‘they absolutely can.’ The win was built on a ferocious defensive press and midfield dominance that left the Cats searching for answers on their home deck.

It matters because the Giants have long been a team that flirts with potential. This year, they’re backing it up with results. The conversation among list managers and footy analysts in Bendigo’s sporting circles, from the Kennington Cricket Club rooms to the Strathdale footy canteen, is no longer about whether GWS can make a deep finals run, but how far they can go. For local fans who follow the draft and trade period closely, this Giants outfit has the balance of youth and hardened bodies that usually translates into September wins.

The performance against Geelong was built on numbers that stack up. With finals just over a month away, GWS have now beaten four of the current top-eight sides. Their record against fellow contenders is a genuine marker of a team that can go deep. In Bendigo, where the local league’s premiers often mirror the intensity of an AFL finals campaign, coaches and players alike will be watching how Kingsley manages his list through the run home.

At the centre of it all is a midfield that is starting to click. Tom Green’s contested work and Josh Kelly’s outside run give the Giants a dual-threat that few sides can match. When you add in the explosive x-factor of players like Toby Bedford and the marking power of Jesse Hogan, who booted three majors against the Cats, the forward line suddenly looks less reliant on one target. For Bendigo’s own AFL hopefuls training at the QEO during winter, the lesson is clear: system beats star power more often than not.

What happens next is the real test. The Giants have four games left in the home-and-away season, including a trip to the Gabba to face Brisbane, the same Lions side that beat them in last year’s preliminary final. A win there would send a finals warning that few could ignore. Meanwhile Bendigo’s pubs and club rooms will be filling with yellow and orange come Saturday afternoon. The local Giants supporters group at the Rifle Brigade Hotel has already booked a function for the first week of finals. They believe this could be the year.