Greater Western Sydney coach Adam Kingsley has said he would be disappointed if Toby Greene copped a fine over his taunt aimed at Sydney’s Tom Papley

By Martin Pegan at Engie Stadium

ago

Toby Greene celebrates a win during round 20, 2025. Picture: AFL Photos

GREATER Western Sydney coach Adam Kingsley has dismissed concerns over a taunt from captain Toby Greene about Sydney’s Tom Papley, as well as playing down the spray he delivered to his own players before they lifted to overrun Sydney at Engie Stadium.

The Giants trailed by as much as 35 points late in the second term before slamming on 13 of the last 14 goals of the game to come from the clouds for a 44-point victory that put a huge dent in the Swans’ slim finals hopes on Friday night.

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Greene was one of several Giants to have their colours lowered in a disappointing first half but was involved in a fiery altercation with Papley as well as giving away a reversed free kick when arriving late to a contest with a high blow on Isaac Heeney.

The Giants skipper told Fox Footy that Papley “is looking overweight, let’s see how he goes second half” as he walked from the field at the main break but Kingsley expects no further action to be taken over the jibe.

“I wouldn’t have thought so. I’d be pretty disappointed if he got fined for … I mean, he didn’t use any language or anything like that, did he?” Kingsley said.

“It’s a really important game for both clubs. We know the importance of it and all the players treat it seriously.

“So they’re trying to put each other off and they’re doing … all within the rules, of course, but that’s just AFL footy, it’s part of the game. Winners are grinners, and if you’re not, you move on.”

Greene told Fox Footy after the game that Kingsley’s stern half-time feedback directed at him was “direct and long”, while key forward Jesse Hogan said that the Giants coach had singled out six players.

Finn Callaghan kickstarted the Giants’ comeback with the first goal after the main break and went on to be the catalyst for a stunning nine-goal blitz with eight disposals, five score involvements and 349m gained just in the third term on the way to being awarded the Brett Kirk Medal for best afield.

The Giants midfielder told Fox Footy that Kingsley’s half-time spray was “the biggest he’s ever given us”, though Kingsley kept his cards closer to his chest.

“It was just reminders around the way we want to play and asking certain players to lift their output. I loved the way the guys responded,” the Giants coach said.

“I thought it was led by our leaders, I thought Toby Greene was outstanding, Josh Kelly, Stephen Coniglio, Tom Green.

“I thought they were brilliant, particularly around the contest. It felt like we got our contest game to the level we needed to be. That was a finals-type game tonight.”

The Swans made a blistering start as their intense pressure and ball movement opened up the Giants before being unable to stop the bleeding with Hayden McLean (concussion) and Joel Hamling (hamstring) ruled out.

Sydney coach Dean Cox refused to buy into a suggestion that Greene’s comments about Papley were out of line, only saying that “some players push the boundaries a little bit, Toby’s probably one of those”.

Cox was more concerned with the Swans coming to a standstill in the second half and how they can pick themselves up to play out the rest of the season.

“We need to make sure that we fight this year out as well as we possibly can. That’s what we’re going to do,” Cox said.

“We understand that it’s probably mathematically impossible to make the finals, but we’re going to have a throw at the stumps as long as we possibly can.

“One thing we need to do is to make sure that we can build as much as we possibly can towards the back end for pre-season for next year.”