Max Gruzewski celebrates a goal during round 23, 2025. Picture: AFL Photos

GREATER Western Sydney has all-but sewn up a finals spot, playing a September brand of football in August to hammer Gold Coast by 35 points at People First Stadium on Saturday.

The Giants were magnificent from the outset, winning 17.9 (111) to 11.10 (76) to move to 15 wins ahead of their final home and away match of the season against St Kilda at Engie Stadium next Sunday.

SUNS v GIANTS Full match coverage and stats

Only a horribly lopsided loss to the Saints, along with a handful of other results, could prevent Adam Kingsley’s team from playing in a third straight finals campaign.

Conversely, the loss leaves Gold Coast still needing to win its final two matches against Port Adelaide (away) and Essendon (home) to guarantee a maiden appearance in September.

Despite missing key personnel Jake Stringer, Jesse Hogan, Jack Buckley, Brent Daniels and Josh Kelly for the trip north, the Giants were locked in from the first bounce, winning for the 15th time from the past 16 games against the Suns.

They pressured like crazy, moved the ball swiftly from the defensive half to create a wave of scoring chances and were then deadly with their set shot goalkicking.

Harry Rowston was an unlikely avenue in the front half, kicking four goals, while Finn Callaghan and Tom Green (both 29 disposals and eight clearances) led a superb performance from the midfield group.

Not only did they win plenty of ball, but the Giants midfield did a wonderful job in stifling the influence of star Suns duo Matt Rowell and Noah Anderson.

While the Suns pair finished with 25 and 32 disposals respectively, their influence was well below the incredibly high standard they’ve set all year.

With their season on the line, the Giants were revved up from the outset, applying suffocating pressure from the opening minutes.

They hurried the Suns into a series of sloppy mistakes and then counter-attacked like they do at their best, sweeping the ball from defensive 50 to their attacking zone on a regular basis.

They kicked the game’s first three goals and held a 15-point advantage at quarter-time, scoring 10 times from 11 entries to punish a home team that laid just five tackles and applied pressure at a rate well below their usual standard in the first term.

With Rowell and Anderson struggling to shake the close attention of Green and Xavier O’Halloran at each stoppage, Gold Coast found a way back into the game in the second term by moving the ball swiftly through the corridor.

Rowell and Ben Ainsworth both kicked goals in transition to get the margin back to four points, but the Giants closed the half with three late goals to open a 22-point cushion at the half.

After kicking four of the first five goals of the third quarter, GWS had blown the game open and never looked back.

Toby’s hanger
Without injured teammates Stringer and Hogan to help him in the forward line, Toby Greene was always going to be the centre of attention. Although not his biggest day in terms of output, the Giants skipper had a special moment in the third quarter when he sat on Bodhi Uwland’s shoulder to pull down a spectacular mark after Aaron Cadman had kicked the ball off the ground in his direction. To complete the job, Greene went back and slotted the set shot from 50m.

Taylor’s All-Australian push
With the key defensive posts seemingly up for grabs in this year’s All-Australian team, Sam Taylor sent another reminder of just why he’s one of, if not the best in the competition at his position. Coming up against the red-hot Ben King, fresh from kicking six goals against Carlton a week earlier, Taylor totally outpointed his Suns opponent with eight of his 12 disposals intercepts. King kicked two goals, both in the second half, but struggled to impact.

 

Sam Taylor is tackled during round 23, 2025. Picture: AFL Photos

Suns still need another win to play finals
So wild is the nature of this season, Gold Coast entered the game with dreams of top four – now it still needs another win, or maybe two, to finish in the top eight. Depending on results for both Hawthorn and the Western Bulldogs in the remainder of the round, the Suns could finish the weekend in ninth position. With matches against Port Adelaide (away) and Essendon (home) to come, Gold Coast will start favourites in both, but until the wins are secured, nothing can be taken for granted.

GOLD COAST                                 3.2       6.4       8.6       11.10 (76)
GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY        5.5       9.8       15.9     17.9 (111)
 
GOALS
Gold Coast: Read 2, Long 2, King 2, Ainsworth 2, Rowell, Farrar, Budarick
Greater Western Sydney: Rowston 4, Gruzewski 3, Greene 2, Cadman 2, Bedford 2, Riccardi, O’Halloran, Jones, Coniglio
 
BEST
Gold Coast: Witts, Andrew, Miller, Collins, Anderson
Greater Western Sydney: Callaghan, Green, Rowston, Taylor, Thomas, Whitfield
 
INJURIES
Gold Coast: Nil
Greater Western Sydney: Nil
 
SUBSTITUTES
Gold Coast: Alex Sexton (replaced Oscar Adams in the third quarter)
Greater Western Sydney: Jacob Wehr (replaced Harry Himmelberg in the fourth quarter)
 
Crowd: 16,007 at People First Stadium