Greater Western Sydney lost its spiritual leader in the opening minutes, but they didn’t lose their spirit, fighting back from four goals down to beat Geelong on their own patch in a thriller at GMHBA Stadium. It was the type of performance that stamps Leon Cameron’s men as a genuine premiership contender. And it came after they lost co-captain Callan Ward to a suspected ACL tear in the opening minutes after his knee buckled beneath him as he was chased down by dual Brownlow medallist Gary Ablett. Live stream the 2019 Toyota AFL Premiership Season on KAYO SPORTS. Every match of every round. Live & anytime on your TV or favourite device. Get your 14 day free trial > Ward returned from the bench on crutches and burst into tears on the bench. “It looks like an ACL. It is too hard to tell at the moment, but it didn’t feel good when I went down with it so we will see how the scans go tomorrow,” Ward told Fox Footy after the final siren. “I think I was in a shock (on the bench) to be honest. I’ve never hurt my knee like that before and I think I realised that I was out for the year really. It was a great win by the boys and I’m just happy to be here right now.” But from that moment the Giants midfield went to another level, clawing their way back into the contest bit by bit. Callan Ward is helped off the ground after hurting his knee on Saturday. Source: Getty Images Daniel Lloyd put the Giants in front just before three-quarter time. Tom Hawkins restored order shortly afterwards. Then Jeremy Finlayson levelled the scores for the Giants midway through the final quarter. And from there, the Cats didn’t score again. Leon Cameron’s side may have had better wins before, but the four-point win might be the Giants most memorable. Geelong hadn’t lost a game this year, hadn’t lost a game at home in nine starts, and had never lost to Greater Western Sydney at the Cattery before the Giants pulled off a stunning win against the odds on Saturday. If you thought the premiership window had closed after the departures of Dylan Shiel, Tom Scully and Rory Lobb, think again. Geelong coach Chris Scott yells from the boundary line in the third quarter. Source: News Corp Australia GWS vice-captain Stephen Coniglio showed why he is the most sought after free agent in the game right now, producing another brilliant performance that will undoubtedly see his Brownlow Medal odds wound right in this week. On a day where the ‘Holy Trinity’ all had less than 19 disposals — and Tim Kelly only touched the ball nine times — Coniglio amassed 34 disposals, 16 contested possessions and 10 clearances — seven from the centre square. “Losing Cal we knew we had to step up. We’ve had a couple of good wins in our short history and this marks another one of those,” Coniglio told Fox Footy. “The mids in particular led the charge. Cal was just upbeat the whole time on the bench, had a chat to the boys at three-quarter time. I was really proud of everyone today.” Patrick Dangerfield on the bench at GMHBA Stadium. Source: News Corp Australia Coniglio wasn’t the only star Giant to upstage Geelong’s midfield. Josh Kelly returned from injury last week and returned to form on Saturday, collecting 32 disposals in a dominant display, while All-Australian defender Lachie Whitfield continued his roaring start to 2019, finishing with another 31 disposals and 539 metres gained. DE BOER DAMAGE A week after driving Richmond superstar Dustin Martin to the point of destruction, holding him to just 15 touches in the process, Matt de Boer has done it again. This time it was Tim Kelly who was claimed by the Giants’ veteran, who is challenging West Coast premiership midfielder Mark Hutchings as the best tagger in the game right now. And this time it was even better than last week. The West Australian star was held to just nine touches and zero impact. Jeremy Cameron slotted another three goals on Saturday. Source: AAP COLEMAN MEDAL WATCH Jeremy Cameron arrived in Geelong in serious form after booting 7.5 from 30 touches — one of his best performances ever — against Richmond last weekend. And that didn’t stop at GMHBA Stadium. He didn’t receive too many chances in the first half, but he turned the game in Greater Western Sydney’s in a one-minute patch early in the third quarter, slotting two crucial goals from two special moments. Cameron finished with three for the day, moving to 17 for the season at the top of the Coleman Medal leaderboard. Harrison Himmelberg of the Giants takes a phenomenal mark on Saturday. Source: AAP JONATHAN BROWN OR NICK RIEWOLDT EAT YOUR HEART OUT Western Bulldogs defender Hayden Crozier might have taken the biggest mark seen in a long time on Friday night, but Harry Himmelberg took the most courageous we’ve seen in a long time on Saturday. It was reminiscent of Jonathan Brown against Hawthorn at the MCG in 2002 and Nick Riewoldt against Sydney at the SCG in 2004. DUSTY LAST WEEK, DANGER THIS WEEK? It didn’t look like there was too much in it, but Geelong superstar Patrick Dangerfield could be looked at for an incident behind the play in the second quarter. The Brownlow Medal favourite appears to make contact with Matt de Boer’s stomach with his elbow, in a blow that sent the Giants’ tagger to ground. Dangerfield swings his fist backwards a second time and is lucky de Boer is on his way to ground, with his hand grazing the former Docker’s back instead of making contact with his stomach again. It was silly and could prove costly. Get the ultimate AFL experience on your phone with the FOX FOOTY App. Download it NOW for FREE on iOS and Android! Follow Geelong v GWS Giants in our live blog below. If you can’t see the blog, tap here!<doc-sep>Jack Bowes has emerged as the hero for the Gold Coast Suns, with the 21-year-old snatching victory from the jaws of defeat against Carlton on Sunday afternoon at Metricon Stadium. With just 13 seconds remaining in the final term - and the Suns trailing by four points - Bowes snapped a goal to deliver the Suns their third win of the season. It’s an opening month of footy that has defied the odds, not to mention the naysayers. Stream the 2019 Toyotal AFL Premiership season on KAYO SPORTS. Live & anytime in HD. Get your 14-day free trial and start streaming instantly > “We’ve had four close games this year and the boys have been so gutsy and shown so much resilience,” Bowes told Fox Footy after the win. “We tried to stay composed. We trusted in the process, that we’d crack it in and rip it in and that’s what got us the goal.” Bowes not only kicked the match winning major, but went head-to-head with Blues superstar Patrick Cripps. While Cripps racked up 30 touches, Bowes held his own, accumualting 19 disposals. “Cripps is obviously one of the most respected players in the (competition),” Bowes said. “He’s a big boy. It’s always good to go up against them and learn from them.” An Academy product and a top-10 draft pick, Bowes shapes as one of the future leaders of the Suns. And as Brisbane champion Alastair Lynch rightly pointed out, in a time when the Suns have been stripped of so much talent, Bowes has emerged as a future star of the club. “He’s had an outstanding first month of football,” Lynch said. “He’s one of the emerging class midfielders for this club that has been decimated over the last few years with talent walking out of the club.” Get the ultimate AFL experience on your phone with the FOX FOOTY App. Download it NOW for FREE on iOS and Android! While it was sheer jubilation for the Suns on the siren, it was utter heartbreak for the Blues. They’re now the only team without a win in 2019. “We probably should have put them away in the third quarter,” Cripps said. “When we get momentum we fail to put scoreboard pressure on. But you can’t question the effort. The effort’s there. “It’s just a bit of polish on the end that’s killing us.” Cartlon’s loss could be soured by a potential suspension to Will Setterfield for a sling tackle on Wil Powell. Setterfield pinned both of Powell’s arms and drove him into the turf late in the second term, with the young Sun immediately ruled out of the match because of concussion. Re-live Gold Coast Suns v Carlton in our live blog below. If you can’t see the blog, tap here!<doc-sep>
North Melbourne captain Jack Ziebell wasn’t kidding when he said it was a tough week for the football club, following the Kangaroos’ 12-point win over Adelaide. The Roos were winless after losses to Fremantle, Brisbane Lions and Hawthorn, with questions being asked of coach Brad Scott’s tactics and his decisions at the selection table. Throw in the criticism of key forward Ben Brown by club legend Wayne Carey, the club was on the verge of a mini crisis. Stream North Melbourne v Adelaide on KAYO SPORTS. Live & anytime in HD. Get your 14-day free trial and start streaming instantly > But as they’ve done time and time again, the Kangaroos can’t be discounted after an inside 50 demolition over the Crows, leading to the club finally collecting four points for 2019. And if they had have kicked straight — it might’ve been a lot worse for the Crows. Scott would’ve been tearing paint off the walls at half time as his team failed to capitalise in front of goal, with 10 behinds from 13 shots. At half time the Roos had 33 inside 50s to the Crows’ 16, but were 14 points down. Whatever Scott said to Brown at half time must’ve worked, as the power forward came out with a dominant third quarter to help the Kangaroos take the lead heading into the final term. Brown booted three goals and clunked two marks as the Roos pulled off a four goal to one quarter at Marvel Stadium. “Tonight he’s just put himself into the right position,” Richmond great Matthew Richardson said on Channel 7. “He leads hard at the football and he’s got the reward on the scoreboard with 4.2 and some of his efforts have been very good.” Get the ultimate AFL experience on your phone with the FOX FOOTY App. Download it NOW for FREE on iOS and Android! Ben Brown booted four goals for North Melbourne. Photo: Scott Barbour/Getty Images. Source: Getty Images The Roos had all the inside 50 dominance throughout the entire match, but poor kicking is poor football. But the dam wall finally broke during the third term as the Roos were finally able to get bang for their buck “We felt like we were peppering them a bit. We just came in at half time and we know what we were doing right, but it was just about stepping up that gear which we haven’t been able to do this year,” Brown told Channel 7 after the game. Crows coach Don Pyke made a statement at selection by dropping star midfielder Bryce Gibbs on Thursday. But the move appeared to backfire as the Roos smashed the travelling team in contested possessions as they ran out 12 point winners at Marvel Stadium. Bryce Gibbs played in the SANFL on Saturday. Photo: Tom Huntley Source: News Corp Australia It was telling of the Crows team that Ziebell had more contested possessions (10) than every Adelaide player except Matt Crouch, with the North Melbourne leader finishing with two goals from 15 touches. Gibbs collected 28 disposals in the SANFL as he put his hand up for a senior recall. Despite the loss, one player you can’t put a line through just yet is Crows star Eddie Betts. While the small forward might’ve kicked just three goals in 2019 coming into the match, the 32-year-old wound back the clock with three cracking goals against North Melbourne on Saturday night. As the Kangaroos failed to convert their chances, it was almost as if Betts couldn’t miss if he tried. A soccer out of mid-air gave the Crows an early goal, while a banana from a near impossible angle 40 metres out made its way through the big sticks. The classy forward still knows where the goals are and remains the most damaging small forward in the competition for the time being. But the Crows will need to improve dramatically if they are to live up to pre-season expectations of a big rise up the ladder in 2019. Follow North Melbourne v Adelaide in our live blog below. If you can’t see the blog, tap here!