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THIS was judgment day for the AFL's test tube babies.
For all their talent, and hype about the high picks, the football world wanted to know what Greater Western Sydney stood for yesterday.
How much these supposedly cocky kids from Parramatta cared.
HAWKS HOLD OFF DARING GIANTS
On a wet night at the MCG, admittedly against a half-strength and off-kilter Hawthorn, we got the kind of genuine effort the league demanded from GWS at the start of their third season.
It was there to see as Curtly Hampton made a desperate lunging tackle in the last quarter to deny
Devon Smith and Dylan Shiel celebrate a goal. Photo by Quinn Rooney Source: Getty Images
Billy Hartung a seemingly certain goal. From Shane Mumford as he kept jumping up for first rights at each stoppage. And from the pint-sized Devon Smith as he summoned the power to nail a 53m bomb in the third term, his fourth.
They've been the laughing stock of the competition for the past couple of weeks, belted by Richmond and embarrassed by West Coast in Perth.
But as Adam Treloar ripped the ball out of the middle and found the arms of Jon Patton who reached up like a skyscraper only 20m out from the goal in the final minutes, Hawks fans had hearts in their mouths.
Lachie Whitfield played his best AFL match. Pic: Wayne Ludbey Source: News Corp Australia
But what should have been a certain goal was a dastardly miss from the No. 1 pick. The Giants blew the chance to be only down by one point and instead handed over possession, and the win, to the young Hawks.
Patton will kick himself, but at least the Giants played to the level of an AFL side, again, restoring the competition's faith somewhat.
We'll go back to talking about what a beauty Treloar is. How the captain Callan Ward is one of the toughest and courageous players in the competition after amassing 21 contested possessions and 13 clearances. GWS had 23 more tackles than its opposition yesterday and Ward was the igniter in the trenches, setting a standard that hasn't been there in recent matches. He had 13 tackles alone.
Tom Scully works his way through traffic. Pic: Wayne Ludbey Source: News Corp Australia
And why Lachie Whitfield should again be feared. The No. 1 pick has always had the polish and cool decision making and yesterday he was the rudder for the Giants, continually running to the right spots in the back half to direct the young team out of its troubled fortnight.
Even Tom Scully, maybe the most picked-on player in the league, had one of his better games for the club. Hawthorn fans had to buy an AFL record for one of the first times in years yesterday to ensure they could identify half of their team. The club has relied on the same reliable lot of superstars for the past five years and can spot a Luke Hodge spoil and a Sam Mitchell shimmy a mile away.
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But this was a look into the future for the brown and gold army. The club has only had three top-20 draft picks in the past seven years, so the recruiting team has had to be a little creative finding the next batch of top-shelf talent. Yesterday, it was clear there are some rough edges on those youngsters, but sill, led by Isaac Smith they found a way. So did the Giants to restore some much-needed respectability. Now, they need to keep it.
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