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ESSENDON star Brendon Goddard made headlines after being caught on air in a changeroom dummy spit going into the halftime break against Greater Western Sydney.
The 32-year-old lost his temper walking off the field during the Round 11 clash, swiping off food on the Bombers’ table as players walked in.
Captain Dyson Heppell gave Goddard a stern look as if to say “come on, mate” as he stormed off. “He wasn’t happy at all. He’s smashed the lollies all over the place,” Eddie McGuire said as the awkward display was broadcasted to fans around Australia.
Goddard’s spat could have been caused by his side’s capitulation to the rampaging Giants, but former Geelong star and FOX Sports commentator Cameron Mooney wasn’t having a bar of it.
“I reckon that was pathetic,” he told SEN’s The Run Home Wednesday afternoon.
“I know he is an emotional person, but to walk in there and smash that all over the floor wasn’t on.
“You could see the rest of his teammates, including captain Dyson Heppell, thinking ‘what the hell are you doing’.”
Mooney suggested the 32-year-old should have copped a serious scolding for the publicly-viewed outburst.
“When he walks into a room you walk in after him and close the door and you tear shreds off him,” he said.
Here's the Goddard dummy spit, and Heppell the 'disappointed parent' #GarryTimAndHamish pic.twitter.com/DbQZ8l79ad
— SEN Breakfast (@SENBreakfast) June 4, 2017
THE ‘IMPERIOUS MONSTER’ CRUSHING THE AFL
A premiership looked a world away when GWS was being pummelled in triple-digit thrashings back in 2012.
But five years on and halfway through the season the AFL’s youngest club is a hot contender to win the flag. Nine wins and two losses have put the Giants on top of the table, ahead of powerhouses Adelaide and Geelong.
The Crows gained much of the attention early in the season for their attacking style of footy that saw them regularly smash the 100-point mark and Cats guns Patrick Dangerfield and Joel Selwood have ensured their side has remained a constant in the headlines.
But GWS, who lost to the Western Bulldogs in last year’s preliminary final, has snuck up to the top. It’s an achievement Melbourne legend Garry Lyon says has been vastly under-appreciated in footy circles.
“I’m not sure whether it’s the resentment that lingers around the concessions handed to the GWS Giants or the general fear that an imperious monster is materialising before our eyes, but the fact the AFL’s youngest franchise sits at the top of the ladder at the halfway point has been seriously under-appreciated,” Lyon said on SEN Breakfast.
“It’s not easy. Just ask the (Gold Coast) Suns.
“In just their sixth season, an outfit that managed just nine wins in their first three years, located in the heart of NRL territory, literally and figuratively look down on the 17 other competing clubs.
“I’m not saying you’re having to enjoy it or like it, but I don’t think it’s been acknowledged as big a feat as it should.”
GWS is an imposing foe.Source:Getty Images
In Toby Greene, Jeremy Cameron, Josh Kelly and Dylan Shiel, the Giants have some of the best young talent in the country. Mixed with older heads like Steve Johnson, Shane Mumford, Phil Davis and Callan Ward, the Sydney club is perfectly placed to push for silverware in 2017.
Described as a “Ferrari football team”, GWS has shown grit to go with the glamour this season. A last-gasp win over Richmond and a brave victory over West Coast in Perth prove that.
Lyon says the next challenge facing the Giants lies in how they transfer their home-and-away form into finals dominance.
“They have proven before to be a very good home-and-away team, the challenge now is squarely at their feet to become a very good finals team,” Lyon said.
“Anything less than a grand final appearance from here would be a failure.
“The Ferrari’s ticking over, it’s not purring. Look out when it does.
“Whether they can be a great finals team defines sides obviously.”
‘HE WON’T PLAY AGAIN’
Cloke has been missing from the big stage.Source:News Corp Australia
Travis Cloke is on the outer at the Western Bulldogs and Essendon great Tim Watson doesn’t believe we’ll see the key forward wearing the blue, white and red again this season.
Cloke made the move to the Dogs this season after falling out of favour at Collingwood but after a strong start to the year, his performances have waned to the point where Luke Beveridge doesn’t believe he’s part of the best 22.
Watson says the left-footer will need to rely on injuries if he’s to crack the senior side again this year.
“I have a feeling that he won’t play again, I might be completely wrong but I don’t think he will play again unless there are injuries to other players within that group,” Watson said on SEN Breakfast.
Young gun Tom Liberatore also fell foul of Beveridge, who has left him out of the team for the past two weeks. But Watson says he’s too classy to be spending much more time on the sideline.
“The Dogs got the formula right last time, but I think Tom Liberatore is too good of a player not to be playing in the Bulldogs side,” Watson said.
“But obviously Luke Beveridge is going to really make him knock the door down and force his way back into that side.”
REVENGE NOT ON THE MENU FOR SWANS
Kennedy just wants four more points.Source:News Corp Australia
Bolstering its faint AFL finals hopes with four precious points rather than getting grand final revenge will be Sydney’s major motivation against the Western Bulldogs on Thursday.
Languishing in 16th place on the ladder and three wins off eighth, Sydney is refusing to give up on a finals berth, though history suggests it faces a near impossible task.
The Bulldogs defeated Sydney by 22 points in the 2016 grand final and by 23 in their round two clash in Melbourne earlier this season, Memories of recent losses, especially last year’s season decider won’t be spurring the 3-7 Swans at the SCG according to skipper Josh Kennedy.
“It’s certainly not revenge,” Kennedy said. “It’s a four-pointer, it’s an extremely important four-pointer for the position we’re in at the moment..
‘We’ll be doing everything we can to make sure that we try and turn things around.”
Kennedy holds the Bulldogs in high regard despite a mixed start to a defence which has produced six wins and four losses.
“I rate them really highly, we certainly won’t be taking them lightly given what they were able to accomplish last year,” Kennedy said.
“The media might write them off here or there or against certain opposition but they keep finding a way to get up and produce good games.
The champion midfielder seemed surprised the bookies had made Sydney favourites for Thursday’s game.
‘I wasn’t aware of that. I’ll take it, but it’s irrelevant for us,” Kennedy said.
— with AAP
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