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Giants jump to second with win over Roos

June 16, 2019 6:35 pm in by

GREATER Western Sydney has surged home to beat North Melbourne by 23 points in Hobart and move into second place on the AFL ladder.

Star forward Toby Greene bagged three goals on return from a knee injury, as the Giants overcame a 45-45 halftime deadlock to win 14.7 (91) to 10.8 (68) on Sunday afternoon at Bellerive Oval.

The Giants kicked four goals straight in the third quarter to break the back of North Melbourne, whose top-eight hopes took a hit in their first loss under new coach Rhyce Shaw.

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GWS went on with it in the final term, with three consecutive goals including Greene’s third.

Josh Kelly topped the possession count for the Giants with 35, while midfielder Stephen Coniglio had a strong game (27 touches and two goals).

The Giants shared the majors, with 11 individual goalkickers.

North Melbourne might have some headaches at the judiciary, with star forward Ben Brown reported for striking Matt Buntine with a raised elbow.

Northern Tasmanian teenager Tarryn Thomas, who was the No.9 draft pick in 2018, had some eye-catching touches and two goals for the Kangaroos in front of his home crowd.

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North skipper Jack Ziebell kicked the opener in a first quarter in which the lead changed four times.

Greene gave the Giants a slender 20-18 lead at the first break with a kick that skidded through an empty goal square.

The Giants opened up a 14-point lead with successive goals at the beginning of the second term, when tempers flared in some push and shove.

The Kangaroos hit the lead midway through the second quarter but three straight to the visitors helped them to level at halftime.

The Kangaroos, who had been on a three-game winning streak including two under Shaw, are two victories outside the top eight.

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They kicked the final two goals of match but, by then, the result had been decided.

© AAP 2019

GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY 3.2 7.3 11.6 14.7 (91)

NORTH MELBOURNE 3.0 7.3 8.6 10.8 (68)

Goals: Greater Western Sydney: T Greene 3 S Coniglio 2 A Tomlinson B Deledio H Himmelberg J Cameron J Finlayson J Hopper J Kelly T Taranto Z Williams. North Melbourne: B Brown 2 K Turner 2 T Thomas 2 J Ziebell N Larkey T Dumont T Garner. Umpires: Jacob Mollison, Brett Rosebury, Nick Brown, Nathan Williamson.

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Official Crowd: 7,832 at Blundstone Arena.

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