GWS coach Leon Cameron has revealed that Toby Greene made an emotional apology to the player group in the lead-up to Friday night’s semi-final loss to Geelong.
Greene was a notable out for the 35-point loss to Geelong after copping a three-match ban for intentionally bumping an umpire during the club’s thrilling one-point elimination final win over Sydney.
The AFL have appealed the suspension believing it should have been more.
GWS entered the match against Geelong ravaged by injuries, and the loss of Greene hurt so much more given it was avoidable.
After the loss, Cameron said that a “remorseful” Greene had apologised to his teammates leading into the game.
“It was an emotional 10 to 15 minutes in front of our entire group,” Cameron said.
“We’re not a club that will shy away from things. We have to work out the rights and the wrongs and we got it wrong last weekend and he’s put his hand up.
“Throughout the week, I said you don’t give up on these players. They are like your children.
“Sometimes your kids do some things wrong in life. They have to learn from it and move on.
“He has been a wonderful player for us and I am confident we’ll work through some of those challenges over the off-season.”
The loss of Greene was further compounded when spearhead Jesse Hogan was a late withdrawal with a calf injury.
Hogan had taken six contested marks and booted 2.2 against Sydney a week earlier, and his loss was heavily felt as the Giants took just five marks inside 50m against Geelong.
Soft tissue injuries limited Hogan to just nine games for the year, and Cameron wants to find a way to ensure the former Docker stays on the park for longer in 2022.
“He was sore a day after the game last week,” Cameron said.
“We gave him every opportunity right until a couple of hours out, and then we made that decision (to pull him out).
“He recovered from the injury well on one occasion during the year, but he missed four or five weeks on another occasion. So that would have been interesting (to see if he could have played next week).
“We’re trying to work out his training management, his load, what he can and can’t do.”
Cameron was proud of his team’s ability to overcome an 0-3 start to the season and 73 days on the road to make it to the second week of the finals.
He is confident that Jacob Hopper will re-sign with the club in the coming days or weeks.
“He just wanted to get the season done and dusted,” Cameron said.
“He has settled in Sydney, owns his house. All indicators are he’ll be at our footy club.”
AAP
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