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Chapter 1: What highlights were featured in the first hour of Sunday Crunch Time?
The award-winning Crunch Time. Miller up, gets the handball received, runs to 55, drives it home.
Good kick, found the chest of Van Roy and feeds it off to Chandler. Goal front is unguarded. Chandler onto the left, sends it through for a major. Gathered by Tix, pumps the hand pass, hoping for Rochelle. Tags in front of himself, spins and goals. A little bit of inspiration from Joshua Shelley.
So they've come home hard, the Crows. Nothing pretty, but they've got the job done, and they win by 17.
And they're starting to build as we head towards September. The Dees left the MCG and played really good footy, gave themselves a chance, but Joshua Shelley, Jordan Dawson, Isaac Rankin, and Big Mark Keane were too much as we see the Crows head towards the top four.
He's able to gather. Down Highwood. 55. Highwood gets his second. Blues back out to a 12-point lead. Hayward from fifth. Hooks it in towards the corridor. Ainsworth gathers. Feeds it off the control. Vacant goal square. It goes through.
Kicked 17 goals, 21 this season, Harry. So he's not the most reliable kick, but this will just about finish the Giants if he kicks this. Yet to impact the scoreboard.
Harry comes in. Splits the middle. Oh!
I tell you what, I don't know about the Giants and I don't think anyone does, including their coach. But what I do know is the most unlikely of wildcard runs are happening before our eyes. Five straight for the Blue Baggers under Josh Fraser with two winnable games to come. Not only is it about Fraser actually holding on to the job full time, they are now September Dreaming.
The Pies have been in control of this second half. They've done what they had to do.
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Chapter 2: How did the Crows perform in their latest match?
The power rolled into the MCG and had a real dip. But in the end, they just ran out of players as Dacos had 40 again. Jordan Dugowie was brilliant and a win they needed for the black and white army. All thanks to Osito on a beautiful Melbourne morning. This is Sunday Crunch Time.
And a very warm welcome to you from the MCG, wherever you might be, right across the SEN radio network, via the SEN app, somewhere right across the world. It is a very nice morning as we gear up for the first of the games today. The Tigers and the Roos to go at it in around two hours' time. Liam Pickering about an hour away.
Judson Clark, who spent way too much time on the sideline, which has become... unfortunately somewhat indicative of these young guns at the Tigers. He will join us in the Crunch Time Box, as will Mon Conte, who this morning was named as one of the first players in the historic and eagerly anticipated AFLW Australia v Ireland game later in the year. But as always, this man's ready to go.
Josh Jenkins in the house. Well, kind of. He's in his own house, but we're going to talk plenty of footy. Hello to you, JJ.
Good morning, Cam. I'm not even in my own house. Well, it is my house. I just don't get to live in it at the moment. Myself and my eldest had to just dance through some mud and some puddles and some construction and some nails to get here. But we made it here only just. I was at the MCG last night to see what happens. when you choose not to run with superstar midfielders.
And Josh Carr and the power decided not to send extra attention the way of Nick Dacos and Jordan Degoe and paid the ultimate price.
For the all-new Ford Ranger Wolf Track V6 and for Osito Brussels power tools built to work, Osito, do you. Big two hours ahead. And it starts now as JJ gives us his Sunday Snap.
All right, let's have a look at the Greater Western Sydney Giants. Where are they? They are certainly at a crossroads in terms of their immediate future and maybe the bigger picture about where they fit into the grand scheme of things. A lot of chatter around lack of crowds, lack of buy-in from the region. I'm talking more about... their immediate future on field.
They had no answers for the resurgent Carlton yesterday. Every time they got close and once they did get in front, every time they just closed that gap, Carlton had an answer. Now that might speak to Carlton more so than GWS, but let's focus on the Giants because they were supposed to be better than what they are. I've been unable to get a handle on them all year.
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Chapter 3: What challenges are the Greater Western Sydney Giants facing currently?
Azito brushless home and garden power tools are built to work. Do it with Azito. Do you. And get a drive away deal on the all new Ford Ranger Wolf Track V6 at participating Ford dealers. You're listening to Crunch Time.
Sunday Crunch Time right around Australia on the SEN Radio Network or via the SEN app. All thanks to the all-new Ford Ranger Wolf Track V6 and for Osito. Osito, a brusseless power tool built to work. Osito, do you. Mon Conti around 20 minutes away. She's going to join us in the box. Trying to get Judson Clark as well. We'll see how that goes as we gear up towards the tides and the roos.
JJ, you know that I'm a... I'm always ā I don't totally dismiss stats because clearly, clearly they can play a little bit of a part in telling a story, but I'm always a maximum efficiency, quality over quantity guy, and I just feel in the last ā I'll say the last year and a half, we are seeing players dominate games without getting a huge amount of the sharing.
And if you look at this particular weekend, now I'm not suggesting that Nick Dacos wasn't the best player on the ground last night. He was brilliant and he hits the scoreboard. And when you get 40, he clearly is a difference. Jordan Ngoi was brilliant last night as well.
But if you go over the course of the weekend, we're talking about players who aren't getting 30 touches, JJ, in a game that's dominated by a lot of empty touches at different times and statistics and possessions and the conversation around it. You know, Luke Jackson, by far the best player in the game. the other night. He was dominant.
And to talk about a Brownlow, I think it's the most intriguing Brownlow in recent times because the umpires now have more information to be able to peruse before giving their votes in. If you look at yesterday, Rochelle, dominant, you know, was brilliant. Closer to goal as he's been for the last six or so weeks. Jordan Dawson doesn't necessarily get a huge amount of it. I'm not talking...
You know, 35 a week with Jordan Dawson. He's a little bit down yesterday, but he hits the scoreboard. You know, Degoe, as I touched on, if you have a look at certain players on Friday night, Will Day, when he's up and about, albeit I think Friday night was more around the Suns than the Hawks. But I'm just noticing, and Fremantle have about eight players like this. Murphy Reid is like that.
But the ability now, and if you look at Suwarioli's career, JJ, he barely got it. 25 times a game, but he just dominated games with sheer efficiency and equality well and truly over quantity. And we are seeing that, I think, come to the fore more so than ever in 2026.
Yeah, for sure. I mean, it's always been that way. We've always valued guys who, particularly those who are the better kicks inside forward 50, those who are creative out of the back half. I mean, being a long kick out of defence is handy, but I'd rather have someone who's got creativity, who can use the ball successfully on both sides of the body.
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Chapter 4: How is the Giants' performance impacting their future?
I think it's a really good point. I think fantasy football, of which you and I embark on that, more so American football than in the AFL for myself.
Took a year off and never felt better.
There you go. But I think fantasy football does sort of gear the way some people, a lot of people, in fact, a lot of fans, and again, I'll speak for myself in different aspects, look at the way that football is played and what is... deemed match-winning or successful at different points.
Now, again, I'm not suggesting that, you know, Isaac Heaney, when he has 30 and kicks five, and Nick Dacos has 40 and kicks a goal last night, I'm not saying that those players aren't continually in the best players in the game, which they clearly are, but we do see, I think, and Murphy reads a perfect example of this, Bolton's another one, and it's probably a major reason why Fremantle are really good.
The fact is they have players who efficiently use the ball. Going inside 50... is the big reason as to why when they go inside 50, they have shots at goal. They've got a wonderful forward line. Their cohesion and their chemistry is at a really high level. They don't panic. They have the full faith in the system. And when they get it, they are damaging. And all of a sudden...
You go from maybe playing Fremantle where Sorong and Brayshaw are your two main guys, and then you look at Luke Jackson, who can get it 20 times a game and be by far the best player in the game. So I think quality over quantity, and you are right, JJ, it has always been something that most certainly has been match winning, but I think one that is sticking out a little bit more.
Do you agree with my thoughts and my theory that this year's Brownlow, due to the stats being offered to the umpires after the game, makes it really intriguing as to what actually plays out?
It will be, I wouldn't say disappointing, but maybe a little bit deflating if we see the exact same vote count on Brownlow Metal Night. So if we see, you know, I'm not sure what, Dacos, Smith and Bontempelli, I think are the three favourites at the moment. If we see those guys all get, you know, mid to high 30s, then...
I think it's probably a little bit deflating in those numbers that the umpires receive have done very, very little. I tend to think, look, the reason it's not only because of sheer numbers that these midfielders and inside mids in particular, the Brownlow medal's been heavily weighted toward those guys inside the contest, not outside the contest. The game is also built for that.
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Chapter 5: What strategies are discussed for the Giants to improve?
So, again, I totally understand that there has to be a sharing of it. But traditionally, and maybe again... This is something that might happen a little bit more now that the stats are available to the umpires. But traditionally, the best players in the competition, the best players on the best teams have been the ones that have fought out the brown light end of the night.
Now, do I expect Heaney and Bonson Pally and Dacos and Jordan Dawson to be there? 100%, and they should be. But Luke Jackson, we haven't had a key position player. We haven't had a Ruckman, have even a... Max Gorn in early 2020s was on the leaderboard for a little bit and polled quite well. But if Luke Jackson...
doesn't have some type of bearing in the back end of this year when it comes to Brownlow Knight, then I think we're in a situation where you're just going to see the same regardless of the stats are available or not. And I think it makes it a really intriguing count. Because if things don't change, JJ...
The people who have been anti-Brownlow and what's happened in the last couple of years, where there has been some howlers, there's also been some howlers for over 100 years of the Brownlow, but the fact is that they're going to have no leg to stand on anymore when it comes to arguing that it's an umpire's award and they can do whatever the bloody hell they want with it.
Yeah, and it is and it has been. And look, it's rarely that different to the Coaches Association Awards. So we are very critical of, from time to time, very critical of the umpires and the fact that they lean into the same players week in, week out, year in, year out. But the coaches do as well. And again, I think it's as much to do with the way the game is currently played or has been played.
And as to the reasons why you see a Pritis and Ollie Wines, a Matt Rowell win a Brownlow medal when, you know, I doubt anyone would expect those types of play. Well, those guys would never have been top five, top 10 players in the competition at the start or end of any season, in my opinion.
But because of the way the game's played with stoppage after stoppage, tackles, contested possessions, you've only got to ask the champion data crew. If you haven't been in the high contested possession, high clearance count, you have not been a factor on Brownlow Night.
Now, just quickly before we get to the break here on Sunday Crunch Time, you did ask, did you host the run home one day this week?
Yes. Thursday, I co-hosted it with Gacy, yes.
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Chapter 6: How are player contracts affecting the Giants' roster decisions?
Yeah, no basketball this year, so lots of freedom. No, there's just a lot of training, like a lot of running, a lot of gym, just a really long off-season. So hopefully, fingers crossed in the future, we get to play more games so we don't have much of an off-season. But no, it's been good. I've been able to actually have a bit of a life. It's been really nice.
Me and Ryan went to Europe at the end of the year and had a Euro Christmas, which was quite nice. So it's good to just be able to have a bit of a life there. But at the same time, it's really cool to be able to just do football for 12 months of the year. Even though the off season's long, I'm very fortunate to be able to call football a job as well.
It's amazing, isn't it? The evolution of AFLW, you have lived it from day dot all the way to now and now the next evolution of it. How different is it in 2026 than what it was in 2017? Not just for you personally, but overall the entire league.
Yeah, I've been having conversations about this the past couple of weeks actually. I think in the first season it was only like eight grand for all that training the girls did and all those really late nights at the club and everything like that. So it's come a really long way and a lot of the girls don't have to work full time anymore. So that's been really great.
But it's just developed so much since day dot and I'm very fortunate to be a part of that journey as well and actually experience the growth and see it happening. But yeah, It's just super cool to see, like, young girls coming into the league that have played football their whole entire life and they don't know any different.
So I think that's, yeah, really awesome for them to be able to come in and make an impact like that. And, yeah, for the younger girls and boys as well to look at women's football and that's all they've ever known. They've only ever known women to play FLW. So, yeah, it's really cool to see the growth and to be a part of it. It's been pretty awesome.
Mon, we know you're a superstar, so let me at least involve Judson here somehow, someway.
We're going to get there.
Sorry, my bad. No, no, no, not your bad at all. Judson, you've had multiple knee injuries. How have you balanced or how have you tried to maintain a positivity throughout those longer-term rehabs? I guess it's been easier because, unfortunately, the rehab groups at times have been larger than the actual playing group, the training group. But how have you found those dark days in rehab?
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Chapter 7: What insights are shared about the upcoming games?
Find it a bit weird? Yeah, that was definitely an odd one. I don't think the boys are happy about that. Pretty freezing cold down in Tassie.
I think the commercial arm of the club might be happy about it, Judson. I think it's a positive overall. Let's get that out there. I saw a bit of it on the TV. How did you find the Rexona series against the athletes from different codes? It looked like a bit of fun, even though it was a challenge.
Yeah, the Rivals was, yeah, good fun, really cool to sort of experience that sort of stuff with different athletes and different codes. We were all really super competitive, so that's what made it a lot of fun. You kind of don't realise how competitive these guys are until you actually do some challenges with them, even if they're, like, really small challenges, just super competitive.
But, yeah, it was a lot of fun, really different, never experienced something like that before. But, yeah, really cool to just be a part of something like that, so...
I didn't see the last episode. I know AFL players are the best athletes. Are we easily the best athletes?
According to the rivals, no. But in my personal opinion, absolutely. I think we're the best all-round athletes. There was a lot of strength-based challenges in that one and lots of heavy lifting stuff. But I think if we did a lot more running, we would have definitely topped it. But we just had to make it fair. I guess rugby union needed some attention.
That's a very good call, in particular in Melbourne, where we don't have it as much anymore. Hey, guys, thanks for dropping by. I know that you've always got a million things on, and we appreciate you jumping in. Will you win today?
Yeah, train this morning.
No, will you win?
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