Toby Greene stars as GWS Giants defeat Gold Coast Suns in Manuka AFL clash

Captain Toby Greene kicked three goals as GWS defeated the Gold Coast Suns to snap a nine-game losing streak in Canberra.

The team has discussed turning its second home into a fortress, however they have struggled at the venue in previous years. Sunday's 15.13 (103) to 9.9 (63) victory over the Suns was the Giants' first at Manuka Oval since 2019.

The match was evenly poised at half-time before GWS produced a six-goal third-quarter to blow the game open and Kingsley was relieved to break the drought.

"This is our home," he said. "We want to turn it into a fortress. We want to make sure that it's a ground opposition aren't comfortable playing against us at Manuka. It's a step in the right direction today and then we'll get opportunities next year.

"It's good to get a win down here for the people that show up. They haven't seen a win for a while so to be able to reward them with that is great."

Sunday's win was GWS's sixth-straight and lifted the team into sixth on the ladder. It puts their finals destiny in their hands with five games to play. The news is less positive for the Suns, the side now sitting 14th and six points outside the eight.

MORE SPORT:

The match was evenly poised at the half-time break before the Giants produced a six-goal blitz in the third quarter to kick clear and take control of the game.

The Suns scored just three goals in the second half as their opponents ran away with the match.

Greene scored three, while Jake Riccardi, Brent Daniels and Callum Brown each added two. Jack Lukosius led the way for the Suns with three.

The captain received an early rest with 10 minutes remaining, Canberra's Josh Fahey handed an opportunity to play in front of 10,026 fans on his home turf.

Gold Coast had plenty of chances, however they were left to rue missed opportunities inside the attacking 50.

From 53 entries, the visitors converted just 34 per cent, significantly below their season average of 48.3 per cent. The Giants, on the flip side, converted 65.3 per cent entries into the forward 50, well above their average of 45.6 per cent.

Kingsley was thrilled with the way his team kicked clear after the break but said it remains too early to start thinking about finals footy.

"We're really confident in our game, we're confident in our players. We feel like we're in good form and the more wins you can string together, the more that grows.

"We're feeling good about ourselves but the reality is we face another tough game next week at Ballarat, a six-day break, playing against the Bulldogs. They're obviously a really good team and sitting above us on the ladder. It's going to be another massive challenge but we're looking forward to it."

The opening quarter was a tight tussle as each team wrestled for the ascendancy before the Suns produced a late flurry to take a seven-point lead into the break.

The margin was short-lived, Daniel Lloyd cutting the deficit to one just 22 seconds into the second quarter.

The Giants started to gain the upper hand however their accuracy in front of goal let them down and they were unable to put their opponents away. Lukosius kicked a late goal to pull the Suns within two at half-time.

With the match evenly poised entering the third quarter, GWS made a clear statement early in the period and they did not let up.

Josh Kelly's first-minute goal was the first of six, Toby Bedford putting a punctuation point on the quarter as the final siren sounded to make it 80-49.

Any chance of a Gold Coast comeback was quickly snuffed out, Riccardi striking early in the fourth to set the tone for the final quarter.

From there, the Giants closed out the contest to secure a 40-point win and four vital competition points.

"We got an opportunity to play a team ahead of us on the ladder today and that was an amazing opportunity and we didn't grasp it," Suns interim coach Steven King said. "That doesn't change next week. We've still got a hell of a lot to play for but we keep our eyes low and we just look at the next challenge ahead."

We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on The Canberra Times website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. See our moderation policy here.