Greater Western Sydney midfielder Devon Smith may have put the Gold Coast SUNS away when the game was there to be won in the final quarter, but Rodney Eade believes his side lost the game due to a poor start that was masked by a couple of goals in the dying stages.
 
After the Giants kicked the opening goal inside the first minute, two yellow and red goals were followed by a run of five consecutive goals by Leon Cameron’s side. The scene was set for a tough afternoon, before Zac Smith and Touk Miller tidied up the scoreboard before quarter time.
 
“I think we lost it in the first quarter to be honest. I don’t think we were as hard at the contest as we needed to be in the first quarter,” Eade told the media following the SUNS' 15-point loss on Saturday afternoon.
 
“We were lucky to jag a couple of goals at the end of that first quarter to make it respectable.
 
“So we spoke about that at quarter time and I thought after that the guys were really good. Defensively we improved; I thought our contest improved after quarter time.
 
“I think just giving them that break early was the difference in the end.”
 
In his post-mortem, Eade marvelled at the feats of his captain Gary Ablett. The dual Brownlow medallist added another achievement to his palmarés, with a club record 17 tackles against the Giants.
 
Ablett has returned with a vengeance in the last three weeks, with remarkable consistency and output. But as good as his football was, Eade was more impressed by the effect he is having on his teammates in terms of leadership and direction.
 
“It was enormous, wasn’t it? I didn’t realise (how prolific he had been), I suppose it was like the old days with Peter Hudson. He’d come in and kicked eight and you thought he’d kicked two or three,” Eade said.
 
“It was like Gaz, he’s had 30, I thought he would have had 20. And he’s kicked three, but his 17 tackles just show his leadership.
 
“I don’t want to bang on too much about it, but he’s really grown in that area. His ability and willingness now to direct his teammates and demand more from his teammates and they’re happy to demand more from him.
 
“I thought he led from the front today in that area. Having 17 tackles, I think it’s the most of any player this year isn’t it? It just shows that he’s not just an offensive player.”