Giants giant Lobb rises to AFL challenge

Rory Lobb has handled the challenge of being first-choice ruckman for GWS with a personal-best hitout tally in their AFL semi-final win over the Eagles.

No Mummy, no big deal for Greater Western Sydney, with Rory Lobb stepping up to the plate in Saturday's AFL semi-final against West Coast on Saturday night.

The 207cm Lobb obliterated his previous best tally of 17 hitouts by piling up a match-high 39 in the Giants' 67-point victory at Spotless Stadium.

The Giants surprised plenty of people when they opted not to replace their injured first-choice ruckman Shane Mumford with former Geelong big man Dawson Simpson.

It meant 24-year-old Lobb was the only specialist ruckman in the Giants lineup and would have to shoulder the vast majority of the workload.

He rose to the occasion, especially in the first half having already powered past his old mark by winning 24 hitouts.

The Eagles finished 51-47 ahead in the final count.

The only previous time Lobb had started a game as the Giants' chief ruckman was in 2015 in just his third senior appearance.

It was a memorable game for the opposition ruckman, with North Melbourne star Todd Goldstein amassing a league record 80 hitouts.

Drew Petrie, who was on the Kangaroos side that day, was on Saturday night the backup ruckman to Nathan Vardy for the Eagles.

Petrie had a quiet night in his 332nd and final game, notching three kicks in a total of seven disposals, five marks, 18 hitouts and a single final quarter goal, the 444th of his career.

Retiring Eagles midfielders Sam Mitchell and Matt Priddis had 28 and 30 touches respectively, with the latter a team high.


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Source: AAP


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