The Lions booted six unanswered goals in 18 minutes through the latter part of the second term to reverse a 19-point deficit into a 21-point lead and they maintained the advantage from there.
Green was instrumental in the surge, winning plenty of ball in the midfield and kicking three of his side’s first four goals without a miss at a time when players from both teams missed gettable shots.
He finished with 27 possessions and had the biggest impact on his side gaining and maintaining control.
Half-backs James Hawksley (35 possessions), Mitch Golby (30 possessions) and Tom Collier were just as important, setting up most rebound opportunities as the Giants dominated the centre clearances.
Hawksley was typically calm under pressure, while Collier worked overtime in the first half when the defence was under constant attack.
Golby’s run-and-carry was particularly important throughout the second half.
He provided the vital last goal before three-quarter-time to give his side a 21-point break, running down the ground and finishing off a chain of handpasses.
Matt Austin was busy for the Lions early when the midfield was battling, while Patrick Karnezis took a number of strong marks and provided four goals.
The Lions’ close alignment with the Western Magpies continued to pay dividends with 19-year-old Jack Parkes producing a brilliant first half in the midfield and contributing heavily to the second quarter charge.
His contribution put him among the Lions’ best on the day.
Greater Western Sydney fielded eight top-up players, so their effort to keep snapping at the heels of the Lions was outstanding.
Ruckman Jonathan Giles was strong all day and his battle with Broc McCauley was a quality one, with both players winning their share of ball.
Midfielders Sam Darley and Stephen Clifton were strong in the clinches while Joshua Bruce had a good set of hands playing a variety of roles.
The Giants were also lifted by rangy centre-half-forward Andrew Phillips, who booted four goals. Phillips marked strongly and kicked even more impressively, all of his goals coming from in excess of 50m, the goal umpire not moving once, and the ball going through post-high.
The Sydney team conceded nine goals to four in time-on of the opening three terms, which hurt in the final analysis.
High profile rugby league recruit Israel Folau hardly touched the ball in the first half playing in the key defensive positions, although he did take a heavy blow to the throat in the opening 10 minutes of the game.
He came out a different player after halftime, winning six possessions and taking several marks in an impressive third term where the Giants clawed to within 11 points, before Golby’s running goal.
Folau also did some nice things in the final quarter, including one pick-up and handball off his bootlaces in the one motion.
“We knew that GWS might be a touch light-on but we thought one-on-one we might have the superior talent, so if we got that midfield space right we would be able to carry the ball,” said Lions Reserves coach Nathan Clarke.
“They tended to get numbers back as opposed to going one-on-one and did a pretty good job and we floundered a bit around half-forward early.
“When we identified where their numbers were and we went at them with the right balance we were pretty good.”
