AFL: GWS Giants interim coach Mark McVeigh stands by strong comments after Swans loss, hails players’ response

A defiant Mark McVeigh stands by his strong post-match appraisal of the Giants’ humiliating Sydney Derby performance, saying he received “amazing feedback” from his players.

McVeigh pulled no punches in his media conference after the 73-point shellacking from the Swans, including that they “embarrassed our club” and queried whether players had “checked out”.

Only eight players – co-captains Josh Kelly and Toby Greene, Sam Taylor, Harry Perryman, Callan Ward, Adam Kennedy, Lachie Whitfield and Jesse Hogan – escaped the interim coach’s wrath.

But McVeigh plans to stick by most of last week’s squad for Saturday’s clash with Essendon, with co-captain Stephen Coniglio (soreness) to return and Tanner Bruhn among the possible inclusions as he weighs up his future.

“I think the thing that allows me to have these strong conversations is my relationship with the players,” McVeigh said.

“Anything that’s said, it’s not like they haven’t heard it before – and those conversations continued throughout the week. It was a really healthy, proactive week to try and get better.

“I absolutely stand by my comments and off the back of it, I’ve had some amazing feedback from the players and some really good conversations, so it’s been a fantastic week, to be honest.”

McVeigh, who presented for Greater Western Sydney’s senior coaching job this week, embraced the positive and negative reaction that followed his comments and said he wanted to “be a club that absorbs pressure”.

In fact, the former Bomber says, he was ready to move on by Monday.

“If the pressure comes; we’ll see who can stand up,” he said.

“I’m really proud of the way our club and also our players have responded so far.”

The Giants’ finals hopes vanished weeks ago but they have been particularly disappointing in the past month since a 22-point victory over Hawthorn in Sydney.

They are dealing with the likelihood of a mass player exodus, with Bruhn, the contracted Jacob Hopper, Tim Taranto and Bobby Hill at the forefront of that discussion.

Defender Nick Haynes has also come up because of the back-ended nature of his deal.

But McVeigh said that speculation would not play a role in selection in the final three rounds, insisting they would pick the “best team to win every week”.

“We can go two ways here – we can actually hide away from comments, we can hide away from performance, or we can actually take it head on,” he said.

“I think our players have the ability to be able to do that ... we’re going to address it, the spotlight will be on us, we’re going to absorb the pressure and we’re going to see where we actually end up at the end of the year.

“That’s on me as the coach and all our coaches. We are a part of them and they’re a part of us and we’re all in it together ... but we’re not going to hide away from our performance. I don’t want to be that coach.”

Ruckman Matt Flynn won’t play again this season, with GWS opting to send him in early for ankle surgery, joining the likes of Phil Davis, Brent Daniels and Connor Idun in being out until 2023.