Adam Kingsley has revealed the truth behind the explosive spray he gave to his players during GWS Giants’ clash against the Sydney Swans last year, while claiming that he wasn’t particularly ‘comfortable’ that the footage was aired.
The Giants had underwhelmed in the first half of their Round 20 clash against their rivals, heading into the changing rooms at the main break 28 points behind.
Kingsley sat his team down to review some footage in the changing rooms, when Channel 7’s cameras captured the moment he went nuclear.
During the expletive-laden rant, the AFL coach claimed that his team were ‘weak as p***’ and demanded higher standards from individuals among the group, including Giants skipper Toby Greene.
Producers were forced to bleep out 24 swear words during the three-minute clip, which has now gone viral.
The video was published on 7AFL’s X account earlier this week as part of a promotion for the network’s new AFL documentary No Holds Barred.
Adam Kingsley lifted the lid on the explosive spray he dished up to his players during GWS Giants’ clash against the Sydney Swans last year
Kingsley had appeared to be showing his team a segment of footage from the first half, when he paused to talk to his players.
‘How long have we been going behind the stoppage… behind the contest?’
‘Most of the year,’ one player replied.
The coach responded: ‘Most of the year?? F***ing three years! Three years! We want to play on talent. Guess what they play on. F****** hardness and work rate. ‘Every single f***ing time! Same game.
‘They’re harder, they’re tougher, we’re weak as p***. We don’t follow system.’
He added: ‘How many f***ing times can we get beaten the same way?’
Kingsley went on to single out individual players, one of whom was skipper Greene.
‘You don’t change your position, you don’t get to contests and you’re undisciplined. What are you going to do about it?’ the coach said to the captain.
During the Round 20 match, Kingsley’s side had gone into the sheds at half-time trailing by 28 points. The coach subsequently turned the hair dryer treatment on his players
He also took aim at Stephen Coniglio.
‘How many high-speed metres has this bloke [Coniglio] got? Twenty-three high-speed f***ing metres for the game!
‘Start f***ing running!’
Kingsley, who won a premiership with Port Adelaide as a player, then challenged his players to work harder and outplay their opponents in the second half.
It seems the hairdryer treatment paid off. A fired up GWS side came out of the sheds and kicked nine goals to the Swans’ one in the third quarter, before going on to win the match 102(15.12) to 58(8.10).
The footy boss has since lifted the lid on what was going on behind the scenes, stating that his captain, Greene, had urged him to go hard on the playing cohort to get his players motivated.
‘[I was] not all that comfortable, to be fair,’ he said to SEN, reflecting on the footage.
‘It was one of those moments … probably the only time I’ve kind of lost it or been as animated as that at any time.
The footy boss has since lifted the lid on what was going on behind the scenes, stating that his captain, Greene (front-left) had urged him to go hard on the playing cohort to get his players motivated
‘In the lead up, it was a really important game for us, clearly, and Toby was pretty desperate for that sort of address to his teammates and himself… there was a bit of encouragement behind it which isn’t seen in the documentary.
‘Fortunately, it worked out OK. Yeah… we’ll see.’
He added that the fiery team talk was not one he planned to use regularly.
lk was not one he planned to use regularly.
‘You need to be who you think your players need you to be at any specific moment and that’s how I treat it,’ he said.
‘It’s very calculated. It’s very deliberate. There were reasons behind it, obviously, with the issues we were having, but you’re deliberate with who you speak to, what you’re saying, it’s always like that when you’re a coach.’
After the match, Greene was approached by Fox Footy broadcasters and asked whether it was one of the biggest he’s ever seen.
‘Yeah, it was a good one. It was a good one,’ the GWS skipper laughed.
‘We were real ordinary in the first half. Our contest, work rate — which we felt the Swans beat us the last five times just based on that — so it was super disappointing what we dished up in the first half.
The blistering spray worked, with GWS going on to boot nine goals to the Swans’ one in the third quarter on their way to securing victory
‘We were right up for this game. And then ‘Kingers’ (at half-time) obviously acknowledged it, and it was mostly on myself and the leaders.’
Finn Callaghan added that the playing group had deserved the team talk.
‘(It was) probably the biggest he’s ever given us, I reckon. The biggest I’ve received in my short AFL career,’ he told Fox Footy.
‘Look, we deserved it. Played nowhere near to our level in the first half, the Swans smashed us around the footy and their work rate was a level better than ours. So Kingers certainly gave it to us.’