THE fairy tale of Greater Western Sydney and Leeton's Jacob Hopper winning their maiden AFL premiership came crashing down on Saturday afternoon at the MCG.
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The Giants got away to a good start in the first quarter, but that was the only glimmer of brilliance for the team on the day.
To his credit, Hopper played a solid game, but his side as a whole was not able to overcome the Richmond Tigers juggernaut, as they cruised to a stunning 89-point victory in front of more than 100,000 fans.
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The loss was one Hopper and his team mates are likely still grappling with.
Many are suggesting they played their grand final the weekend before in their huge upset win over Collingwood in the preliminary final.
Their inexperience showed on Saturday, but there's no taking away from them that season 2019 was their best one to date.
The loss will hurt for some time to come for the young side, but there's no doubting they'll pull the boots on again in a month or so and get back into training before the next season quickly rolls around.
Five Riverina products - Harry Perryman, Harry Himmelberg, Hopper, Zac Williams and Jeremy Finlayson played on Saturday and it will be important for the club to maintain its close links with the region in the coming years.
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