Giants pumped for first AFL clash at MCG
There are few genuine `firsts’ remaining for Greater Western Sydney, but the AFL’s expansion club will tick off another on Sunday when they play at the MCG.
While Sunday’s clash with Melbourne is being billed as the Tom Scully soap opera, most of the young Giants are more concerned about playing at the home of football for the first time.
“It is a special occasion,” GWS co-captain Callan Ward said.
“The MCG is such a historic ground for AFL. I love playing there.
“There’s quite a few guys who will be playing there for the first time and they’re all pretty excited.”
GWS will start underdogs like every other game to date this season, but many believe this weekend is their best chance for a win since downing Gold Coast in round seven.
Ward said his teammates weren’t in that frame of mind.
But the 22-year-old, who has been in outstanding form and arguably the club’s best player, admitted the Giants would take a lot of confidence from their competitive last-start 12-point loss to Richmond.
“It definitely was (our best performance for the season),” he said.
“We stuck with the Cats in the first half and dropped away hugely in the last half – same the week before (against Essendon).
“On the weekend we did play four pretty good quarters – but there were a few patches where we dropped away.
“It was another small step in the right direction again. I think we’ve improved the last four or five weeks, which is good.”
Meanwhile, GWS part-time assistant coach Dermott Brereton implored forward duo Jonathon Patton and Jeremy Cameron to ignore the hype this week.
Patton and Cameron played their first AFL match together against the Tigers, earning plenty of plaudits for their work in the wet.
“Sometimes game two can be a letdown,” he told GWS’s official website.
“Every time we hear somebody turn around and say `Well done. Fantastic. Look you guys are going to be good’ … people tend to relax.
“So I’d say make sure the second outing is better than the first.
“Make sure it’s the most hungry and aggressive game these two have ever played in their lives.”
© AAP 2013
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The Crowd Says (6) | Page 1 of Comments
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June 22nd 2012 @ 7:54am
Norm said | June 22nd 2012 @ 7:54am | Report comment
GWS have dobe a lot of travelling this year. I wonder how they will pull up this Sunday? Their 1st year was always going to be tough, but they have had lots stacked against them.
June 22nd 2012 @ 3:31pm
Mike said | June 22nd 2012 @ 3:31pm | Report comment
Yes, the poor things. They deserve more credit for all the floggings they have been getting.
June 23rd 2012 @ 7:55am
Damo said | June 23rd 2012 @ 7:55am | Report comment
It’ll be interesting to see how many GWS fans will come to this game to celebrate their first game at the G
June 23rd 2012 @ 2:18pm
Minister for Information for the Democratic People's Republic of Football said | June 23rd 2012 @ 2:18pm | Report comment
Not fair!
June 24th 2012 @ 11:39am
Recalcitrant said | June 24th 2012 @ 11:39am | Report comment
What is going on at AFL HQ in regards to Tasmania?
Either a 19th club or a Melbourne club will be playing out of their permanently.
Long over due!
If you are from the AFL reading this, too many people know so you should go public!
June 24th 2012 @ 1:45pm
Timmuh said | June 24th 2012 @ 1:45pm | Report comment
Why would the AFL put a team in Tasmania. It would lose far money much faster than any existing club (excpt perhaps GWS) with no prospect of ever improving. The AFL is focussed on the revenue, there is already more money flowing into the AFL from Tasmania than is maintainable. And there is no prospect of TV revenues increasing, Tasmanians already watch the AFL at higher per capita rate than any other state. Even if there was some prospect of a slight viewing increase, advertising rates in Tasmania are so low that any increase in revenue to AFL would be negligible. This is for two reasons, its not covered by major networks, meaning another middle man is invovled but mostly because, like most regional areas that aren’t in the mining boom, the place has an economy closer to New Zealand’s than to Melbourne’s
What Tasmania needs from the AFL is not an AFL team, but for some funding and that the current management in Tassie be sacked. They could be replaced with a bunch of echidnas with learning difficulties and things would improve.
Some money must be available for senior football, to keep local clubs and the state league alive. Everything that filters down to clubs form the AFL at present must be spent on administrative junkets and junior development and “AFL pathways”. None of it is allowed to be spent on anything that is not designed to feed 18 year olds to the AFL draft.