Following an impressive pre-season in which they finished as the second-best performed team in the NAB Challenge, the GWS Giants will enter their fourth year in the AFL with very high hopes and expectations.
The Giants just missed out on being the best-performed team during the NAB Challenge, when they went down by just a kick to the Sydney Swans in their final warm-up match before they face St Kilda at Etihad Stadium in Round 1.
Nevertheless, Leon Cameron’s men finished with the best percentage of any other team in the NAB Challenge with 140.98 per cent, just ahead of fellow 2014 strugglers the Western Bulldogs (140.00%) and the Brisbane Lions (124.84%). The Lions ended the pre-season as the best-performed team overall with two wins and a draw.
They scored impressive wins over the Gold Coast Suns (by 36 points) and Essendon (45 points) prior to the narrow loss to the Swans, though both the Suns and Bombers were weakened by the absence of key players.
Despite facing undermanned opposition, the form shown by the Giants throughout the NAB Challenge could do enough to suggest that after three years in the bottom three, the club could start taking a direction for the better in 2015.
And there is no reason why the club cannot take the next step forward this season, especially after they landed Ryan Griffen and Joel Patfull from the Bulldogs and Lions respectively during what was an eventful off-season for the club.
Both Griffen and Patfull proved their worth in the two games they played during the NAB Challenge, especially with the former being a clear best-on-ground in the win over the Suns with over 30 disposals.
They will also be desperate to bank on Jeremy Cameron rediscovering the form that saw him kick 62 goals and earn All-Australian status in 2013, especially with Tom Boyd having left the club and Jonathan Patton not expected back until mid-season as he recovers from another long-term knee injury.
Cameron kicked five goals against the Swans, showing signs of his best form after enduring a disappointing 2014 season through ear and ankle injuries.
One player to watch out for in 2015 is Cam McCarthy, nicknamed ‘Sunshine’, who made his AFL debut in the final round of last season as the Giants beat the Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium.
Living up to his nickname, McCarthy kicked seven goals across the three matches including a pair of hat-tricks against the Suns and Bombers, doing enough to suggest that he will be a regular fixture in the Giants’ forward line this season.
And now that the NAB Challenge is over, the countdown is now on to the season proper.
The Giants will face St Kilda (Etihad Stadium), Melbourne (StarTrack Oval), the Sydney Swans (SCG) and Gold Coast Suns (StarTrack Oval) in the first four rounds of the premiership season.
The matches against the Saints and Demons are winnable, while the Suns match on ANZAC Day could go either way. In the Giants’ advantage is that they will be the home side for this match while the Suns will have just come off a six-day break (and the dreaded trip to Geelong, which won’t be on the Giants’ agenda in 2015).
It’s conceivable the club could be 3-1 by the time they make the dreaded trip west to face the West Coast Eagles, one of the few clubs that has given the Giants hell over the last three seasons with three wins by an average of 97.3 points.
The club will then get its chance to shine against two-time reigning premiers Hawthorn who in Round 6 will travel to Spotless Stadium. Given it’s the first time the Hawks will play there, the Giants will want to make the most of the commercial opportunities the club has been offered.
And they’ll want to learn a lesson from the Gold Coast Suns, who copped a 99-point hiding from the Hawks in Round 4 last season. That may have been one of the reasons why the Suns won’t have a home game against them this season.
Speaking of commercial opportunities, the Giants will be involved in the biggest grudge match of the season when they face Ryan Griffen’s old club, and the club where Tom Boyd defected to, the Western Bulldogs, at Etihad Stadium in Round 9.
Given the events that occurred during the off-season, when then-Bulldogs captain Griffen dropped a bombshell announcing that he wanted to join GWS, and Boyd went the reverse direction citing homesickness, the match promises to be a very spiteful one.
Back at home, the Giants will also welcome Joel Patfull’s old club, the Brisbane Lions, and St Kilda, to Spotless Stadium for the first time before they take their turn in hosting the Sydney Derby in Round 21.
With a blockbuster home schedule which includes playing modern-day AFL heavyweights Hawthorn and the Sydney Swans, and a talented playing list bolstered by the addition of two experienced players, 2015 shapes as the year in which the Giants need to start standing tall.
And if the Giants can live up to their motto and their name, then the AFL’s investment and faith in them will be well and truly vindicated.
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Things heating up in Canberra!
We’re taking a look at one player from each team that needs to make a difference this week, starting with the ANZAC Day games.
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