The GWS Giants are seeking their first ever win against a Western Bulldogs side looking to add to their win tally for 2012. We’ll have live scores from 1.45pm AEST.
The two teams will be playing for the inaugural Prime Minister’s Cup.
While the ACT is considered the Giants’ second home, Manuka Oval is in fact a venue the Bulldogs should be quite familiar with. They have played a number of home games there in the past, meaning the clash will very much take place on neutral turf.
The Giants took a step closer to their first win last week against Adelaide, overcoming a sluggish start to play some of their best footy to date. They went down by 46 points.
The most memorable moment from the match was Israel Folau kicking his first goal in AFL footy, but quite a few of their youngsters showed promising signs.
However, the worry heading into this week is injuries. They’ve lost experienced players Rhys Palmer, Dean Brogan and Tim Mohr. Key youngsters Jeremy Cameron and Stephen Coniglio are back, but it makes things tough.
The Bulldogs won’t be overly impressed with their start to the season, with their first win coming only last week against Melbourne, and even that didn’t come easy.
The Dogs are 15th on the ladder, ahead of only Melbourne, Gold Coast and GWS.
Coming into the side this week is Brian Lake, while Daniel Giansiracusa is the most noteworthy exclusion.
Barry Hall’s retirement at the end of last year is being felt by the Dogs, with the side’s two leading goal kickers – Giansiracusa and Liam Jones – having just five goals each so far. In Gia’s absence, this is even more of a concern.
For the Giants, Cameron’s return is a welcomed one. He booted four matches in the side’s first three games, while Folau and Curtly Hampton stood up well in his absence last week.
The midfield is where the Dogs have a little extra star power. Matthew Boyd, Daniel Cross, Ryan Griffin and Adam Cooney are all consistent performers.
With Palmer out, the key players for the Giants will be Callan Ward, Tom Scully and Luke Power.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
I disagree. Many are wanting to get involved from scratch, be there from the very start - these are precisely the people that will carry the club through these early teething years.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Toa In those first three years, Jimmy Stynes spent time in the U19s, and even time in the then VFA, and it was during his 3rd year at Melbourne that he started to get some games, so I'm thinking 3 years in the system. Something similar happened with Kenneally, and obviously they both got better after those 3 years. Mind you, blokes like Marty Clarke and Zac Touhy, appeared to get there quicker, but as a general rule of thumb, 3 years in the system is a pretty good one.
andyincanberra
Guest
Was at the match yesterday, and while the crowd was not as good as I would hoped (over 10k would have been great). The vast majority were there in orange, pretty good considering everyone knew that they would lose. At the end of the day, the Giants showed enough to get most of the crowd back next time they play in Canberra (including uncovering a future champ). Especially considering it's their most winnable game of the year. I was there with a RL friend of mine that really enjoyed the afternoon, and is already keen to watch GWS vs GC.
Norm
Guest
Surely you wouldn't expect a brand new team to get more in Canberra than the Swans? 9,000 compares very well with the Raiders......not to mention the 12,000 Sth Sydney got at Homebush last night.
Other chris
Guest
Not really. Last years Swans Footscray game in Canberra got more!
MFB1991
Guest
"building something from the ground up".........thats the problem.......they're building from the top down.
Toa
Guest
Interesting.... is it your 3rd year at AFL level or 3rd year in the game?
The Cattery
Roar Guru
I can't lie, it's hard to sell a team getting flogged all the time. There's no getting away from the fact that both the Suns and giants are teams that will start winning regularly 3 or 4 years down the track. Will there be bad days and lowish crowds in the mean time? Yes, probably. But are many attracted to the idea of building something from the ground up? yes, I think many are (relatively speaking) The Giants' first quarter today was terrific, but it's no surprise that they couldn't keep it up, that's just the way it is with young teams. It's asking a lot to expect teenagers to be competitive for a full two hours agaisnt mature, experienced footy teams.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
He did a couple of good things early on. One thing I remember was a contest for the footy against Dylan Addison, who slipped over, but still had an outstretched hand on the loose ball, Issy got to the ball and while running picked it up both hands off the deck cleanly, which is quite impressive for a bloke who is 195cm. But by the 3rd quarter, he was absolutely dead on his feet. That's a conditioning thing. Karmichael has got better with the extra conditioning, and I'm sure Izzy will get better again. History shows (with Jimmy Stynes and Kenneally), it's in your 3rd year where it starts to come together, if you're going to make it as a convert.
GrantS
Guest
I never said never. I said "if ever". :>)
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Never say never. Karmichael has entered his 3rd year of Australian Football, and with both Jimmy Stynes and Kenneally, that was the magic number, and he has now put together three consecutive good games. One more pre-season, and he will be even better next season.
TW
Guest
The point raised above about the gap in early games in Sydney will be addressed by the AFL next year. Sheeds has had discussions with them apparently. The crowd figure was ok for their early development stage in Canberra. Anything above 5,000 is alright.
GrantS
Guest
Ian I have always tried to give Izzy a go because I realize how hard it is to change from one code to another but I think he still has a very long way to go. He is running around, only a few meters from the ball, without ever touching it. I think the "advertising" part of this project concerning him has worked very well but I don't know if he will ever be a truly competitive AFL player. I hope he does make it and I note that Hunt is now starting to make a bit of a name for himself so we will just have to wait and see. The experience players get coming up through the junior grades and lower competitions is hard to duplicate.
yewonk
Guest
there was a moment when izzy was moved to the ruck and the commentators were fairly sarcastic about him. i dont know if anyone can expect anything more than what he is doing, he was paid so much money he cant not play.
Western Sydney Boy
Guest
Trying my hardest to get behind this team but it seems whatever momentum the Giants had in the first round has subsided quite a bit out west here...decisions like amending the team song (to having a Canberra theme) and not having a game in the western Sydney area until the end of May means most of that have finally been attracted to the team and AFL are scratching our heads asking what about Western Sydney??? bit hard to get enthused with my giants gear sitting packed away watching the team getting flogged...to be honest, once the game was all but over in the 2 qtr I ended up flicking the channel to watch a very entertaining shute shield match!
The Cattery
Roar Guru
aflhype are you related to Camori? In Australian Football, we look at things in 150 year long stages. If the Giants can attract an additional 100 fans each year for the next 150 years, that would be 15,000 new fans by 2162, and at that point, I think we could just about call it a success. Why don't we check in at that point.
stabpass
Guest
The more naysayers, the harder they will work, they have yet to play a home game at Skoda in Sydney. Had this new team been just a Canberra team, Manuka would be sold out all year, of that i have no doubt.
aflhype
Guest
that makes it 8k average last 2 games, even Melbourne Heart had similar average after first 3 rounds if you want to compare expansion team basically no one cares for GWS the big black hole sucking in those tv dollars.
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
The Adelaide game was interesting, and this game was interesting :) Very, very good first quarter by Izzy. Very good game by Cameron - your man Patton will have to play well to break into the forward line ;)
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Really? I'm surprised to hear that. After three home games, GWS is averaging 18,000. Is that too low for you? are you seriously suggesting that 18,000 is low by A-League standards? Have you seen a good doctor lately?