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.”
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