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Greater Western Sydney are confident they possess the forward firepower and the physical strength to test the Sydney Swans in Saturday’s AFL opening round derby at Spotless Stadium.
The Swans are fancied to mount another strong premiership challenge, while third year franchise GWS are determined to far exceed the one win they tallied last season.
Both teams will field well credentialed debutants, but just as striking are some of the omissions.
Former Hawthorn spearhead Lance Franklin and ex-Carlton defender Jeremy Laidler will each play their first AFL game for the Swans.
Sydney could find no room for former club champion Ryan O’Keefe, even though they were unable to pick recuperating stalwarts Adam Goodes and Kurt Tippett.
The Giants will field four newcomers, three of them premiership players, in ruckman Shane Mumford (ex-Sydney), and defenders Josh Hunt (ex- Geelong) and Heath Shaw (ex-Collingwood), plus former Bulldogs small forward Dylan Addison.
The Giants couldn’t squeeze in former Sydney midfielder Jed Lamb, and the top two picks from last year’s draft, Tom Boyd and Josh Kelly.
GWS forward Jeremy Cameron is set to play after he seemed to have no obvious mobility issues at training on Friday, after rolling an ankle last week.
Giants coach Leon Cameron was adamant his side could handle the Franklin-Sam Reid combination and pose Sydney problems with their own forwards.
“They’ve got a very very potent forward line, but we’re confident our backline has really progressed over the last couple of months,” Cameron said.
“In saying that, we’re very happy with our potent forward line as well.
“With Cameron and Jonathon Patton and Jonathan Giles as well, we feel as though we can put the acid on Sydney’s backs.”
Hunt, who won two premierships with the Cats, has noted the difference in physical stature in the third-year Giants.
“Playing against them for the last couple of years, you notice that the second year that they are a bit stronger and hit a bit harder and take hits a bit better,” Giles told AAP.
While Sydney have won all four previous derbies, Swans coach John Longmire says the Giants possess tremendous talent.
“We’ve seen their pre-season and they played really well against us and they had a great win against St Kilda and played some real quality football down in Wagga,” Longmire said.
“Then last week against Adelaide they pushed the Crows and lost by just eight points.”
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