Grown-up Giants leave Swans thunderstruck

As it has for the past three seasons in Sydney, the start of the AFL season meant the local derby; the Battle of the Bridge. The Greater Western Sydney Giants versus the Sydney Swans.

For the first time ever, the Giants hosted the game on their regular home ground, now called Spotless Stadium, in the Olympic Park precinct.

As the fans travelled to the game, the weather bureau was putting out warnings of a wild thunderstorm, but the ground was still bathed in sunshine as the game got under way.

The Giants had been talking themselves up before the game, but it looked like a mismatch.

Sure, the Giants had recruited well, but it was mainly a team of talented but inexperienced players who would be expected to show some improvement this year.

Against them were the star-studded Swans – premiers in 2012, top four last year. A team so strong that Norm Smith Medallist Ryan O’Keefe had been left out of the original team selection before a late injury replacement saw him reinstated.

A team that had controversially recruited the highest-paid superstar in the game, Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin.

The Swans didn’t have everything their own way in the early exchanges, as the Giants put them under pressure.

But as the quarter ticked on, the dark clouds rolled in. Lightning and thunder, the gaps between them reducing. The heavens opened.

On the field, it was three goals apiece as the time ticked past the 20-minute mark. But as the weather show intensified, so did the Swans.

Buddy curled a shot home from a tight angle, and moments later Gary Rohan slammed a goal through. The siren sounded with the Swans 13 points ahead; and as it did, a lightning flash and immediate thunder clap saw a metal object fall from a light tower.

The players and officials were ordered from the field, the crowd moving back under cover and play was delayed for 20 minutes. This must be what the Swans’ team song means by “Shake down the thunder from the sky”.

And the Swans would have had every expectation of singing that song as Ben McGlynn won a free kick in the opening minutes of the second term and kicked truly.

The Swans were 20 points ahead and the Giants team of seasons past would probably have dropped their heads as the momentum had swung against them.

But this year is different. This time round, the Giants were going to fight back.

Shane ‘Mummy’ Mumford, who crossed over from the Swans to the Giants, was getting on top of Mike Pyke in the ruck.

Meanwhile up forward, Jeremy Cameron kicked a double and then Tom Scully converted a set shot from a tight angle. The Giants had won the quarter, and just seven points separated the sides at the long break.

The third quarter was a scrap, both sides struggling to control a heavy and slippery ball. Day was turning into night, the pressure around the ball intense. Goals were hard to come by.

And in the crowd, the atmosphere was building. After the earlier rain, most of them stayed back under cover. The Swans may have had a slight majority in the crowd, but it was the Giants who were making far more noise.

In the cheer squad, the flagpoles were banging into the metal floor as the capo turned to the crowd, raising his arms and calling for everybody to join in the noise. Scores were rare, but the Giants had the answer to every challenge the Swans would set.

The three-quarter time siren sounded, the Giants trailing by just three points. Could they possibly pull off the upset of the century?

The Swans pressed forward early in the last term, with Buddy Franklin having a set shot. But to the delight of the crowd, his shot sailed wide.

“What a waste of money!” roared the Cheer Squad, as the banner went up – “Buddys come and go, but you only get one Mummy”.

But for 16 tension-packed minutes, neither team could penetrate the big sticks. Nerves were building, pressure was intense.

People known for their calmness in times of crisis were trembling like leaves. Who would break the deadlock?

It was Stephen Coniglio who stood tall, roving a handball from Patton and slamming it through to level the scores. And a couple of minutes later, Adam Kennedy pounced on a fumble and ran the ball through the big sticks to give the Giants the lead.

Suddenly, you could feel the momentum had swung. The Giants, uncompetitive for most of their games so far, had the sniff of victory in their nostrils. They wanted this, they had a sniff, and they weren’t letting go.

Jeremy Cameron marked on his chest and kicked truly. Then Sam Frost added another. And the crowd was going bezerk.

The roar was deafening. “Here come the Giants!” reverberated around the stadium, the crowd revelling in the atmosphere they were creating.

They had claimed the scalp of the cross-town rivals, the premiership favourites. No easy pickings up here any more.

Lachie Whitfield put the icing on the cake in the dying seconds. And then the siren sounded and the team song blared across the PA system. “It’s a big big sound from the west of the town, it’s the sound of the mighty Giants.”

It’s Round 1 of a long season. It’s four points. But it’s more than that.

After two seasons when there was a fair expectation that the Giants would get belted, this result shows they’ve built themselves into a competitive team. A team capable of matching it with the best, and even knocking them off.

The inexperienced young kids have grown up to truly become Giants.