WEST TEST: GIANTS TO SEE WHERE THEY STAND
GEELONG West co-captain Josh Viney says the club is excited by its 6-0 start to the GDFL season but says the next three rounds will show the side where it stands.
The Giants are on top of the ladder with the most points for and least points against through six rounds but have Bell Post Hill, East Geelong and Inverleigh to come in the next month.
“We always set out from the start to put away the early games,” Viney said. “This next three weeks, we know it’s going to be a challenge, this will be our test I guess, to see where we really are at. Hopefully we can pencil in one or two wins in the next three weeks and come away really knowing where we are at in the league.”
The way the team had jelled over the past three years had been a key driver in its undefeated start to the season, Viney said.
The Giants slipped to eighth in 2019 after playing finals in 2018, but climbed back up to sixth in 2021, two points out of the top five when Covid brought an end to the season.
“I think it’s just based off we’ve kept the majority of the team, sort of practised what we’re preaching, I guess,” he said.
“We’ve been training for it for the last probably three years and it’s finally starting to come into play and everyone’s starting to sort of jell and things are starting to come together, which has been nice.”
A key cog in the Giants’ defence, Viney said he and his teammates had not been aware of their league-best points for and against totals.
“We didn’t even take any notice of the for and against, but ‘Wighty’ (coach Mitch Wight) was telling us on the weekend about it,” he said.
“I guess it’s all down to how we’ve been training and starting to come together.”
That defence will need to be on show this weekend against Bell Post Hill to slow down the GDFL’s leading goalkicker, Will Ford.
Ford (28 goals) sits seven goals clear of Blake Dye on 21, who has kicked back-to-back bags of five majors for the Giants.
Dye has been a welcomed regular
member of the senior side after missing parts of last season due to work commitments.
“It will be a battle of the ends, battle of the forwards,” Viney said joking.
“Blakey Dye’s been unreal ... he’s come around and he’s flying.
“He’s starting to come into some form and it’s good to see.”