Giants make their mark
IT’S been the talk that’s given Bleak City an even gloomier outlook than usual this week – how the AFL giftwrapped GWS this year’s premiership.
And next year’s. If you listen to the critics, the poor Melbourne clubs will be lucky to sniff a flag in the next five years.
Try telling Dylan Shiel and Tom Scully that.
The midfield guns have been on board the Giants’ roller-coaster from the start.
They played together in the Giants’ first game at Spotless Stadium, a 66-point loss to Essendon in Round 9, 2012. Just 11,886 fans turned up to watch history.
That thrashing was not an outlier, just the norm for a bunch of kids playing against men.
They had to endure floggings that many AFL ‘experts’ predicted would break their spirit.
In their debut season they won two games. Next year, one. They lost 10 games by more than 100 points.
Like the Gold Coast Suns, they had concessions, but unlike the Suns they used that help to build a united squad desperate to achieve success together. Today they face the Western Bulldogs at a packed Spotless Stadium for a place in the grand final.
It’s a journey they’ve shared with their small but growing band of members and supporters.
“Our fans have been through thick and thin with us over the last five years and we always get fantastic support at Spotless Stadium,” Shiel said.
“To see our membership grow to over 15,000 this year and to have a lot of them at the ground to cheer us on will be great.
“Spotless is rated the number one stadium in the AFL and both players and fans think it’s a fantastic place for football.”
After a rocky start where they lost 11 of their first 12 matches at Spotless, the Giants have turned the best little stadium in the west into a fortress, losing just four of their last 16 matches at the venue.
They’ve beaten Hawthorn there the last two times they’ve met, including a 75-point drubbing in Round 6 this year.
They also beat today’s opponents, the Bulldogs, by 25 points earlier this season.
“We’ve played some good footy at home this year and our record has improved there each year,” Shiel said.
“We love playing at Spotless and we love the support we get there, but we also know we’re coming up against a team who successfully made one of the hardest road trips to Perth a couple of weeks ago.”
If GWS win they will tie the record set by the West Coast Eagles in 1991, when they qualified for a grand final in just five years in the competit- ion. But unlike the Eagles, the Giants have done it in rugby league heartland and had to move almost 80 per cent of their on-field and off-field staff from interstate.
Shiel was one of those who took a punt on a club which was nothing more than an idea six years ago.
“We can’t wait game,” Shiel said.
“There’s been a real sense of excitement around the club all week and to play in front of a packed house at Spotless Stadium with plenty of Giants and Dogs supporters will make for a fantastic atmosphere.
“To be in a prelim final is great for the club.” for the