Young draftees Jarrod Pickett and Paul Ahern had their best performance to date in the UWS GIANTS’ 16-point win over the Gold Coast Reserves on Saturday.

The talented duo, who were dangerous across half forward, showed glimpses of why they were taken with pick four and pick seven respectively in the 2014 NAB AFL Draft.

UWS GIANTS coach Brett Hand said he was pleased to see his young players perform well in such a tight contest at Spotless Stadium.

“That was Ahern's best game by a long way,” Hand said.

“He was clean at stoppages, made the right decisions and his disposal efficiency was good throughout the match.

“It was a similar story for Jarrod Picket who was exceptional up forward and gave us a spark when we needed it.”

Ahern had 29 touches, six marks and kicked two goals while Pickett had 17 touches and five marks.

The UWS GIANTS were pushed hard by the Suns reserves in a see-sawing match that saw the GIANTS kick five of the last eight goals of the game to keep the Suns at bay.

Defender Nathan Wilson again put his hand up for senior selection on the back of a best on ground performance while Jake Barrett amassed 28 touches, seven marks and nine tackles.

Fans also saw the return of rookie-listed GIANT Sam Schulz who played the second half of the match after having hip surgery earlier this year.

“It’s been tough for Sam so it was good to see him get through his first game after an injury-interrupted pre-season,” Hand said.

“Hopefully now that he’s back on the track he can find some form and we look forward to him playing some good footy.”

The UWS GIANTS kicked off a successful day for the club with the senior side going on to beat Adelaide by 24 points.

The UWS GIANTS have a bye this week before returning to Spotless Stadium to play Brisbane Reserves on Sunday, June 7.

 

UWS GIANTS 18-14 (122) defeated Gold Coast Reserves 15.16 (106)

BEST - N. Wilson, P. Ahern, J. Barrett, J. Pickett, T. Downie, A. Corr

GOALS - T. Downie 3, T. Powell 2, L. Tiziani 2, R. Lobb 2, S. Reid 2, P. Ahern 2, C. Byrne, D. Addison, J. Lamb, A. Phillips, J. Barrett