It’s hard work barracking for Richmond, but I’ve done so since my great-grandmother steered me towards the yellow and black when I was a kid. I know all too well that pre-season hopes of glory are inevitably dashed by on-field failure. After the Great Richmond Disappointment of 2015 (also known as the round four loss to Melbourne), I took the only sensible course of action available to me: a Facebook post proclaiming that I now supported the GWS GIANTS – the AFL’s newest club, a club with a future. 

Not being one to limit my life decisions to the confines of Facebook, I became a paid-up member of the GIANTS the following day. I had a couple of listens to the club song and set off to the Northcote Pool to commit the words to memory. Thirty laps later I had the words down pat and even got the hang of the tricky bit at the start. I was now a GIANTS supporter.

Four rounds into season 2015, the GIANTS had three wins and one loss, a respectable start to the season, but not enough to rouse the interest of the Melbourne-based football media. I watched the next couple of GIANTS games on TV (a disappointing loss to West Coast and a magnificent win over Hawthorn) and then set off to Etihad Stadium to see the GIANTS beat Carlton. I had somehow become privy to a big secret. These GIANTS were good, seriously good. I was hooked.

Fast forward to this year and I had no hesitation renewing my GIANTS membership. Much to the bemusement of friends and family, I now support two clubs and today is the inevitable test of my loyalties as I watch the Tigers take on the GIANTS from my Melbourne lounge room. Today I’m wearing my GIANTS beanie.

When the game began, the Richmond players took up their positions as training cones on Manuka Oval. A quick goal to Callan Ward was followed by a goal to Dylan Shiel and the floodgates opened. In just one superb quarter of football the GIANTS kicked eight goals three to the Tigers’ one behind. The GIANTS were well on their way to their first win over Richmond and payback for the 2014 thrashing at Spotless Stadium (which has been my one and only road trip to the GIANTS’ heartland).

During the second quarter, the Tigers put up a little more resistance but the GIANTS played with skill and poise that seemingly gives them the time and space to hit targets and move the ball at will. The third quarter was quieter, with both sides adding two goals two and Rory Lobb leaving the field with an ankle injury. But this was just the calm before the storm of the fourth quarter when the GIANTS again hit the accelerator and – as a percentage booster for the team that already boasts the best percentage in the competition – added a further 26 points to their score while conceding just one point. If not for the efforts of Alex Rance and Dustin Martin, Richmond would have been beaten by much more than 88 points.

Stephen Coniglio, Tom Scully, Heath Shaw and Dylan Shiel had plenty of the ball, but the statistics for number of disposals hide the fact that the GIANTS play as a team rather than a group of individuals competing for the ball among themselves as well as against the opposition. Everywhere on the field GIANTS players run hard, either streaming forward to support each other and provide a target, or getting back to put defensive pressure on opposition forwards. Individual statistics seem secondary to team success, but I did love that Sam Reid kicked three goals in the fairy tale resurrection of his AFL career.

While I’m saddened by the capitulation of Richmond during season 2016, I’m fed up with their excuses and empty promises. The GIANTS are impressive on and off the field and I’m excited as they head towards their first finals appearance and the real possibility of a top-two finish.

Gill is a Melbourne-based GIANTS supporter who spends her workdays at a university listening to sports radio. She often wears her GIANTS beanie while walking her dogs by the Merri Creek during Melbourne's cold wintry mornings.

More stories and other fan-writing can be found on the GIANTS page at www.footyalmanac.com.au