Being inside a football club makes it very easy to focus on the day-to-day things that seem like the biggest issues in the world at the time.

In reality, they aren’t even a blip on the radar to the outside world.

Welcome to a new online series that takes you behind-the-scenes to show you what the GIANTS are all about and why we truly are a club like no other.

Reflecting on Zac Williams’ passionate plea for online racial abuse to stop, you can’t help but be struck by how far he has come.

As co-captain Phil Davis put so eloquently on the Footy Phil podcast last week, Zac arrived at the GIANTS at the end of 2012 as a “fat kid from Narrandera” who was so shy and unsure of himself, he wouldn’t even take his shirt off.

Over time Zac found confidence. First this shone through on the field with him developing a reputation as one of the most damaging half backs in the game.

But recently, this has also extended to his off-field actions and behaviour too.

Those closest to Zac admire the leadership role he’s taking amongst the Indigenous players at the club, clearly demonstrated when he stepped up to the microphones on Wednesday to say how much pain online abuse causes the whole Indigenous community.

The strong statement by Leon Cameron and the players wasn’t for show.

This was a bold statement led by the football department on an issue they feel very strong about.

Days earlier at GIANTS Stadium, vice-captain Stephen Coniglio stepped away from his normal pre-game routine to join Essendon’s Adam Saad as they placed black arm bands on each other to pay respect to those that had recently lost their lives in the Christchurch massacre.

A simple sign of unity that goes a long way in bridging the divide that exists in some parts of society at present.

Coniglio is a proud Italian man and has developed a strong connection with the Islamic community over the years through his work as a Multicultural Ambassador.

He recently took an idea to senior figures of the club to further engage this community by launching a mentoring program under his name for multicultural students across Western Sydney.

This has resulted in a significant Government grant that will help establish the Stephen Coniglio-Amanda Farrugia Community Program for young boys and girls to engage in our game and learn off our club’s best role models.

Many know Sam Reid as the journeyman who’s playing the best football of his 65-game career as he approaches his 30th birthday.

So moved was he by the carnage in Christchurch that he approached the club with the idea to take to the field with a well-known New Zealand symbol of a silver fern next to his playing number (50) to represent the number of lives lost on the other side of the Tasman.

This is a man who’s dealing with Type 1 Diabetes only a daily basis and is expecting the birth of his first child later this year. But instead of himself, he’s thinking of others – none of whom he had ever crossed paths with.

For those that were at GIANTS Stadium last Sunday, you would have notice that ever reliable defender Nick Haynes missed his first game since June 2017.

While he’s struggled with a back injury in recent months, Haynes turned his time and effort towards life outside of football, working on the Acknowledgment of Country video that gets shown before every home game.

With little experience behind him, Haynes passionately threw himself in the deep end with this project  to plan, direct and edit the piece that features the club’s four Indigenous players across the GIANTS’ AFL and AFLW programs.

This is no easy feat and had everyone blown away by the effort Haynes put in.

While it’s easy to often paint professional athletes with a broad brush, it’s important to be able to step back from time to time to see what else motivates them.

Zac, Stephen, Sam and Nick didn’t do these things with publicity in mind, rather it was four individuals using their positions and profiles to speak up for what is important for them.