GIANTS coach Leon Cameron won’t need to give his charges any extra motivation ahead of Saturday night’s Sydney Derby at the SCG.

The rivalry between the two sides and the bragging rights that are at stake in the fourteenth clash between the GIANTS and the Swans is motivation enough.

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“The rivalry’s there, it’s been there for the last two or three years in terms of being real,” Cameron said on Tuesday. 

“We’ve become a lot more competitive and come up to standard so it’s a lot more real. 

“The players love playing against each other, there’s no hiding from that, as they’re good tough contests and that’s what a rivalry should be.

“In terms of the coach trying to get up our players I don’t see that this week as both sides are going to run out and try and belt each other up and win the game.” 

The GIANTS and the Swans have already played each other twice in 2018, with the Swans winning both the practice match at Henson Park in late February and a hotly contested JLT Community Series clash at Blacktown International Sportspark in early March. 

The GIANTS aren’t reading into those results with co-captain Callan Ward expecting Saturday’s clash to be another tough encounter between the two sides.

“Obviously playing against quality opposition you always take stuff out of it, I guess they’re only pre-season games,” he said. 

‘It’s always a very high-intensity game against the Swans, they play a terrific brand of footy that we’ve always respected so no doubt it’ll be no different this weekend.”

The GIANTS’ record at the SCG doesn’t daunt Ward either. Their win over the Swans in round five last year was their first-ever win at the historic ground after four defeats.

“Last year was a long time ago, 2018 is a whole brand new year,” Ward said. 

“We’re playing different footy, the Swans are playing different footy so you can’t take too much from last year.” 

The GIANTS play the Swans at the SCG in round three of the 2018 Toyota AFL Premiership season on Saturday, April 7 at 7:25pm.