When the Greater Western Sydney GIANTS boarded a plane south ahead of their Round 10 clash with Geelong, it was a familiar sight for a number of GIANTS staff and players.
One of those former cats is GIANTS Assistant Coach Alan McConnell who spent seven years at the Cattery before taking up a position as the AIS AFL Academy Coach.
McConnel, who has spent the best part of two decades mentoring and developing young AFL talent, said that the GIANTS were in a similar situation to the Geelong Football Club when he was involved.
“It’s interesting – you can make a lot of comparisons about what Geelong was like in the early 2000s and where we are at right now.
“They had a young midfield that they were looking to redevelop, teaching them to play the game while they were playing the game.
“It’s not dissimilar to where our boys are,” McConnell said.
“I think tomorrow will be another great challenge for our players against another team with high credentials.
“The ground is probably 10 or 15 meters longer than where we’ve normally been playing this year so we will really need to move the ball; otherwise you never get inside 50.
“I think that will suit our players and we will handle ourselves quite well.”
McConnell also commented on Devon Smith and Taylor Adams, products of the Geelong Falcon’s Football Club at Under 18 level and the excitement that the pair will be feeling ahead of their first AFL game in their hometown.
“I think they’ll be pretty excited.
“Hopefully they will do well tomorrow in different ways, one of them is really hard at it and tough in the contest and the other is running around our forward line kicking goals.”
By Rebecca Mills
