In just five days, the GIANTS will take on AFL superstars for the first time ever. The GIANTS will play the Sydney Swans and Gold Coast Suns in their first NAB Cup match at Blacktown Olympic Park on Saturday February 19. At the GIANTS post-training press conference, coach Kevin Sheedy and star recruit Dylan Shiel offered some insight into the sentiments inside the GIANTS camp.
Sheedy didn’t underestimate the challenge facing the GIANTS this weekend but was enthusiastic about the learning experience that competing in the NAB Cup posed for his young club.
“We’re probably going out of club athletics and into the Olympic Games. It’s a big step but from that point of view it’s a great opportunity for us and we have to grab it.
“It’s a great opportunity to have three teams out here to Blacktown. It’s something that’s never been done before. We will have three teams playing out here in Western Sydney and it will be the first time in the history of the AFL.
“It’s a terrific chance for young players to find out how far they’ve got to go to lift the bar at training,” he said.
The GIANTS coach was also positive about the talent that the club had already secured and urged competitors not to underestimate them on Saturday night.
“We’re very happy with our rookies. We think that Jonothan Giles, Steven Clifton and young Andrew Phillips from Tasmania might be very good players for this club.
“I’ve had players out there who were no names at the time that we put them on the ground. We put Dustin Fletcher out there at 17 and James Hird at 18 and they ended up being superstars.
“You never know when you are going to go out there and play on one of the games greatest ever players when they’re you’re opponent. Be very, very wary of when you run out, thinking you’re only playing against a 17 or 18 year old because he might end up being a champion one day and you were the first person to play on him.
“Last week we played quite well, we just didn’t get the scores on the board.
“I’ve got no doubt that we’ll take the both games. If you don’t think positively, you shouldn’t be going out there,” Sheedy said.
Victorian GIANT Dylan Shiel echoed the rising excitement among the GIANTS players ahead of Saturday’s match.
“Everyone is really excited. It’s like a Grand Final for us, we’ve been looking forward to it for a few months now and the vibe around the club has been fantastic. We’re really going to enjoy the experience, that’s what we are going to take out of this match.
“We just really want to do our best. Like Sheeds said, I think we’ve got to go into the game positively and give it our best shot,” Shiel said.
