GWS Giants have declared ‘Sydney is our town’ as they leave Swans in the shade for the first time

GWS Giants have claimed Sydney and the stars everyone thought would leave, don’t want to go anywhere. Josh Kelly says the tightness of the Giants group is added incentive to fire in September.

GWS Giants star players Lachie Whitfield, Jeremy Cameron and Josh Kelly ahead of their final with the Bulldogs. Picture. Phil Hillyard

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The battle of the bridge has been won.

The Sydney Swans’ ‘Mad Monday’ has been and gone already, and for the first time ever, the Greater Western Sydney Giants are the only show in town for the AFL finals.

Now the focus is on settling another score against the Western Bulldogs in Saturday’s blockbuster do-or-die final at Giants Stadium.

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Lachie Whitfield, Jeremy Cameron and Josh Kelly can’t wait for the finals. Pic: Phil Hillyard

Doomsayers from south of the border have almost willed GWS to fail, and delighted in predicting which is the latest Giants star seeking an exit ticket to Melbourne.

But Josh Kelly and Stephen Coniglio have knocked back multi-million offers to jump ship and the Giants are confident fellow superstars Jeremy Cameron and Lachie Whitfield will also stay strong and put pen to paper when it’s their turn next year.

Kelly, one of the premier players in the competition, admits the temptation to head home to Melbourne is always there for him — but declares the dressing room culture at GWS trumps all other factors.

The children of GWS may have been transplanted in Sydney to begin with, but now they don’t want to leave.

“Growing up in Melbourne, it’s something I’ve definitely always been interested in, or wondered about,” Kelly told The Daily Telegraph.

“But I think the benefits we get up in Sydney (outweigh that). Just knowing we are going about it away from the limelight and out of the eyes of the Melbourne media — I’m not sure if it’s a motivation, but we definitely feel like we’ve got extra reason to want to perform better, because we are just a tiny group.

“We don’t have as many outside groups of friends or relatives up here, so we do spend a lot of time with each other and that’s part of why we have such a strong culture.

“There is a reason everybody is hanging round.”

Kelly insists the Giants aren’t making up the numbers in this year’s finals — there is a belief from within that this can be the year for GWS.

“What we’ve learnt this year is our best footy can match it and beat the rest,” he says.

“We take that confidence and that belief ... we can go all the way because we’re as motivated as ever and we feel as though we’re in a great position. Now it’s about executing on game day.”

Kelly committed to a two-year deal earlier this year, with options in his favour to make him a Giant for life.

Coniglio has gone all-in on that lifetime pledge, for $2.8 million less than he could have commanded elsewhere, and although the midfielder is still out injured, his decision is inspiring the Giants into action against the Bulldogs.

Kelly says he never felt like he was out on the ledge when he took the plunge earlier this year and it took Coniglio the entire regular season to make up his mind.

But the gun midfielder certainly feels better now.

“It’s massive. To have that locked away no doubt it gives the boys a bit of a boost and the team in general,” says Kelly.

“It definitely feels better knowing that Cogs is hanging around.”