GWS Giants confident they can mount a charge towards the AFL finals in the run home
GREATER Wester Sydney’s win over Adelaide has given the club a huge boost as they look to mount a finals charge but will count for nothing if they can’t back it up this week, says Dylan Shiel.
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GREATER Western Sydney midfield gun Dylan Shiel says the Giants’ history-making win over the Crows at Adelaide Oval won’t add up to much if they don’t beat Gold Coast at Spotless Stadium on Saturday.
The victory was their first at the venue against Adelaide in five attempts and broke a four-game losing streak.
They still remain well out of the eight in 11th spot but with the season only at the halfway mark there is a growing feeling the Giants can mount a charge towards the finals in the run home.
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“A win like that certainly help turn our season around after a difficult month,” Shiel said.
“The mood around the footy club has definitely lifted but if we don’t back it up against Gold Coast then it’s going to count for nothing. Hopefully we can get two on the trot.”
Shiel says the Suns are playing a different type of football under their new coach Stuart Dew which demands respect.
“We won’t be taking Gold Coast lightly at all,” Shiel said.
“We’ve seen a clear shift in their brand of football from last year to this year under Stuart Dew. We will expect them to play a real contested brand of footy.
The Giants have copped a belting from the critics over recent weeks and Shiel said the team had some meaningful discussions themselves about their poor performances.
“We had been challenged externally in the footy world,” Shiel said.
“Leon, the coaches and the players challenge each other. During a difficult month we had some difficult conversations that needed to be had.
“In our last four weeks we didn’t put the four quarters together or even three. There were 10 to 15 minute patches where we let ourselves down and we were heavily scored against.”
The players copped their fair share of the heat but Leon Cameron bore the brunt of the criticism over the last month and took it on the chin. Shiel believes his coach’s ability to wear absorb the pressure and shield his players played a part in the victory in Adelaide.
“Leon handled those four weeks really well,” Shiel said.
“He was able to take a lot of the pressure off the players that’s for sure. In Sydney we’re able to hide away from it a little bit we don’t take too much notice of what is being said about us externally.
“Leon was certainly able to motivate us for the weekend in Adelaide and it was good to see we were able to deliver.”
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