Lachie Whitfield says the pain of recent finals defeats will spur the Giants on against Collingwood
THE Giants are coming off one of their best performances of the season. However, the pain of multiple finals failures hasn’t left the playing group, with Lachie Whitfield explaining why the club is desperate to keep winning.
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THE preliminary final pain still burns for Lachie Whitfield who is determined to ensure that if given the chance, the Giants don’t make it three years running.
Greater Western Sydney will face Collingwood in an MCG semi-final this weekend, having fallen short in preliminary finals for the last two years.
And Whitfield said that the defeats in the penultimate weeks of September only spur him further.
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“It does … it’s hard to explain, because I’ve never experienced a Grand Final week or a loss in a Grand Final or a win in a Grand Final,” he said.
“We just know how prelims are at the moment, so hopefully once we get to that we’ll try and deal with it.
“But at the moment it’s just good to get this win and I’m looking forward to it.”
Whitfield revealed the flu-like illness that had plagued his bye week, having stayed back in Melbourne after the Giants’ Round 23 loss to the Demons in an effort to boost himself back to full health before the finals series.
“I lost a few kilos post our last game against Melbourne,” he said.
“The two weeks (off) definitely helped.
“But I’m in full health now and I’m ready to go next week.”
Whitfield, who was heavily negated by Sydney in the two teams’ two home and away season meetings this year, was given a different midfield role by coach Leon Cameron for Saturday night’s SCG clash.
And it worked, with Whitfield one of the best Giants on the ground, gathering 29 disposals and laying five tackles to be crucial in the rampant victory.
It marked another chapter in a year the Victorian has made one to remember following his recent All-Australian selection.
Whitfield, 24, only last week admitted he feared may never reach the elite level expected of him after a tumultuous 2016 off-season that saw him slapped with a six-month ban for attempting to avoid a drug test.
“The coin has probably flipped a bit for me this year,” he said of the shift in fortunes.
“It’s good to get a couple more touches (against Sydney), because I’ve had a pretty tough time against the Swannies in the last two games this year. A bit of a change in role probably helped that. It was good coaching from Leon.”
It also marked the first time Whitfield had exhausted himself to the point of vomiting on the sideline during the third quarter.
“It was probably the first time I’ve done that – run myself to throw up. It was an exhausting game, and it always is against the Swans,” he said.
“We admire them so much in the way they go about it all. You’ve just got to leave everything out there. We’ve got six days now to recover and we’ve just got to get ready for next week.”
He recognised the significance of the comprehensive defeat, and said the Giants would savour the “sweet” victory over their local rival for just one day before turning their attention to the Magpies.
“It’s always good beating Sydney,” Whitfield smiled.
“We haven’t had a great 18 months against them – I think they’d won six out of our last seven encounters, including preseason games. To get them in a final is pretty sweet.”
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Originally published as Lachie Whitfield says the pain of recent finals defeats will spur the Giants on against Collingwood