Greater Western Sydney out for big scalps at the end of the AFLW season

GWS could not have a tougher end to the AFLW season. But if you think this team is going to limp to the finish line, guess again. The Giants are talking tough ahead of the club’s final matches.

Louise Stephenson in action for the Giants. Picture: AAP Images

GWS Giants could not have a tougher end to the season.

It has been a disappointing 2019 so far, with just one win from their five matches and they now face playing the two sides that sit atop each conference in Adelaide and Geelong.

It sets a challenge for the team though.

AFLW TEAMS: KEY PIES RETURN IN HUNT FOR FIRST WIN

CONFERENCES: WHO WILL BENEFIT FROM LOPSIDED DRAW?

Mathematically they are still a chance of making the finals and so the Giants plan to put everything into their final regular season games and take a couple of big scalps in doing so.

“First and foremost we’re going there to win. We want to win and anything less is really, really disappointing,” said midfielder Jess Dal Pos.

“The way we look at it is, what an opportunity. We’ve got Adelaide in Adelaide at the top of their game and then we’ve got Geelong in Canberra and we love playing in Canberra and Canberra has a supporter base that we really need to engage with and reward with good footy.

The GWS Giants want to end the season on a high. Picture: Getty Images

“So we’ve got two weeks of probably blockbuster games for us that we’re actually really looking forward to. And what an opportunity to, even though things haven’t gone our way, throw down and show everybody a bit of heart and a little bit of what the club stands for.”

It hasn’t been the season the Giants wanted in terms of wins and losses, but it is about more than that according to Dal Pos.

With the AFLW still in its infancy, long-term stability is as high on the agenda as a maiden flag for the NSW club.

Last season the Giants fell just shy of qualifying for the decider, but it’s been a tougher year this year as they sit fourth in conference B and ninth overall on four points with two rounds left to play.

It has been disappointing, but not so much for the bigger picture.

“On paper we’re not going that well. Our ideal season would be all wins and no losses and heading into finals looking really strong,” Dal Pos said.

“For us, especially being up north, we have to develop. We’re in for the long haul here. We’re not here to get flash premierships and then disappear for 10 years.

“We’re building and building and building and trying to develop talent up here and make pathways for new people in female footy, like our Irish recruits and interstaters.

“That’s really our priority and getting wins off the back of developing people, that’s what we’re looking for.”

Originally published as Greater Western Sydney out for big scalps at the end of the AFLW season