Upcoming GWS Games

[AussieFTW]

I just had a look on the Giants website, and they've got the fixture up for the rest of their games for 2011..

And the next game is listed as:
Date Opponent Venue Time Comp
Sunday Apr 3 Swans ANZ TBC Practice
It's going to be a interesting game, a practice match against the Swans reserves (well it has to be the reserves, doesn't it?) at ANZ stadium..

It'll be a good chance for the Giants to get their 2nd ever win, against a team closer to our experience levels than anyone we faced in the NAB Cup/Challenge. Also, could well be a bit of media interest, especially if Issy gets his first run in Sydney.

 

[Beaussie]

Got an email today regarding a special offer for tickes for GWS foundation members.

 

[dlanod]

Got an email today regarding a special offer for tickes for GWS foundation members.

Same here. Father'll be down that weekend so I'm not sure whether I'll be able to make it, but I might drag him along for the game.

 

[AussieFTW]

I got that e-mail as well.. By the looks of it it's great value! GWS members get subsidised tickets (ie really damn cheap entry) into the ground, get to see us take on the Swans NEAFL team (andf hopefully get a win, and see Issy) and get to stick around to see the Bombers and Swans hit it out in an AFL clash!
The e-mail mentioned something about sitting with or near the Giants players as well when watching the AFL game.
Sounds like an awesome afternoon at the footy!!

 

[UrLordUnbeliever]

I wish I was in Sydney that weekend..
Though I'd rather see Essendon take on the Swans at the SCG.. Why is this game at ANZ?

 

[Gee Dubya]

Received no email. Neither did my wife. But considering she only received her membership last week after purchasing it in November, along with my mate who was told 4 weeks in a row his membership was being posted the next day , i'm not surprised.

Membership department has NFI and is a joke at the GIANTS

 

[loki04]

Received no email. Neither did my wife. But considering she only received her membership last week after purchasing it in November, along with my mate who was told 4 weeks in a row his membership was being posted the next day , i'm not surprised.

Membership department has NFI and is a joke at the GIANTS

A lot of Collingwood supporters have been waiting and still are, Membership department's are a joke full stop.

 

[Giants FC]

Received no email. Neither did my wife. But considering she only received her membership last week after purchasing it in November, along with my mate who was told 4 weeks in a row his membership was being posted the next day , i'm not surprised.

Membership department has NFI and is a joke at the GIANTS

I'll PM you the email when I get home from work tonight.

It's a good initiative by the club, hopefully we can get some support for the Giants in the early game. If Issy plays, it'll add to the interest to see how he's developing with his new game.

 

[Gee Dubya]

A lot of Collingwood supporters have been waiting and still are, Membership department's are a joke full stop.

You've got 60k members to process, the GIANTS have 8k.

I'll PM you the email when I get home from work tonight.

Cheers mate

 

[dlanod]

Collingwood also have a fair few more years of experience than GWS. I also suspect their membership numbers are much higher than expected, given they were playing down membership numbers initially and were negatively comparing their potential to the GC last year.

 

[CAS79]

For obvious reasons this has a Swans bias but one of board lads, Grimlock twitters from our ressies games

http://twitter.com/swansreserves

hope he's not going to shoot me for sending you his way but you can have a look at the going on's from the game.

This will be a better guide than any as to how your season in the local comp, not as weak as some think in Melbourne, may go.

 

[Giants FC]

It was a tough day for the young GWS side against the Swans reserves at ANZ today. The Giants started brightly with the first three goals of the game to lead at quarter time, but their run could go no further and they were well beaten.
Looks like Israel Folau still has plenty to learn. He wasn't able to get a touch, and struggled to read the play at all.

Anyway, here's a few pics I took at the game:

Josh Bruce puts a Swan under pressure

Curtly Hampton takes the Giants forward of the wing

Andrew Phillips takes a mark

A quick-fire handpass

 

[DR JAY]

Could not find a list of who played today on their web site or anywhere. Can we have the printed side listed every week so we can follow their progress. Are they going to use any scholar ship players as top ups like they did last year. Some of them were very useful.

 

[Danog]

When do you guys play in the Foxtel Cup?

 

[UrLordUnbeliever]

Giants FC - thanks for the pics mate!
I was just wondering whether there would be much difference between the Swans reserves and teams like Ainslie who are stand alone clubs and not affiliated to any AFL team..
I'm hoping that the Giants aren't outplayed like that in every game this season.. Though Hampton looks like he's going to be a great player.

 

[dlanod]

When do you guys play in the Foxtel Cup?

Isn't that the winners of the previous year's state comps or something similar?

 

[Sydney Cat]

Isn't that the winners of the previous year's state comps or something similar?

April 30 against Northern Bullants at the MCG

 

[liz]

Giants FC - thanks for the pics mate!
I was just wondering whether there would be much difference between the Swans reserves and teams like Ainslie who are stand alone clubs and not affiliated to any AFL team..

Going by the last 5 or 6 seasons, how the Swans reserves stack up against the rest of the teams in the ACTAFL depends very much on the strength of the team the Swans have available. When the Swans have at least a dozen or so listed players available (including rookies), they tend to win, and win very comfortably against most of the other Canberra teams. When their available list falls much below that level, they are quite often beaten. Their results in Sydney tend to be better than when they play in Canberra, which I think has been largely due to the quality of the top-ups available.

By my count, the Swans had 13 listed players out there on Sunday, making it a moderately strong team. They didn't have a particularly strong onball brigade but with Seaby, Pyke and Currie they were very strong in the ruck. They also had a very tall team, with three other players of true KPP height in the side.

You won't find that many Canberra teams with as much height right around the ground, though a couple of clubs do have a number of pretty decent tall forwards. And you won't find any Canberra clubs with that kind of ruck strength (and also forward line height, given each of Sydney's rucks played forward for considerable periods).

You will find a number of solidly built, moderately skilled players in the Canberra league who will love to take out their physicality on the very young GWS players. The key to being at least competitive will be to find some older support players who can protect some of your youngsters a bit and let them use their skills.

I have no idea how strong the GWS side was on Sunday compared to the resources that may be available during the season. But if that was typical of the sides you're likely to be able to field, you will probably find it quite tough to compete against the Canberra sides. The overall quality of the competition has definitely improved over the period that the Swans reserves have been playing in that league. However, you should be more competitive than against the Swans this weekend.

 

[dlanod]

Cheers liz. It was Pyke, Seaby and Currie that really hurt our defensive structure as far as I could see. I don't think Giles was playing, so that was one less mature body to play on them as well. The other issue was that occasionally the GWS kids would lose track of their man and you'd have someone completely unmarked running into the forward 50 which inevitably lead to a goal, but GC was having the same issue against Carlton the other night.

 

[AussieFTW]

that was a good post there, Liz.. Lots of good info.
I think that whether AFL/Rookie listed or not, the teams the Giants will face up to will generally have more solid and mature rucks, KPFs and KPDs.
They may be able to match them for speed and skills, but the rucks, defenders and forwards the Giants have will more than likely be outmuscled.. Just because such players don't really have the development in their bodies to play such roles 'til their mid 20s.
That's not saying we'll always lose either. And it'll genuinely be a great experience for the boys to learn how to play against more physically developed opponents, because they'll definately need that!