For the second week in a row we get the opportunity to test ourselves against an AFL club with the Giants coming to town on Saturday night.

Like last week against Sydney, the chance for our young talent to be exposed to this environment is invaluable, it gives them great understanding of where they are at and also confidence that they can actually match it and compete very well given these opportunities.

It is not only our young talent but also our more experienced players that thrive off the chance to test themselves. And with more mature age players getting opportunities in the AFL system, the chance to play against these teams just might create an opportunity that may not have been there.

Our preparation has been very solid over the past few days with great energy amongst the group. While a little disappointed to fall just short last Saturday night, the collective effort and commitment of younger and older players to compete against some high-level experience that Sydney fielded is a positive result.

The challenge over the year has been to compete for four quarters. The past few weeks against the top teams of the competition we have been in the game late in the last quarter which has shown our group that the work they are doing, the willingness to improve every day, and by being prepared to just compete for long periods, the rewards will follow.

To be successful at any level these key elements are the starting points. This is no more evident than in the AFL system, the exposure to this for our group over the last few weeks is what our program is about. 

With some luck, we can look back in a few months’ time and just maybe these moments have been the catalyst for a couple of our talented players getting the opportunity in the AFL system.