It wasn't what Giants' assistant Mark Williams was suggesting when he urged supporters of the club to head to Blacktown tonight to watch his players go against each other in an intra-club game, but in retrospect, it might be the one opportunity GWS fans get to see their team win a game this year.
While the Gold Coast Suns won three games in their inaugural AFL season last year, most expect the Giants - although laden with the most talented teenagers in the country - to fall short of that mark, with some suggesting even one win might be out of their reach in 2012.
''We've got that [the Suns' three wins] in the back of our minds, but it's not about win-loss ratio, it's about building for the future,''Rhys Palmer, one of the first players signed by GWS, said. ''It's more about how we want to be perceived in the AFL and how we want to come out and the game style we want to play, so we have worked really hard on that throughout the pre-season and I think it's going to pay off.
''If we can put up some tough performances and come out ready to play, I think we can take it up to sides and be really competitive. We've heard a lot of things from the media and outside people saying we don't have a chance this year, and I think that spurs us on a little bit more, to get out there and show our stuff and to not be embarrassed by anyone.
''We haven't spoken about losing by those big amounts, just about how we are going to go about things on the field, being hard at the footy and hard at the contest, and if we pride ourselves on that, I think it's going to leave us in good stead.
''We've come a long way. I remember the first couple of training sessions were pretty scrappy, but if you come down now we look like a real, proper, AFL side and all the boys are really showing off their skills and how far they have come.''
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