The Magpies may have spluttered through the inaugural Super Netball season but the Giants are bracing for the full impact of the pre-season premiership favourites' star-studded roster to be unleashed in Saturday's elimination final.
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For all of the disappointing performances from the Black and Whites this season the club remains arguably the strongest on paper with six Diamonds on their books, and with six wins from their past seven games they are poised to finally unleash the netball that has long been expected from the expansion club.
Yet the Giants enjoy the benefit of home court advantage on Saturday at a sold-out Olympic Park Sports Centre, and have split the ledger in two games this season against the Magpies – an eight-point win in Melbourne in round three arguably the Sydney club's strongest showing all year.
For goal keeper Sam Poolman, nothing changes this weekend as she prepares to shut down star Magpies shooter Caitlin Thwaites.
That follows last weekend's narrow loss to Sunshine Coast where Poolman played on the game's most dominant shooter in Caitlin Bassett, a week after lining up against Jamaican superstar Romelda Aiken.
"That's the great thing about this competition, every week there's a new challenge and a shooter that's either played for their country or that is best in the world," Poolman said.
"For me every week is a challenge but that's what I love about it. It doesn't end [this week], she [Thwaites] is their dominant shooter at the back, with their rotating goal attack she seems to be their target.
"It's an individual challenge but also we work really hard as a unit, so the three in front of me, how we can shut that down altogether and obviously limit the options coming into her."
Magpies goal attack Cody Lange ruptured her ACL last month and leaves a gaping hole in the visitors' attacking circle, but the club's playing roster has been versatile enough to cover the loss.
It's the same injury suffered by inspirational Giants captain Kim Green earlier this season, and Poolman's team has been scrambling all season to fill the breach left in the middle of the court.
Australian under-21s star Jamie-Lee Price has been a Giant who has stood up in Green's absence, and said she was preparing for another tough assignment on Saturday.
The Giants enter the finals off two-straight losses but Price said that had only served to strengthen the club.
"I don't think it's damaged us, when you come from a loss you learn a lot more rather than winning, losing now is better than losing later on in this competition," Price said.
"It's do or die so we need to bring our best pretty much. If we're not good enough on the night than that's us for the season – we love the pressure.
"We've played them twice already so we know what to expect, they're really speedy and experienced.
"It's never going to be an easy game and that's what finals is about but we're up to it, we've learned a lot from our losses and we have lost to them once and we know exactly how they play. We've got strategies and tactics to work around it."
