GWS Giants vow to rebuild Manuka fortress as AFL returns to Canberra

The Giants return to Manuka Oval for the first time this year - and search for their first win at the venue since 2019 - when they face the Brisbane Lions in Canberra on Saturday.

Coach Adam Kingsley is desperate to overturn a seven-game losing streak in the capital, as the Giants look to reclaim the "fortress" tag they had once given their second home.

The Giants were unbeaten at Manuka Oval from 2016 until early 2019. The club was challenging for premierships, crowds soared towards 14,000 in Canberra with regularity.

But seven straight losses in Canberra have coincided with a slide down the ladder and dwindling crowd figures.

MORE SPORT

A crowd of 7338 for the club's last game in Canberra - a round 23 loss to Fremantle last year - marked the lowest figure for an AFL game at Manuka Oval since 2015.

However just four times in the Giants' past 19 games at Manuka Oval have crowd figures fallen below 10,000, with club bosses confident of a strong turnout this weekend.

"We want to have a great record there. We want to turn Canberra into a fortress for us, and that's difficult to do if you're not winning games," Kingsley said.

"We want to rectify that as quickly as possible obviously. There's a way to do it, and the blueprint for us, I felt, was the Hawthorn game. Our ability to step in and pressure tackle is at the level it needs to be every week.

"If we can create that level of pressure on the opposition, we should be able to give ourselves an opportunity to win every game. We'll certainly be in every game like we have been throughout the course of the season, but that's the way we need to play.

"That will be our focus this week against the Lions, who had a terrific game against the Kangaroos over the weekend. They've got a lot of weapons throughout their team and can hurt you in multiple ways, so it's going to be a tough and challenging game for us.

"It starts at the contest and we need to be super there."

The Giants will arrive in Canberra on Friday before hosting an open training session in a bid to generate crowd support.

But they will be without Canberra product Tom Green, who has been hit with a one-game suspension for rough conduct during a last-start win over Hawthorn.

An tackle involving Green and Hawthorn's Josh Ward was assessed as careless conduct, medium impact and high contact - equating to a one-week suspension the Giants opted against fighting.

Harry Perryman could emerge as a like-for-like replacement for Green if he can get through the week of training, while veteran Callan Ward could also fill the void with more time in the midfield.

Kingsley had thought Green wouldn't have much to worry about following the win over Hawthorn but the Giants coach has changed his tune.

"I probably thought it was fair in the end, to be quite frank," Kingsley said.

"Having watched it on replay, it was a little bit too aggressive. We spoke to the group about that sort of tackle. Tom's a big guy, so as soon as he drops his weight, that can sling some people around.

"The reality is, it's not how we want to tackle, it's certainly not how we train to tackle. We'll endeavour to not have those tackles in our game.

"I think we felt like it was going to be a difficult case to answer."

We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on The Canberra Times website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. See our moderation policy here.