Sydney AFL Derby Set to be a Cracker
Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2015 8:23 am
I'm going to be bold here and predict a big crowd at the SCG for what I think will be a top of the table match up after looking at the Giants draw leading into this game. Sellout crowd perhaps?
Jarrad McVeigh and Callan Ward talk on the increasingly heated Sydney-GWS rivalry
Neil Cordy
The Daily Telegraph
March 25, 2015 8:30PM
IF Sunday’s NAB Challenge match in Canberra was any indication the Sydney Derby in round three at the SCG is going to be a cracker.
With two Swans hospitalised (Lance Franklin and Kieren Jack) and four players (two Swans and two Giants) reported it was a pre-season game like no other.
After three AFL seasons the Giants are ready to stand up to their bigger, more successful siblings.
It’s clear from last weekend’s bruising encounter that Sydney AFL fans now have a genuine rivalry which is not too far away from stacking up alongside the other great local derbies in Adelaide (Port v Crows) and Perth (Eagles v Dockers).
Giants co-captain Callan Ward was one of the four players reported for engaging in a melee on Sunday and said the rivalry is real.
“We love playing them,” Ward said. “That’s everyone on the list and it’s a game we look forward to and I think they (The Swans) do to.”
Swans co-captain Jarrad McVeigh didn’t play on Sunday but has been told just how sore both teams were after the match.
“There is definitely a feeling among our group that we really want to win those games (against GWS),” McVeigh said.
“You want to win all your games but there is a bit more on the line against those guys.
“They beat us in round one last year which was disappointing for us but the battles are becoming really hard and they are going to become a really good team, so it will get even harder. GWS are going to take some beating this year, they were really impressive.”
While the Giants have been settling into the AFL the Swans have won the premiership and finished fourth and second. But the gap is closing quickly.
“We really respect the Swans and I think they’re starting to respect us,” Ward said.
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