A number of GIANTS will return to the scene where their AFLW dreams were made this weekend as the GIANTS travel to Canberra for a crucial round two clash with Melbourne.

Tarni Evans and Teagan Germech are two of a host of GIANTS raring to go against the Demons at Manuka Oval on Sunday, in a city pivotal to making their AFLW dreams come true.

Evans, a newly elevated member of the GIANTS leadership group this season, used the nation’s capital as a launchpad to realise her AFLW dream and become a GIANT.

Moving from Tathra on the NSW South Coast to Canberra to combine her football ambitions with her study, Evans played for Queanbeyan in the AFL Canberra competition where her talents were soon identified by the AFLW Academy which ultimately led to her selection by the GIANTS with pick nine in the 2020 NAB AFLW Draft.

Last year’s third-place finisher in the Gabrielle Trainor Medal, Evans looks back fondly at her time in Canberra as she prepares to return to where it all started on Sunday.

“I was in Canberra for two years for year 11 and year 12 and its an unreal spot,” Evans said.

“Queanbeyan Football Club was a great spot to be at the time, I played a couple of finals there as well, and I really developed my footy there through AFL Canberra and the [AFLW] Academy and the pathways that are available in Canberra.

“It’s kind of a pathway for kids on the South Coast.

“It’s only three hours away for us [on the South Coast] compared to six for from Sydney, so Canberra is a great opportunity and great way to feed into those pathways and heaps of kids from the South Coast do that through the AFL Academy.”

The dashing defender, who shone in the round one clash with the Swans with game-highs in kicks (19) and metres gained (571m), was excited to return to her old stomping grounds to face the Dees.

“Mum and Dad still live on the South Coast and a few of the South Coast crew are coming up this weekend which will be nice,” she said.

“It’ll be a real challenge [against Melbourne] but I’m super excited about it. It’ll be a really good test of our game plan and what we’ve been training, and I can’t wait to show them what we’ve got.”

Evans’ new teammate Germech is another GIANT in which Sunday’s city has played a crucial role in her football endeavours.

After being overlooked in her draft year, Germech relocated from the Central Tablelands to Canberra in 2021 to play with the Belconnen Magpies in a bid to pursue an AFLW career.

The move proved fruitful when the 20-year-old was added to the GIANTS’ list as a replacement player on the eve of the 2023 AFLW season.

Barring the expected cold weather, the athletic midfielder was excited to continue her AFLW dream with a return to Canberra.

“It’ll be good to see all my old teammates, that’ll be nice,” she said.

“I’m not too excited for the cold but it’ll be great to go back.

“I started playing in Canberra in year 12 where I would drive down every Sunday from Bathurst and back to play in the Magpies youth girls’ team.

“I already knew a few of the girls so it was easier to move there but I also knew some people like ‘Peasey’ [GIANTS teammate Emily Pease] and ‘Tarns’ [Tarni Evans] had already been drafted from Canberra so I knew it was an avenue to get drafted.”

Germech will enter Sunday’s clash in familiar territory riding a high following last week’s ‘dream come true’ debut.

“It was amazing, it was so much fun,” she said.

“Obviously I would have loved to win, but just being out here with the girls was amazing.

“It was so nerve-racking, but we’d all prepared so well, and it was just a dream come true.

“Because of how hard I’ve worked to get here, it was a realisation that, wow, I actually made it and I’m here.

“When I saw my family after the game, I was pretty emotional just realising that my dream has actually come true.”

The powerful defender-turned-midfielder will now look to achieve her maiden AFLW victory against Melbourne on Sunday.

“I’m so excited to go out there and have fun again and run out with the girls and also fix a few mistakes I made,” she said.

“Also, Manuka is a huge oval so we can just play our way and smash it.”

The GIANTS and the Demons will clash on Sunday at Manuka Oval at 5:05pm.