The GIANTS have managed to navigate a season-defining month of footy and must
The GIANTS were 11th on the ladder after losing four straight games between rounds seven and 10 before they upset the Crows in Adelaide and beat Gold Coast and Brisbane in consecutive weeks to steady their season.
But when star forward Jeremy Cameron was handed a five-week suspension for striking Lions defender Harris Andrews, the GIANTS were written off as premiership contenders, with tough games against Hawthorn (home), West Coast (away), Richmond (home) and Port Adelaide (away) to deal with.
Four weeks later and a tight loss to the Eagles in Perth has been the team's only blemish, and Leon Cameron's men are firmly back in the flag conversation.
Coniglio said beating the premiers at Spotless Stadium and the Power on the road in consecutive weeks has the GIANTS’ belief soaring.
"It was 'backs against the wall' kind of stuff in a couple of those (games), but the internal confidence (we get from it) is the most important thing," he said on Tuesday.
"Coming into the back end of the year we hope to keep that momentum going, it's important to win those games away from home to spread that confidence.
"The month where we didn't win a game was a good wake-up call to spark and refresh a few guys.
"Over the past seven weeks we've had a couple of games that we've placed heavy importance on, and our last two performances have been really impressive."
The GIANTS take on St Kilda at Spotless Stadium on Saturday and while the home side is backed to take care of the 15th-placed Saints with ease, Sydney's shock loss to Gold Coast on Saturday should serve as a warning that there are no certainties in 2018.
Coniglio said the fierce competition for spots in the top eight is enough to keep the players focused, and they didn't need any reminders of what is at stake over the next five weeks ahead of the finals.
"We drew against St Kilda earlier in the year and we were probably heavy
"We can't take any teams lightly and in general across the competition, there's been upsets all season.
"We saw what happened with Gold Coast and the Swans on the weekend, they'd never beaten them before and upsets like that can happen.
"But we're really confident in our form and we can't afford any complacency.
"The competition is too even, and teams will get found out (if they're complacent)."
As one of the AFL's multicultural ambassadors, Coniglio helped launch his club's own multicultural festival, which will happen at the Spotless Stadium precinct ahead of Saturday's clash with the Saints.
