Co-captain Phil Davis hopes his 100th game this weekend is more successful than his previous outing at Blundstone Arena in Hobart.
The GIANTS' second-ever AFL fixture and first game out of Sydney saw the newest club come up against a rampaging North Melbourne team in round two of the 2012 season.
Davis, who was playing in just the 20th game of his career, recalls how tough his young side found it in their first ever game in Tasmania.
“I remember the first quarter, we were kicking with a six goal breeze and we were down eight goals to nothing at quarter time,” Davis said with a wry smile when speaking to the media on Wednesday.
“I think Boomer Harvey had 14 (possessions) and kicked three (goals) in the first quarter and we were tagging him.
“It wasn’t a great day but I think we’re in a bit better place now.”
Davis will take the number of current GIANTS to have played 100 games to 11 when he runs out on Saturday.
At 26 years of age, Davis knows he’s taken longer than many to reach the milestone having dealt with kidney, back, calf, hamstring and shoulder injuries since being drafted at pick 10 in the 2008 NAB AFL Draft.
“It’s been an interesting journey, I would have liked to get there a fair bit faster and probably when I got drafted eight years ago I probably didn’t think it would take me until the start of my ninth year to get here but everyone’s got their own journey and mine has obviously had a fair few set backs along the way which has been frustrating,” said Davis.
“It’s nice to get the milestone over and to play 100 games of footy. It’s something I’m pretty proud of and hopefully I’ve got a few more left in me.”
Leon Cameron has coached Davis in 46 of his AFL games and paid tribute to his co-captain.
“He’s got himself in really good shape and has started the year really well and has played some good really footy at full back," Cameron said.
“It’s great to see our co-captain reach that milestone. We had Toby Greene reach it last week and it’s hard enough to play one game let alone 100.
“No doubt it’s a great achievement but all Phil will want, knowing what Phil is about, is to hopefully get the job done on Saturday afternoon.
“We understand it’s going to go down to the wire. We understand it’s going to be a tough game of footy but Phil plays his footy that way and hopefully our 21 other guys jump on board and play the way he does.”
The GIANTS head to Tasmania to take on North Melbourne at Blundstone Arena on Saturday at 1.45pm in round three of the 2017 Toyota AFL Premiership season.
