Midfielder Jacob Hopper says the GIANTS won't be taking West Coast lightly ahead of Saturday’s must-win semi-final.
Despite coming into Saturday’s game off the back of a hard-fought extra-time elimination final win over Port Adelaide and travelling 7,520km in a week, Hopper said the GIANTS are more than wary of the Eagles.
“They’re a great outfit and they’re one of the in-form teams of the competition at the minute,” he said.
“They’re obviously going to bringing a real wave of energy and excitement from their bizarre win the other night.
“It’s a real opportunity to test ourselves against one of the better teams so we’re looking forward to the challenge.
“The focus for us is to string together a four-quarter performance which we haven’t done in a while.”
Hopper – who recently signed a two year contract extension – said the GIANTS are taking a positive attitude into the must-win game at Spotless Stadium.
“Obviously pretty disappointed form the weekend but we’ve put ourselves in that position to get a second chance so now we’re looking forward to West Coast and putting our best foot forward,” he said.
“It’s an opportunity for us to get back to playing some of our best footy.”
The 20-year-old, who is just 21 games into his career, said he’s already using the experience he gained in last year’s finals campaign to prepare himself for the rigours of finals football.
“It’s a real wave to ride I think,” he said.
“Coming into this year there are past experience to lean on that I didn’t have last year.
“I think it’s something to familiarise myself with and I think there’s always going to be that excitement to finals footy no matter the level I’ve played at.”
After back-to-back games on the road against Geelong and Adelaide, Hopper said he’s looking forward to playing back at Spotless Stadium in front of a home crowd.
“Travelling can take it out of you a bit, so we’re looking forward to bringing Finals Footy back to Spotless Stadium,” he said.
“We love playing footy at Spotless Stadium, it’s our home and we can’t wait for Saturday night.
“Our supporters grow more and more passionate every year. We might be few but we can be just as loud.
“We love playing for the Orange Army and we look forward to seeing what they can produce on Saturday night.”
The GIANTS take on West Coast in a Semi-Final at Spotless Stadium on Saturday night with the winner to progress to a Preliminary Final.
