There’s been plenty of debate each way on the merit of the upcoming pre-finals bye so we check in with Head of Athletic Performance David Joyce about how the GIANTS are planning for it.
The AFL took everyone by surprise when they announced the 2016 Toyota AFL Premiership Season fixture, including a week off between round 23 and the first week of finals.
Designed to stop teams resting players in the final regular season games, the week off also gives the AFL a chance to celebrate football with the scheduling of the annual EJ Whitten Legends game and, for the first time ever, a stand alone Women’s Exhibition Game which will be telecast nationally.
Nevertheless it hasn’t stopped fans and media speculating on the effect of the week off come finals time.
GIANTS veteran and three-time premiership player Steve Johnson is a fan of the bye week, after playing 21 of a possible 22 games for the season.
“Being at my age, I really love the week off,” Johnson said at the large media conference after training on Wednesday.
“I think it helps freshen, especially me up, but I think it gives each team the opportunity to be at their best going into the first week of finals.
“Only time will tell how each team sees it, the winners will probably say it’s great and the losers will say, ‘Well why did we have the week off?’.
“But that’s the way it is and we’ll deal with it and go into the first week of finals really hungry.”
GIANTS Head of Athletic Performance David Joyce said it was an unusual situation but one his team had plenty of time to prepare for.
“The main focus at the moment is sharpening the sword,” Joyce said.
“We feel like we’ve had what feels like 40 weeks of the season since we started the pre-season of good training loads and getting them fit and strong and fast and powerful.
“Now it’s a case of just giving them a little bit of a breather before we head into the Swans next weekend.”
It’s a bit of a different situation at the GIANTS with the AFL side having a week off but the WSU GIANTS preparing to face Sydney University in a NEAFL Preliminary Final this Saturday.
“It’s very much just business as usual. We’re in a situation where our NEAFL team have a Preliminary Final this weekend as well so the finals atmosphere has been around the club for a couple of weeks now,” Joyce said.
“We have to make sure that we are not taking the foot off the pedal because half the group have got a bye this week but we’re also accelerating into a Preliminary Final this weekend that we want to win.”
The GIANTS’ AFL side returned to the club on Tuesday following the 37-point win over North Melbourne that helped them finish in fourth on the AFL ladder.
It’s been business as usual with a big training session to come on Friday before a chance to thank the fans at a Family Fun Day at the club before everyone heads out to watch the NEAFL side.
Come Monday, it’s all systems go as the GIANTS get set to take on the Swans in the club’s first-ever final at ANZ Stadium on Saturday, September 10.
“In terms of the extra week the AFL team get, it is an unusual or a new situation for us but one we’re really looking forward to.,” Joyce said.
“We’ve given the boys who played against North Melbourne a little bit of a decreased training load at the front end of the week but it’s very much business as usual and we’ll have a big training hit out on Friday.”
