The NEAFL season gets underway this weekend with the UWS GIANTS to face last year’s finalists Sydney University on Sunday at Henson Park in Marrickville.
NEAFL Coach Brad Miller is in his first season in the job since joining the club at the beginning of pre-season after spending the last two seasons in a development role with Melbourne.
Miller said he’s looking forward to Sunday’s season opener after some strong performances in the side’s three trial matches.
“It’s exciting, round one coming up this weekend against Sydney Uni,” he said.
“I think we’ve had a pretty good prep, we’ve won two of our three games - not that the result was that important - but I think for two of those games we played the type of footy we want to play.
“We’re coming into the season in fairly good shape, we’ll have 16 listed players available this week so that’s exciting and hopefully we get off to a good start.”
Unlike other NEAFL clubs, the GIANTS’ reserves side aren’t solely focused with winning the competition. Minor premiers the past two seasons, the UWS GIANTS are still yet to make a Grand Final, with the focus instead on developing players for AFL football.
“It does offer a challenge because obviously guys are trying to put their name up there for selection,” Miller said.
“My key message to those guys is to play team-first footy and that will get noticed before any selfish acts. It’s my job as coach to iron that out.
“Each week you’re probably going to lose two or three of your better players from the week before but on the flip side, you get two of three guys who have probably played AFL footy the week before too.
“It can be a positive but it can also be a challenge.”
As the side gets set to take on Sydney University, Miller gave GIANTS fans some names to watch over the coming weeks.
“We’ve had two of our first-year players - Matty Kennedy and Jacob Hopper - play in the midfield a lot and they’ve impressed, they’ve done some really good things,” Miller said.
“We’ve got guys who have been around for a while, guys who you know what you’re going to get. Joel Patfull’s been reliable down back - he’ll get his chance at some point.”
Miller also singled out Sam Reid who, after 24 AFL games, retired at the end of 2013 to take up a Development Coach role with the club.
Captain of the UWS GIANTS for the past two seasons, coach Leon Cameron gave the 26-year-old another shot on the club’s rookie list for 2016.
“Sam’s been fantastic. He’s a guy with leadership that I turn to a lot, having been involved in the team last year in a coaching capacity,” Miller said.
“He shows some real ownership of the team and for me to be able to go to him at quarter-time and half-time and actually have a chat to him has been really helpful for me because he knows the players really well.
“He does the right thing at the right time and if he keeps going the way he’s been going, there’s no reason why he couldn’t sneak into the team at some stage, he’s playing some really good footy."
The UWS GIANTS take on Sydney University in round one of the NEAFL competition at 2pm on Sunday, April 3 at Henson Park in Marrickville.
You can watch a live stream of Sunday's game here
