Hard work has been the catalyst for the GIANTS’ rise in 2016 according to midfielder Josh Kelly.

The 21-year-old would be one to know having completed his most consistent Premiership season yet. 

Heading into the GIANTS’ maiden final against the Sydney Swans on September 10, Kelly averages 23.3 disposals per game, a dramatic increase on the 17.8 he averaged in 2015.

“I think having another pre-season under my belt and working with blokes like Luke Power and Lenny Hayes was massive for me,” Kelly said.

“I was able to address a few more areas of my game over the pre-season and mature a bit as well.

“I feel like I’m a bit more accustomed to the rigors of AFL.”

Working with the combined 599-game experience of Power and Hayes has clearly helped Kelly’s game.

While his average disposals are up, he’s also averaged more tackles, inside 50’s, clearances, contested possessions and un-contested possessions this year, while not missing a single game. 

Kelly believes his gains in the pre-season have allowed him to back his natural ability to play as both an inside and outside midfielder. 

“It’s something I’ve always prided myself on as a junior to be able to play as an inside and outside (midfielder),” he said. 

“I needed to stack on a bit more weight and get a bit bigger before I can do it at AFL level, but I feel I’ve made some in-roads this year.” 

Kelly’s 59^th game of AFL will be his first final and like many of his team mates, he’s finding the reality of playing cross town rivals, the Sydney Swans, more exciting than stressful. 

“ We know the Swans quite well by now, we’ve finished the season one all with them so we’ll be going in there on Saturday afternoon giving it a red hot crack,” he said. 

“The rivalry has grown… now we’re two top-four teams playing off in the first final at ANZ Stadium, it’s pretty unreal, you couldn’t script it any better.”

Heading into his first final Kelly said he would use the finals experience of those around him. 

“I think we’ve got six players that have finals experience so I’ll be tapping into them.” he said. 

“But we’ve even got mature heads like Stephen Coniglio and Dylan Shiel, I’m always tapping into them, they’ve been great all year.”

As for the round 12 derby win over the Swans, Kelly believes it counts for very little. 

“We take confidence from knowing we knocked them off, but at the same time we know its not going to be like that again,” he said. 

“It’s finals, it’s a totally different ball game.”