?The Greater Western Sydney GIANTS will take on the Sydney Swan’s Reserves at Manuka Oval at 9:10am this Saturday May 7. The match will act as a curtain raiser to the Bulldogs v Sydney Swans clash at 1:10pm.

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Ahead of Saturday’s clash, GIANTS reporter Beck Mills caught up with #11 Jack Hombsch, to find out what the feeling is like within the playing group at this point in the season, how hard the team has hit the training track this week and how Hombsch handled being moved from the back to forward line during last week’s Foxtel Cup match.

So Jack, you’ve all been playing together for a while now, what is the feeling like amongst the playing group at this stage in the season?

Pre season was really tough but it was good for us as a team because we were all doing it together; it makes things a lot easier when we are all working as a unit. We’ve all learnt a lot, it’s been a massive development phase for us so far this year. When we’ve been looking over our games with Brett Hand – all of us have improved over a six-week period, which is really good to see.

What has training been like for the team this week?

Training has been really tough this week. We didn’t win enough of the contested footy in the first half last week so we’ve really been pushing ourselves. We had Steven Silvagni up in Sydney so we did a lot of work with him. We’ve moved on from last week’s game and we’re focused on Saturday.

You’ve played the Swans’ Reserves earlier this season in a practice match and were beaten. What will you be focusing on this week to produce a different result?

We just need to stick to our structures. Last time we played the Swan’s Reserves we had a fantastic first quarter so we just need to make sure that we have a solid four-quarter game. I’m really looking forward to this week’s game. It’s our third match of the NEAFL competition, we’ve had two wins so far it would be nice to get a third on Saturday.

What is your relationship like with your teammates at the moment?

Everyone is really close right now; we’re the closest team that I’ve ever been involved in. Living at Breakfast Point helps that. We have the confidence to talk to each other about footy or whatever we need to.

We have a forward, mid and back group. As the back group, we are really close knit on and off the field. Being close outside of football helps us because it transfers on to the field. We’re not afraid to tell each other where we need to improve and encourage each other when we are doing well.

Can you please tell us a little bit more about these three groups?

Basically, the forwards kick the goals, that is their job. The midfielders start in the middle of the ground and contest for the footy to move the ball forward. The backs, also known as defenders, have to stop the opposition from kicking goals. At training, we train as a big group, and then at times we split up into those three groups and work on individual skills for each one. Forwards might do goal kicking, midfielders will do ruck work and back men will work on spoiling.

So you spend a lot of time as a back line group, what happened when you were moved into the forward line for the second half of last week’s match and what was going through your mind?

I went into the change rooms at half time and thought to myself, ‘this isn’t how we want things to go’ so you have to forget about the first half, give yourself a clean slate and go out there and take the footy.

We thought we’d try something different after half time because we didn’t have a great first half so we made some changes. I had a go up in the forward line and the midfielders and defenders got a lot of the footy and it really helped.

Have you ever played in that position before?

I used to play a little bit in the forward line in junior footy; I haven’t for a few years though.

What was the major difference?

It’s a completely different game up there, you’re able to go for your marks, go for the footy and take the footy really hard. It was good but I still prefer defense I think. The forwards have their own set of structures and they go over that in their meetings so I was a bit unsure of what they were. I was asking Ben Casley and a few of the other boys what to do.

Did your friendships with your teammates help you when you were asking for direction from them on the field?

Definitely. I had confidence that you can ask them for help and they’ll give you the answer straight away.

Will you play in the forward line again?

At the moment I think I’m likely to stay down the back. We’ll just wait and see what happens and what the coaches want because ultimately it’s up to them.

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Sydney Swans Reserves v GWS GIANTS

Saturday May 7

9:10am

Manuka Oval, Manuka Circle ACT