Greater Western Sydney's fleet of attacking small defenders is in form and ready for the challenge presented by Hawthorn's star-studded forward line, according to co-captain Phil Davis.
Premiership Hawks Paul Puopolo, Cyril Rioli and Luke Breust kicked 10 goals and laid 21 tackles between them in last week's three-point win over Adelaide, but GIANTS' backmen Heath Shaw, Nathan Wilson and Zac Williams were outstanding for GWS against St Kilda on Sunday.
The trio gathered a combined 74 possessions against the Saints in their side's second successive big win and provided plenty of run, clearing the defensive 50 on 20 occasions between them.
Davis said finding the right balance between shutting down the Hawks' goalkickers and providing GWS with attacking drive from defence is a tough ask, but his teammates can do the job.
"You obviously want to defend their small forwards because they're extremely talented but at the same time we also need to rebound quickly and score ourselves," Davis said.
"With Heath (Shaw), (Nathan) Wilson and (Zac) Williams we've been able to get some real impetus from our back half and move the ball forward.
"They're defending really well but it's their offence that’s getting a fair bit of attention at the moment, so hopefully they can keep that balance this weekend.
"It's extremely difficult when you're playing some really good forwards and you want to go the other way, that’s when you rely on the midfielders to make it a bit easier to defend.
"You need to play two ways as a small defender and at the moment we've got a really good balance there, but if there's a bigger challenge than this (weekend) I'm not sure there is.
"They've probably got three of the top 5-6 small forwards in the comp in the one forward line."
The GIANTS destroyed Port Adelaide by 86 points in round four before finishing strongly with an eight-goal quarter to get over St Kilda last week, and finally look to have the experience and mindset to capitalise on their hard work when they get into winning positions.
The Hawks' record of getting up in tight matches in 2016 – the three-time reigning premiers have won their last three games by three points – is well known and the GIANTS' improvement makes for a very interesting contest this week.
The home side will be at Spotless Stadium for the first time this year and Davis believes they're meeting the Hawks at a great time to test themselves.
"I think we've been building, I think (coach) Leon (Cameron) touched on it and said it was a very mature performance by us on Sunday (against St Kilda) and I tend to agree," Davis said.
"One thing about AFL footy is that you've never got the game on your terms for the whole match.
"I thought St Kilda challenged us a few times, and we were able to withstand that and play some really good footy in that last quarter to sew up the match."
The GIANTS take on the three-time reigning premiers Hawthorn in their first game at Spotless Stadium for the year on Saturday April 30 at 4.35pm. Click here to buy your tickets now.
