Excitement is rising in the Greater Western Sydney GIANTS camp after a month of solid performances and an impressive win over the Gold Coast SUNS on the weekend.

The club, which is currently sitting in second place on the Eastern Conference NEAFL ladder has continued to improve each week with a number of young guns beginning to realize their potential.

With a bye this week, the GIANTS have a chance to reflect and have two weeks to prepare for their clash with the top of the table Sydney Swans on June 18. GIANTS reporter Beck Mills caught up with Innovation and Development Manager, Alan McConnell to find out how the club is taking advantage of the bye weekend and what the feeling around the club is like at this point in the season.

So Alan, has the football department stopped to relax a little and take a breath with the bye weekend?

No, when you’re doing maximal fitness tests it can influence the player’s performance so the weekend off has afforded us the chance to do some testing.

Other than that, this week is very much about continuing to develop and become smarter and better footballers.

What do these fitness tests involve?

The yo-yo and 3km tests are maximal tests so they’re speed tests and jumps. We calculate as much of their physical conditioning as we can through those. They’ve also been doing strength tests in the gym, which allows us to monitor their weights programs.

Have you been impressed with the side’s recent form?

I think that we’re a much smarter and more skillful team than we were. We’re a long way down the track than where we were 12 months ago.

Last week was the first time that the GIANTS have beaten an AFL reserves side, were you impressed with their performance last week?

I was pleased but not surprised. I felt that our development has been on an upwards spiral over many weeks and in addition to that; we put out our best team in terms of injured players for many weeks as well.

Is there a particular injured player who has come back in to the side that you think has made a massive difference?

No there isn’t one individual player. I think that the reason that we played well on the weekend is because we had more players who were sticking to our game style and structures.

I think an ability to execute our game plan, an ability to execute skills more effectively than they did when they first arrived and an ability to play with a higher intensity for a longer period of time contributed to the win as well.

There were 13 individual goal scorers for the GIANTS on the weekend, was that goal spread a good reflection of a lot of individuals stepping up and playing well?

Yes, I think that is a great reflection of a lot of players making a contribution across the team. It’s also a reflection of the fact that we’re giving boys opportunities at both ends of the ground and through the middle of the ground.

I think all of those things will ultimately be good for their development.

The feeling in the GIANTS rooms after the game was euphoric, has that feeling continued around the club this week?

I think that one of the things that we should be really proud of is the fact that our players have remained really positive throughout their entire preparation for each game this year.

There’s no great variation in the mindset of the players between one week and the next, the view is that we get back on the bike and we learn more each week regardless of the result.

Have you still got a long way to go before you debut in the AFL in 2012?

There’s still a lot of work to do before the end of the season. Every week we look to get better.

We’re looking to develop these boys so that despite their age, they’ll be able to have an impact on the boys that come in next year and be able to help induct them into the club and the way that we want to play.