At the GIANTS, we pride ourselves on being a family footy club.
So we’re pretty pumped when Ryan Angwin reflected on his first week at the club and said, “It feels like a country footy club so it’s not really anything different to home.”
In a year different to every other, the GIANTS’ six newest players have had just five days to see their new home before they return to their families for the Christmas break.
Welfare and Player Development Manager Dylan Addison said this week is about introducing the draftees to the club.
“Firstly, it’s just for them to see the club and see where they’re going to be spending the next ‘x’ number of years of their career,” he said.
“We get them up to speed with the program and get them online with all our systems; getting used to the schedule and how the club operates.
“And then obviously the main one is getting them involved in training. That’s what they’re here to do, to play footy.”
All six - Tanner Bruhn, Conor Stone, Angwin, Cameron Fleeton (above), Jacob Wehr and Will Shaw - have hit the ground running and have full medical clearance to train.
After taking it slow on Monday - they had only arrived in Sydney the evening before - by Wednesday they were doing the same program as the rest of the first to four-year players.
They even got to meet several of the senior players who weren’t due back until January with Toby Greene, Josh Kelly, Phil Davis and Nick Haynes all on the track this week.
There have been some nervous moments on the training track, with Bruhn a little tentative around new midfield coach Mark McVeigh.
“‘Spike’ (McVeigh) was getting up and about at training so I wouldn’t want to get on his bad side,” Bruhn laughed.
“He’s a ripper and I’m keen to get to work with him.”
For Shaw, from Deniliquin in southern NSW, the first training drill was the scariest part.
“Your first drill when you’re kicking to some of the boys it gets a bit scary,” he said, “But it’s pretty good now.”
A few ground rules have been set, with the physios demanding no Birkenstocks in the treatment room.
“A few of them hit a brick wall with that on day one,” Addison said.
Head of Medical Cullan Ball confirmed there was no medical reason for the rule … he just doesn’t like them.
Stone has already learned one of the cardinal rules.
“The locker room chats are pretty funny, they’re always a good laugh,” he said.
“But what goes on in the locker room, stays in the locker room.”
Stone has already moved into his new home at Breakfast Point alongside Shaw and 22-year-old Wehr, with the trio to share a three-bedroom apartment.
The other three will move in post-Christmas break and spent the week with some of the older players.
Angwin bunked in with Tom Green for the week while Fleeton stayed with Jake Riccardi and Bruhn joined the Xavier O’Halloran/Connor Idun/Jack Buckley household.
After a successful first week - that probably felt more like a footy camp - the six players will return home for the Christmas and New Year break before they are due back at the club on January 6, when the entire 2021 playing group will be together for the first time.
Some may even return with a new life skill …
“A couple of them don’t have their driver licenses yet so a few of them are doing their Ps test over Christmas and will hopefully come back with a license,” Addison said.
“Driving for the first time in Sydney could be interesting.”
From draftees, now they’re GIANTS. And the club couldn’t be more pleased with their new crop.
“They’ve got energy, they’re asking lots of questions and that’s all we can ask.”
