Captain Alicia Eva is proud of the resilience shown by the GIANTS throughout an AFLW season unlike any other, during which their selflessness ensured the competition carried on.
The Giants' campaign will end with Sunday's match against Carlton at Blacktown Oval in Sydney's west following North Melbourne's victory on Saturday.
The deck has arguably been stacked against the GIANTS since shifting to a bare-bones temporary base in Albury at the start of the year because of COVID-19 cases in Sydney.
The strain on part-time athletes and part-time staff, all of whom were rocked by the shock death of Jacinda Barclay last October, was obvious.
Uncertainty still loomed large.
The squad knew they would depart NSW, but the destination for a pre-season hub changed from Gold Coast to Melbourne then Adelaide in the space of 24-48 hours.
A cancelled flight out of Canberra then meant an unexpected night's stay in the nation's capital, further testing the resolve of the group.
"That was the moment for a lot of our girls where it was like 'everything that could go wrong, is going wrong'," Eva recalled.
"I'm really proud of the leaders, our coach Al McConnell and manager Bri Harvey. We were short staffed, not all our coaches could come away with us.
"It was challenging and when little things kept popping up, it wouldn't have been unreasonable for people to crack it and want to go home.
"We were really big on making sure we supported everyone, staff and players. We all supported each other and got on with it."
Eva has spoken to several players and skippers at other clubs, who passed on their appreciation for the sacrifices made by the GIANTS.
"I'm proud of our group. How resilient they are, how they rolled with the punches," the star midfielder said.
"It has been a season like no other ... a really big six months for our group."
Eva suggested that even with a finals berth out of reach for her team, who have a 4-4 record ahead of Sunday's game, then it can set the tone for 2022.
"It's a hugely important game," she said.
"If it is our last game, we want to make sure we finish on a high."
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