“GWS thought they were better”: Ex-Giants skipper lights the fuse for Opening Round with Collingwood
Former GWS captain Phil Davis says his old club has had their eyes on Collingwood and Opening Round for the last five months ahead.
A rivalry that has emerged in recent times, the Giants and eventual 2023 premiers battled out an epic Preliminary Final that saw Collingwood prevail by a solitary point at the MCG last year.
The Giants had their chances in that game but ultimately fell short as Adam Kingsley’s fairy tale in his first season came to an end.
Davis, speaking on SEN’s Whateley in the context of analysing GWS versus Collingwood and Carlton vs Brisbane, last year’s prelims being played in Opening Round, suggested both the Lions and Magpies will have had a target on their backs over the off-season.
“We (GWS) got the Western Bulldogs both times in 2017, one was close, the other time we smashed them,” Davis began.
“It doesn’t make you feel any better because at the end of the day you can walk off the ground and sledge them, and they’ll just be like, ‘we played in a Grand Final and you didn’t’.
“But there’s an element of, ‘we’re chasing you and we’ve not necessarily caught you, but we know we can actually beat you’, and that’s a little bit of power that I think is important and that’s what they’d be chasing.”
The year prior, the Western Bulldogs knocked off Davis’ Giants in a famous prelim before going on to claim the Grand Final.
Finding themselves in a similar position ahead of the 2024 season, Davis, who officially retired at the end of last season, said the Giants are desperate to prove they are the better side on Saturday night.
“I know the Giants thought they were better than Collingwood and that’s hurt them and frustrated them and Saturday night will be proof that they think that they are (better). That’s what they’re chasing, they’re chasing affirmation that they’re the better team,” Davis added.
“I know that Kingsley has been ready to go. I think if he was allowed to play (this) game on November 1, he would have played on November 1. He’s had to wait until March.
“The Giants want to win. If they Giants don’t win, they’ll be disappointed.”
The 2023 prelim saw Collingwood prevail 8.10 (58) – 8.9 (57) over the Giants, with clearances and inside 50s favouring Craig McRae’s men.
GWS, however, convincingly won contested possessions, led by a game-high 17 points in the third term and were centimetres short of a Grand Final when a Toby Greene snap in the dying minutes was marked by Steele Sidebottom on the goal line.
Saturday’s game at Giants Stadium gets underway at 7:30pm AEDT.
Both clubs have traded words in the preceding months, while the Giants have looked the most impressive team in the pre-season.