Blues Cut The Giants Down - What's It Worth To GWS? | Thebigtip

The Greater Western Sydney Giants have been handed another belting in their first four quarters game by the hands of the Carlton Blues on Saturday afternoon, going down by a whopping total of 157 points.

Full Time
Greater Western Sydney: 4.2.26
Carlton: 29.9.183

The Giants, whose only highlight was kicking two goals in a row, were never in the contest as the young Blues, led by captain Chris Judd in his first appearance for the year, ran rampant in an extremely one-sided affair. To add to the Giants' humiliation, the Blues' top goalscorers were small forward Eddie Betts (six goals) and defender Brett Thornton (five goals).

As a Carlton supporter, it's almost an insult to be playing a squad that is not ready to be playing against another AFL level team when our squad is preparing for a long 2011 campaign. I can understand why coach Kevin Sheedy would want to teach his new team a few lessons in the AFL before their 2012 debut, but I don't believe that this is the way to go about it. As the pre-season continues, the beatings are only going to get worse. At the end of the day, you go out on the field to play to win - how are the Giants expected to get into a winning mentality if they know that they are without a chance even before they step on to the ground?

The experience that the young Giants are gaining for being on the same field as some top class players is undoubtedly invaluable, but I believe that Sheedy handing his young squad beltings at the team's birth is only taking the Giants back a few steps.

Playing Greater Western Sydney in the NAB Cup and NAB Challenge is a huge mistake. The benefit that the Giants would gain for ONLY playing in the VFL against teams that they can actually be competitive against is more rewarding than knowing that you're going to be pummeled into the ground before the VFL season gets underway. Sheedy, you may have a long catalogue of achievements behind you, but a decision like this really shows your age. Enough is enough, have mercy for the struggling, defenseless Giants.