GIANTS ready for Foxtel Cup

The Greater Western Sydney GIANTS will make their Victorian debut this Saturday against the Northern Bullants in the inaugural Foxtel Cup competition.

The GIANTS have a bye in the NEAFL this week and will play the first round of the Foxtel Cup at the MCG at 4:05pm on Saturday April 30. The Foxtel Cup competition is a state-league based knock-out competition for 2011, comprising of 16 teams, which will be broadcast live on Fox Sports.

Ahead of his first televised AFL match, GIANTS reporter Beck Mills caught up with Victorian, Ben Casley to find out how he has been preparing for this weekend’s match, who is coming to watch and what he got from the Easter Bunny over the break.

The match will be televised on Fox Sports 1 at 5pm on Saturday.

So Ben how was your Easter break?

Easter was fun. I just caught up with a few of my mates; unfortunately my immediate family wasn’t at home. My parents and my two sisters went away to Thailand over Easter. They’re home again this week so when I get back to Melbourne I’ll be able to see them and they’ll come down to the game.

Did you get any Easter eggs?

I managed to sneak down a couple of Easter eggs after training on Saturday. My parents left one for me on the bench with a note saying “welcome home, have an Easter egg” which was pretty cute.

You’ve been a GIANT for about four months now, how is everything going?

I got up here in January and I’ve been playing for the past four weeks. It was great to get a couple of wins in the NEAFL. I had a shoulder reconstruction at the end of last year so I spent the start of the year getting that right and have been lucky enough to get through the last four games.

How is your footy development coming along?

I’ve definitely improved a lot since I’ve been up here. We’ve got great coaches and they’re really teaching me a lot about work ethic and leading structures. Alan McConnell has been teaching us a lot about where to run in the forward line and where to get kicks so it’s helped me a lot and I’ll keep improving as the year goes on.

A big focus area for me has been my fitness. The coaches weren’t too happy with my fitness when I first got here so I’ve been spending a lot of time working on that and using the GPS unit a lot of the time. We also had a chat about my decision-making and disposals in the pre season review. Another big one is trying to improve my aggression on the filed. I’m a bit of a softy so Choco said I need to be more aggressive on the field. Hopefully I can show that this weekend against a few of the bigger guys.

This weekend you’re playing against the Northern Bullants in the Foxtel Cup, you were injured during the NAB Cup so how are you feeling about your first televised game?

I’m trying not to think about it to be honest. It’ll be my first time on the G so I’m pretty excited to get out there. I’ll be thinking more about my own game and how we’re going to win, not really worrying about the TV. I might get someone to record it on Foxtel for me and watch it when I get home.

Did you ever play half time Auskick at the MCG when you were a kid?

Actually I did play one Auskick game on the MCG. I can barely remember it because I was so young, I think I was about five but I played as much junior footy as I could when I was little. I think it was a Fremantle v North Melbourne game and we played at half time. I was in one of the little games on the outside of the field, I was always jealous of the kids that got to play on the big one in the middle. I’ll get a chance to play in the middle this week (laughs).

Do you know any of the Bullants’ players?

One of my mates from high school is a rookie at Carlton so he might be playing for the Bullants this weekend. A few of the TAC Cup boys I’ve trained with and had a run around with.

There’s been some talk about the Bullants being the toughest competition you’ve faced since the NAB Challenge, how are you preparing for the match?

We had a meeting earlier today, looking at how the Bullants played last week and their game style. I think it will be a similar challenge to the Sydney Reserves where they’ve got a lot of AFL players, a lot of big bodies and some experienced players. It will be a great test for us, especially on a big stage like the MCG. The boys are up to it, if we do all the right things and stick to our structures I’m sure we’ll get a good result at the end of the day.

How do you go about combating the fact that the Bullants will have a lot of bigger bodies on the field?

You’ve just got to believe in the coaches and staff and what we’ve been doing. If the ball is there, you’ve just got to go 110% at it. You don’t worry about the size difference because if you’re going harder at it, you’ll come off best and they’ll come off second best. You’ve just got to believe in what we’re doing and have the confidence that everyone around you will be doing the same thing.

Have you got a lot of family and friends coming to watch?

I’ve got a lot of family who are keen to get down there and have a look. Some close family and cousins and a few mates that I saw on the weekend said they will come down as well. It will be exciting to be able to show everyone what I’ve been doing for the past four months and how far I’ve come. I’m really looking forward to it. Not too sure how many will be down there but we might end up with a wing dedicated to my family.

Are you excited?

I’ve been very excited about this game for a long time, I’ve been looking forward to it in the schedule for a while now and hoping that I would recover in time for it.