Co-captain Callan Ward has no concerns about his faltering Greater Western Sydney team as he nears his 200-game AFL milestone, which an illustrious former teammate had predicted a decade ago.
Injury-hit GWS have battled in their past three games, with a draw against struggling St Kilda, an unconvincing win over fellow stragglers Brisbane and a 62-point away thumping at Geelong.
"I've got no concerns with where we're headed," says Ward, who will play game No.200 on Saturday against West Coast at Spotless Stadium.
"We're looking to really take the season from now.
"Against West Coast in the past, we've probably struggled a bit as well, so I think it's a great opportunity for us to bounce back against a really good powerhouse side."
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Ward said much had come out of the review of the Geelong game.
"There's a few areas there that we need to improve at and there's no doubt that we've trained very hard this week," he said.
"But we have to step out there this weekend and play a really good brand of footy and it's one that we're probably still a fair way off."
When Ward achieves his milestone, it will validate the foresight and good judgment of his former Western Bulldogs teammate Bob Murphy.
"I remember in my first ever game, I think Bob Murphy was interviewed by Bruce McAvaney and Bob said I'd play 200 games and I remember listening to that and thinking 'there's no way I'll play 200 games'," Ward recalled.
He has played in four preliminary finals, two at each club, and is the Giants' record holder with 139 games.
"The Dogs won the premiership in 2016 and I think about it every now and then, but it's not something I regret," he said.
The hard-nosed midfielder has developed into an impressive leader, something he had never envisaged at his former club.
"Every time they mentioned the leadership group and things like that, I was like 'no way, no way, so coming up here, I was very surprised," he said.
"But I guess after that first pre-season, I realised we had boys who were very young and hadn't played any games.
"Round one, I look back now at some highlights. It looks like we were a 16-year-old team playing against men.
"Looking back now, I was in the right position to really go for it and really challenge myself."
