If Greater Western Sydney are to become the last AFL side to break their 2013 winning duck on Saturday, they will need to find a way to limit the influence of Gold Coast linchpin Gary Ablett.

The Giants did a pretty good job of achieving the near-impossible task in the corresponding fixture in Canberra as they notched their maiden AFL victory.

“We kept him reasonably down last year, and he still got 20-odd possessions,” Giants coach Kevin Sheedy told reporters in Canberra on Tuesday.

The four-time premiership coach with Essendon said he would ask one of his young players to tag Ablett on Saturday.

“That is the best way to learn.”

The Hall of Fame coach said last year’s debut win was a bit of a “surprise” for the new club.

“We were that unprepared, we didn’t really know the (team) song,” Sheedy said.

The two newest AFL clubs arrive at round five with the Suns one win from four and the Giants propping up the ladder with an 0-4 record.

They went three quarters of the way to claiming a rare win last weekend, leading fellow strugglers Melbourne by 19 points at the final interval at the MCG, only for the Demons to slam on a record 12 goals in the last quarter as GWS stopped to a walk.

“They really kicked butt in the last 20 minutes,” said Sheedy, adding his young team were the equivalent of a second-year apprentice in learning a five-year trade.

“To bring in 18 and 19-year-old boys and expect them to be marathon runners and perform at the elite level is a very difficult task, not only for the coaches but also for the young players.”

Sheedy said his side would eventually find a way to run out games.

He launched the Building Australia Tribute game between the Giants and the Western Bulldogs in Canberra to be played this July in front of Parliament House on Tuesday.