The bookmakers see it as Greater Western Sydney’s best chance of a victory over another AFL club to date, but Giants co-captain Callan Ward knows his side can ill afford to take the same mindset into Saturday’s clash with Gold Coast.

The odds of $3.90 available for GWS to win the weekend’s pre-season fixture in Albury are juicy by normal standards but comparatively quite short for the AFL’s newcomers.

The Suns will be without captain Gary Ablett and defender-come-forward Nathan Bock but still boast the advantage of a year’s experience in the AFL competition.

“We can’t disrespect Gold Coast at all, I think they’ll be a very good team this year and even better in years to come,” Ward said.

“We’re expecting a pretty good hit-out.

“I think we can go into every game being confident we can play some good football, so if we can do that this weekend and take some positives away, I think that’s a win for us.

“We’ll just work on the things we need to work on.”

And with full-length matches now supplanting the endless summer of pre-season training, the things that work and the things that don’t work so well are becoming more clear.

“I think the midfield is a strength for us, especially with our contested football. On the weekend I think we beat the opposition (Hawthorn) in that area,” said Ward.

“It was the uncontested football where they smashed us.

“We need to work harder with our spread but you can’t question the guys’ attitude and their attack on the footy.”

While the weekend’s clash with the Suns is taking precedence, Ward’s happy to admit the stand-alone clash with city rivals Sydney to start the AFL season has already attracted some serious attention from the Giants.

“We’ve had all pre-season to think about the Swans game and now it’s only two weeks away,” he said.

“It’s come around very quickly. We’ve been watching the Swans’ games in the NAB Cup and we’ve been studying them.

“We’ve got Gold Coast this weekend, so we can’t think too much about the Swans, but certainly it’s something we’ve been watching all pre-season.”

Ward was one of a host of AFL-experienced players to be rested from the side’s last-start 74-point loss to Hawthorn in Tasmania.