Sheedy upbeat about upset

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GWS coach Kevin Sheedy talk swith Sydney counterpart John Longmire at a reception at NSW parliament this morning. Source: Getty Images

UPSETs don't get any bigger - last year's cellar dwellers knocking off the reigning premiers in Round 1 of the AFL season.

Greater Western Sydney coach Kevin Sheedy, a man who has seen it all in more than 1000 games of top-flight football, genuinely believes it's possible.

"Anything can happen," Sheedy preached at today's pre-match function at NSW Parliament House.

It was a similar mantra Sheedy adopted this time last year, before GWS's 63-point loss in their maiden AFL match - against Sydney at ANZ Stadium.

And while he might be a biased observer, the outspoken four-time premiership coach at least has some evidence to call on ahead of Saturday's derby.

GWS last month claimed their maiden win against the Swans - albeit in the opening round of the pre-season when the premiers were minus key players.

The Giants then enjoyed a 16-point win over St Kilda in their final tune-up.

The Swans, devoid of an extra month of training compared to GWS due to their triumphant 2012 finals campaign, posted only one win in a flat pre-season.

In addition, Sydney coach John Longmire has had to reshape his backline after Alex Johnson suffered a season-ending knee injury.

"Obviously we could, we're young and we're vibrant ... nobody knows what's going to happen," Sheedy replied when asked if the Giants were capable of overrunning the Swans in the final quarter, as they did against the Saints.

"... They had a very, very good side out there, St Kilda (and GWS won).

"So I think the confidence the players would have got out of this pre-season will be a hell of a lot better compared to the previous year."

Despite Sheedy's optimism, the Giants are firm favourites to collect a second wooden spoon in as many years.

But they have an admirer in Longmire, who watched them train during summer at Lakeside Oval adjacent to the SCG.

"Obviously there's a bit of confidence coming out of their camp, which is fair enough," Longmire said.

"We've been able to see them a bit over the pre-season, because they were training on our ground for a little bit.

"You'd see how well they train - how much talent they've got.

"They've got some real hard nuts. We certainly expect they'll be really hard to beat."

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