Friday, 20 April 2018:
They occupy different ends of the AFL ladder, but Greater Western Sydney and St Kilda need only recall their last meeting to know that Saturday's Etihad Stadium AFL clash is no foregone conclusion.
The Giants entered round five with a 3-1 record, leading the ladder on percentage, while Saints were languishing in 16th after three straight losses.
Ominously for the battling Saints, GWS have yet to consistently hit full stride this season.
"To be 3-1 at this point of the year, we're really happy with the way we're going, but we just want to keep building," said GWS utility Adam Tomlinson.
"We still haven't found our full four-quarter effort and that's what we're building towards."
GWS coach Leon Cameron has predicted a huge response on Saturday from the embattled Saints, who he recalled giving his side a "fair dinkum touch up last year."
"The Saints came over the top of us in the last quarter last year which was really disappointing," Tomlinson said.
"But I think this year it's shown how even the competition is.
"Collingwood were going through a hard time and they came out and beat the Crows.
"Saints have been going through a bit of a hard time, but we fully expect them to come out and play their best footy."
Saints coach Alan Richardson also invoked memories of his side's 2017 win over GWS and hoped they would inspire his side on Saturday.
"We had a really good result against them last year and I think that would give the team some belief, if we can get that footy back," Richardson said.
"We know that we've been below our best and we've had a few too many down on form, but if we can get close to 22 strong contributors than we will give ourselves a chance."
Saints haven't kicked more than seven goals in any of their three losses, all of which were by more than 45 points.
They should be more potent this week, with the return from injury of forward Tim Membrey, their leading goalkicker in each of the last two seasons.
GWS named an unchanged side, with classy midfielder and reigning club champion Josh Kelly missing successive games with groin soreness.
Saints have won three out of five Etihad Stadium matches against GWS.
